OCR Text |
Show LEARNING CHINESE. To t!:e Ameri'Tin and the Kuronean the ChineKP langnfign ha-i long ben a mystery. Its in! ricaeie have been so apparently formidable that few hud the fuurngo to undert:t!,e a pt.udy of the tongue. Then, too, the methods of ten i h i n g C h i ne-io to the foreigner in hina wen- ro crude, r,o tedious nd po i ut i-rm i nably ilrnv.n out that few had the time to apply to the tnt-.k and fewer b.'id thp patim'e. Within tii' la-t two or tiir'-n ye;u.s the A mer':'-:! rj tr: i vd ; n a 'i e. have adopted a and el'fV.'i ivc plnn of impart ing i r -t r:ie ion. It. is i i! t ere-t i ngly explained bv f':nj f f .M eli i h".on in the ( hrintian A . ! . or -a! e. K- ji 1 ii'ni g the hopep'.e.riefis of i, i t i n j an aii-re;juld v Juj .' number of Americans or Europeans .by the system then iu vogue, it occurred j to a Yankee to go hack to first prin- cipks that is, to learn the Chinese I language as tho child learns its native ! tongue. Briefly, the child 's way is this: The first step is to use tho ear; after that the mouth; after that the eye and finally the hand. In other words, the student in a language school of the present clay in China hears a sound, says a -word, then recognizes that word when written as a character, and, last, writes the character himself. The hearing and speaking, as in the ease of the child, come "weeks before the read- , ing and the writing. ; As to the functioning of this method, it is asserted that in a school year of seven months a pupil learus to under-stand under-stand between 800 and 1000 characters, tho combinations and permutations of which are almost beyond calculation. Ho learns to write 400, say, of these. He learns to read easy Chinese, such as the Mandarin Bible. He learns to ; carry on an ordinary conversation and ; to accustom himself to Chinese ways, i ! In addition to the pioneer school at i i Nankin, there is now a similar school j in Pekin. Less pretentious schools are I . carried on in other mission centers; and ! many large business firms, taking a I pa go from the missionary book, an- j nounee that they will open language j schools for the young men who come ' to China to take part in the fierce com- j ruercial competition of the Far East, i No doubt, American business interests inter-ests with an eye on the rich markets of the orient are not blind to the necessity ne-cessity of having on the ground men who are versed in the native tongue. An American may sometimes be a back- j ward pupil when he is asked to learn Chinese as an academic accomplishment, j but when he senses the presence of a commercial opening well, he will soon j fasten what is expressively called a 1 "strangle hold" on the language. It j is a certainty that the United states j will drive a trade of maguitude in j China, and with our agents equipped with a knowledge of the native vocabu- i lary enlarged possibilities are evident, j |