| Show WILFRED STEVENS FINDS HIS WORK A Do DIVERSION VERSION translator in the government service speaks writes and reads reada many languages language Is not a cot col lege man mr I 1 wilfred r stevens tran translator sator irv in the at beato ate department pt beeaks eaks reada and W writes 5 german clerman modern greek arek 1 rench hungarian spanish I 1 futch dutch italian norv So eglan I 1 portuguese guese swedish dussl n I 1 chinese I 1 afan IL tanton anthont iBO so and giddish dialects anil and japanese 8 e r reads heads and translates translate arabic dolit no litman rn an persian servian avian turkish bla slavonic dialect 5 Rou doumanian manian interprets Inter preta Am amerlean Ameil eilean can indian dialects and Is in particularly interested in the th bloux bioux washington wilfred stevens expert translator of the state department is undoubtedly one of the most moat unique and interesting members ot of departmental part mental life la in NN washington ashington possessed of a vast fund of general knowledge relative to the needs ot of his department he be Is devoting hla his life especially to the maste mastering not onla of modern modera languages as they are ara taught in the schools but of many strange tongues which few it if any other americans haxe hae avei found it possible to use born of american parents in abe th picturesque little town of shakopee Sha kapee minu minn mr air stevens can claim the title c of f true american linguist not until his genealogy roaches reaches back to the file grandmother giand mother of his mother is there found an ancestor who could have transmitted to this remarkable son the linguist power which Is life his by light of possession and not la in any way by heredity as would naturally be ex pecked it wilfred stevens were an am european mi stevens smiled when he said yes I 1 translate the principal european and cliental oil languages in my ca K wicnty here in the department and can an speak read mad and witte with mith less e easo aso chinese cantonese and pe kinese dia dialects lets and the Itte iary lan ian grages japanese modern gidek a dutch oiw glan gian swed ish latin yiddish and espo no I 1 am ofin taken for a rub bus blan a but ut I 1 am no not I 1 am just a minnesota boy and phoud aoud of it no I 1 ara am not even a college man I 1 stained to go to a gelman geiman school but bur was as impatient of the pro progress giess mado made and left it tor for the high school I 1 stabled at 12 years yeara of age to study german cind and from that went earll on to the study of 0 ri fience ench sian ish and italian after that came portuguese and Ru Rub belan sian which lan ian grages I 1 speak read and milte with practically the same facility as E do english 1 I also read and translate tran slUe slite arable arabic persian doumanian Rou manian B dohe bohe ohe mian servian and other slavonic dia elects mr stevens entered the service of the government as a clork clerk in the printing office where he did at odd times any translating that was sai daiy Y from this office he was trans f erred to the war ar department lepart ment where he remained live bears ears ile he has now boen been in his present division for the same length of time mr stevens stevena modestly asserts that he alms to learn all lang ol 01 political importance having eute the department master of six lan lall and now being able to use uee his 1115 var varied led knowledge in the translating oj 0 some 24 and more if one counts the innumerable dialects which appear lc ir connection with many of this thin number mr stevens stevena also with ft a charm lug ing simplicity that while lie he can gen orally translate the various chinesa find and japanese dialects he does not al ways understand them very well I 1 have been much late interested rested la in the study of the sioux indian languit language ep and after I 1 studied japanese I 1 found the two very similar which carrier car riep out the theory held by many scientists that mat the american indian was original ly na an oriental the sioux Is very rich and complete an army officer told me an tale of having taken with him t to one of our western posts 9 japanese servant adding that he had bad found this jap talking wah a sioux one day both the sioux and the jap being able to under stan I 1 beah other with fair |
