Theoria - DISA

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preferences, enthusiasms, and prejudices can best be dissipated or justified by comparison with similar achievements in other countries. In South Africa, particularly, it is important to emphasise this because geographical isolation^ can so easily lead to a blind parochialism in such matters. Bilingualism is no protection from this, indeed, quite the contrary is proving to be the case. The English and Afrikaans tongues are not sufficiently distant the one from the other to make adequate cultural complements. In studying the other language of the country, whether it be English or Afrikaans, we are not venturing far enough away from our own environment to make the journey intellectually satisfying. We are not breaking fresh ground, but only turning over and over the ground we have trodden all our lives. There is even a danger that having made the effort necessary to become bilingual South Africans may imagine they have done all that is required of them in the matter of foreign tongues, and so be lulled into believing that they have acquired a certain cosmopolitism. This must be dangerous for two reasons, dangerous both to the future of bilingualism and to the future of scholarship in this country. As long as the other official language, whichever it may be, is regarded as a foreign language replacing a European one, national unity and the South African " spirit" will remain hypothetical and unreal, and as long as the second official language ousts the study of a European language from our schools and universities we shall be palming off an inferior brand of education on the youth of the country. Moreover, it is quite likely that the greatest fillip that could be offered to the promotion of bilingualism in South Africa might come from the encouragement of the study of a third language, preferably a European language as different as can be from either English or Afrikaans. It is the student who knows no other language but English, and that in consequence indifferently, who finds insuperable difficulties in the study of Afrikaans. The remedy for being bad at languages is, generally speaking, to learn more of them. Students who enter English universities all have three languages, English," Latin and French or some other modern European tongue. Of these, two may be said to be entirely foreign to him. Why, then, is it held to be taxing the South African student too much to expect him to know Afrikaans, English and one other language, particularly as only one of the three would be foreign to him in the strict sense of the word ? Citizens in a bilingual country should surely be better at languages than those brought up in one- 20
tongued insularity, and if they are not it should surely be their business to remedy the defect as soon as possible. In the past one heard a great deal of the congenital difficulty experienced by some people in learning to speak foreign languages. English-speaking people, especially, tend to regard this not as a disability, but as a national peculiarity of which they can be justly proud. In a vague way, facility in foreign tongues is regarded as being un-English and almost always traceable to a taint of Scottish, Irish or Dutch blood. This attitude is common among English-speaking South Africans who use it to excuse themselves for not being bilingual.' How far this refractoriness to language study is due to inborn deficiencies, and how far to self-consciousness, lack of interest and poor training, is hard to determine. What is true is that the incapacity of the few has been grossly exaggerated and has been held to account for the slowness of apparently intelligent Englishmen in learning even to read foreign languages. Some fault must be laid at the door of the teacher. It is noteworthy that in recent years, with the immensely improved methods of language teaching, much less is heard of the alleged linguistic incapacity of the English. It is now quite common to meet young men, graduate and non-graduate alike, with fluent French and German and an almost impeccable accent in both. This improvement is alas not noticeable in South Africa where a steady decline in modern language teaching over a number of years is now making itself felt, both in the acute shortage of teachers fit to carry on the work, and in the dearth of pupils. This is especially true of French since for some time the relative unimportance of the subject in school curricula has weighed against the appointment of specialists. Where there were French pupils who refused to be discouraged, they were simply handed over to a teacher who happened to