Second book in English for coming citizens

Foreword

Americanization has been defined as the "union of new with native-born Americans in fuller common understanding and appreciation to secure by means of individual and collective self-direction the highest welfare of all." This conception of the process of Americanization requires as a minimum that the native American engaged in the process be informed as to the immigrant's motives in coming to America, his attitudes toward his adopted land, his understanding of American institutions.

Educators are agreed to-day that Americanization is a dual and reciprocal process, requiring the active participation of the foreign as well as of the native born. Ultimately, the immigrant must find himself in an American environment, must attach himself to American institutions, must contribute his gifts to their support and to their further development. As a means toward establishing such Americanizing contacts, the immigrant must at least be able to communicate with his English-speaking neighbor in the language of America, and to appreciate in an elementary way the things which Americans hold dear.

vi ♦ FOREWORD

With such purposes in mind, this book was written. It is intended for students who have mastered the first difficulties of English and who require a content that bridges the gap between elementary lessons in English and the usual reading material of adult Americans.

The author has chosen the narrative rather than the usual expository form of presentation in order to take advantage of the greater human interest in the development of a human being than in the development of an abstract proposition. Anton in the story is invested with the usual fears, hopes, aspirations, and yearnings of immigrants to America. The conditions and experiences that serve to win or antagonize Anton are, in the opinion of the author, the conditions that are factors in the Americanization of most immigrants.

Acknowledgment is made to the host of teachers and students who by their interest have stimulated the author to write this book.

New York City, April, 1921.

CONTEXTS

PAGE

How TO Use the Book Lx

CHAPTER

I. His E.\rly Llfe i

II. He M.\rries 6

HI. Troubles of a M-ajuqed M.\n lo

TV. John's Story i6

\'. John Finds Work in America 22

VI. Hope and Despair 27

VII. John's Ad\tce 30

VIII. The Prep.aration 36

IX. The Journey 40

X. On the Ocean 45

XL In .\merica 48

XII. In New York City 51

XIII. "How Do You Like .America?" 62

XR\ The First Job 68

XV. -As'TON Makes Friends 74

XVI. Anton's Problem 79

vii viii ♦ CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XVII. George Goes to School 86

XVIII. Anton's First Night in School 92

XIX. Anton Becomes a Cigar-Maker 100

XX. Anton's Fortune 105

XXI. The School Party 112

XXII. Anton Becomes a Man of Property 119

XXIII. Troubles in the Factory 126

XXIV. The Test 133

XXV. The Strike 138

XXVI. Anton Learns to Play 143

XXVII. The United States 149

XXVIIl. Great Changes 152

XXIX. The F.\mily United 156

XXX. At Home 161

XXXI. The Declaration of Independence 166

XXXII. A Fellow Citizen 172

Appent>ix —

I. words frequently mispronounced ... 181

n. WORDS sounded alike with different

meanings 191

HOW TO USE THE BOOK

The content of the book is divided into chapters rather than into lessons, in order to conform to the usual divisions of books intended for adult reading, and to aid in eliminating to some extent the unfortunate school atmosphere prevailing in teaching adults. A chapter will usually require more than a single lesson for its mastery, and the exercises that follow the chapter will surely require more than one lesson.

Each chapter is to be used as a basis for:

1. Reading.

2. Conversation.

3. Language Drill.

4. Phonics.

5. Writing.

Reading: Laymen frequently think of reading in terms of oral reading, i. e., expressing an author's thought in the author's language. This is extremely difhcult for people not thoroughly familiar with the language which they are attempting to read, and in modern life even for most Americans a relatively unimportant accomplishment. For the immigrant acquiring English as a second language, oral reading has only a remote and contributory value, because

IX

X HOW* TO USE THE BOOK

in rare instances only will the immigrant be called upon to read aloud outside of the classroom. In the classroom, oral reading has received a disproportionate amount of consideration from teachers, first, because the pupils express a keen desire to read aloud, and, second, because teachers have utihzed the oral reading of the pupil as a basis for the correction of pronunciation and accent. Neither of these is a vahd reason for taking more time ^\^th a process than present social usage would warrant. The desire of the pupil to read aloud may be satisfied ^^ithout infecting the pronunciations of the rest of the class and \\ithout infiicting upon them a series of mispronunciations under the guise that they thereby are being instructed. Ob\iously, drill in pronunciation is necessar\', but the teacher ^\'ill readily difi'erentiate between reading which is thoughtgetting and pronunciation which is word-calling. Time must be devoted to the latter, but not at the expense of the former.

