The chorus of voices is stilled now...Remembering the Ants

Captain Arthur Henderson, 2nd Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders won the VC on 23 April 1917 near Fontaine-les-Croiselles in France. Although wounded in the left arm, he led his company through the enemy front line and then proceeded to consolidate his position, which owing to heavy fire and bombing attacks was in danger of becoming isolated. He was killed soon afterwards.



This village, today known as St. Juliaan, can be found a little to the north-east of Ypres, on the N313. Here and at nearby Langemarck was where, in the words of Hutchinson, "the tiny army of seven Divisions of 1914 stood it's ground before the pick of the world's greatest military force". The village was however taken by the Germans during their attack using gas for the first time on the 24th of April 1915, and then they held it for two years. It was only recaptured during Third Ypres, when it was taken on the first day (31st of July 1917) by the 13th Royal Sussex.
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Some graves always catch your eye in any cemetery, and here the inscription on the memorial stone for Corporal Benjamin Anderson is "He was ours & we'll remember. From widow and children". A short but heartfelt inscription, and the CWGC website records that his widow was Jeanie Anderson of Caledonian Crescent, Edinburgh. The inscription on Private George Tait's grave reads "Home is not home since you are not there. By his mother." It is impossible to read these inscriptions and not think about the grief that lay behind them, and the hours spent in searching for the way to honour the loss of a husband or a son in a dozen words or less.

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John McCrae

John McCrae was a Canadian, born in Ontario in 1871, who qualified in medicine at Toronto in 1898. He enlisted when the Boer War broke out in 1899, and served with the Artillery during that war. From 1901 until 1914, he practiced as a doctor in Canada and in England. On the outbreak of the First World War, he enlisted within the first few weeks, was sent overseas in September 1914, again with the Canadian Field Artillery. Whilst stationed at Essex Farm, in May 1915 he was moved to write the famous poem "In Flanders Fields". This was after one of his friends, Alexis Helmer, was killed and buried. Seeing the poppies blow around the graves led to the best known image of this poem. "In Flanders Fields" was published for the first time in Punch in December that year, and has since come to encapsulate the sacrifice of those who fought. Helmer's grave cannot be found in the Cemetery; it was lost later on in the War, and he is commemorated on the Menin Gate.




I remember the Ants- the men of Company A originally the 3rd Batallion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders -all volunteers -of August 1914 -who were transferred to reinforce the the First Batallion in Ypres in January 1915. They -and the men of the Black Watch and the Highland Light Infantry who fought by their side -were the heroes of the Ypres Salient.

I met an old Manxman about thirty years ago –he was a veteran of the Struma Valley- and he said I was the spitting image of Shalako Tommy in size in voice in appearance. Shalako Tommy of course was my grandfather and a fighting comrade with the famous soldier much more famous than my Auld Pop Colin Campbell Mtichell (Military Cross 2nd Ypres) , the father of Mad Mitch (Col of the Argylls in Aden)

He was called Shalako because he was a scout and stalker who led the infiltration of enemy strong points. (the best tactic was to infiltrate with a few crack shots who used precise rifle fire and grenades from camouflaged positions WITHIN and BEHIND the German lines. It was very dangerous because unless there was a break through you would run of ammunition and be killed or captured.

But it gave the men a tremendous espirt in attack because they were going forward to relieve 20 or so of their comrades. They used to paint their faces black and hide among the dead soldiers whose skin turned black in death. Sometimes they would just cut the throats of German NCO’s at night before the attack without a shot and of course the effect was completely demoralizing to the young German recruits some who were as young as 15 or 16. But it was war and there was no hesitation in killing the Hun on neutral Belgian soil –guaranteed by German treaty. Holding on to Belgian soil became almost a holy mission. It all seems senseless now but that generation felt that if the Germans took the channel ports France and Britain would fall.

The Germans feared the Highlanders –they were more than their match and of course the Turks and Bulgarians were crushed by such aggressive tactics which seemed to be a mix of hunting and primitive warfare as much as anything. But that is how they held the Ypres Salient by courageous counter attacks against a foe that outnumbered them often three and four to one. But as long as you could get ammunition or they could resupply from supply dumps previously hidden in retreat or supply themselves from the dead –they were formidable. They quite literally were do or die soldiers. True die hards. And their sons were at Dunkirk , Al Alamein ,Guadalcanal and Bastogne and they were no sae bad either. NE OBLIVISCARIS DO NOT FORGET.

Everyone knew the Old Guard of the First Battalion who had enlisted in 1914. Not a single Junior Officer or NCO of 1914-1915 survived to see the Struma Valley and in 1917 my Auld Pop was Auld Pops to the men –after all he was almost 33 years old and the oldest serving soldier of the lot.

I met that Manxman in 1980 I think and he was the last WWI veteran I ever met. We had a drink, walked around the Menin Gate, went to Black Watch Corner and Ypres and had dinner together. He told me he would see me at sundown. He was making his last pilgrimage to the Salient and almost didn’t want to go because it had become so lonely for him but he told me the last time was the best because he met the grandson of Shalako Tommy, Chang Dhost and had heard news of the Auld Comrades. I wrote to him but he never answered. Sure he was near the end of his days. But I am glad I met him and I am proud to have known so many veterans from WWI and WWII and Vietnam and Korea. When I was in the Marines I had one DI who had been in the Marines since 1951 -35 years- all the other men I served with or under were combat veterans of Vietnam. I was of course just an ice cream Marine what Auld Pop would call “a tin-solger wi’ white starched pants and white gloves”. But I served (unlike Kronman and his 60’s generation)

It is quite true that I am the only male of my line in my generation (I have two sisters and six first cousins all female) and it is true that I am the last to speak the old tongue of CIOCH MHOR where my grandfather was born in the Highlands in the true Gaeltacht -in1886 –uninhabited since 1920.

