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Summer School Review ORGAN OF THE UNIVERSITY SUMMER SCHOOL
Editor in Chief. JOSE C. ROSARIO. General Manager: J. GUEITS. Contribiiting Editors: Dr. J. J. OSUNA, ANTONIO J. COLORADO and Faculty and Student Body.
RIO PIEDRAS, PUERTO RICO.
YEAR IX, NO. 5.
AUGUST 3, 1931.
EDITORIAL RUDDLING THROUGH REASONING There was a time when men did not reason. They held long discussions, not to determine facts, but to
ferences in men are due only to education, then all men are born equal. In this way democracy came
come to an agreement upon what the Bible or Aristoteles said. The story is told that at a certain meet
into vogue.
ing of 'scholastics there took place a heated argu
If through reason we can discover the laws that
ment upon the number of teeth that a horse has.
govern nature, by watching the economic processes
A young and inexperienced member, suggested, after the controvei'sy had lasted for hours, that they
might step out and count the teeth of some of the horses which they had ridden to the meeting place. He was given the freezing look that is bestowed upon boys who interrupt the conversation of their elders with some foolish remark.
And the discus
But reason did not stop with the political system. we can discover the laws that govern them, and en
joy economic wellbeing. And since all men are born equal no one should be allowed to hamper others, and hence, laissez faire. We have long ago outgrown that kind of reason ing ; but we are still impeded by its fruits. Dem ocracy, which was based on the then prevalent idea
sion continiied. Then came the great advocate of that all men are born equal is still with us and experience: Machiavelli. Plis "The Prince" is a though its basis is no longer universally believed the survey of the ways in which the human mind works, people still decide by a majority vote, whether and how men can be controlled through the observa the Theory of Evolution should be accepted or not, tion of their behavior.
Hobbes and Locke followed
and whether the Hoover Plan for the rehabilitation
in his wake. Experience was to be, from then on the source of all knowledge; and reasoning the meth
of Germany is a wise measure. We are still trying to educate everyone, mainly od for its acquisition. Descartes introduced the hecause all men are born equal. We are punishing conception of a world to be ruled by natural laws, crimes in the same way regardless of who commits laws which could be discovered through reasoning. the crime for the same reason. Votes for women The world was soon indulging in an orgy of reason. are based on the same fallacy. Some of these fruits All knowledge was to be scrutinied under its power may be very exquisite and healthy, othera harmful; ful searchlight and accepted or refused upon this but we accept them joyfully because they all grow basis. By reasoning it was discovered that men were on the tree of reason. We are muddling through the product of their environment, and that, there reasoning. Locke has a larger share than ought to fore, education could make all men equal. If dif be his, in running our modern world.
The Teaching of English in Porto Rico By Fred C. Walters
artifice of the school—to children to whom the sec
iar, i.e, more or less unique, as a problem in the teaching of English. It is the contention of this article that the unique ness of the problem is due largely to the complicat ing effect of the two above mentioned factors; lack
ond language serves no useful function as a medium of communication (a problem impossible of solution
of sympathetic acceptances by the people.of Porto Rico, and lack of ready command of correct Eng
The problem of teaching English in Porto Rico is involved in very considerable difficulty. Aside from the problem of method and technique involved in the teaching of a second language—through the
in its present statement), there are present in the lish by the body of teachers. This does not mean Porto Rican situation two other factors of funda
that aU teachers lack the necessary command of
mental import. One of these is the problem of the English to teach it well. A number of teachers of presence, or its lack, of a sympathetic, willing ac my acquaintance use excellent English and speak ceptance by the people of Porto Rico of the second with ease and fluency. All is meant is that this is language (here English); and the other is the prob not so as a rule. A third complicating factor, and the one most lem of providing a body of teachers who know and use with a fair degree of correctness and fluency usually given, is the bi-lingual situation, as such. the English language. We sometimes hear it said that we do not know
This last factor—^the bi-lingual situation,—it should be noted, is not the unique factor in the Porto Rican
the truth lies in the fact that Porto Rico is pecul
provides the truth in the statement that we do not
how to teach English in Porto Rico. If this state situation. It is present in any situation wherever a ment be true, and it probably is to some extent, second language is taught. Nor is it the factor that
SUmiER SCHOOL REVIEW
know how to teach English in Porto Rico.
We
know, and know in terms of a fairly highly effec tive technique, how to teach a second language in situations uncomplicated by extraneous or irrelevant
factors. If, for example, it is a matter of teaching
tion in use.
As conditions maintain in the schools
today, niether of these requirements is adequately met.
Although the school through its organization has
aimed at the provision of adequate practice by pro
Spanish to an American child, or English to a Ger
viding that all instruction, other than instruction in
man child, or French to an English child, we know
the Spanish language, be conducted in English, from the fifth grade on, the aim is more or le.ss defeated
pretty well how to handle the-situation. The factor which complicates the Porto Rican sit
by the fact that instruction to get anywhere must
uation in the sense of giving to it its unique char be done in the language which the children under acter is not the bi-lingual factor as such, but the bi stand, and by the further fact that the teachers them lingual factor complicated bj'' certain local factors. selves, for most part, command English so imperfect The problem of teaching English then in Porto ly that they hesitate to use it. This is no disparage Rico, in so far as it differs from the problem in ment upon the teachers, however. They themselves other communities, is the problem of control of these have been asked to learn English under conditions
local factors. Further discussion will, therefore, be confined to the local factors involved.
It has already been stated that in the opinion of the writer there is lack of sympathetic acceptance uf English in Porto Rico, considered from the view
which were deficient both as to correct teaching and opportunity for use; and English, or any other lan guage, simply cannot be learned to the point of ready command under such conditions.
This brings us back to the point at which we start
point of effective teaching of English. Nothing is ed, the problem of teaching English in Porto Rico. here said, however, as to whether Porto Rico should
Current criticism of the inadequacj' of the teaching
-or should not accept English. This is a problem of English tends to place the responsibilitj^ for the for Porto Rico to decide. The only point the writer inadequacy upon the methods and techniques used in
wishes to make is that if there is a lack of sympa the schools. This is a misplaced emphasis. There thetic acceptance, then this lack will have a bearing is little to be gained by the refinement of methods and techniques of teaching English until the two on the effective teaching of English. The statement that there is a lack—for effective basal conditions—a body of teachers with ready
teaching of sympathetic acceptance of English is based on two considerations.
When a second lan
guage is taught, through the medium of the school,
^^^^tire people, there is always the possibility -that this second language may become a rival to the
mother tongue. This possibility of rivalry, if it gets into consciousness, arouses emotions that are ground ed in affection for the mother tongue. The aroused emotions m turn operate to set up opposition to the riva anguage. This does not necessarily presup
command of English and an environment wherein
use is not only a possibility but a necessity—have been provided. The problem of teaching English in Porto Rico at present is then essentially the prob lem of providing these two basic conditions. The peculiar difficulty of the problem resides in the fact that the solution of either of the basic conditions is
hinged upon the solution of the other, and that the solution of both is hinged upon the attitude of the people of Porto Rico toward English.
pose an opposition, in thought, to the second lan
guage. The people may feel the need of the second anguage, and at the same time somewhat fear it.
Contradictions of this sort are common in human
if
writer inthatPorto the state here pictured isthepresent Rico
of EnglSf
problem of the teaching
ROMANCE DE INFANCIA Amor de nihos: una
emocion dulce y diafana. La novia parecia cosa intocable y santa.
which is taken as indicative ot a lack consideration of sympathetic acceptance of English IS the presence in Porto Rico of a more or less
cuando nadie miraba
of
nuestros juegos, ya ella sabia que la amaba.
opposition the teaching Just how general thisto articulate ex-
ftp
i®'
influence
not^oT Wp can be sure, English, the writer know. We however, that ifdoes its .presence is at all general, its influence on the ef-
Me dijo que si un dia
En la tez de muneea
las inquietas pestanas nerviosas se movian
con expresion extrana.