Besides being a relatively useless accompHshment for adults learning Engush, oral reading is a difficult process, invohdng several contingent abilities. To read aloud with pleasure or \yiih profit to one's hearers, the reader must have acquired the ability, first, to recognize printed or written s\Tnbols quickly and easily; second, to get meaning out of these s\Tnbols; third, to pronounce the words according to conventional standards of pronunciation; fourth, to group words and phrases so as to convey meaning to the hearer.

HOW TO USE THE BOOK xi

Most of our adult reading is silent — to get the meaning. For this purpose neither pronunciation nor expressive rendition are indispensable accomplishments. An Enghshspeaking person may be said to read a French newspaper when its printed words are intelligible and meaningful, in spite of an impossible pronunciation. A Frenchman cannot read a French newspaper if the words convey no meaning, even though his pronunciation is impeccable. For an immigrant learning English it is relatively more important that he be taught to read for the sake of understanding than for the purpose of transmitting the thought of an author.

To the pupil the reading lesson is a unit; he need not be conscious of the process nor of the pedagogic machinery by which it is facilitated. The teacher, however, must be conscious of the process and of the various movements which are its component parts. For pedagogic purposes the reading lesson may be divided into five parts:

I. The Language Lesson.

II. The Drill.

III. The Silent Reading and Study.

IV. Oral Discussion.

V. Oral Reading.

How to Conduct the Language Lesson : The language serves a twofold purpose, first, to direct the pupil's thought to the subject-matter of the lesson, or, to put it pedagogically, to '^arouse the apperceptive mass"; second, to teach meanxii HOW* TO USE THE BOOK

ings — reading abiKty is based on the contingent ability of the pupil to understand the meaning of words and sentences. Without such understanding the pupil will get no thought from printed symbols, and his reading will amount to no more than word-calling.

Unfortunately, reading lessons are too frequently conducted mthout the necessary language lesson to insure that the printed s}Tnbols convey meaning. The teacher must introduce the subject-matter of the book and the language forms. This is best done by questions. Thus, before the pupils read Chapter I the teacher says: ''We shall read a book about a man who came to America as an immigrant; what do you expect in such a story?"

From the pupils' suggestions the teacher selects a number of words and phrases found in the text — uses them in other contexts and writes them on the board. The following words might appear on the board: "Formerly belonged to," ''everybody else," "it is not surprising," "he was not allowed to," "could not afford," "hated," "\iUage," "fell asleep," "peasants," "fields," "earthenware pots."

How to Conduct the Drill Lesson: The pupils need to be drilled (a) in the use of unfamiliar words, idioms, and sentence structures ; {h) in the rapid recognition and pronunciation of unfamiliar English printed and written words.

(a) For Language Drill the following devices may be used :

I. Use the unfamiliar words in sentences; e. g., Hungary formerly belonged to Austria.

HOW TO USE THE BOOK xiii

2. Let pupils suggest equivalent meanings: village —

a small town; oven — a stove for baking.

3. Let pupils give opposite meanings: hated — loved;

poor — rich; remembered — forget.

4. By dramatizing; e. g., felt her pulse, shrugged his

shoulders, he muttered.

5. By objectifying objects: actual objects, where

possible, or pictures, or drawings on the blackboard.

6. Reverse the objectifying process by showing ob-

jects or pictures and having pupils name them.

7. Teacher suggests a general term, and pupils sug-

gest names for it; e. g., teacher says: "Give me the names of a ^village,' ^town,' ^city.'"