I am the last to remember the ANTS –the men of Company A Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who held the Ypres Salient in 1915- all volunteers and all civilian soldiers. I knew a few of them myself. They are all gone now.

I am the first of our American line but the last Munro in history to remember the stories and the people of the Glen of Truimisgarry and the clachan of Chioch Mhor. The were always to first to follow the chief and every man marched out in the night all night to save Mary Queen of Scots from her English bought enemies. Clad in Gold she was our young Mary and we were there but now we are all gone every last one gone to Canada, the USA, New Zealand and Australia.

My great –grandfather Jos Munro (Jos M’anrothaiche) was the only one of his eight brothers and sisters not to emigrate and even he died in New York in 1937 for he had no family left in Scotland.

I do not forget –no I never will- but I face firmly towards the future and in that future there is no Scotland for me or any of my race or line.

But all is left now August 16, 2008 is the ghost of the chorus now stilled forever around the Hamilton upright and the memory of the old songs –fine songs for singing rare songs to hear –that only I remember and few ask for them now and fewer yet remember them at all.

So in the end the only Scotland there will be for me is in a pile of song books and old photographs and some small memorabilia –an ancient Gaelic bible –it must date to the middle of the 19th century- a missal in Latin and English dating from 1923 –it was my father’s –small books of Kipling and Burns with blood stains and mud stains of Ypres and the Struma Valley –a 1918 half crown carried in my Auld Pop’s left pocket –it was their custom to keep a bible with a silver half crown just in front of the heart and to put a new one there ever New Year’s but that was the last one.

There is a gold watch that belonged to Major MacKenzie his widow sent it to my grandfather after Armistice Day 1918. (Major Mackenzie was killed that fall in France after having invalided out of the service; he reenlisted to lead a new battalion of young recruits there were no officers left,,,even now I weep for Mrs. MacKenzie and her long years of widowhood. She lived on until the 1970’s as my grandmother lived on a widow until the 1980’s (my mother’s mother).. There are some trench candles. There are some gold coins and silver dollars from the USA 1921-1935, But physically that is is.

But we are still here and I like to think that something always remains.

I have done my best to pass on what I know of our Splendid Ancient Heritage: Bydan Free FOREVER FREE and DREADING GOD as in the days of yore. The sons and daughters of my race and line will not have a single syllable of our ancient treasures of song but I pray that OUR HOLY FAITH and OUR STRONG DESIRE and BRAVE HEARTS FOR FREEDOM will never die and that the COLORS WILL NOT EVER BE STRUCK in my time. And education has not come to an end not by a long shot.

But then the truest education is in the home not the school. We ought not to trust too much in schools and colleges. I warn my parents constantly that many universities are indeed enemy institutions and they must beware. I tell them the truth as I see it and they are glad for it.

Without the love of the hearth and without the women of the house and without the Auld Pops there is no reason to get any schooling. Nothing to remember. Nothing to believe in. Nothing to truly love. Perhaps no identity at all. No pride of name, of heritage or faith.

No reason to have a future. No reason to do anything but eat drink and be merry till it all falls doon like BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON.

Big liberalism and Secular Humanism dud in the mud ‘free love sex’ is not the answer unless you want to commit societal suicide.

No, I will carry on as I have….

AYE BYDAN FREE. And we shall see you at sundown....Aye!

A Classic for the Ages???? Kronman's Education's End

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300122888/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

A classic for the ages????

Perhaps you have heard of or read Education’s End by Kronman a Yale law school professor.

I just saw Charles Murray on booknotes interviewing him and found it interesting and worthwhile. However, I was taken aback when Murray said that THIS book EDUCATION’S END was the greatest book on higher education written in the last 100 years!

Perhaps, I am wrong but though I liked the book (I read it last summer) and thought it was good and valuable and worth reading and studying I did not catch fire with enthusiasm when I read the book.

It is a book that I will refer to in the future but not a book I will re-read and STUDY THE REST OF MY life. Kronman’s analysis of the "modern research ideal" is, I think correct. But the first half of the book in particular is wordy and repetitive and not particularly well-written, in my humble opinion.

This is a good book but not in the first rank. I would give it a B or B+ at the most.

Mind you I read it with eagerness and will re-read it again this weekend, especially the final chapter which is the best part of the book.

I am aware –and I thought of this as I read it- that I have a prejudice against him because he was a noble Big Liberal of the 60’s who no longer is as much to the Left as he was . He is right that Globalization IS WESTERNIZATION and I agree with him on the Western Origins of human rights, democracy and the Great Conversation.

But other say it better than he.

The best part of the book is the insight it gives to me –as an outsider- what the Liberal Yale elite thinks is great –he pats himself and Yale on the back constantly. I agree with him that there is an educational crisis in higher education. I know this from first hand.
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But it is enough for me to know that there is a crisis in American education.

