or Spanish, but it is worthy of the respectful attention of all scholars. No language has lyric poems more beautiful than those of the Portuguese, while the writings of Camões, Almeida Garrett, and Alexandre Herculano are among the world's best literature.

Among the difficulties of the present situation in the United States is that of finding good teachers of the language. It is hoped, however, that the departments of Romanic languages in our universities will take this matter in hand promptly, and not leave the public longer to flounder about without proper guidance.

JOHN CASPER BRANNER

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CAL.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ADMISSIONS AND

CORRELATIONS

Report of the Committee on Admissions and Correlations, presented at the Second Annual Meeting of the Association, December 28, 1918, and unanimously approved.

I. SPANISH WITH RELATION TO COLLEGE CREDITS.

a.

Entrance units. Inasmuch as all colleges now accept units in Spanish for entrance, some allowing only two, others three, and still others four, your committee recommends that all colleges be asked to grant the same number of entrance units for Spanish as are allowed for French and German. On the other hand, several colleges which allow three or four units for entrance do not accept Spanish as the equivalent of German and French as the modernlanguage requirement, Spanish units being regarded merely as extra optional points. Therefore your committee further recommends that all colleges be asked to accept Spanish on the same basis as French and German with respect to the entrance requirement in modern languages. That is, whether the requirement be one or two modern languages, we recommend that the student be permitted a free choice between French, German, and Spanish.

b. Degree credits. Similar conditions prevail with regard to the degree requirement, which cannot be separated from the entrance requirement. Some colleges insist rigidly on French and German, others stipulate either one or the other, but again the majority make no fixed rule. Your committee makes the same recommendation with regard to the degree credit, namely, that Spanish be accepted by all colleges on an equal basis with French and German.

We find that the country is now going through a transitional period in modern-language instruction, and feel that public opinion will soon insist that the American student, whether in high school or college, be permitted to choose his modern language in accordance with his individual need. In many of our high schools German is no longer offered, and in a majority of others no beginning German classes have been introduced this year. Your committee does not oppose the study of German for the scientific student; we do

not advocate the abolition of the study of German; we merely ask that Spanish be given a place of equal rank with German. The argument that two allied languages, French and Spanish, make an unevenly balanced combination can be met by the statement that two modern languages are not necessary for the average American student. A thorough mastery of one modern language is a greater desideratum than a smattering of two or three. Fifty years ago Latin and Greek were considered absolutely indispensable for the seeker after learning; today scarcely any college demands both.

a. The curriculum. Spanish, like French, has had and will have to combat the fallacy that it is an easily acquired language, because the student finds that he can get a reading knowledge of it in less time than it takes for German. It is the rare student that can read ordinary German prose after four years of high-school study. It is, however, possible in the case of Spanish. Your committee recommends, however, that more attention be given to the spoken and written language in high schools and colleges. Those who would emphasize the value of a modern language as a disciplinary force can hardly object to the racy Spanish idiom as being too easy. We offer no particular method; all methods are good, provided that the teacher can pronounce Spanish correctly, is thoroughly familiar with the spoken language, and has the ability to impart his knowledge. We are of the opinion that a high-school course of but one or two years is practically a waste of time. We recommend that a full program in Spanish be offered by all high schools. The greatest difficulty that high schools have to face today is the fluctuation of public opinion with regard to Spanish. After the Spanish-American War and at the outbreak of the present war there came sudden waves of interest in Spanish. We are now on a receding wave of popular demand for Spanish. It is the duty of this association to stabilize this desire for Spanish and to counteract ill-advised agitation by newspapers and demagogues. Prospective teachers of Spanish who had begun a thorough study of that language dropped it in the middle of their preparation because of the decreased public demand for it. In many cases ambitious highschool programs have been discarded on account of the waning public interest.

It is unfortunately true that Spanish in many of our high schools is synonymous with commercial language, the majority of students pursuing commercial courses taking Spanish. Your committee has no objection to the study of commercial forms, but it begs to recommend that this side of the study of Spanish be not overemphasized, and that a complete elementary preparation be insisted upon before commercial forms are taken up. After three years of study the commercial student might well begin work on business phrases. Moreover, technical commercial phrases which vary in different lines of business can be acquired by the student himself from manuals of commercial correspondence, of which we have an excellent supply in Spanish. But the things that the student cannot get by himself are correct pronunciation, flexibility of tongue, and a mastery of the intricacies of grammar and syntax.

Your committee feels that there is a great need for a closer articulation between high-school and college courses. Following the suggestions of the excellent "Report of the Committee of Five on a Course of Study in Spanish," presented at the last meeting of the Modern Language Association of America, your committee recommends that two years of high-school study be made to correspond with one year in college, so that after the completion of a two-year course in high school, the student may enter a second-year college course, and, after four years of high-school study, a third-year course. At present there is much duplication of work. It is recommended that a detailed syllabus outlining a nine- or ten-year course. in Spanish be one of the immediate labors of this association. But coöperation can be attained only by frequent consultation between high-school and college instructors. In the Western states, where the high schools and colleges form a single unit, there is more coöperation than here in the East. Our association should act as a medium in cementing this artificial breach between the two bodies of instructors.

The committee recommends that colleges introduce more courses on the literature, history, and civilization of Spain and Spanish America. We all recognize the need of quickening the interest of the public in Spanish-American literature and culture. Unless we do so it will be useless to attempt further trade relations with our sister republics, and so, if purely from a business point of view, our colleges and chambers of commerce should coöperate with the Pan

American Bureau in educating the public. Spanish-Americans realize that their culture is in many cases older and in some cases superior to our own, and they resent our attitude of superiority and condescension. How much more friendly would be the feeling in Mexico and Colombia did they know that their beautiful literatures were made a subject of study in our institutions of learning!

b. Improvement of the status of teaching in high schools and colleges. In spite of its recommendations for more recognition for Spanish, your committee realizes the fact that Spanish is not so well taught as it should be. As a nation we are poor linguists, and we can derive little consolation from the fact that French and German suffer from the same ill. The typical American teacher cannot speak the language which he professes to teach. And how is it consistently possible to demand a speaking knowledge on the part of the student if the teacher himself cannot speak the language? And to complete the vicious circle, how can the teacher speak a language that he has not been taught to speak? The committee feels that it is far wiser for a high school to offer no Spanish at all than to recruit from other departments instructors who have no qualifications whatsoever for the teaching of Spanish. We hope that our association will exert all the influence in its power against the indiscriminate recommendation and employment of the incompetent teacher of Spanish. This association should oppose the commonly accepted American theory that any teacher can teach Spanish by virtue of the possession of a college degree, the acquisition of a general linguistic knowledge, and an ability to maintain discipline. As for the native Spanish teacher, your committee is of the opinion that he is invaluable and indispensable in small classes of advanced students, especially where the Spanish-speaking American instructor is unavailable. He should not be used, however, in large elementary classes.

Our colleges are in a large measure responsible for the poorly prepared teacher of Spanish. They do not offer enough courses for the training of prospective Spanish teachers. We recommend as the first and most important step in the amelioration of existing conditions that colleges and universities be asked to offer more practical courses in college and graduate school for the training of teachers of Romance languages. We say Romance languages because we