“OUR PRECIOUS HERITAGE”

Evening Star, Issue 19559, 18 May 1927, Page 3

“OUR PRECIOUS HERITAGE”

1 THE WEAR AND TEAR OF ENGLISH “The world.importance of English is steadily growing. It is in-process of being accepted as the-universal language,” said Doan Inge, in a lecture on 1 English in Education ’ at the Royal Academy of Music, London. ‘‘But what an awful thing it"is to bear a German commercial traveller, who has been taught deliberately to exaggerate the Cockney dialect.” (Laughter.) Referring to “the detestable jargon” of commercial English, ho tcld of a commercial clerk who was called in to fill a vacancy at the Foreign Office during the war, and who wrote to a high official: “Yours to band. Contents noted. Our Lord Curzon lias the matter in hand.” (Laughter.) Holding that the precursors in English should be a post-graduate study, the dean said bo would banish from the study of English, until the postgraduate stage, formal gi’amnlar and etymology. Ho did not believe that cither was necessary for reading our language or writing it correctly. Other points in his lecture were: There is no excuse for not recognising that English literature now is as great as the Greek, and perhaps greater than any other. Nowadays the reading of the Bible has practically gone out, and from tho literary, apart from the religious, point of view that is a very great Joss. The rejoicings of many are tempered by the fear that tho classics will bo ousted altogether. Whatever classics we retain should be road in the mass. I know nothing more stupid than the way in which classics are taught in our public schools. “ I maintain ” (he went on) “ that the study of English should bring tin classes together. We must take care that our education does not put them further asunder. How much social alienation is caused by the differences in,pronunciation? The schools ought to try to remedy that, but it is a very difficult matter, as there are certain dialects that- must be preserved; Besides the schools we now have the broadcast;, which may be a valuable help in pnculcating uniform pronunciation. That is always supposing that the people who broadcast pronounce well themselves. I don’t think they always do.” “English,” said the dean, in conclusion. “ is a most precious heritage, and it will not take care of itself. We must guard against tho wear and tear of language.”