The other was my quixotic attacks on the ENTIRE TEACHING ESTABLISHMENT during prop 227 leading to my debating Krashen the Great teacher of English and Languages (he has almost zero knowledge of any foreign language). My biggest problem with all of them is that they were teaching PROPAGANDA and INDOCTRINATION –orthodox bilingual education- not truly educating the teachers. And they obfuscated what they really were pushing for –Late Exit “Native Language Instruction” k-12 ! , Spanish language and Chinese language testing and alternative NON-ENGLISH NATIVE LANGUAGE INSTRUCITON across the core curriculum.

It was amazing to me that to this day not a SINGLE PROFESSOR OF TEACHER ED and NOT A SINGLE SUPERINTENDANT NOT A SINGLE MAJOR ELECTED OFFICIAL not one –not the Republicans and not the Democrats even said PEEP about what was going on.

It took people like me, Lenin Lopez of the 9th street School, Gloria Matta (like me a classroom teacher) and Ron Unz (the son of a teacher) and Jaime Escalante (though he took no part in the campaign except to lend his name to it whether this was for health reasons or political reasons I don’t know but at least he had to guts to give his name to 227 though he made no recordings.

To some people I was a hero (maybe to you perhaps and to my wife and to some of my students) and I am lucky to be in the Kern HS District where what I did and what I stand for is esteemed and remembered (that’s why I have my job at West High it is not a mistake that the Principal and VP had ties to the old Arvin establishment prior to B E and knew EXACTLY what I did and what I stood for.

Ideologically we believe in the importance of English Medium education. And of course the CAHSEE has made it all moot. Those stuck in Bilingual Ed are doomed. English Immersion is the modus operandi now. Rosalie Porter did that. GLorai Matta did that. Lenin Lopez did that. I did that. We all did it. And we were so few and as I said basically it was parents and students and classroom teachers against the whole educational establishment.

LEFT BACK is a superior book BECAUSE IT IS MUCH BETTER WRITTEN, EDITED AND RESEARCHED. I am sorry to say Professor Kronman is clever and learned but I got the impression he just tossed this book off. I know what good writing is and ‘he who writes a living line must sweat.’ I did not see that kind of effort NOR did I see a really rich array of quotations and allusions that I see in your books, Barzun’s books, Highet’s books, Hirsch’s books or Bloom’s books. I don’t know that much about Professor Kronman’s background but it is obvious to me that he doesn’t read any language other than English. I don’t think there was a single foreign language quote or translation made by him. From what I read Kronman’s background was obviously philosophy, liberal Democrat politics and the law but that’s it.

He praised the Great Books program at Columbia and Yale but it seems to me that St. Thomas Aquinas or St. John’s College in Santa Fe or Hillsdale College are vastly superior to the somewhat thinned out “Great Books” programs at Columbia and Yale. I like the Yale list BUT I thought there were major omissions. Yes there is the City of God by Augustine but no CONFESSIONS. This is not only a great book historically but it is a great autobiography. I think there is only one reasons it was left out and you know that reason. History and politics to read Polybius and leave out Plutarch, Xenophon and Caesar. Polybius is an interesting source and has an interesting view point BUT to have him on the list and skip over Cicero (the greatest prose writer of Rome and essential for philosophy, politics, literature and history plus the others is I think a week choice. Also there is no question in my mind that St. Patrick’s letter to Coroticus is vital in the HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS -it is one of he earliest and most complete natural rights attack on the immorality of SLAVERY. Not to mention it is ignorant or merely prejudiced. There can be only one reason it is not listed. But other than that his Philosophy section was strong the best of Plato, and Aristotle plus Aquinas and Augustine’s On Free Choice of the will.

Literature has Shakespeare’s Sonnets (selections), King Lear, Cervante’s Don Quixote, Milton’s Paradise lost, some poets Blake, Wordsworth, Goethe, Eliot (the Wasteland) Flaubert’s Madam Bovary, Dostoevsky’s Brother’s Karamanzov.

Of the Russians I would have picked Tolstoy and not to pick Calderon de la Barca is a mistake. I suppose they presume Yalies have read Romeo and Juliet and MacBeth and Hamlet and perhaps Julius Caesar. For myself I would follow my father’s advice :DO NOT READ KING LEAR (except excerpts) until you have read or watched the Shakespeare Core: Othello,Henry V, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, The Taming o the Shrew, Twelfth Night and the plays I have mentioned. King Lear like Moby Dick is a classic but is best appreciated by someone 40 or 50 years old who has a great knowledge of life and literature and Shakespeare.

History and Politics Burke, Machiavelli, The Federalist Papers Locke, Hobbles, Luther, Tocqueville, Mill, Emerson, yes but no Thomas Moore, No Lincoln Douglas debates (instead they have SEVERAL WORKS by Marx, Nietzche, and Hannarh Arendt (the last one is OK) but no Lord Action? No Thomas Jefferson? Of course I think no course would be complete without Adam Smith and Adam Fergusson but perhaps I am prejudiced myself here. More philosophy again and these are the best selections though I have little stomach for Hume, Nietzsche.and Wittgenstein.