8. By completing elliptical sentences: Nothing very

happened in S. Anton's parents

were poor They could not

a private teacher.

9. By building words having common prefixes and

sufhxes, e. g.:

un able.

im proper.

un tidy.

im possible.

un fit.

im pure.

(6) For word-recognition drills the following devices may be used:

I. Rapid calling of words written on the blackboard.

xiv HOW TO USE THE BOOK

2. Rapid recognition of words written or printed, or

"flash" cards. (The teacher writes one word on a card and prints the same word on the obverse side.)

3. The teacher arranges a number of flash cards in

full \iew of the class. The teacher calls a word, a pupil selects the card and pronounces the word.

4. Teacher gives each pupil a number of cards. The

latter steps up to the front of the room and calls the words.

5. Teacher recites a sentence containing a word

which is printed on a card. A pupil selects the card ha\ing the word printed on it.

6. Teacher ^TOtes a number of words on the black-

board. Pupils find in the text the sentences using those words and ^\Tite the sentences in their note-books.

7. Teacher pronounces a word. Pupils find in the

text the sentence containing the word and read the sentence.

8. Teacher dictates words, pupils write them and

compare them wdth the speUing in the text.

9. By finding words that rh\Tne, e.g., rare — ware;

hollow — follow ; chew — few — stew ; tough — • enough — rough.

How to Conduct the Silent Reading and Study Lesson : The pupils are now ready for their books. It is advisable that

HOW TO USE THE BOOK xv

the teacher read a chapter aloud; if the pupils have been familiarized with English expressions, the best results will be obtained when the pupils' books remain closed during the teacher's reading. Pupils who are not far enough advanced may follow the text to help them hear aright.

The teacher's oral rendition is to be followed by silent reading and study on the part of the pupils. During this part of the lesson the teacher may help individual pupils who may have difficulty in understanding or in recognizing words.

How to Conduct the Oral Discussion Lesson : The purpose of this part of the lesson is to make use of the vocabulary and sentence structure acquired heretofore. The questions at the end of each chapter are to focalize on words, phrases, and expressions, to furnish a motive for rereading the text until the language expressions become familiar, and to stimulate use of the language forms for the self-expression of the pupil.

The teacher may vary the procedure by reading the questions and having the pupils give the answers ; by permitting one pupil to take the place of the teacher; by letting pupils question each other.

How to Conduct the Oral Reading Lesson : Pupils will usually want to read aloud. This desire may be satisfied by dividing the class into two or three groups and permitting the pupils in one group to read aloud to the others. The advantage of this procedure is that the rest of the class may be permitted to study while a comparatively few are readxvi HOW TO USE THE BOOK •

ing to each other. There is no pedagogic gain in letting the entire class hear what they all can read for themselves. There is a decided loss in letting them hear and become accustomed to the various mispronunciations of their classmates. The device of dividing the class for oral reading will reduce this danger to a minimum.

Occasionally one pupil may be called upon to read to the entire class. He should be permitted to do so only when he has prepared a lesson for oral presentation; when he can read with pleasure and profit to the others; in response to a question, the answer to which is found in the text, in making a point in a discussion, he may be called upon to verify his statement by reading from the text.

PHONICS

Corrective phonics for the eradication of foreign accent and pronunciation must be highly motivated to have any holding power on the attention of adults. They will drill on the correct pronunciation of words provided they realize that mispronunciation means misunderstanding and not merely a conventional slip. The exercises in the appendix may be used as samples of the kind of exercises needed. In each case the teacher will supplement such exercises by selecting words from the vocabularies of the pupils.

WRITING

The following exercises are suggested:

I. Famiharity with English sentence structure will be

HOW TO USE THE BOOK xvii

insured if the pupils are frequently called upon to copy excerpts from the text. Copying may be varied by changing the person, number, or tense in the text. Thus, pupils may be instructed to write a paragraph in Chapter I, using their own names instead of Anton Bodnar.

2. Writing answers to the questions at the end of each

chapter will necessitate reading the text and comparing it with the pupils' answers.

