tional pre-war lines of expenditure to new post-war needs; an astounding dearth of teachers; a weakening professional morale; the bewildering pressure of industrial and economic changes upon the entire population; a general apathy on most phases of political, social and educational activity that reaches beyond the simple problems of living; the provincial and local quality of each bit of experimentation in this new field, due to lack of any means of national co-ordination; the loss of faith in rank and file of teachers in their leadership.

B. THE HOME TEACHER EXPERIMENT IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

Geneva M. Bane

A school survey in the fall of 1918 in the city of Springfield showed that every district had some children of foreign parentage and in one district two-thirds of the children had foreign-born parents.

During the winter of 1918-19, the Lincoln Library conducted a "Gifts of the Nations" class. The class met every two weeks. At each meeting, the people of some one nationality told of their country, its customs, habits, dress, language, etc. Sometimes they showed laces, embroideries, and other needlework from their homeland. When the Lithuanians gave their program, the priest talked; his choir leader, who had been in Grand Opera and is now singing in Grand Opera and making records for the Victrola, sang two solos; and a large group of school children sang national songs. The people from other lands who took part in these programs, or whose friends took part in them, were interested in the new spirit of co-operation between the native and foreign-born of Springfield.

The Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense became interested in the foreign-born in our midst. This committee, with Miss Ida F. Wright of the city library, planned a two days' school of instruction for local people who wanted to learn how to reach non-English-speaking people. They were fortunate in securing for this work Miss Frances K. Wetmore of Chicago who has supervision of all the day-school and factory classes for foreign-speaking men and women in her own city. She gave instruction in the method of approach, getting acquainted, organizing, and teaching classes of foreign-born people. At the last session of the institute she gave a demonstration of teaching a beginning lesson to a group of foreign men. The men enjoyed it so much that they were sorry when the lesson was ended. Some of the men had never tried to write before and complained that their "hands were heavy."

Following the institute an enthusiastic Americanization mass meeting was held at the high school auditorium. Announcement of the night schools for people who wanted to study English was put into the pay envelope of every foreign-born employee of the mines in and around Sprin Sight schools, meeting twice a week, opened in four schools in the city ten weeks.

Many women who were anxiou their homes and small children at 11 school. Sometimes the husb

This opened the way for th

and whose husbands worked

in the morning or early afternoon. To meet these women, it was necessary to have someone who could speak their language tell them of the plan to have neighborhood classes in their homes. Some of the people who had helped in the Gifts of the Nations class offered to act as interpreters. One young Lithuanian woman was a particularly good interpreter and an earnest advocate of Americanization work. She helped organize the first class for women. As we went from house to house and I heard her speak as fluently to her own countrymen as she spoke English to me, I said, "I would give anything to be able to speak another language as you do." She replied: "Do you know, a few years ago I wouldn't speak my own language? I was ashamed to have people know I was Lituish. Americans don't like us you know, they call us names." I had no reply for I knew that what she said was all too true.

It happened that we did most of our calling on a day when the mines were not working and the men were at home. Some men thought the home class was a fine idea; others did not favor it. One man said: "What is all this, anyway? Night school and classes for women? We never had it before. There's something back of it. They are trying to put something over on us." The women were timid and insisted upon the interpreter's attending the class too. She became ill and was unable to attend two or three meetings. When she returned, she found that she was not needed. The women had overcome their timidity and were less embarrassed alone with the teacher than with a third person of their own nationality who spoke English fluently and recognized their mistakes.

The Associated Charities visiting housekeeper told some families about the new classes for women. When I called to see one of these women, she asked if she could learn to read. I said she could. Striking her head with her hand, she said: "I'd bust my head to read magazines." Teachers and nurses reported families where the mothers couldn't speak English. I found that a school girl or boy was a very satisfactory interpreter. Husbands and children usually encouraged the mothers to enter the classes, but in a few cases they laughed at the idea and said that mother had no time or would not be interested in such work. I found the best pupils were mothers from twenty to forty years of age, whose children were attending the public schools.