But over all I think it is top heavy on philosophy as opposed to poetry –very weak in drama and very weak in Spanish, French and Italian literature. No Tartuffe by Moliere? Almost no Dante? Not a single Spanish poet or dramatist? And of course not a single Irish, Scottish or Welsh author! Once again I may be prejudiced in this matter. Perhaps there is no Scottish novelist close to Cervantes or even Dostoevsky but the list of Irish novelists and writers of fiction is so long and so outstanding that this total omission is to me incredible. Johnathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce , C.S. Lewis, Samuel Beckett, -and I am leaving out personal favorites who are not really in the first rank but who are charming such as Padric Colum, Peig Sayers.

Welsh writer Ken Follett is known mostly for his thrillers (which are splendid) but PILLARS OF THE EARTH and WORLD WITHOUT END are, in my opinion, among the greatest historical novels ever written. They are on par with the best of Walter Scott or Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. They are that good.

Then there are many Scottish novelists I like but would not rate in the first rank but of whom I am fond – Helen MacInnes( Highet’s wife), Compton MacKenzie, Conan Doyle, George MacDonald, Neil Munro, FIonn MacColla, Iain Crichton Smith, John Buchan (39 Steps), A J Cronin, Allan Massie, ) Perhaps you want to leave out Walter Scott but then I have at least four who rank very high indeed: 1)Robert Louis Stevenson both as a poet and novelist. Borges considered him as great as any Spanish poet or novelists with the exception of Cervantes. Nabokov –that great author in his own right and critic of Cervantes felt the same way. So did Kipling. So did Ernest Hemingway. I found it shocking when I was in college that Stevenson was entirely excluded from the Norton Anthology (and Burns almost totally excluded). I think he is a peer to Joseph Conrad and Kipling (both not even mentioned on the Yale list!!!!) Stevenson’s prose and poetry are among the highest in quality. If nothing survived but Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde plus a dozen of his poems he still would be ranked among the greatest literary genius of all time . Kidnapped is not a child’s book; it is one of the wisest books I have ever read about the doomed 1745 uprising and the virtues and character and tragic failings of Highland Scots. Even more than Scott , Stevenson knew both Highlands and Lowlands, the old and the new.


2)Tobias Smollet Humphrey Clinker

3)Muriel Spark (who was part Scottish Jewish by the way ) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

4) James Kennaway died far too young and was a great talent but his book TUNES OF GLORY is really as good or better than any fiction Orwell wrote with the exceptions of Animal Farm and 1984. It is THAT good.

VIDEO CLIP FROM THE MOVIE….which is probably the greatest film every made of its kind about post war peacetime military and post traumatic stress syndrome besides being a unique look into what it was like to belong to an ancient Scottish Highland Regiment. The film is very close to the book and many of the scenes are line for line the same as Kennaway’s book. Kennaway was an Argyll by the way but that doesn’t prejudice me in any way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvFolINztXA


http://www.hillsdale.edu/academics/corecurriculum.asp


I think I have given plenty of evidence that Kronman’s curriculum is not the be all and the end all. Actually, in my opinion, EXCEPT for the philosophical works it is quite mediocre and nothing special..

SEVEN WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR VOCABULARY

MPROVING YOUR VOCABULARY (II)
By Richard K. Munro, MA
There are at least SEVEN WAYS to make new words your own and increase your vocabulary

1) KEEP a vocabulary journal. Get a notebook and set aside parts of it for each category of new words you‘ll be recording (writing down). You might want to divide this into English, Math, Social Studies, and Computers, Foreign Language or word roots. Some people mix their vocabulary with commentary with their journals. Some people copy the quotation or put the page number for future reference. Some people color in the word in their personal study dictionary or write it in their favorite dictionary. The advantage of a vocabulary journal is that you can go back and review words or find quotations you like. Leave enough room around each entry for the definition or other notes you might make later. Focus on critical vocabulary or high frequency words such as imperialism, commerce or intention NOT griot, silviculture or valerian (words you are not likely to see very often).

2) LOOK UP WORDS in the glossary or in the dictionary. Read the definitions and choose the one that fits the way the word was used when you came across it in its context. Besides copying the definition I will often assign a sentence in your own words. Experts say you need to see or hear a word seven or eight times before you learn it. So the best way to practice a word is to copy it, translate it, say it, write it in sentences and use it in speech. TV is not all bad. Movies are not all bad. If you choose wise a good film can help reinforce your vocabulary. But it should be obvious to anyone that one will learn fifty or a hundred times more words by reading and writing. If you want to be a word “mavin” (an expert) you have to go to the dictionary on a daily basis. I own dozens of dictionaries (many are bilingual) and use several good ones regularly. Each is a little different. My favorite is the American Heritage dictionary. My favorite bilingual Spanish dictionaries are the Collins, the Oxford and the American Heritage (Larousse ).

3) Pronounce words : saying words aloud can help you fix them in your mind. Learn how to use the phonetic explanation (usually in parentheses) in your dictionary. Unfortunately there are several ways of doing this. There is the international phonetic alphabet which is very precise but very complicated –too complicated for the learner. Then there are the standards used by Oxford or American Heritage –they are very similar using long vowel symbols (ē) and short vowel symbols (ĕ). I will introduce you to these but you are NOT REQUIRED to be an expert on PHONICS for the CAHSEE or this class. Another good way is to listen to an ON LINE pronunciation. The entire American Heritage dictionary is ON LINE and each word is pronounced for you

4) Another method to organize new vocabulary words is to use INDEX CARDS. They are cheap and come in colors. Put the word on one side and its definition and an example how to use it on the back. You can carry a few cards with you until you learn the meaning. You can organize your cards anyway you like but it is good keep them together by unit or test or class if you need them for that class. If you are learning a series of words such as “NIMSA” for a history test (the causes of World War One; “NIMSA”: nationalism, imperialism, militarism and secret alliances.) it is OK to put more than one word on the card IF you know them all. But the key to study cards is not to put TOO MUCH on one card. Some teachers allow you to use a single note card for reference for a test.