3. Completing sentences suggested by the teacher.

4. Writing sentences, using words suggested by the

teacher.

5. Completing elliptical sentences by inserting words

omitted.

6. Paraphrasing the content of a paragraph.

7. Reproduction of an incident in the pupil's own words.

Chapter I His Early Life

Anton Bodnar was born in that part of Poland which formerly belonged to Russia. Before the Great War his parents lived in the

little village of S , where everybody knew

everybody else. Nothing very exciting happened in S 5 therefore it is not surprising

that Anton remembered very little of his life before he was seven years old. When Anton was seven years old, he went to the little village school kept by the village priest.

The school hours were long, and Anton sometimes fell asleep when the teacher was working with the older boys. He did not like the letters of the alphabet. They were Russian letters. His father hated the Russian language. Anton was not allowed to bring the Russian books into the house.

THE SCHOOL KEPT BY THE VILLAGE PRIEST

Anton's parents were poor peasants. His cousin John had a private teacher, who taught him Polish, but Anton's parents were too poor. They could not afford a private teacher. In his tenth year Anton's father took him away from school. He helped his father in the fields

HIS EARLY LIFE 3

and in the little shop. Anton learned how to make earthenware pots and how to bake them in the oven. In the winter Anton and his father walked every Monday to the market in a neighboring village to sell the pots. Sometimes they sold all the pots. Then his father was happy. He gave Anton a coin and said : "There, buy some cakes."

When Anton was fourteen years old, he was as tall as his father and almost as strong. He could now earn the wages of a full-grown man. He hired himself out to a farmer who had several pieces of land in different parts of the village.

1. Where was Anton born? Under what kind of gov-

ernment was Anton born?

2. Where were you born?

3. Under what kind of government were you born?

4. In what kind of place did his parents live?

village ?

5. In what kind of place do you live to-day town?

city?

6. How much does Anton remember of his childhood

days ?

7. Why does Anton remember so Httle?

8. Who was the teacher in the httle village school?

9. Why did Anton fall asleep in the schoolroom?

10. WTiy did Anton hate the Russian alphabet?

11. WTiy did Anton's father hate the Russian language.'-

12. What were Anton's parents?

13. Wliat were your parents? — peasants, farmers, fisher-

men, laborers, workers in a factor}^ storekeepers, merchants, business men, manufacturers?

14. Wliat is your business to-day?

15. WTiy did Anton go to the village school?

16. Wlien did Anton leave school?

17. \Miat did Anton do after his tenth year?

18. \\niere did Anton go in winter?

19. How often did Anton go to market?

20. When was Anton's father happy?

21. How tall was Anton at fourteen years of age?

22. How much could he earn?

23. Whsit did he do for a living?

24. WTiere did the farmer have his land?

25. Fill in the blank spaces with right word. If you

do not know the right word, find it in the story.

The teacher Anton Russian.

Anton's cousin Polish.

In the little \dllage ever}^body every-

bodv else.

HIS EARLY LIFE 5;

Anton asleep.

Anton was not to bring the Russian

books into the home.

The story is told in the past time because everything happened a long time ago. Change the sentences to the present time. Here is a list of words giving the present and the past:

PRESENT PAST

IS

live

happen

remember

go

keep

fall

do

hate

has

can

teach

take

help

learn

give

sell

walk

buy was

lived

happened

remembered

went

kept

fell

did

hated

had

could

taught

took

helped

learned

gave

sold

walked

bought

€ SECO^TD BOOK IX ENGLISH

Be sure to use the correct form with he, she, it, or the name of any person when you speak in the present. Remember we say — I live.

but — he Hve^.

Anton remembers.

Mary goe^.

his father keeps.

the child does not know.

Chapter II He Marries

The spring and summer months were very busy times of the year in the farming sections of Poland. In the early winter, when the weather turned cold, Anton had little to do on the farm. Then he and his father worked in a factory near Warsaw. The work was hard, the hours were long, but Anton had the strength of a boy brought up on a farm and he stood the strain very well. True, he did not earn very much; in fact, he earned only just about enough for his needs. None of the working

HAND IN HAND THEY WALKED HOME men earned enough to save. Their needs were simple, their food was simple. Once in a while, on a holiday, they had meat for dinner. Usually their meals consisted of heavy, sour rye bread, fresh butter or cheese, a pitcher of sour milk, and a heaping pot of boiled potatoes. One day was like the other.