Various interesting reasons for studying English are given. Some women want to learn to write their names. A few of these drop out of the class when they reach that goal. Many women want to learn to talk English, because their husbands and children speak English and the mothers do not always understand the conversation. In some families the children refuse to speak the language of their parents. The children speak to their parents in English and the parents reply in their native tongue. Each understands the other, but cannot express himself in the language of the other. Some women want to read American papers and magazines. An Austrian woman who has completed her second year in the home class discontinued her Austrian paper last March and subscribed for a Springfield daily. Some women want to read the newspaper advertisements, others wish to be able to order from catalogues, while some desire to write letters to a son or daughter who is away from home, and the letters must be in English. One woman joined the class to learn to write English after her husband was sent to the penitentiary, because all letters to him had to be in English. Several women wanted to learn to read the screen at the movies.

When the class was organized, it met at the home of one of the members one week and at the home of another the following week. The women were in their places on

time and ready for work. They were serious, earnest workers who wanted to make every minute of the class-hour count. The class usually met in the kitchen where they sat around the table, using it as a desk. The women furnished their pencils and tablets, but I supplied the lessons. I carried a roll blackboard to class. This blackboard hung upon the wall where all could see it and gave to the kitchen the air of a schoolroom. Every day for the first few meetings we stood and sang America at the opening of the class, and gradually other American songs were added.

The direct method of teaching English was used. The subject matter for the lessons varied with the needs of the class. In classes where there were young mothers or mothers of young children "The Well Baby Primer," written by Dr. Caroline Hedger of Chicago, was very popular. The primer contains 128 English words and is profusely illustrated. While the women were learning the English they were also acquiring valuable information about the proper feeding and care of their babies. Lesson sheets prepared by Miss Wetmore of Chicago were used in other classes. The alphabet, written and printed, a picture of the subject being studied, and a complete lesson are included on each sheet. By giving the lessons one at a time, the teacher is sure that the class has mastered the lesson assigned before passing on to another. Supplementary work was carried on by the more apt pupils. Hence the class was kept together and yet the interest did not lag. As the pupils progressed from the simpler to the more difficult work, they were given lessons without pictures. At that point in the study they were given the lessons prepared by the Massachusetts Department of University Extension called "English for American Citizenship." These lessons tell of home life, school activities, city interests, national holidays, and the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship.

Springfield was very fortunate in having a Red Cross nurse who gave twelve demonstrations of "Home Care of the Sick" in the foreign women's home classes last year. On days when the demonstrations were given the women studied the same subjects in their English class. Thus the two kinds of work were correlated. Some demonstrations of American cookery were given. The women were especially interested in invalid cookery where trays were prepared showing liquid, semi-solid and convalescent diet. One woman said that one of the hardest things about being sick in the hospital was that she had to eat American food and she did not like it. Some women asked for demonstrations in using patterns, cutting out garments, and making children's garments from adults' partly worn clothing. The printed lesson accompanied these demonstrations so the women could refer to them if they forgot some point in the process.

In each lesson the women were required to spell five words. At first they only copied the printed lesson. When they had learned to copy accurately and had secured a reasonable vocabulary, they began to make oral sentences in class, using the spelling words. Later they wrote their original sentences before coming to class. At first that seemed like an impossible task and the women hesitated about attempting it. I helped them understand what I meant and got them started at their task by dictating for their writing sentences in which their spelling words were used. Sometimes they simply numbered the sentences and wrote from dictation. Then I had them write the sentences in the form of a letter, using the proper heading and ending for a real letter. This pleased them and showed them how far from the copying stage they had advanced.

A very gratifying thing about the work is the sincere appreciation shown by all the women. They always thank me for their lessons. Sometimes they become discouraged because they have so many, many distractions, but usually they are happy and hopeful.

The work is under the direction of the local Board of Education and the Board for Vocational Education, the technical organization being that of the so-called part-time class, as English is taught as well as Home Economics subjects.