5) Learn words every day! A word will become part of your vocabulary when you see it and use it. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to learn new words. Here’s a plan for learning your new vocabulary words.
• Set aside about ten minutes each day JUST TO REVIEW VOCABULARY WORDS. Try to do it the same place every day so you won’t forget. Study waiting for the bus or waiting for breakfast or just before you go to bed at night. The time doesn’t matter. What is important is that you make review part of your routine. There is an old Irish saying “beag is beag is fhearr an ceum mor” which “means little by little (every day) is better than one big step (every once and while)”. This is true for almost anything such as saving, working or exercising
• Choose only a few vocabulary words to review. No more than five or seven perhaps two or three. If you try to study ten or twenty or more you will need more time and will not learn as many.
• Read the word. Repeat it. Try to remember the definition and the example of how it was used when you first heart it. If possible study with a friend or your sibling or an older relative. They don’t have to be experts they just have to ask you and hold the card!
• Check to see if you were right. If you KNOW a word 100% put OK by it.
• If you miss it HIGHLIGHT IT or put an asterisk or an exclamation point. I like to write N.B. for nota bene or ¡OJO! (Watch out!). It is important to identify the words you know and the words you don’t know. It is stupid really to wait until the test to find out you don’t know the words. We all make mistakes but we should learn from them!
• If you couldn’t remember the word re-read the word, the example and the definition aloud. It helps to SAY IT and HEAR IT.
• Try writing the word in a sentence. If the word is hard to spell, write it out a few times. Then repeat your sentence. Try to have fun. A good way to remember a word is by nonsensical association. Example: How do you say cotton in Spanish?
Algodón. I could never remember this word until my professor taught me “AH’L GO DOWN” TO THE COTTON FIELD (I’ll go down to the cotton field). I have never forgotten the word since that day –more than thirty years ago- and the funny association!
6. Try to use your new words whenever you can in conversation or writing. Try using the new word when your write emails or essays for school.
7) Another good way to learn words is to use CONCEPT MAPS. This is particularly good for science or history concepts. Concept maps help you remember a lot of words connection to one concept or idea and so are perfect for quick outlines for an essay.
A simple way is to contrast opposites
DICTATORSHIP/DEMOCRACY
TYRANT/ STATESMAN






Other ways to make VOCABLARY BUILDING FUN

1) Read for pleasure during your leisure time. The reading you do on your own –magazines, newspapers, internet articles, adventure stories are a great way to pick up words . This is the whole purpose of ACCELERATED READER which is 10% of your English grade. It should be the easiest way to boost your grade but you have to DO IT on a REGULAR BASIS. But there is less stress to hurry and the scores of your tests on ACCELERATED READER are averaged separately from you regular quizzes, tests and essays.
2) Be an active listener. When you are having a conversation, especially with people who are older than you are, you will hear words that are unfamiliar to you. This is especially true if you are learning a second or third language. Much of what you hear will seem like gibberish but in fact the more you listen the more you begin to understand. When you have the chance ask, “What do you mean by that?” Sometimes you will have quite a laugh because you misunderstood entirely what the speaker was saying. I remember getting lost in Madrid, Spain. I want to see the Museum of the Americas. I couldn’t find it so I asked a passerby: ¿Dónde queda el museo? And the Spaniard replied –he was quite in a hurry- ¡EN ABSOLUTO! Which I took to mean ON ABSOLUTO STREET. I spent fifteen minutes looking for that street which did not exist on the map. Later another Spaniard explained and we had a laugh. He was kind enough to walk out of his way and show me the way
3) Play word games. Crossword puzzles are excellent ways to improve your vocabulary and your spelling. Some are quite easy and others are more advanced. You can make easier games such as finding small words in big words (ant in RESTAURANT)
There are more ways to learn new vocabulary. But the most important thing is to read and to think. If you don’t understand what you are reading it might as well be in Martian or Egyptian hieroglyphics. As my old Spanish teacher used to say: “Tururu es tururu” that is to say nonsense is just nonsense. There is no shame in not knowing a word. There is no shame in not knowing how to pronounce a word. We all make mistakes. There is no shame in misspelling a word (even famous writers make typos or misspell words). The thing is TO ASK. If you ASK, if you LOOK things UP and WRITE THEM DOWN, you will learn. There is only shame in making no effect to learn and improve one’s mind and vocabulary. That is a shame, a terrible shame. There is no better time for learning than NOW. The early learning is the “bonnie learning” to use a Scots expression. How true that is! Everything is harder after age 40! NOW IS THE TIME TO LEARN. WHEN YOU ARE YOUNG.

