Theoria - DISA

also been relegated to the list of unessential subjects, has one
advantage over French in the struggle for existence in that it
is still a qualification for entry into certain professions. The most
disquieting thing is that the two languages should disappear
together. An educational programme which excludes the study
of both Latin and French (or of some other Romance language)
must be lopsided from the point of view of language and culture.
English and Afrikaans are heavily weighted on the Teutonic
side. No one can be said to be well versed in literature or in
language (though philological considerations are perhaps of
less importance) who has no acquaintance at all with the classical
tradition so poorly represented in both English and Afrikaans.
Such a person lacks not only that special knowledge, but a whole
set of values to apply to art and to life. He can remedy the
deficiency in some small measure by a study of French literature
where classicism in a modified form has inspired works worthy
to be compared with those of classical antiquity. His achievement
would thus serve a double purpose. While being initiated
into classical modes of thought he would at the same time be
gaining knowledge of a living language and so forging a link
with European culture. The fundamental difference between the
Latin and Teutonic temperament and tradition makes a study
of each other not only mutually profitable, but almost a duty to
the student who wishes to have a broad outlook and a balanced
appraisement of social and artistic achievement.
Finally, if this country is to achieve distinction in the civilised
world it seems clear that there must be some training in verbal
skill. In English, particularly, the level of expression is noticeably
low in both the written and the spoken word. The average
man in the street, though matriculated, is barely informed enough
in linguistic matters to recognise the ineptitudes of our worst
journalists and public speakers, still less to criticise them in
intelligible English. French prose with its logical construction,
and its unadorned clarity, offers a most excellent model. If
we are to raise the standard of expression in the mother tongue
there must be more linguistic practice, and here, again, French
can most suitably deputise for Latin. The French language is not
so difficult that it is possible after two or three years study
to be still unable to read texts with ease, yet it is complex enough
to make the study of it profitable from the linguistic point of
view. For the average student sacrifice and profit are perhaps
more evenly balanced here than in the study of the ancient
tongues.
The third language has recently been receiving more con-
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