The second factor mentioned at the outset, the
problem of providing a body of teachers who peak English readily and correctly is by far the Lost crucial factor entering the problem as it today pre sents Itself English in Porto Rico, for its teach^g,
depends wholly or almost so, upon the school. Out side of school the only language heard or used is Spanish. As the only basis of learning a language is through use, the burden placed upon the school is an unusually heavy one. It must not only provide cor rect teaching, but it must also provide the environ
ment through which the correct teaching is to func
—iAmor mistico?—Claro como agua limpia y mansa. Amor por las pupilas,
no por la boca^ hablaba. jMunequita de suaves guedajes enroscados! i Novia dulce de nino! jNoviecita de infaneia... 1
Alfonso Jimenez Hernandez, Estudiante.
SUiniER SCHOOL REVIEW
Problemas del Bilinguismo El Caso de Garriga Por Alfredo Silva
Profesor de Psicologia en la Universidad
Sobre el tapete esta la vieja cuestion del bilin guismo. Segun la puecle ajDreciar un observador desapasionado la cuestion no se reduce a si se debe o no se debe enseuar ingles a los escolares de Puerto Kico. No creo que baya en Puerto Rico seis personas de verdadera solvencia intelectual que se opongan a
que el nino puertorriqueno adquiera un nuevo medio de expresion. Seria un error, error erase, adoptar actitud seniejante. Cuando menos una mayoria de nuestros compatriotas necesita aprender ingles, mucho ingles, por razones de orden cultural, econo-
rio palabra por palabra y despues traducir el resumen al ingles de igual manera. No entendia a los americanos que me daban clase de ingles ni
al principal. Muy ridiculizado por los companeros por los disparates que deeia en las clases estuve en mucbas oeasiones por dejar la escuela. A mediados de ano me pasaron al curso de Ingles 2. En este semestre ya sabia bastante ingles y pertenecia al equipo de debates en ingles del segundo ano, el cual gano el campeonato sin una derrota en tres debates."
mico, y politico hasta cierto punto.
Veanse abora las notas obtenidas por Garriga en Para la que existe tenaz oposicion, segun se desprende de la lectura de la prensa, es para la ense- los dos anos que estudio en la Escuela Superior de nanza de la aritmetica EN ingl^, de la bistoria EN â– Humacao. De las doce asignaturas que curso once ingles, de la geografla EN ingles, del latin EN in las estudio EN INGLES siendo la otra Espanol 4;
gles, del frances EN ingles, del aleman EN ingles, etc. Existe tambien oposicion a que se ensene el ingles como asignatura desde el primer grado. Se sostiene que la ensenanza del ingles debe comenzar a los nueve anos, edad que corresponde, aproxijnadamente, a nuestro cuarto grado urbano. La oposi cion principal, pues, va dirigida a la practica actual de ensenar las asignaturas, desde el quinto grado en
adelante, EN INGLES. La censura que existe^ va enderezada al uso del ingles como medio de ensenan
A
..14
B
9
C
1
En esta escuela se graduo el joven espanol con *el mas alto honor de la clase: el valedictory. Observe el lector abora las notas que obtiene Ga rriga en las diez y seis asignatiiras cursadas en la Universidad de Puerto Rico en los dos ultimos anos.
za y no a que el niilo puertorriqueno aprenda ingles.
Estas asignaturas, exceptŠ el espanol, fueron estu-
Este es el verdadero issue, aunque algunos se empeiien en tergiversar la cuestion.
diadas EN INGLES:
En favor y en contra de la cuestion planteada se
A
10
presentan argumentos logicos, en esencia o apariencia ; evidencia experimental; estadisticas; sueiios fantasticos con caracter de pesadilla; y alocuciones altamente sentimentales de puro sabor cbauvinista.
B
13
C
4
En otros articulos el autor de estas lineas ha publi-
Resumiendo: Francisco Garriga, joven espanol queviene a Puerto Rico desconociendo en absolute el in
cado evidencia en favor y en contra del^ bilinguismo gles, empieza a estudiarlo a los quince anos, y a los como practica pedagogica. En este articulo se presenta un caso digno de estudio que jDodria dar alguna luz en el asunto. La mision del autor es arro-
jar luz sobre una cuestion palpitante y bajo ningun conceptŠ entrar en controversias politicas. Gusto de ir por los senderos que conducen a la verdad. Rebuyo entrar en discusiones en que la pasion enturbia el
dos aiios de su estada aqui, estudiando las asigna
turas en ingles, se gradua con los mas altos bonores de su clase en la Escuela Superior de Humacao. In-
gresa en la Universidad de Puerto Rico y en dos anos,
juicio.
baciendo sus estudios casi totalmente en ingles obtie ne notas superiores y babla un ingles comparable cuando menos al del estudiante promedio de la Unl versidad, quien ba estudiado ingles cuando menos du-
Francisco Garriga es un joven espanol de diez y nueve anos, estudiante actualmente de la Universi
ricanos del continente, le ban dado una calificacion
dad de Puerto Rico. Llego a la isla en abril de 1927 desconociendo en absolute el idioma ingles.
Habia
rante catorce anos.
Los catedraticos de ingles, ame
de B durante los dos aiios que ba permanecido en nuestra Universidad.
Se argiiira que Garriga es superior intelectualmencursado, si, ademas de la instruccion elemental, al gunos ailos de estudio en el Institute General y Tec- te. Sea. Pero empezo a estudiar ingles a los quince
nieo de Espana. Leanse sus palabras para que pue-
da apreciarse la importancia que para el asunto que nos ocupa tiene el caso del joven Garriga:
"En mayo de 1927 (a los 15 anos) empece a bablar y estudiar ingles con el principal de la escuela elemental de Huraacao quien me daba clases de una a dos boras diarias. Empece por el librito
que se da en primer grado, despues continue con los de segnndo y tercero, y al ingresar en septiembre en el tercer afio de la Escuela Superior estaba
empezando a estudiar en el Elson Reader. El Julio Cesar tenia que tradueirlo con un diceiona-
.L.,
aiios y despues de solo dos de estudio de la lengua de Shakespeare vencia en buena lid a todos sus com-
paiieros de clase, mucbos de ellos superiores tambien,
intelectualmente bablando, y con la ventaja sobre Garriga de baber estudiado durante dace anos el idio ma anglosajon. De lo anterior se desprenden seis becbos claros y terminantes:
1'' Garriga no necesito estudiar ingles desde el primer grado, ni siquiera desde el primer aiio de escuela superior para dominar, como domina, la lengua inglesa, ni para obtener, como ba obtenido, resul-
SUmiER SCHOOL REVIEW
4 .DIABOLIS
Fantasia
Moral
For Jos]6 A. Buitrago ANUNCIACION
Me he vuelto a la montana, porque la montana "ha de volcar sobre mi toda su barbara emocion. No
carbon: tragedia lugubre y vulgar. Ahora no, premisticismo ingenuo, ahora no; hasta el gotico me mento de la transformacion. Hasta el paseo regio de los odios. Hasta el paseo informe e inconcreto
femenina llrica de sensaciones placidas, serenas; sine ealor de infierno, diabolico entusiasmo para mis de las muertes bellas, en la intacta doncellez de sus .grandes saltos, saltos hacia la soledad imponderable. milenios candidos. Ha de ser este preludio de gran'Quieta la mi cordura siempre, la vida pendular que dezas: goce de sensaciones imprevistas; lujos invo•se derrama en gotas: humana, asquerosa biologla. luntarios, ajenos a toda conciencia individual, inmenHe querido para mi largo viaje, lueida enfermedad. -Ajrancarme de Ipgica y eerebro, prodigar demoniaca -sonrisa; earcajada no, que no eaiga en'Arlequin, SeJnor, que no eaiga en Arlequin.
sos en la suprema disolucion de los barros, polvorientos y ancianos.