IMPROVING YOUR VOCABULARY (I)

IMPROVING YOUR VOCABULARY
"MERUS GRAMMATICUS , MERO ASINUS" (a MERE SCHOLAR IS AN ASS; MEDIEVAL SAYING).
"THE GREATEST CLERKS BE NOT THE WISESTS OF MEN" -CHAUCER
"Le grands clercs ne sont pas le plus fins" (French saying)
"Cha iad not ro-cleirich as fhearr" (Gaelic saying: "The very learned are not the best"


By Richard K. Munro, MA 2008
YOU have the ability to speak and make language. That’s what sets you apart from animals and other species. You think in words, read with words and write with words. Words are an essential part of what makes you a unique individual. Words are a resource, a source of wisdom and strength.
Improving your vocabulary means DICTION which is learning to use the right word at the right time. Vocabulary is not just knowing a word or recognizing a word. It is learning the connotations (associations implied by the word in addition to its literal meaning) as well as the denotation (dictionary or primary definition. For example the denotation of “ass” or “asses” means merely “any of several hoofed animals related to horses but smaller than donkeys”. But everyone knows an “an ass” is a kind of person who is vain, silly, or aggressively stupid or ridiculous.” That is not a bad word but it has a negative connotation.
Now if I spoke to you in Spanish and said; “Eres un as!”I am not insulting you but complimenting you! “Eres un as!” means you’re an ace or you’re the top! This is a colorful example of a FALSE COGNATE or a word which SOUNDS LIKE or LOOKS like a work in another language but it has a different meaning. This is also an example of the literary expression called a double-entendre which is a word or a phrase which has a double meaning (often somewhat risqué which means suggesting something off color or indelicate). A pun (or paronomasia) is a phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect.Now we can use the word “ass” in a stronger way such as telling a lazy person to get to work: “Get off your ass!” Here the word means “buttocks” or rear-end or derriere which are all nicer and more polite words than “ass” which often has a negative connotation. But there are even more connotations of the word “ass” and you probably know some but these are too vulgar to be used in polite company. But there is nothing wrong with the word “ass”. It is a perfectly good word if you are talking about farm animals or even now and then a silly, stubborn person. But I would avoid using it too often because it is very insulting or off-color (exhibiting bad manners and bad taste). I would not use it to describe the size or physical attributes of shape of a person, for example. So improving your vocabulary means learning deeper meanings about words you already know or correcting a small error in your comprehension. Improving your vocabulary will improve your memory. Improving your vocabulary will improve your reading efficiency. Improving your vocabulary is a sure way to gain insight into the world around you and also enjoy the world around you!

REVIEW OF VOCABULARY:
1) Diction means a) choice of words in writing or speech b) distinctness of pronunciation in speech or singing such as “she has good diction” (meaning she sings or speaks very clearly.)
2) Connotations: the different meanings or associations a word has. The connotation could be negative or positive , imply wealth or poverty, thinness , youth or stoutness or age
3) Denotation means the most specific and direct meaning of a word as opposed to its secondary, associated or figurative meanings.
4) negative connotation means when a word has a negative meaning or attribute.
5) FALSE COGNATES are similar words in different languages (such as Spanish and English) that appear to have a common etymology (historical linguistic origin) (regardless of meaning) but actually do not.
6) A pun (or paronomasia) is a phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect
Examples: English neck/German Genick and Spanish nuca; English red and Spanish red meaning net.
Compromiso: Meaning a promise, obligation, or commitment, it does not usually convey the sense that one have given up something to reach an agreement. There is no good noun equivalent of "compromise" that would be understood that way out of context, although the verb transigir conveys the sense of giving in to, yielding to, or tolerating another person. Words like hot dog can become lost in translation, and especially since words carry different connotations in different areas; Richard Lederer, an author and professor of English, reports going to Germany and asking a vendor for a heißen Hund (a literal translation of "hot dog"). The vendor broke out laughing, for in German, heißer Hund suggests a dog in heat.
http://spanish.about.com/cs/vocabulary/a/obviouswrong.htm has a lot more and any bilingual person should study lists like this but be careful! Even native speakers make mistakes and sometimes use slang!

7) double-entendre which is a word or a phrase which has a double meaning (often somewhat risqué which means suggesting something off color or indelicate). An example of this would be the title of the famous short story, "The Most Dangerous Game", by Richard Connell in which the title can refer both to the "game" (caza mayor) that is most dangerous to hunt, and "game" that is most dangerous to play.

some bilingual puns

A Spaniard who knows very little English walks into a bus station and requests:
"One ticket to Kentucky."
The clerk asks:
"On the bus?"
And the Spaniard replies:
"Onde voy a ir, a Kentucky."
("On the bus" sounds like vulgar Spanish "Onde vas", contraction of "A dónde vas" as pronounced by most Spaniards, which means "where are you going?" The guy replies "Onde voy a ir, a Kentucky" - roughly, "where do you think, to Kentucky!")
A Spanish speaker who knows no English walks into a pharmacy and requests, in Spanish:
"¿Hay ampolletas?"
To which the clerk replies:
"Hello, Mr. Polletas."
("¿Hay ampolletas?", Spanish for "Are there ampoules?", sounds like English "I am Polletas")
A Spanish speaker who knows no English goes into a clothes store in an English-speaking country and wants a garment but doesn't know how to ask for it.
After the manager shows the Spanish speaker every article of clothing in the store, she shows the Spanish speaker a pair of socks, and the Spanish speaker says:
"¡Eso sí que es!" ("That's what it is!") The manager responds:
"If you could spell it all along, why didn't you say so?"
("¡Eso sí que es!" sounds like the English letter sequence "S-O-C-K-S.")
Profesor: ¿Cómo se deletrea 'nariz' en inglés? (How do you spell 'nose' in English?)
Estudiante: No sé. ("No sé" means "I don't know", but it spells out "nose".)

