The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1984, Qupperneq 36

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SUMMER, 1984
LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE
(Excerpts from a guest editorial in the Manitoba Teacher
January - February, 1962
by Paul H. T. Thorlakson, M.D., LL.D.
President, Manitoba Council on Education
foreword
As far back as 1959, The Manitoba
Teachers’ Society urged the expansion of
the study of foreign languages. We are
particularly pleased, therefore, with the
guest editorial by Dr. Paul H. T. Thor-
lakson. Dr. Thorlakson is a well-known
Winnipeg surgeon whose outstanding work
was recognized recently by the University
of Iceland with an Honorary Degree in
Medicine.
* * *
The study of languages encourages re-
spect for and appreciation of the cultures of
other peoples. It will help young people to
understand some of the problems that sepa-
rate peoples and nations. Courses in history
and geography will assume new signifi-
cance when viewed through the literature
of other nationalities, and knowledge thus
acquired will prove to be an invaluable
asset when travelling to foreign lands.
Quite apart from the pleasure and profit
in speaking and reading a second or third
language, there are definite intellectual and
cultural advantages to be gained from the
study of languages.
Learning languages which are basic to
modem English, such as Latin, Greek, Old
English (Anglo-Saxon) or old Norse (Ice-
landic), will enhance the students’ “Eng-
lish world knowledge.” A study of the
derivation of English words demonstrates
that this concept can be extended to include
many other languages that have made sub-
stantial contributions to the English
vocabulary.
A step in the right direction was made
recently in Manitoba when the provincial
government decided to offer courses in the
Ukrainian language in the high schools of
this province. It is to be hoped that this
opportunity and privilege will be extended
to include other languages. A broader offi-
cial recognition would engender a whole-
some respect for the language and literature
of the many people who have contributed
substantially to the cultural and economic
life of Manitoba over the past century. It
would likely encourage parents to conserve
for their children this valuable “language
power potential.”
In 1930, Dr. Watson Kirkconnell, Presi-
dent of the Acadia University and formerly
of Wesley College (now University of
Winnipeg), who is a noted linguistic
scholar and author, clearly delineated the
course that we should follow in the
preservation of our cultural heritage.:
“I do claim that every effort should be
made, especially by the higher educational
authorities, to weave into the fabric of
national consciousness the brightest threads
of European culture. The finest stimulus to
great achievements in the future is a con-
sciousness of great achievements in the
past, and if all citizens of whatever racial
extraction, felt that the cultural glories of
their past were known and appreciated by
the community, it would be a spur to
further high accomplishment. Mutual
knowledge, mutual sympathy, and mutual
emulation in cultural attainments would
surely shape a national life of astonishing
richness.”
The position that Canada now occupies
in world affairs and its contacts and com-
munications with other countries, because
of an ever-increasing volume of foreign
trade, have combined to broaden the
Canadian outlook, and as world citizens we
have increasing international obligations
and opportunities.