W^hen Anton was twenty years old his parents said: "It is time to get married."

They chose a charming little girl of sixteen for Anton's bride, a daughter of a neighbor. For a while Anton lived with his wife's parents. Although his father-in-law was only a poor farmer, he gave the young couple one of the three rooms in the house.

The bride brought with her two pillows, a feather bed, two table-cloths, and a dozen towels. Together the bride and the groom went out every day at sunrise to work for the farmer. In the evening, hand in hand, ihey walked home, and ate their simple meal together with the older people.

HE MARRIES

1. What were the busy times of the year in Poland?

in Italy? in Russia?

2. What are the slack (dull) times of the year in Po-

land? in America?

3. • Where did the farmers work in winter time?

4. How was the work?

5. How much did they earn?

6. What did they eat?

7. What happened when Anton was twenty years old?

8. Where did the young couple live?

9. What did the bride bring with her?

10. How did the bride help her husband?

11. Name the seasons of the year.

12. How much did Anton earn?

13. Who were his friends?

14. Name some one who is better off than you are.

15. Name some one who is worse off than you are.

16. Name some one who is as well off as you are.

17. Can you save on your wages?

18. Can you get along on your wages?

19. How often did Anton have meat for dinner?

20. How often can you afford meat for dinner?

21. What did his meals consist of?

22. What does your dinner consist of?

23. What kind of girl did Anton marry?

24. How old was he?

lo SECOND BOOK IN ENGLISH

25. How old was the bride?

26. Are you married?

27. How old were you when you were married?

28. What was Anton's father-in-law?

29. When did the young couple go to work?

30. How did they walk?

31. How did the young couple live?

Chapter III Troubles Of A Married Man

For two years they lived happily. Then the young wife became sick. This was only the beginning of their troubles.

The village doctor came and felt her pulse. He looked at her tongue and examined her eyes. He gave her some medicine and told her she must stop working. She got worse and worse. The doctor shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Each woman in the village brought her own remedy. One poured hot water over burning coals and said prayers when the steam rose. Another brewed tea from the petals of a wild flower for the patient. A

TROUBLES OF A MARRIED MAN

II The Village Doctor Felt Her Pulse

third tied a piece of red flannel around Anna's little finger. But the bride only coughed more and ate less.

To make matters worse, the little money in the house was going very fast. Six weeks later they sold the pig and then the cow.

Money was needed for medicines and for the new doctor, who came three times a week from the city, twelve miles away. The winter was coming on and it was soon time for Anton to leave for the pottery. Anton did not like to leave his wife. Besides, he hated the Russian officers for whom he worked. They made him feel like a worm.

"One evening, just after the little family had eaten supper, they heard a knock on the door. "Another cure," muttered Janka, the father. Anton went to the door and opened it. A young man, with a large head and small gray eyes, walked into the room smiling.

They saw at once that the stranger was well dressed. He wore a white collar, a tie, and, what impressed the family most, he showed a large gold chain across his vest. He held out his hand as if he knew Anton.

"Anton, brother, don't you remember me? It is I— John — come back from America."

"Is it really you, John, my cousin John?

THEY SAW AT ONCE THAT THE STRANGER WAS WELL DRESSED

M SECOND BOOK IX ENGLISH

How noble you look! Tell me all about America. But first let me introduce you to my wife and her parents. This is my cousin John. You remember I spoke to you about him> He went to America six years ago. This is my wife Anna and her father and mother. Give me your hat and coat.

"Sit down and tell us all about that wonderful country. Is it true that you pick up gold in the streets ? Does everybody live in a palace? Do all the women wear hats like the noble ladies in Warsaw? Do you eat meat every day? Is it true that even poor people eat white bread ? "

1. How long did they live happily?

2. What happened to the young wife ?

3. What did this begin —

This began a

This was the beginning of

4. \Miat did the village doctor do?