VISION PBIMERA
danza loca de Josefina Baker. Reflejos de Paris, el Paris cosmopolita e injuste de la Exposicion. Me suena el tren a bomba, con el tropico al frente, hartandose de millas. De cuando en cuando un trompo: la estacion. Yo solo he eoncebido el negro, sin em bargo, en el magno memento, solemnemente tragico de la impresion primera, en que toda la vida es hori-
Es de noche y yo no tengo luz. Nunca la tuve. 3odeame el silencio como una capa amable y fami-
iiar. El vago y profundo temor de lo desconocido, 4sera el temor a Dios?, isera el temor de Dios? Papan los minutos como una procesion de tenebrosas fatigas. Pasa la mistiea vision—ahora—de mis vio-
INTERMEZZO NEGRO
Gozame la carne de pasion africana como una
lentos anbs. Vida interesante esta, en su monotonia. zonte y todo el conocer esta en los ojos. Igual, exaeta, identiea; pero a si misma. El beso DIABOLIS
jpristino de la anunciaeion se alarga hasta el final '^^como una despedida prolongada en el recuerdo. VISION SEGUNDA
Misteriosamente ban caido las sinfonias de los si-
Hencios, y toda la visualidad de mis ojos adquiere una como felinidad que impone lentamente un tenue rojo, violenta anunciaeion de la verdad, loca rapsodia en rosa, fanfarria absurda sobre motives carvdenos.
INTERMEZZO AZUL
Paris-Lyon-Mediterraneo. El Baedeker me enseha
Aqui, Sehor, hemos llegado. Arrancaseme la humanidad dolorosamente; para sentir la enorme sensacion del dia en que: "Gozaron los pajales el sadismo sonoro de mis plantus sangrantes,
Y" en la sequla triste de las yerbas dormidas hubo sangre de mi.''
Suicidio este de todos los dolores en el dolor supre mo, en el eterno goce de todos los sadismos, de todas las dulzuras amargas, de toda la maldad que se re sume en el supremo bien: DIABOLIS. Porque del mal, amigos ignorantes y sabios enemigos, ha de sur-
los caininos como una teoria espiritual. Hacia el azul caminan los trenes. Y yo solo he eoncebido el azul en los ojos nordicos de una bayadera imposible. gir la eterna juventud; ingenua, bondadosa, Candida. Para la divinidad o la diabolidad, mas bien, he de POST LUCEM: ENVIO inventarme yo escenarios brillantes, iluminados ojos de pupilas enfermas, sqicida heroicidad en los su premos ritos. Paris-Lyon-Mediterr^neo. Me arrasJtra el tren como un saco de barro, hacia lo azul. PREDIABOLIS
"Rojo. Avanzara mi ser hacia los fuegos, y seria tados superiores tahto en la eseuela de segunda -«nsehanza como en la Universidad.
'-2® Garriga no necesito estudiar sus asignaturas de la eseuela elemental ni las de los dos primeros anos de la eseuela superior. en ingles para triunfar en sus estudios.
3' A pesar de la desventaja de Garriga en lo que se refiere al eorto numero de ahos de estudio del
ingles (2 Garriga -contra 12 sus companeros), he comparado el 6xito del joven aludido, no solo con el de los estudiantes mediocres sino con el de los
superiores tanto en la Eseuela Superior como en la Universidad y la comparacidn results favorable
para el joven que estudid el ingles despu6s que ya dominaba el vernaculo.
Garriga habla y escribe el ingles tan bien cuando menos como el estudiante tipico de la Universidad. Sus profesores de lengua inglesa, americanos con-
tinentales, le han dado una califieacion de B, le-
Scriptum est. Escrito esta. Al divino, al amable Diablo, Senor de los Rojos Imperios, sabio anacoreta de los rojos silencios, ensalzador de todos los pecados: a El, senor de la suprema sabiduria, supremo
iniciador del noble apostolado de la maldad.
Universidad, Puerto Rico. tra que sigue en orden de m^rito a la A, que representa estudio superior. 5' Garriga, por haber hecho en castellano sus estu dios hasta el segundo ano de eseuela superior posee mayor dominio de la nomenclatura espanola
de las ciencias y artes por el estudiadas que la mayoria de sus companeros, y, por ende, se ex press en castellano mejor que ellos al tratar de las materias aludidas.
Aunque a base de un solo caso no se deben hacer
generalizaciones aplicables a otros casos la evidencia aqui presentada, la cual puede ser constatada por quienquiera que lo desee, dice tanto, forma un contraste tan marcado con lo que aqui ocurre, que es digna de profundas reflexiones por parte de aquellos que sinceramente desean que nuestros ninos aprendan ingl6s, mucho ingl6s, sin que se perjudiquen ni el idioma vernaculo ni la mentalidad infantil.
SUMMER SCHOOL REVIEW
Interesante Conferencia de Prudencio Rivera Martinez Seguro Social'^ El martes pasado, julio 28, a iuvitacion del Dr. compensacion a obreros y mantiene que esta ley es Osiiiia, Director de la Eseuela de Verano, dieto Pru muy buena en asencia, pero que su fracaso se debe dencio Rivera Martinez una interesante conferencia
sobre problemas obreros, dedicada a los inspectores que aciiden a la Eseuela de Verano. En su conferencia el seuor Rivera Martinez trato
ampliamente el tema ofrecido. Comenzo por limitarse a tratar aquella parte del seguro social que comprende los accidentes ocurridos en y durante el trabajo y las enfermedades ocupacionales. La teoria del seguro social como responsabilidad del estado se origino en Alemania y es Bismarck
a los siguientes factores:
1. Ingerencias politicas que desvirtuan los efectos de la ley.
2. El total de los gastos se cargan al fondo en lugar de sufragar sus gastos en parte el estado. 3. Aun en el caso de obreros del estado lesiona-
dos el estado dejo de contribuir como era debido.
4. El estancamiento creado por la accion de los grandes patronos en las cortes; y la accion de la Comision, condonando a 6stos media
quien la cristaliza en leyes obreras de proteccion. Descanza esta sobre el postulado de que es una obligacion moral del liombre y del estado ayudar a aque-
llos que producen las riquezas del mismo. ^ Se inten-
millon de ddlares.
5. El gasto extravagante por asistencia medica, en desproporcion manifiesta con las primas y
taba abolir las reclamaciones por el tardio proceso
legal corriente, para hacer posible que siguiera la justicia social otro curso mas expedite y de acuerdo eon las necesidades obreras. Toda perdida personal del obrero ei^ considerada por esta teoria corao un
salarios de los obreros.
La ley .ademas dejaba fuera a los trabajadores agricolas, que son la mayoria en este pais. No se aplicaba, adem^, a patronos que tuvieren menos de
elemento del costo de la produccion y debera,^ por lo tanto, en ultimo analisis, pagarlo el coi^umidor.
tres obreros, que son la mayoria.
obrero que se convierte en materia de responsabili
Para,terminar aconsejo el eonferenciante que era ne-
La nueva ley de 1928, segun el eonferenciante na
La comunidad debera, pues, asumir el rissgo del responds economicamente a nuestras necesidades. dad social.
El obrero tiene derecho a esperar pro
cesario estudiar detenidamente nuestras necesidades
teccion del estado, no de la caridad publica o pri- y posibilidades economicas, industriales y sociales, vada. Con esta teoria la proteccion del obrero se para poder finalmente hacer una legislaeion que resasienta sobre bases seguras de necesidad social y de pondiera de manera efectiva a las condiciones del responsabilidad del estado.
pais.
La conferencia del sehor Prudencio Rivera Marti La teoria del seguro social, y su aplicacion^ es re- nez fue muy favorablemente comentada por los asisciente en Estados Unidos; viene a este pais, mas
Felicitamos al Dr. Osuna por su iniciativa bien de Inglaterra que de Alemania. Ann hay mu- tentes. y al sehor Rivera Martinez por su atinado y noble-
cho por hacer en este respecto en Estados Unidos. En 28 de los estados de la Uni6n no existe el fondo 6stQcludl
Rivera Martinez liace un relato sucinto del pro-
greso realizado en Estados Unidos en lo que respecta
esfuerzo.