have studied French somewhere at some time. This policy, detrimental to any subject, is fatal in the case of a modern language where one needs to be thoroughly versed and fluent to teach even beginners. Except in a few remaining private scho'ols where the standard of French teaching is relatively high, the subject is firmly-discouraged both by precept and by example. This in turn reduces the number of students eligible to follow the normal courses in the universities, and still further limits the French scholars who might find their way back into the Schools and raise standards there. It seems then that unless there is a radical change of attitude to the study of French in South Africa, it may well disappear altogether from our educational curricula. Latin, which has 21
Page 2 and 3: BOOKS • FOR SPECIALISTS • FOR T
Page 4 and 5: FOREWORD The friendly reception acc
Page 6 and 7: in themselves enough. A liberal edu
Page 8 and 9: from a Scottish document, a very re
Page 10 and 11: English. To fail in mathematics or
Page 12 and 13: never occurred that pumping informa
Page 14 and 15: finds himself overwhelmingly outnum
Page 16 and 17: less the case in my own subject (Ph
Page 18 and 19: Not the ordinary so-called comprehe
Page 20 and 21: French Studies In South Africa Alth
Page 22 and 23: particularly with the noticeable de
Page 26 and 27: also been relegated to the list of
Page 28 and 29: Friedrich Schiller (SOME ASPECTS OF
Page 30 and 31: above the French classicists. Shake
Page 32 and 33: ecognised that excessive ambition a
Page 34 and 35: moral freedom which is born of self
Page 36 and 37: moral order. Thus even in this play
Page 38 and 39: Dit was altyd 'n aangename vriendsk
Page 40 and 41: is nog hy . . .") na al die grootdo
Page 42 and 43: Die Digter D. J. Opperman 1 (veral
Page 44 and 45: Belangrik is in die opsig ook Spel
Page 46 and 47: Dit is die grondmotief van die bund
Page 48 and 49: Slegs met behulp van die verbeeldin
Page 50 and 51: vogue, based on the antithesis of g
Page 52 and 53: works. He may directly identify him
Page 54 and 55: surprisingly different from the ori
Page 56 and 57: eally worth having. This does not m
Page 58 and 59: Seeing Art, like living, is an expe
Page 60 and 61: of history and well documented appr
Page 62 and 63: painting from the simplest objects,
Page 64 and 65: were only labelled psychogenic if n
Page 66 and 67: neuroses, only being utilised for s
Page 68 and 69: disguises even in the medical field
Page 70 and 71: support and the understanding of th
Page 72 and 73: clothes and the rest of their self.
Page 74 and 75:
environment. When an organism cease
Page 76 and 77:
assertive ; if a person is dishones
Page 78 and 79:
We are still faced with the questio
Page 80 and 81:
The Depopulation of the Ancient Wor
Page 82 and 83:
certain machines for hauling large
Page 84 and 85:
Tuberculosis is mentioned in ancien
Page 86 and 87:
and for tradition which had held to
Page 88 and 89:
lack of the idea of progress in the
Page 90 and 91:
But the real reason of the failure
Page 92 and 93:
The uninitiated invariably visualis
Page 94 and 95:
wars in which men on opposing sides
Page 96 and 97:
If we wish to learn something about
Page 98 and 99:
The plain truth, whether we like it
Page 100 and 101:
The Anthropological Approach to the
Page 102 and 103:
our society. And it is particularly
Page 104 and 105:
prisoner until ransomed by his vill
Page 106 and 107:
elations with her child your marria
Page 108 and 109:
One outlet, associated with the nam
Page 110 and 111:
types so also it is atypical of the
Page 112 and 113:
civilisation, while Bushmen and man
Page 114 and 115:
tions of the observation and verifi
Page 116 and 117:
society. This reversal of the role
Page 118 and 119:
laboratory techniques and predeterm
Page 120 and 121:
discussion of typical reactions to
Page 122 and 123:
And aggressive people who sense tha
Page 124 and 125:
A similar analysis might be made of
Page 126 and 127:
of magic? Ovsiankina has demonstrat
Page 128 and 129:
calling out the deceased's childhoo
Page 130 and 131:
is, of course, the intensity of wit
Page 132 and 133:
culture as a whole stimulates him t
Page 134 and 135:
Economics and Society Since their s
Page 136 and 137:
The difference between these two ap
Page 138 and 139:
continues until it creates the mean
Page 140 and 141:
much less assailable principle rega
Page 142 and 143:
the conduct from presupposed assump
Page 144 and 145:
as the study of mankind in the ordi
Page 146 and 147:
MR. G. LONG, a former student at N.
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Theoria - DISA

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