ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16320, 8 January 1921, Page 3

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

POPULARITY IN CENTRAL EUROPE. ,

ENGLISH IS ESPERANTO. Esperanto is said to he a universal language; at least, to have the qualities of such, (writes John Cournos, the novelist, in ‘‘John O’ London’s Weekly. 1 ’) In may be, in theory, all that its advocates claim for it. Personally, 1 have never heard it spoken; how many people have? A journ«v on the Continent to-day, especially through Central Europe- should convince on-' that in actual practice the English language is more universally spoken than any other, and that thfi tendency to speak it. especially in the former enemy countries, is on. the m■crcatse, ironical as that may seem. IN BERLIN. One can understand the ability to speak English in waiters. since the popular supposition is that England's waiter poptilation before the war was almost wbollv German: this supposition, indeed, has more than a modicum of truth in it, to judge from the ease with which the average waiter in Berlin, Dresden, or Vienna speaks English. As a matter of fact, this facility with "English is not- limited to waiters; during my -event sta.y in Berlin, nothing annoyed mo more than the frequency with which iny inquiries of the man in the street for direction, made in atrocious German, elicited replies in perfect English. The injury to your vanity is all the greater because the native invariably springs his English at son with an evident sense of pride. There is no concealment of the fact that ho 1 ikus speaking English—particularly to an Englishman I PREFERRED TO OTHER LANGUAGES. There is no doubt that, the English language is popular. and many are studying it in preference to any other language. It is, on the whole, much easier to explain the unpopularity and growing disuse of the French language than this new-born and rising popularity of English. His quite certain that, to a. large degree, the political situation. growing out. of the war. lias to do with both. The responsibility of the Treaty is laid mostly on Fiance’s shoulders, and the hatred of Clemeneeau is extended to the French language. England, on the other hand,, even among the Germans, is not without a reputation for fair piay , and. any excessive severity on England's part they are inclined to attribute to the influence of France There is a general disposition throughout Central Europe to regard the Treaty as “ Clemencoau’s Treaty.” Without entering; into the justice cr injustice of this, H is true that this impression has much to do with the popularity of one language and the unpopularity of the other. Incidental to this, there are other mere practical reasons why preference is given to English ever; by persons uninterested in politics and international hatreds. There is the matter of future trade between the Central European countries; this, too. has its political side, since it is difficult - even undesirable, in a sense—to trade with unneighbourly neighbours ; even former enemies are preferred to former subject countries; the latter, too, are- not masters—and there you are! Apart from that, thousands are getting ready to emigrate to America and elsewhere, and the English-speaking nations own half the worm; what language should they study but English ?

ENTHUSIASM IN HUNGARY. England aud the English were ahvaus popular in Austria; oven during the war, all accounts agree, there were no rancour and resentment against the English, and English civilian p/isonera were given the freedom of "S ienna ; so it is not astonishing, what with British and American relief missions ivorkuTg in Vienna on a large scale, that the English language should hold more than, its own. Hungary, however, furnishes a more interesting example of the growing popularity of English ; for the German and. English languages bare at least a common root, so the study of English by a German or an Austrian is a comparaiveiy easy matter; but for the Hungarian, whose language apparently resembles no other, to make English a secondary language is something, to crow about.” Yet nowhere are such enthusiasts of English to be found, as in H ungary. Every other Hungarian in official aud intellectual circles is said to be learning English. ENGLISH EDITIONS.

It is in Budapest, by Hie way, that they have adopted the English method of driving t*> the left instead of The right; to such an extent are English ways popular! I found a.n old Hungarian family, consisting of about seven persons, all speaking a perfect English ; Tauchnitss editions of English authors W’ere lying ail about the room , the boys were dressed in English sporting jackets and knickerbockers. The Hungarian adoration of England goes to the extent of wishing to bo ruled fcy an English Prince; this wish has become almost a legend, and I’vo heard many speak of it. On a Danube steamer, going to Budapest, 1 found a German reading “Air Britling Secs it Through.” We entered into, conversation and got on the topic of the English language. AN ADMISSION. “ Yes. I suppose the English language is as universal as any,” he remarked. “You English and Americans are not studying our language as we do yours. ’* “We don’t have _ to,” I replied. “ You save us the trouble by studying ours.” “ Donnerwetter!” he exclaimed, breaking into German. “ Daran hatte Jch niclit gedaclifc!” (“I had not thought of that ”) Coming from a German wjio fought four years in the war and sang “Deutschland liber Alles!” on every possible occasion, that remark about the uni versa lit of the English language was something like an admission!