MOMENTOS CON EMAQUIN I.
al seguro social. Describe a grandes rasgos los pasos
Mahana subiran los espejos
seguidos en ese pais y relata aquellos casos en que
—^palabras—fosforos eon alma— que saltaron tu ventana prendieron granos de luz
el progreso del seguro social se retarda debido a las interpretaciones constitucionales. . Hace notar el eonferenciante el hecho significati
ve de que los trabajadores agricolas ban side los tiltimos en recibir los beneficios de estas leyes del
seguro social. Aun hoy dia solo en New Jersey, en Hawaii y en Puerto Rico, estdn estos trabajadores
siendo objeto de las leyes a que nos hemos referido. Despues enumera el senor Rivera Martinez una
serie de enfermedades ocupacionales y se detiene en
algunos casos muy interesantes de enfermedades resultantes de ocupaciones que al parecer son las menos dahinas. La manera como Rivera Martinez trata la tuberculosis en relacidn con las ocupaciones, es interesante y sensata en extreme.
al tejado de mi casa:
en cada lampara. II. El minuto no tiene calles mi amor va en tu mano
por los aires. III.
Est&s en la baraja de mi recuerdo, —^imagen—carta perfecta. El invierno no te vio
jni la primaveral IV.
La legislacidn obfera en Puerto Rico es motive de acertados comentarios por parte del eonferenciante.
La noche ech6 en sus negros
taurarse el regimen norteamericano. Pero, despues de
nuestros ayeres de eristal —^partidos senderos.—
Comienza 6sta en Puerto Rico poco despues de ii^-
algunas tentativas, hasta el 1916 no se aprueba la primera ley de compens^cion a obreros efectiva. Prudencio Rivera reconoce la labor bien intenciona-
da de nuestra legislatura, y en general el espiritu que la animaba.
Hace un estudio critico de nuestra actual ley de
Naufragio en horizonte...
Yo volvi en la palabra —parto mfigieo—de la mahana.
jTu? No s6. jQui&ii eres? Busear6 el paquete de mis ayeres.
1931.
Jorge Luis 06mez.
SUMMEE SCHOOL REVIEW
Are Bilingual Children Able to Think in Either Language with Equal Facility and Accuracy? By Antonio RoDRfouEZ, Jr.
The Porto Rieans, a people of Spanish extrac-
"tion, who have been developing during the last thirty years a bilingual system of instruction in order to
preserve their mother tongue (Spanish) and to ac•quire the language (English) of the country of which they are citizens, offer a unique situation for the study of the problem raised by the title of this
ability to get meaning from paragraphs, sentences,
and words were reduced to grade equivalents. Table 2 shows the results,
Table l—Comparison of the Spanish and English Vocabularies of Bilingual Porto Bican Children Difference Difference
jpaper.
1
.
1
7
„
ihe educational system has been patterned after
lhat prevailing in continental United States, with a predominantly linguistic curriculum.
Mother Tongue
Gradea
(Spanish)
Second Language
In favor of Mother
(English)
Tongue
in favor of Second
iisnguage
Elementary V
5.7
4.0
1.7
The mother tongue (Spanish) is the medium of ™ instruction in grades I-IV, and the second language vttt .(English) is taught as a special subject orally in tr- l c; u
77 ix
-a
i«
•the first two grades, while reading is postponed until the third grade. From the fifth grade on all in-
..Z.
struction is in English; while Spanish is taught as L' , , ''t, , , , a special subject. Spanish, being the native IanTo tnrr"'' elementary school: guage of the people, is spoken by everybody, while Average difference in favor of mother tongue in high school: English has been acquired and the present educated generation has the ability to speak it with sufficient
laciiity to make themselves understood. The teach-
^^ears.
comparison could be made in the primary
ing IS done almost entirely by Porto Rican teachers gi'ades inasmuch as no tests were given below the
who speak both language, being more proficient, how- fifth grade in reading in the second language. The vernacular, as might be expected, al- tests reveal conclusively that there is a veiy signifi-
though they use English almost exclusively during
school hours.
The data in fiiic!
, .
testing done bv thp
difference in reading in favor of the mother
tongue. In no instance is there a difference in favor ®f reading in the second language. The average dif-
e scores made in the ference in reading in the elementary school is almost
tSte Ld 4re tle%t/n7Li ""d. in the high school, three years. The reader must understand that the tests were the same Spanfah tL tits e.xeept that they were in two languages. The Porto Rican conditions Thev to meet the Porto Riean children cannot read with the same facility and to twelve inclusive. tLi-c weleTot iZ than^Vnnn languages because of lack of practise to more than 9 500 sohnnl
SvstpTTi nf Piio>.+
u^ scares
1^
Public Educational
I ^^7
The medi-
Aohievomont Achievement T Tests for .nil® 1925. norms for the Stanford 1 Hmn fin
4 Of
enTvio f
T>'
Table 2—Comparison of the Reading Abilities of Porto
Rican Children in Spanish and English Mother Tongue
Grades
7 17
.7 children compare in the ex- Elementary and English vocabiUai'iesI—The V
ffuTL
was given in both Ian-
equivalents. Table 1 shows the results.
(Spanish)
second mMother favor of Language (English)
5.3
3.9
1.4
VI
5.9
4.4
1.5
VIII
6.9
5.3
1.6
.......9.8
6.6
f'l 3.2
There IS a very significant difference in the Eng-
lisshinstruction and bpauLsh Though the medium <of fromvocabularies. the fifth grade on is Ene-Iish ^ all differences are in fnvoT.
Thp tPstino. ^hnwc '
Tongue
in Second favor of Language
Average difference in favor of mother tongue in elementary school:
• tlie mother tongue. Average 1.7 years. difference in favor of mother tongue in high school:
there is a difference of two
years m the fementary school and three years in
the hfgh school. The Porto Rican children in theb mother tongue compare favorably with the vocabulary of continental children. 9 Arp hilinrninl
7 ih Jfi^ifi /nnpo
(All 04 y.9 Tho .canle
V7 ^
Porto Bican children compare in the mastery of the Spanish and English language ?—For
7 .,,
purposc of tliis paper, language consi.sts of the
children able to read ability to recognize correctness and incorrectues in
and and ac- language, and languages, spelling ability. te.sts were s wm^esame given facilities in the native given in both SpanishThe andsame EnglLsh. The
sec()nc anguage 0 9^ o Rican children. The com- average composite scores in each grade were reduced posite scoj'es in Tlie clitterent grades on the tests on to grade equivalents. The results appear in Table 3.
SUMMER SCHOOL REVIEW
In Defense of Scholarship "When we call a person a "scholar" we may not always mean the same thing. Words are subject to different interpretations according to the particular time, person or qualities referred to, and also accord
ing to the sympathy, antipathy or particular malice
sible, debunks them as being too sour and altogether undesirable. It goes without saying that their state ments have to be taken with more than a tablespoonful of, salt.