Profesor: ¿Cómo se dice "yo veo dos" en inglés? (How do you say "I see two" in English?)
Estudiante: Ay sí tú , como si supieras inglés. (Yeah right, as if you spoke English.)

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
By Richard K. Munro, MA
August 13, 2008 San Felipe River (Kern River. Bakersfield)
English or the “right-true Saxon” tongue as it was once known is a Germanic language, related at its heart to Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and German. English is a not an ancient language, only coming into prominence in the last five hundred years. It is not the oldest native language of the British Isles and Ireland but to day it is the preeminent language of many English-speaking nations such as England (the U. K.), the USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. English has become the native language of more than 350,000 million people and is the most important second language in the world. English is worth studying because it is very useful in business, law, medicine, computers, diplomacy and education. English has a vast and famous literature, an influential musical culture and arguably the greatest film and entertainment industry in the modern world. English is also the language of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and the Roosevelts and so has been an instrument in spreading democracy and human rights throughout the world.
The history of English is traditionally divided into three periods usually called Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. Three Germanic tribes, called Angles, Saxons and Jutes, invaded Roman Britain in the fifth century AD. They may have first come as barbarian mercenaries and when the Roman legions were withdrawn from Britain. the Anglo-Saxons or English –who were pagans- gradually took over from the native Romano-Britons who were Christian. King Arthur the legendary King of Camelot is supposed to have rallied the Britons against these pagan invaders from a time; this allowed Wales and Scotland to develop as independent countries with their own languages and traditions.

OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH MODERN ENGLISH
c. 500-1110 C 1350- 1450 From 1600 to present
nama name name
him him him
comon come come
beon be be
waeter In the watter (water) In the water
Genoh (enough) plentee Plenty(enough)
mildheortness mercy Mercy; mildheartedness
wraelice In pilgramage Pilgrimage , traveling
cniht knyght knight
Hwaet what what
eg egge Edge
Ealda man The olde man The old man
findan finden find
fundon founde found
funden founden found

Christianity came at the pagan Anglo-Saxons from two directions who had it was said ,“neither numbers, nor letters, nor God.” If the Anglo-Saxons had remained pagan it is possible that their language may never have been widely written and so may not have survived its many travails. Missionaries from Roman Britain spread Christianity to Ireland and Scotland (St. Patrick c 432, St. Columba,c 563 and St. Mungo c 560. for example) thus preserving the ancient faith and knowledge of schooling, books and the alphabet. In turn, these Celtic missionaries reintroduced Christianity and the Latin alphabet to the Anglo-Saxons. The Irish were instrumental in this time period in fomenting education and Christianity not only in England but on the continent as well planting an early missionary base on Lindisfarne Island as well as schools in Charlemagne’s empire. The other force in Christianizing the Saxons came from Rome beginning with the mission of St.Augustine to Aethelbert, King of Kent, in AD 597. Aethelbert was chosen because he was married to a Frankish Christian princess who encouraged the new religion. The story goes that Aethelbert, afraid of the powers of the Christian “sorcerers”, chose to meet with them in the open air to ensure that they wouldn’t cast a wicked spell over him!
Augustine's original intent was to establish an archbishopric in London, but at that time the London English were hard-core pagans, slavers and polygamists and so were very hostile to Christians. Therefore, Canterbury, the capital of the Kentish kingdom of Aethelbert , became the seat of the pre-eminent archbishop in England. The Church was a very important force in medieval English society. It was the only truly national entity –international really- tying together the various warring Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The early monasteries of Northumberland were vital centers of learning and the arts until they were wiped out by savage Viking raids of the 9th century. There was an ancient prayer known round the Isles that went like this: A furore normannorum libera nos domine ("From the fury of the Norsemen deliver us, O Lord!"). Much of England, Ireland and Scotland were conquered by the Vikings (c.800-1263) and the northern dialects of English were very influenced by Old Norse (an ancestor of Norwegian and Swedish). Some examples are fellow, hit, sly, take, skirt, scrub, gill, kindle, kick, get, give, window, skipper, sister, thrall (slave),earl(warrior/noble), want and dream (it meant ‘joy’ in Anglo-Saxon.).

Anglo-Saxon England's most famous historian and Doctor of the Church , the monk Bede, known as the Venerable Bede, lived most of his life at the monastery of Jarrow, in Northumbria (died 735). His famous book was "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People".
Nearby, the monastery of Lindisfarne is famous for its' celebrated hand-colored illuminated Bible, an 8th century masterpiece of Celtic- inspired art, which is now in the British Library.

