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December 12, 1924 ‘
ENGLI/H CE ECC-L/ITIN?
BT JUSTIN EASSEE
Two Lanffuapres, “Ajfprie” and English, Are Contrasted, and "A.cr^ie”
Suffers A Handicap
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What do you write, Kn^lish or ^)r do you
write? What do you speak. Kntftish or Atftfie? Or do
you know? A sophomore (here) writes this:
*
, THK PAtU-LWr OK
Th«* paKent of pndt* »a» th«* »»* dradl) nimt with
the drvil and Duenna »n rhe «aKon. The fimt »an idle-
neM utxin an ann. which r«*i>renentn lazzinenn and lark
of rnerff>. (iluttonv up<»n a naine ahirh reprenentn
filth and greedmenn. I.earher> upon a »olf reprenentn
nneaking and loathnume aa>n of doinx thmijn. Averen
on a ( ame! which reprenentn ureed of mone> or a miner.
Anotht bursts forth in the flower of genius:
the i* \c;ent of pkide
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The ( haractern of the I’aiten!
^ k
Kirnt raifie Idolnenn on an ann leadirt; the proren-
mon; Second came (tuluter> on a n» ine. he a an ver>
fat and unpleaninx looking; third came I,etcher) on a
goat, had red even a an not the nort of man \ ou would
think a woman aould fall far; fourth came a Miner
on a < ammrl. he had gold in great bagn and never npent
an> of it; fiftk came hint) on a Wolf, the aolf a an
rhea in*; a frog and greert blood a'an running from hin
mouth, he a an glad to nee) people M>rr>, and norr> to
n«>e them g?ad; and Six came Kath on a lion a ho a an
roaring & foaming at the mouth.
And still another;
AM ERICAS SCHOOLS
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\merica ha- net the a orld on a heeln. She han
made more progrenn in her short life than an> other
. country. Junt a fen >earn hack America na- one of
the aild countries o( the aorld. The ahite man naid
he came for freedom. He cleared the land, built citiea.
factories, railroads, hrghnay*. and many other thing
a importance. Noa the> fay the> a ant the freedom
they Kad a hundred or a hundred and fifty yearn ago.
which in inponible. America can never be an free an she
a an fifty years back.
American school have pushed her thin far and ai I
emtenue to punh her foraard. It in true. f \mrnra has
the most compleat network nf«Jtchools and holds sec*,
ond place in extension service. The sun never sets on
\meriran' research. She has men all over the world
looking for something to improve their country. >fen
it
afe in North Africa noa looking for the reason why
grass makes the cattle fat there and jyot here. Thene
men could not do this work if there were no schools to
tran them.
i^ould 'America improve her schools? If she would
follow some of the Danish iddas. which we know, she
mav make much more headway than before.
* V *
In spite of himself, this last fellow raises a worth
while question: “Could America improve her schools 9
If she would follow some of the Danish ideas, which wc
l
know, she may make much more headway than before.**
’ “—, she may make much more headway than bef-
fore”—that sounds rational, common-sense. Undoubt
edly it is true.
l»ut 1 doubt if the Danish school system, applied. ;*
here, omild prove sufficient remedy. English. sp<iken or
written, is a habit, seldom altered in form by classroom
drill. It is schooled in the main by eiiVtfbnment
excepting that of professional writers and speakers, of
course. I’
We write and speak “Aggie"—instead of English
-unconsciously. We do not substitute “if I was'* for
it I were" because we think it Minds lietter. or even
because we are afraid we’ll sou inf snobbish, hut main
ly l>ecause we do not hear “if I were" anymore. We
come on the A and M campus, and we learn a new lang
uage-in the same manner we first learned bow to
talk when we were babies.
* » i * . 1 *
We sjH*nd three hours a wepk learning English it.
the classroom, and sixteen hoursfa day learning "Ag-
gii ’in the dormitories. No wonder our professors fight ,
a losing battle! It’s a wonder some don’t talk "Aggie"
themselves (He honest. Passer .... a lot of them do!).
Well, now, by talking this, way,- are we cheating
ourselves out of more than a gocnl English .grade”
Yes! we are. We are doing nothing more or Ie.4n_
than turning a can of polish remover upside down over
our heads, and Jetting the liquid drench us from head *
to foot. t [ Lv *
Well—maybe there is no use in Ifeing polished .
anyway.
Oh. yes is! First there-is your intellectual
self-respect to consider. Oh, you don’t canf dbout that?
Well—let’s see— * s < |
Why do you shave? Why do you .hdve your trous
ers pressed? Your shoes shined, and so on?
Oh. you want to look good,? Why?
Aha. I see now. For a moment ymi hauj^iyie stump*
ed. You fix yourself up to l<Sok nice so thaf>enple will
form a good opinion of you. , '
I see more light, too. You think that the good opin
ion of people is an aid to one’s success don’t you? J *
Well, now I believe you've miscalculated a ‘bit
here, sir.
A well-dressed voice su»vly ought to’tn* as import
ant as a well dressed person. Personally, I’d rather Ulk
too any man (and I'd put more faith in him) of edu
cated speech—regardless of his attire*—than to thfc
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