Now, it stands to reason that a student who has
secured his Doctor's degree has not, eo ipso, become a great teacher. Nor does excellency in scholarship When Vasari, a contemporary of Michel Angelo, necessarily imply instrumentality in teaching. The called the French cathedrals "gothic" he wished to title of M. D. does not make a great physician, nor express a contempt for Northern art which the term does the title of licenciado make a great lawyer. "gothic" no longer conveys to us. Moliere and Zola These facts are so obvious that one almost feels like were both naturalists, yet their naturalism was of apologizing for mentioning them. It is also more a very different kind.' When H. L. Mencken begins than evident that there are boneheads and charla to talk about Methodists, the Rotary Club or Com- tans in all professions—perhaps more so in other stockism we know at once that there is going to be professions than in teaching—and that the granting of the speaker. Voltaire used to say: "Si vous voulez discuter avec moi, definissez vos termes!"
an entertaining carnage. There are teachers who can not mention the words "scholarship" or "Ph. D."
of 'a degree—by some institutions given away like
without snubbing their noses and exhibiting a broad Mephistophelian grimace, looking upon the titles
changed into a great light that is to guide humanity. Great teachers are born, not made, and great intel lect (vis ingenni) is a gift prenatal, not a derogative
mentioned as upon something undesirable, malodor ous and gained at the expense of teaching ability and originality. A great many of those scholarshipshy teachers merely do so in order to justify their
hotcakes—does not mean that a
dunce has been
purchased at the gates of the Academy after having
sembling the fox in one of La Pontainelis = fables,
worn off many pairs of pants on its hard benches. This does not mean that the technique of teaching is something inaccessible to the teacher of average ability. Nor does it exclude the possibility of intel-
which, finding the long-wished-for grapes inacces
(Continued on page 10)
Table 3—Comparison of tbe Standing of Porto Bican Children in the Mastery of the Spanish and English Languages
highly affected and influenced by the Spanish accent, expression intonation, and construction.
own lack of scholarship and academic training, re
Grades
Difference
Difference
Mother
Second
in favor of
in favor of
Tongue (Spanish)
Language (English)
Mother Tongue
Second Language
Elementary
4. Conclusion—As evidenced in the language sit
uation in Porto Rico, the following points seems evident:
1.—Thought-getting and thought-expressing are de pendent upon language power and Porto Rican chil
V
6.6
4.2
2.4
VI
7.5
4.9
2.6
Vir
8.4
5.4
3.0
VIII
8.0
5.9
2.6
instruction from the fifth grade on is English, yet all 'differences are in favor of the mother tongue be
9.6
6.7
2.9
life in Porto Rico.
High.School I
dren are unable to think in both languages with the same facility and accuracj\ Though the medium of cause it is the tool which functions in the community
II
Average difference in favor of mother tongue in elementary school; 2.7 years.
Average difference in favor of mother tongue in high school: 2.9 years.
In language attainments there is a very consider able difference in favor of the mother tongue. In
a general way the average sixth-grade child in Span ish has a third-grade achievement in English. Span ish is a powerful tool as a means of expression and communication among Porto Rican children. The tests so far reveal that thought-expressing is depend ent upon language power, and that Porto Rican chil dren are very proficient in the use of Spanish. They have not reached that state of bilingualism where they
master both languages with the same facility and ac curacy, and it may well be questioned whether they will ever reach that stage. The main difficulty is the fact that English is taught in a monolingual environ ment, where the people in their everyday life activi
2.—In bilingual system of instruction there are sev
eral factors which account for the lags in the stand
ing of the children in the mastery of both languages, namel5% degree of affinity between the mother tongue and second language; extent of the time in which the second language has been introduced into the school system; the extent to which both languages are used, lieard, and spoken in the community; and teaching factors. 3.—It makes very much difference when the test
ing is done in the mother tongue or second language. When the second language is used as an instrument, what is tested is a partial amount of the child's
knowledge, and the child's ability to use the second language.
4.—The difference in vocabularies, reading, and language are due to language insufficiency, and it must be inferred that when the second language is
used as an instrument of instruction, there is very much waste because of the child's unfamiliarity with
ties are continually called upon to use Spanish. The English learned in the elementary school is used almo.st exclusively in the classroom. It lacks the ele ment of practise with native English-speaking people, which is so nece.ssary in the mastery of a foreign lan
certain terms and idiomatic expressions. 5.—There is transfer because language is simply the tool in assimilating meanings. Children have a good receptive power and a poor expressive power in
guage. The English spoken by the Porto Ricans is
the second language.
SUmiER SCHOOL REVIEW
Need of Science Teaching in the Elementary School By Rosa Navarro
From birth individuals are required to adapt themselves to the physical world in which they live. So education is not a static condition but a dynamic process. One aspect of our environment is called Nature. The methods, approach or attitudes em ployed in its interpretation, appreciation and util ization are called science.
or why it rains, or how mosquitos sing or how they eat and yet hardly any of these questions are an swered when they are asked, for it has been thought that science is to be taught in the higher grades, in high schools. Many are they who have reached
High School before learning why the petals of some flowers are brilliantly colored while others are dull.
The child with whom we deal has around Tiitti
We know that children think scientifically before
the appliances of modern science and the results of
they can read or write, though they cannot express
modern thought. He lives in a scientific age and
methods of thinking and doing. Thus prepared he
themselves accurately due to their limited experi ence. The questions which they ask and which are so seldom answered, if given due attention, would
can rediscover for himself facts which he has hot
serve to keep alive their desire to learn the why and
yet acquired or which are buried in the storehouses
wherefore or what they see about them, would stim ulate their curiosity. If their curiosity is stimulat ed, the habit of wanting to know is developed. So in the elementary school, children should begin by becoming acquainted with animate and inanimate ob jects: animals, plants, trees, rocks, streams. Later they should learn how to take care of animals, plants,
so he should know and be able to utilize the scientific
of knowledge which we have today. It is far more important for a child to acquire the ability to dis
cover facts for himself than to acquire a large stock of memorized facts and theories.
From a purely utilitarian point of view, a knowl edge of science, the ability to interpret his environ
ment, is a^ necessity to every individual, to every soil. Atg^^he next stage, they should become aware
of th^manges observed in inanimate things and how the carpenter works, how the musician plays, shoul(^^^in by simple experimentation in biological, how we get our water and light, how automobiles, physical and chemical phenomena. In the upiDer bicycles,^ trolley cars move, how we cook our food, grades, science should be more systematic, because
child in this scientific age. In order to understand
how sewing machines work, we make use of scientific children by this time will have a basis of sense ac methods.
To be able to observe what is around us, plants and animals, water, sky, stars, soils, rocks and all phenomena around us is a great achievement. There possibilities for instruction in
smentific observation and in appreciation of natural phenomena. In Porto Rico this is an immediate need. We can judge this necessity by the lack of
pblic parlK and gardens, by the sad sight presented
by many of our seashores and plazas. Our shortage
0 birds and trees show a lack of appreciation not only from an esthetic point of view but from an economic one as well.
quired knowledge sharpened by constant use, and a scientific approach, interest in problems and in the principles upon which their solution is based. This scientific spirit is necessary for success in this modern age. Nowadays we need to be immune to superstition. The need for science teaching in the elementary school can be judged by:
1.—The lack of appreciation of our environment. 2.—The lack of scientific interest.
3.—The failure of special sciences to function in the schools.
4.—The failure to adopt a usable scientific atti tude and failure to appreciate the value of science.
Every one needs to know about the mechanics and
chemistry of his own body in order that he may keep it running without undue recourse to the doc^ through a properly developed sci entific approach that we are able to check diseases such as hookworm, malaria and others that can be prevented.
LA ULTIMA FIESTA DE LA ESCUELA DE VEBANO
El Moonlight Sing, anunciado para el 29 no pudo
So, science needs to be studied not to make sci llevarse a efecto por la lluvia. Hubo necesidad de entists but to tr^ children to become educated lay- posponer el programa para el dia siguiente, y siemmen. As su^ sfehey need certain abilities, apprecia pre hubo de llevarse a cabo en el Salon de Actos.
tions, attituto and knowledge which can be acquired La orquesta de Carmelo estuvo, como .siempre, ma only through science. Science helps to interpret gistral, especialmente en la interpretacion de unos
factora in the environment which would otherwise "blues" y las danzas puertorriquenas. Carmelo tuvo,
remain a mystery. It explains such things as a para complacer al publico, que toear algunos nume-
little drop of water as well as our entire universe. One can see daily the way in which science is mak
ros extras.
Canario y sto Grupo, fueron la sensacion de^ la no-
ing fundamental changes which affect the pattern che. Es el grupo de cantantes populares mas bien of ones life. Science is the subject which interprets escogido que hemos oido. Las guitarras son magni"the environment and ones relation to it, the how ficas; las voces muy buenas y la^ simpatia y atracand why of things, and therefore this subject de serves 3 jnore important place in the elementary
school.
Children ask all kinds of questions about the things
cion de Canario encantaron al publico.