Getting the foreign-born and native Americans together in a social way is a difficult problem. At the close of the night schools, all of the women's classes were invited to join in the evening program. A few of them furnished numbers by giving some of their native dances and games. Some of the men who were in the citizenship class answered questions on American history and government. Governor Lowden visited all of the schools on the closing night and gave a short address at each school. He was well pleased with the work done and the splendid spirit of the people. In February, 1920, the Springfield Art Association had an exhibit of all kinds of industrial work as done by the women of the city of Springfield. The foreign women furnished a large part of this exhibit. They had paintings, laces, embroideries, and materials that they had woven in the old country. Because they had contributed so largely to the success of the exhibit, they were asked to give a program just before the exhibit was removed from the galleries. The Lithuanian classes sang a group of songs in their own tongue and a group of American songs. One Hungarian woman demonstrated the making of "strudle" and another demonstrated the making of "churga funk." Both of these are delicious Hungarian pastries. The Italian women, who could not be with us on account of illness, had made enough "nocci oterrati" to serve the whole company. The serving was done by war brides, women from other lands, and by young women of the city who had seen overseas service during the world-war. This meeting was valuable because it showed American women that their foreign-born sisters had talents and abilities as great as their own. It brought the women together in a friendly manner to study one another's work. Last year, the closing program of the home-study classes was given by the children of the women in the home classes.

From the beginning, the Springfield work has had the excellent co-operation of the local women's organizations. The first year several members of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae did volunteer teaching. Two of the high school English teachers taught Lithuanian maids at the St. Nicholas Hotel. The teachers planned and prepared their own lessons. The teacher who had the beginners taught them sentences and English expressions about their daily work. A Lithuanian maid kept going to the housekeeper and saying: "Please give me some towels." She would take a few towels and then return with the same request. Finally, the housekeeper understood that the girl took only a few towels so she could return often and speak her new English sentence. The advanced class had a lively discussion of movie stars at one meeting. The teacher found that all of the girls had their favorites among the screen actors and actresses and were glad to talk about them. The girls of the high school made scrapbooks with brightly colored pictures that were used for the children in the mothers' classes. The Women's Club and the Daughters of the American Revolution have given the work their loyal support.

C. THE PLACE OF THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE PRESS IN AN
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

Josephine Roche, Director, Foreign Language Information Service, New York

Education, as a factor in uniting native and foreign-born, must do at least two fundamental things: first, it must build a mutual understanding of each other's backgrounds, history, country ideals, ways of thinking and doing things; second, it must open the way for active participation in a common purpose and life by the native-born and foreign-born together. In such a program of education the foreign language press has not only a very important, but a unique part. It not only meets these two essential requirements but it functions in a way and to an extent which places it apart from other educational elements, even while it shares their fundamental purpose. It has a field distinctly and peculiarly its own.

The total foreign-born population in the United States is between twelve and fourteen millions. Three millions of these people, it is estimated, cannot speak English, and another three millions cannot read it. Four millions are reached far more effectively in their own tongue than in English. These millions, and that new immigration which will be coming each year, cannot wait until they know English to gain a fundamental knowledge and understanding of America. They must have in their native language information about the country, its laws, opportunities, their own obligations, and their rights. Reaching them with information of this sort is the first step in a process of education, and in it there is no one element of importance equal to the foreign language press. There are 1,285 foreign language publications and they have a circulation of over ten millions among the foreign-born.

How important an educational work the foreign language press is doing through its news columns is shown by the following facts and analysis of material printed the last three years by the papers of eighteen language groups. These papers totol 796 out of the entire 1,285 foreign language publications. Before, however, presenting these facts in detail a brief review of the war, pre-war, and post-war situation of the foreign language press is necessary.

Prior to the war we paid little, if any, attention to the foreign language press. It was given no encouragement or assistance in telling its readers about America. When war came, there was a sudden and immediate need to reach the millions who knew no English, with the government's war message and needs. Early in 1918, therefore, there was started as part of the United States Committee on Public Information, a division charged with getting this government information to the foreign language press. Men and women of foreign birth, thoroughly experienced in press work, and having the complete confidence of the various factions of their foreign-born groups, were brought together for this task. How constantly and generously the foreign language press gave its columns over to this war information has been repeatedly testified to by numerous government o foreign language press during the first war material, such as draft regulations, of the Food and Fuel Administration and Then came the armistice and