5. What did he examine ?

6. What did the doctor give her?

7. What did he tell her?

' TROUBLES OF A MARRIED MAN 15

8. Did she get better?

9. What did the women of the village do?

10. What did the bride do?

11. What made matters worse for them?

12. How was the money going?

13. What did they sell first?

14. When did they sell the cow?

15. Why did they need money? /

16. How often did the new doctor come?

17. From where did he come?

18. How did Anton feel about leaving his wife?

19. For what other reason did Anton hate the pottery?

20. How did the Russian officer make Anton feel?

21. What did the family hear one morning?

22. What did Janka mutter?

23. What relation was Janka to the bride? to Anton?

24. Who came in?

25. What kind of eyes had the stranger?

26. How was the stranger dressed?

27. What did he wear?

28. What impressed the family most?

29. Where did he wear the chain?

30. What did he hold out?

31. What did he say?

32. When did John go to America?

33. How did Anton introduce his wife?

34. What questions did Anton ask?

35. What questions do your friends ask about America?

Chapter IV John's Story

Cousin John laughed at the many questions.

"America is not a fairy-land; it is a real country with real live people. Do you remember when I went away to America? I was seventeen years old. My father had just died and things looked black for my mother, for my sister, and for my little brother. I was an apprentice to the blacksmith, but I did not earn enough to buy food. Then I heard stories about America. I asked many questions. I wanted to try my luck in the country where others succeeded, but I needed money. We had no money, but we had some good friends. My mother borrowed a little from her father, a little more from an uncle, and the rest she got by selling some extra bedding. A man and his wife in a neighboring village were going to America. They promised my mother to

l6

JOHN'S STORY

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY take care of me. With my new friends I started out. It was a long journey. At first I felt very lonesome and sad. I missed my mother and the people whom I knew at home. Soon, however, the strange sights and the life about me began to interest me. After travelling four weeks by railroad and steamer, we landed one rainy April morning at Ellis Island, across the bay from New York City. We passed the i8 SECO^^D BOOK IN ENGLISH

Statue of Liberty. The city looked like a dream come true. I could see the tall buildings with their many windows. I had never seen such wonderful buildings before. Then I began to understand what the people on the

ship had meant when they spoke of sky-scrapers.

'' We were all brought into a long building where government officers asked us many questions. I was a little frightened at first. Then a man in a uniform asked me in Polish : ' What is your name ? ' The sound of my native language spoken by a man in an American uniform gave me a friendly feeling for America. I answered all the questions, and they let me go out with my friends, the Lenks, iYito another big room. Here were many immigrants like us from many lands. They were all waiting for some one to call for them. We waited about an hour. Then we heard a man call out : ' John Lenk — Lenk — ! ' ' Here ! ' answered John in Polish. A big man with a large

JOHN'S STORY

THE EXAMINATION-ROOM AT ELLIS ISLAND black mustache pushed forward. It was Mr. Lenk's brother Joseph. Of course, he was very glad to see his brother and his sister-in-law. He did not know me, but when Anton told him of my troubles, he said: 'Well, America is a big place and has a big heart. We shall find a place for you if you are willing to work. Come with me.' We followed him. We must have looked funny to the people in the street.

They turned around to look at us as we walked with our heavy bundles. I noticed that all the men wore good clothes. They all looked like noblemen. The women all wore hats and coats. I saw no woman wearing a shawl until I came to Joseph's house. There I saw some people who looked like Poles. I was surprised to hear these people speak Polish in America even before a policeman.

" Joseph introduced me to his wife. She was very kind and made me welcome. I sat down at the table with the family and ate as if I were starved. The food on the ship was good, but it did not taste like food at home. Joseph's wife piled up meat, potatoes, and bread on my plate. I was ashamed to eat so much. She spoke English to her husband and I did not understand what she said. Now I know she said : ' Poor boy, he is hungry.' "