Las guitarras obsequiaron al publico con un numero de guitarras que fue muy aplaudido. A pesar de la lluvia y de los inconvenientes de
around them though they ignore what science means. ultima hora la fiesta fue un exito mas para el Di
Many of them have asked us why the stars are bright rector Social de la Escuela de Verano.
SUMMER SCHOOL REVIEW
Odds
and
Ends
By R. W. RAMfEEZ, Jr. Various admirers (?) of mine asked me why my column did not appear last Monday. I was very sorry not to have one in and I beg your pardon on .bended elbows. The fact is that I spent last week end recovering from the pasteles and that miserable
liquid they served us alias ice cream at the picnic. • Among those not present was our old friend
lish class how they were going to decide Tilden's amateur standing, whereat she answered: "Oh, in a tennis court.''
I understand the Hogar Masonico girls look quite human this summer; they have shed their uniform. My esteemed fraternity brother "Frigidaire" Juli4 has just left the camp where he was learning how to
"givemeaeigarette" Garcia Aneses, reported to be at dodge shells, and has made his debut in the Assem the Insular Insane Asylum in some capacity or other. bly Hall, where his shell dodging lessons will no doubt Among those present we remember seeing our old help him when the tomatoes and oranges skins friend John Haig, a loyal subject of King George, (vulgarly known as chuponazos) begin to fly. The other day a car came by here with windows who was on his way to London where he expects to that you could not see through unless you were inside. This caused right much excitement in the reporters that they expected to stay at the White dean of women office, but an investigation by "PoHorse Inn (the height of Perfection) until their males" Berrios, the new watchman, showed that it friend Ely Whitney took his seat in The House of was merely an exhibition car and would not be sold
join the Canadian Club. His companion, that tri
angular Scotchman Auld George told the REVIEW
Lords. Then they expect to go to Paris and see that to any one under six hundred years old and all the ^ost famous of women. Widow Cliquot, who has in fears where quelled. I happen to find a copy of the Psychology De vited them to her plantation where she grows a rare partment's secret investigation of cheating. I under kind of sugar cane which only grows two^^^t high, and.for this reason is call caiiita.
The
was
stand that the net result was, that every body now
glad knows that of every one himdred students in the that Colorado has published all those speecl^^ I al Newniversity ninety-nine cheat and the other one is ways prefer hearing a speech in a newspaper to hear a darn liar. I offered a good way of eliminating ing it from the mouth of the orator. Our secret cheating, but the Psychology Department, after long ngent number 999 has reported that the library orna- deliberation, decided they could not use it, as it nient previously referred to has a cigarette lighter could be effected without using either Greek names, quite wet, even the pasteles were stewed,
long columns of figures showing the relative intel ligence of the long tail rat and movie stars who sing The other day Bustelo and I (a charming young like "Buddie" or complicated graphs showing the fellow) went to an apron party but it was a com percentage of water preferred by the school chil plete failure, as we sat rather far from the sand and a girl and that neitlier one works.
dren in their oats. (The English Department tells wiches and had to depart sandwiehless. As we left me there is something wrong with that sentence— I noticed that I have been reported in one of the I don't mean that the children are in the oats, I niany subjects which I am not taking this summer; mean that the water is in the oats.) Personally as you know I am afraid to go to find out which one I am not a horse I prefer coffee in the morning. My f Was reported in ; it would be an honor to be re plan was that if they eliminated exams they would ported in History of Contemporary Civilization but eliminate cheating.
it Would be rather embarrasing to find out that^hey kad reported me in Child Nursing or How the Baby in the Tropic. « I suppose these people in the office are
to using my name in vain on the report sheets tbey just stock it#n "in case." I consulted the deau^ of the Law Sclibl about this to see if I could
the University and he assured me that this was un,'doubtedly a tort ex-curricula. I went to see El cio de un Beso, which they were showing for the fifty-second time, but it seems that the picture was
so rotten that out of self-respect it refused to work.
I saw the Spoilers which is a pretty good show in spite of the fact that the producer raided some
paleontological museum and gave that fossil Uety
Compson a job. I like to go to the show here, they
kave a good ventilation system and you can be as
cool as a cucumber unless of course you are piclded. I hear that Amadeo is waiting for his Doctor Juris degree in Chicago. He is majoring ui ham n eggs, f did not go to see Saiga de la Cocina as I have a perfectly good bed at home and I prefe«o sleep in it
However I did go to see Buddy Rogers and
TOE PUDOB En el mistico arcano
4 de la vida eternal Uoraron los ili^tres borinquenos,
al saber que unos hombres yenden su patria, olvidan ya sus nombres, negando el ideal de sus empeups. CONFIDENCIA En ieii intiino ambiente
del aul^ majestuosa
mania de saber me entusiasmaba, cuando apenas te veo, boricua hermosa, amarte es mi deseo, Porque antes de verte ya te amaba. Mei'minio Torres Grillo. M,
r
Helen "quinine Cane." I don't remember how I hap pen to go because I was absolutely sober at the time.,
SUMMEmiSQHOCft MEVIEW
Last week some one ask my mother in her Eng
POBTO BICO PB0GBES8
is 'printed hy
SUMIMER SCHOOL REVIEW
10
scientific expeditions. Being an expert psychologist and possessing a rare gift of analj^zing and a pas lect being—at least slightly—improved by such sion for discovering universal truths, he made a care stimuli as training, experience and associations. Yet, ful study of the Greek literature of his time in order the truth remains, to quote A. France," on ne sort to ascertain just what laws were inherents in such jamais de soi-meme. Nous sommes emprisonnes dans tragedies as those of Aeschylus and Sophocles, trag notre personnalite eomme dans une prison perpe- edies which had seized so powerfully upon the hearts tuelle." What the Ancients called Fate we call de of his contemporaries. The result of his scholarly
IN DEFENSE OP SCHOLARSHIP (Continued from page 7)
terminism such as conditioned by our hereditary, investigation or research (circulare: examine a sub intellectual and psychological pattern as well as by ject from all sides by going around it) was his outside influences over which we have little control. Poetics, a book which has remained unsurpassed. To quote Taine: "Just like the waves in a large The scholars of the Alexandrian School distin river, we all make a little motion,of our own, we all guished themselves by erudition rather than by make a little noise in the large current which carries originality of ideas. But, if, on the one hand, they us away, but we are forced to go with the current, failed to vitalize their aestheticism and their philol and we only advance because of its pressure." ogy, and proved themselves unable to dominate the Determinism may not necessarily have a meaning many minute facts which filled their commentaries, as pessimistic as some of the XlXth century philos they must be credited with having preserved the old ophers such as Schopenhauer wished to give to it. Hellenic culture and having it handed over the Rome Let us asknowledge cheerfully our short-comings and in a form capable of being understood. They were develop those gifts that were given to us as com scholars mostly eminent for learning. Yet, as said, pensation. The old Greek saying "Know thyself" the true scholar is characterized by a great passion
remains the keystone of all success in life, and it for unveiling the truth as well as by his ability to
should be the guiding light for all those entering a profession. Know thyself and know the needs and
the dangers which will present themselves during the long professional journey. A skipper having no knowledge of seafaring will be lost in the fog or cast on dangerous reefs in spite of all his daring, strength and sturdyness. A teacher with no knowledge of true scholarship, a statesman with no knowledge of statesmanship, a general with no Imowledge of war fare, they all will be lost in the "fog" and stranded
vitalize his ideas.
Medieval scholarship, in as far as it was allowed to grow an the shadow of the Church, confined it self m^airdy to ecclesiastic scholasticism. Pew were those who dared to think freely and declare
Abelard that only things understood should be be lieved. Philo.sophy was identified with theology; history with Providence; reason became the hand maid of faith (credo quia absurdum) and intellectual curiosity (libido sciendi) was deliberately opposed, upon the shores of the kingdom of fools where men in the "City of God" and branded as one of the are branded as failures and looked upon as carica deadly sins. Dr. Faustus' lust for knowledge led
tures.
him straight into the clutches of the devil and to eternal damnation. Now, people who no longer dare j standing types of the Italian Commedia dell Arte sum up three professional characters to do their own thinking but accept blindly which, towards the end of the Middle Ages, got lost thority of the written letter, are liable to drift into m the tog: the pedant—teacher (II Dottore), the the paradise of formalism where form outrivals
braggadocio-captain (II Capitano) and the parvenu Philistine bourgeo (II Pantalone). Yet, true
"fond." It was at that time that there were born
the narrow-minded and conceited Dottore and his
soldiers and true pioneers, traders and brother-in-arms, the pedant, really one and the lacking.
