University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

Page 92 text:

A DAY AT LANGUAGE SCHOOL S9 At the noon hour we are out and away to lunchg the girls to Meigs Hall and the married people to homes of the community where many of us are hospitably lodged for our tirst year in China. On our way from the Language school we pass through the narrow streets or along the paths and meet the Chinese children who have a cherry Kello for us. There are the coolies carrying, at the ends of a bamboo pole anything from buckets of waterto babies in a basketg or a drove of moth eaten donkeys overloaded with baskets of brick or stoneg or rickshas whizzing past bearing sleekly attired women or absent minded bespecktacled students. Or one may be accosted by professional beggars old and young, blind or lame. Another Game of volleyball at recess The afternoon session begins at two o'clock and is divided into two sessions with a recess between. One of these is devoted largely to oral review wherein we repeat phrase by phrase the increasingly complex sentences containing the words that have been demonstrated to us in the former new words classes. The other is given over to- writing the Chinese character. It is a case of where every little stroke has a meaning. Committee of VVelcome Rainy Day Promenade

Page 91 text:

88 THE LINGUIST 1 table on one side of which sits a Chinese teacher. And at this time he goes to his individual teacher, who receives him in that inimitable courtesy of the Chinese gentleman. Here the student has an opportunity to try out his knowledge of,Chinese. Who will record the mistakes in to11e and sound perpetrated upon our long suHering teachers? Year in and year out they listen to the gropings of babes i11 the language for utterance,-and never with the discourtesy of a smile, unless we both see the humor of the mistake. Language School Groundsg Meigs Hall to right, Language Sel1ool to the left. Then comes recess. Restless we are to get at the various sportsg the girls to volley ball, or indoor baseball and the boys to volley ball, Youngsters again. happy for the relaxation from sustained attention. These pictures give an idea of what we do at recess. Dignity isleft indoors. For Ph D.s and M,D.s and B.D.,s and all jump into the spirit of play. -A game of volleyball at recess. . At the sound of the bell all return to the class rooms and reverse the order ofthe classes preceding recess. Then for the fourth class of the morning we gather into groups of ten or twelveand under the guidance of a. Chinese teacher, again try to reply in complete Chinese sentences to his questions to us. Not a worrl of English is used.

Page 93 text:

90 THE LINGUIST School is out at four o'clock and we scatter each to some activity -or recreation, whether it be teaching English to a class of Chinese students at the Y.M.C.A. or to the tennis courts. Dinner comes at seven o'clock. And this particular evening we .all go to the Community Center where in a large reception hall .artistically furnished and decorated we listen spellbound to the XVorld's greatest woman violinist, Kathleen Parlow. It seems that never before had we heard a concert under more agreeable circum- stances. The warm glow of the hreplace finds a response in each 'appreciative listener and the artist seems to enjoy her art. In the shaded light of the room the Hickering light of the flames from the 'grate play upon the artist as she entrances us with the mysteries of harmony. Then it is over and we go home tired after a full day. And so goes each busy and happy day, D. B. Several years ago a new arrival in China started out one afternoon to walk through the Nanking streets to see the sights and he thought he knew the way home. But when it was almost dark, he discovered that he was lost and more-over was unable to tell a ricksha man where to take him. So he solved the problem like this: He knew the way home from the Chinese hospital, so he pretended that he was dreadfully sick, he doubled all up and stumbled into a ricksha without saying where he wanted to go. The man took him to the hospital from which place he was able to find his way home. Last Fall Bertha Smith went into a money changing shop and asked, ii May I change my clothes? She thought she was going to say, ko-e-huang-tsan Qmay I change my moneyj but said instead, ko-e huang-e-shang. - r lg v