WHY STUDY GERMAN?

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 194, 6 May 1918, Page 8

WHY STUDY GERMAN?

AN ASSET IN THE COMING TRADE AVAR. Mr. I l '. W. Wile, iato Berlin correspondent of the "Daily Mail," writes :— "Sonitwhere 'in a London .paper the other day I read that there had been a decided 'slump' during the war in both the teaching and the study of the Ger- | man language. That is a mistake, and i a grievous one. It is, in my judgment, i thi) essence of short-sightedness. It is, j moreover, conferring a boon on the enemy. If we ever intended, or if wv ever had the power, to wipe the German race off the map there would bo some [reason in relegating the atrocious Geri man language to the philological scrap- | heap for eternity. But even -if I Jje ! accused of being a rank pessimist for I saying it, I do not contemplate the annihilation of the German race as a result of this war. It will live on, polygamy in Prussia or no polygamy, and tho rest of ns will have to live with it. AVe shall do so to our greater intellectual, political, and economic profit by learning j to read und speak German, and even to ! think in German." Mr. Wile relates | that an eminent German publisher said Ito him: " 'When you learn a country's language you acquire a key to tho country. We don't want too many keys to Germany ih circulation. The less German you English and Americans speak the less you'll know about Germany. We specialise in learning English and French because wo realise the value of language keys.' Thereon I rest the case for the continued and continuous teaching of German in British schools. The reason all of us know so little about the real Germany is that a knowledge of the languages is the exception, not the rule, among us. We are going to havo a trade war worthy of the name with the Germans in the years ahead of us, whether it lie formally declared or not. Before the war Germans were beating ns in many of the world's markets—in the Far F-ast and elsewhere—because of their proficiency in. languages, particularly English/"