What Moliere—so
person at different stages of their intellectua
^wisned ; 7 to ridicule wasthenotItalian Comedy ofnot Masks the true scholar, the fprmation. They strove to crush by sheer
e-
,au,liiGMty, quoted ad infinitum and ad absiirduni,
ysieian, not the middle class bourgeoisie—to ashd ^etideavoured to pigeonhole talent and know which he himself belonged—^but their pretense of :Gd'g;e' into the narrow and suffocating channels ot wisJimg to be something which they were not. A
^ sciolar more curious of words than of their meaiir medieval formalism. During the Renaissance (the coming to seli-conmg IS not a true scholar; a physician pretendii^ to sciousness) reason, after an interregnum of a thou have discovered a panacea that will cure all diseases sand years, resumed its birthright. During the early IS a quack; a...^VIIth century burgeois like M. Renaissance it had been possible to be a universal Jourdain w^i Wished to pose as a gentilhoinme of scholar, possess complete knowledge "de omni re aristocratic breeding and assume airs of great cul scibili," to i.e of all that could be known at that time: ture was an uutright fool. We must thefefor know The "Speculum majus" of Vincent de Beauvais oiirselyes and remain true to ourselves, as well as to and the "Tesorretto" of Brunetto Latini were the spirit of the profession upon which we enter. written towards 1260, shortly before Jean de Meung
What then constitutes true scholarshipl Before at
to work in order to add a second and ency tempting a difinition it might be worth while to set clopaedic part to the idealistic and psycholo^cal love examine the aspects that scholarship assumed during poem of G. de Lorris' Roman de la Rose. When the the most important epochs of intellectual achieve intellectual and artistic treasures of antiquity were
ments.
a libi-ary, to collect botanical and zoological material,
rediscovered, when collecting ancient manuscripts became a passion and when the old hide-bound scholas1>m spirit of conservation had to yield to the new syjiriti^of humanism (studii humaniores) which considered life and object in itself and endeavoured to divorce tliought from the prestige of the Church, scholarship became identified with "classical scholar
documents of political constitutions, and to finance
ship."
Aristotle was one of the greatest scholars of" an
tiquity, showing an all embracing sympathy for all that interests man, andf an-.eagerness to search for
the truth (causa immanens) Vithout which things have no meaning. He was first to gather together
SUMMER SCHOOL REVIEW
11
Problemas del Bilinguismo For el Dr. Samuel Gili Gaya (Coutinuacion)
Y si e.sto ociirre con ejemplos tan materiales como
los que acabo de presentar, simples imagenes visuales, iqne oenrrira enando el poder evoeador de la palabra estremezea nuestra vida afectiva?
Y si esto
dad propia es lo dificil, y no aglomerar vocablos que proclaman la hoquedad sonora del que habla. La excelencia del espauol procede de tener muchos medios liugulsticos para dar forma a muchos mati ces de esplritu, pero no en el absurdo de poseer re cursos variados para una idea linica. Es decir, la
ocurre a la mera sitnaeion reeeptora y pasiva del leiiguaje, mucho mas ocurrira eiiando hablamos a riqueza de un idioma hay que busearla tambien en los demas; entonees creamos el lenguaje, somos ar- su profundidad y no en su extension. Y como dos tistas de la i>alabra. No es un mero chiste el de palabras tienen de comun precisamente aquello que Moliere euando nos prese;ita un burgues gentilliom- es menos individual resulta que el muchacho edubre, jM. Jourdain, asombrado ante el descubrimiento cado en la eseuela bilingiie tiende a servirse en ambas lenguas de las palabras mas conceptuales, de las de que hablaba en prosa: "Entonees yo hago prosa," dice el personaje al que tienen menor contenido vital, es decir de las que eucontrarse a si mismo convertido en artista.
Todos
mas se acomoden al estilo comiin y mas se aparten
nosotros i)or muy burgueses que seamos, liacemos de su estilo propio. Por eso el lenguaje cientifico prosa, como M. Jourdain: Hablar es crear formas
no sufre por ello; pero si el artistico.
Pero si solo fuera esto, todavia podrlamos espede expresion. rar que el ejercicio y el habito llegaran a vencerlo Sucede, sin embargo, que segun se lia visto, los complejos de vivencia expresados no coinciden con todo. !Mas ocurre que una palabra no es solo un los percibidos. ifintre dos interlocutores hay siem- conjunto de representaciones actuales, sino el gerpre algo intrasmisible que es a la vez lo mfis perso men de signifieaciones potenciales. Una palabra no nal de uno y otro. Lo que mejor se trasmite y re- es solo lo que siguifica sino lo que puede significar; cibe son precisamente las ideas mas esqiiematicas, irradia en torno suyo significados posibles. Asi se nias conceptuales, y por consiguiente las mends in- ban forma do y se estiin formando todas las lenguas. metafora es el alma de una lengua; pero ya he dividuales. Cuanto m{\s se desvitaliza una palabra, La dicho que no quiero examinar las cosas desde el euando va perdiendo riqueza y colorido, y como una punto de vista de la conveniencia de un idioma, simple construccion mental se Ya apartaudo de la
vida individual que la creo, mas facil es entenderla sino en cuanto influye en el desarroUo individual. para todo el mundo. Los numeros, por ejemplo, no
El hombre acostumbrado desde su infaneia a esta-
bleeer igualdad entre palabras de lenguas distintas, acaba por agotar su capacidad metaforica, porque > por eso al decir cinco, cinq o five, todos los no siempre, ni con mucho, una metafora es igualpercibiinos por igual, precisamente porque no hay mente tolerada por dos lenguas diferentes.
son mas que conceptos, esquemas sin contenido sen-
en ellos nada que percibir; son una simple forma
El bilingiiismo es, por consiguiente, el mayor ene-
del pensamiento.
migo de las actividades artisticas de la palabra, por Ahora bien, el niho que asista a una eseuela de que en su afan de precision intelectual despoja al lengua distinta de la materna adquiere un doble
sistema de signos; pero esta duplicidad debilita la lenguaje de la atmosfera sentimental que lo rodea. Con demasiada frecuencia hablamos sin ton ni Profundidad y la coherencia de sus asociaciones. Si son. Perdemos a menudo el sentido artistico y casi nna idea se expresa de dos maneras distintas segiiu
las gramaticas, y los diceionarios, es natural que ten- religioso del lenguaje, y las palabras fluyen de nues-
damos a igualar absolutamente las ideas que nos tros labios monotonas e insignificantes, sin ritmo, sin luz, sin gracia. Hablamos por hablar, sin que
pr^entan como equivalentes.
Esta misma observacion puede llevarse al domi- acompahe a nuestras palabras la alegrla estremecida
nio particular de una sola lengua.
