THE GERMAN LANGUAGE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 236, 24 June 1918, Page 6

THE GERMAN LANGUAGE

Sir,—Thero is ono subject our educationists appear to have allowed to esenpo their observation, and that is tho necessity for making tbo teaching ot the Geiman language in our schools a specialty. It will, I feel sure, be most important for reasons which have been made obvious during the past 31 years that a large percentage ot our rising: generation should have sufficient knowled™ of German to enable _ them to. understand conversation carried on in. that language. At the present time 1 eupposo there is not more thau ono person in a thousand in this country who knows anything about the .language; very few have ever heard .w spoken and could not distinguish at from Dutch or ltussian. In the future the chances are that as the recollection of the war gradually fades away, and! German emissaries and spies begin again to roam abroad, they will not forget to nay attention to this fertile.littleland of ours, aud vhon fuch does happen it will be very much to our advantage that we should know sufficient of tho language to enable us to understand conversations or portions thereov, or any chance remarks we may happen , , to overhear. A foil' years before tho war broke out I was sitting ono afternoon in a tea room at Island Bay, and at a table a few feet away were also seated three Germans, strangers to tho place, and evidently men of tho better class. In tho light of what has since occurred in Europe it would have been decidedly interesting to have been able to understand some portion' at any rato of their conversation. Although they would no doubt be astute enough not to give themselves away (assuming, of course, that they were there tor no friendly purpose) by speaking top frankly, a chance remark overheard mignt possibly have given some clue to the reason of their visit. Not tenig a. German scholar, I was a perfectly harm--less listener.—l am, etc., ."LOOKING AHEAD."