Hay personas
Qne,^ pensando dar muestra de recursos oratorios o estilisticos van empedrando su lenguaje de voces sinonimas. Pero ocurre que no hay verdaderos sinonimos en sentido absolute, y que cada palabra tiene un matiz propio y partieularisimo. Y el que aglo-
de inventar formas de vida y expresion; y entonees
nuestra prosa descolorida es la prosa de M. Jourdain. Para quien no rebase el nivel medio de aquel bur gues gentilhombre no tendra importancia la profun didad; su vida es una superficie lisa, y nada mas
practice que un par de ruedas para resbalar por
naera sinonimos al buen tuntiin, lejos de hacer gala ella sin meterse en honduras complicadas de cuatro
de un lenguaje rico y brillante, nos esta demostran-
ilusos.
do su pobreza mental que no distingue matices, y
La ensenanza bilingiie sera, pues, excelente parU un tipo de educacion que aspire a uniformar a los hombres, a obtener un standard humano que absorba los valores personates en la masa gris de las ideas
Que saea de su almacen verbal un chorro de voca-
blos euya significacion ignora. Noten ustedes que tales personas llegan a una nivelacion de signifieados, porque lo que se gana en extension se pierde comunes. Para quienes piensen que democracia es en profundidad; ni mas ni menos que lo que sucede sinonimo de nivelacion, la eseuela bilingiie sera su al considerar como sinonimos voces de lenguas dife-
mejor aliada. Mas los que ereemos que la mision
rentes.
de la sociedad no puede ser otra que la de favorecer, estimular, facilitar medios y evitar tropiezos, y que
Por esto se equivocan los que alaban la lengua eastellana por su abundaneia de sinonimos, y pien- el acto verdaderamente creador se encierra en las
san que nuestra lengua puede expresar la misma cosa profundidades de la vida individual, no podemos ver de distintas maneras. No, cada momento de la vida sin tristeza, un sistema educative que limita las fatiene su expresion adecuada; acertar con la modali- cultades creadoras del espiritu.
SUMMER SCHOOL REVIEW
12
Cronica de un Viajero (Continuaci6n)
Solamente he visto dos o tres grupos de norteamericanos. La propuesta del Presidente Hoover a Prancia para la cooperacion con Alemania en la cues-
tion de las reparaeiones y las deudas de la guerra esta haciendo mncho ruido aqm. Los periodicos se ocupan muy vivamente del asunto y con mi diccionario portatil y la lista de conjugaciones de verbos y con mncho sudor, linea por Imea, saco el sentido de los articnlos.
Gervestein, Die Eifee, Alemania, 2 de julio. Dudo que se encuentre este pueblo en el mapa
ticas de Alemania. El Rhine es muj' romantico, por alH muchas ruinas—muclias lej^endas—pasamos el
punto llamado Lorelei—la famosa leyenda de la sirena que al pasarlas, llevaba a los marineros a la destruccion; todo el mundo a bordo, al pasarle, cantaron los conocidos versos de Hernnich Heine: Ich weiss nieht was soil es bedeutcu
Dass ich so traurig bin Ein Marchen aus alten Zeiten
Dass Kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn (1)
a menos que este no sea detallado. Estoy en la re
Mainz es muy bonito. La catedral casi supera la de Colonia; asisti a los ejercicios de la noche y el
gion entre el Rhine, Belgica y Luxemburgo.
En
enorme edificio estaba lleno de bote en bote, tantos
realidad esta aldea queda solamente a 35 millas de
hombres como mujeres. En esta region del Rhine casi todos son catolicos; hay rauchos santuarios y crucifijos en todos los caminos. Julio 13, 1931—Munich, Alemania.
St. Vitro, el pueblo fronterizo belga. Cuando llegue a la estacion estuve mirando' los
itinerarios que decian ''Nach Belgien"; en solo dos horas podria Uegar alll y hubiera visitado a Lovain pero el tiempo no me alcanza, y vuelvo ahora a Co-
Desde Stuttgart fui a Tubingen, una ciiidad pequeha donde e.sta situada una de las mas famosas universidades. Pase medio dia alH, andando y viendolo todo. Hice varias escalas en el viaje de Mainz
blenz por el valle^ del Mosselle—^paisajes lindos, segun cuentan, ^ Sail de Colonia a pie hasta Bonn, de Bonn continue a pie tambien hasta Honne, un cen a Preib^g, me detuve en AVorms a ver el sitio don tre de turistas. De alii sali ayer hacia Ahrweiler
de LutbEb se nego a reconciliarse con la Iglesia. De
que segun una obra de McBride, sobre Alemania, Tiibingenifui por una parte encantadora del ''Black ^ un encanto me desengane; es todo hoteles, cafes, ForeS^^^l pueblo de Villingen, muy pintoresco, muy banes y turismo; en realidad no goce mucho en mi medioeval con sus enormes murallas, torres y forta-
paseo. Por la carretera, autos y camiones, y a cada
paso un cafe. El paisaje se esconde con enormes
^treros que dicen ''Weine Bier Und'Kaffee Gute urgerh^e Mittag und abendessen" y cosas por el
lezas. De alii a Donaueschingen, la mayor parte a
pie. El Schwarzwald es de veras precioso, largas vistas de bosques que desde lejos se ven negros, va-
lles, aldeas muy pintorescas, todo en fin una fanta es 10. Es a la verdad una senda de cervecerias. sia en colores. Freiburg mismo es una de las ciu-
Geivestein esta algo alejado—muy aleman, muy pin- dades alemanas mas interesantes y que mas satistoresco, pero estoy dandome euenta de que en este facen. La Universidad alii es admirable y por su
paLS lo pmtoresco esta escaso, pues Alemania esta de- aspecto externo mil veces mas atraetiva que Heidel inasiado civilizada. Los alemanes mismos son tan berg, pues esta es demasiado frecuentada por los tu
adictos al paseo y al viaje que dondequiera que uno
y la Universidad con sus edificios i3arece mas yaya se encuentra con turistas a pie, en bicicleta, mo- ristas, bien una gran fabrica; por el contrario la region de
tocicleta, en automovil, etc.
T\ Cfervestem n j. ' ful directamente Upper Rhine, 5 de julio. a Coblenz, sitio 1 .\P Y conocido en los Estados Unidos, pues c estuvo alii durante la ocupaPTi el p1 Jugen^enbergen t^ if 1923. Encontre precisamente esa noche un joven que ha-
foan
>1
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he al ntru iarln a
Freisburg es sumamente sonriente y amena. Subi al Sehlassberg desde donde se puede contemplar toda la ciudad y en particular la famosa catedral.^ La vi al oscurecer en el crepusculo, y me recorde de la pieza masical llamada Gotter dammermng—"El
Crepusculo de los Dioses," pues el nombre seria propio para esta escena.
mientras trabajaba en uno de en aquella epoea.
De Freigburg continue al sur hasta Suiza, y pis6 tierra suiza en Basel, pero solamente cuestion de unas pueblos del Rhine que horas, pues mi ruta segula hasta Konstanz en el lago ® encajonado y de ese nombre, y que es de donde puedo hablar con entusiasmo. En Konstanz me intereso ver el salon donde' el famoso Concilio de Konstanz en 1417 puso
termino al conflicto papal. Tambien la casa de John Huss el hereje, y el sitio donde lo quemaron, todo pai-ecido a Eio de Janeiro pero la vegetac on com- esto de mucho interes historico. El domingo tom4 pletamente distmta Me sente esa noche hajo la es- un barco lago, a un lado Alemania, al otro tatua de Wilhelm I un monumento eeuestre en el Suiza. Elpordiael estaba tan claro que los Alpes se punto donde el no Moselle desemboca en el Rhine. veian cubiertos de nieve, una vista preciosa e inol-
La peninsula asi formada .se llama "Dentsehes Eck."
vidable. En Lindan, un pueblo en una isla del lago, En el cafe sirven una bnena copa de vino que uno uno puede ver el pueblo aleman tipico—edificios y ° en la tenaza contemplando la figura sobre todo los trajes de la gente, la mayor parte de
del Emperador, la conflueneia de los dos rios, y el los hombres llevah pantalones cortos de cuero en co-
Castillo al otro lado. j Un cuadro precioso!
De Coblenz cogi el barco y subi al pueblecito de Bacharach. jQue cosa divina! El pueblo ideal de
la Edad Media con los muros casi intactos—puertas
lores, gorras alpinas, bastones, etc. (1) Yo no 86 lo que siguifica el que yo est^ tan. triste.
de entrada al pueblo ruinas—^los castillos—^y -un
Una leyenda de tiempos viejos
sinnumero de ''half timbered'' casas—^tan caracteris-
No se me va de la imaginacidn.
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