Churches were almost the only forum for education during the Middle Ages. Under the auspices of Alfred the Great church schools were encouraged for common people, and many Latin works were translated into English. The higher church officials also played important secular roles; advising the king, witnessing charters, and administering estates of the church, which were extensive. The Magna Charta (1215) was written in Latin and so was the Arbroath Declaration of 1320. Much of early common law was written in French. But the language of everyday community life in England became English.
No written records of the Anglo-Saxon language survive from before the seventh century. The main written language in England as English Britain began to be called was Latin, the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1066 the Normans, under William the Conqueror, conquered the Anglo-Saxons and killed their last king Harold at the Battle of Hastings. There are no loanwords of unquestionably French origin that occur prior to 1066. Essentially the Anglo-Saxons ceased to exist as an independent people from that time. The Anglo-Normans spoke French and used it as a language of administration; they also learned Latin for the Church and the Universities.
FRENCH LOANWORDS IN ENGLISH
French English Commentary/Spanish cognate
Chateau-fort castle castillo
jongleur juggler Malabarista; juglar)poet/minstrel is a false cognate
prison prison prisión
service service Servicio
gouvernment government gobierno
administration Administration administración
avocat attorney Lawyer/advocate/abogado
court court corte
crime crime Replacing the Anglo-Saxon word ‘”sin”
Delito ; CRIMEN is MURDER (AS)
juge judge juez
jury jury jurado
noble noble noble
royal royal real
prince prince príncipe
duc duke duque
armée army ejército
capitaine captain capitán
cabot corporal cabo
lieutenant lieutenant Teniente/alférez
sergent sergeant sargento
soldat soldier soldado
boeuf beef Cow (Anglo-Saxon)
mouton mutton Sheep (AS)
porc pork Pig (AS)
veau veal Calf (AS)
dignité dignity dignidad
feindre Feign fingir
fruit fruit fruta
lettre letter Carta (“letras”=words of a song or letters)
litérature literature literatura
magicien;magique Magician , Magic AS: Sorcerer/sorcery
miroir mirror AS Looking-glass
question question Pregunta; cuestión
recherche search Buscar; investigar
secret secret secreto
son Sound (noise) Sound /saludable(AS)=healthy,solid
solace solace solaz
chapitre chapter Capítulo
dictionnaire dictionary AS word-book
bestiaux Cattle (beasties) Ganado
gain wage sueldo
calibre Gage (or gauge) Indicador/calibre
garant Warranty Garantía (limitada)NOT the same as guarantee.Partially FALSE COGNATE
garant guarantee Garantía de fábrica
mars March marzo
mélodie Melody/tune(AS) melodía
Nature/ caractère nature Naturaleza/carácter
courage courage Coraje, valor
aventure Adventure; love affair aventura
spécial special Specially part AS
chef chief jefe
chef chef Chef o jefe de cocina
champion champion campeón
Psalmodie/chanter chant cantar
machine machine Note French sound not Greek “K”
sauvage savage Wild (AS)
couleur Color (colour) color
honor honor honor
vertu virtue virtud
fleur flower Flor
soupe soup sopa
Debris; décombres debris escombros
De luxe De luxe De lujo
denouement denouement Or resolution
élite elite élite
Hors d’oeuvre Hors d’oeuvre Appetizers (tapas)
Reveille Reveille “reVALLEY” in British English
RE-valley in Am. English
quitter To leave (AS) “to quit”
arrêter To stop (AS) “to arrest” ê indicates “s” sound was dropped.
demander To ask (AS) “to demand”
penser To think (AS) “to be pensive”
ami Friend (AS) Amicable ‘
“mon ami” is almost universally known in English just as “mi amigo”
pont Bridge (AS) Pontoon (temporary Military bridge)

Many English expressions are direct translations of French. For example, if you please (s’il vous plait), marriage of convenience (marriage de convenance), that goes without saying (ça va sans dire, reason of state (raison d’etat)), trial balloon (ballon d’essai) even every day expressions like the arm of the professor (le bras d’ professeur rather than the more Anglo-Saxon “the teacher’s arm). Also we have question de connaissances générales ;general knowledge question ;champion du monde champion of the world (world champion)
Many more French expressions entered the English language in the 16th and 17th century when French was the lingua franca of educated people. French remained the spoken language par excellence in Scotland until the 17th century and 18th century. Mary Queen of Scots, previously the Queen of France, never spoke English as the Queen of Scotland but habitually spoke French (or Latin). General Wolfe used French-speaking Highlanders as interpreters and as scouts who could penetrate the French lines at will as they did at Quebec in 1759. French remains an important foreign language in the British Isles as well as Canada and there are many mixed Belgian-English and French-English families who are completely bilingual and of course millions of Canadians speak French and English. I daresay one of the differences between educated British English and American English is that British English uses far more French words and phrases than does American English. In any case, thousands of French words are identical or nearly identical to their English cognates.
English might have died out completely except for the fact that England, being part of an island, was separated from France and tended to thus be isolated. England and France –cousin nations really- fought many wars for supremacy. At one time England claimed and occupied most of France. The ruling families which continued to speak French until abut the 1350’s. Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales in Middle English using thousands of French borrowings. The London dialect, for the first time, begins to be recognized as the "Standard", or variety of English taken as the norm, for all England. Other dialects are relegated to a less prestigious position. Over the years the Anglo-Norman French of the ruling classes created an English-French patois with a vocabulary that was heavily Latin and French and a very simplified grammar and inflectional system. For example, English lost its masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives (a few exceptions survive today: we say a BLONDE girl but a BLOND boy; we say fox and vixen for a female fox. ) Gradually French lost its prestige and popularity with the English ruling class and French though still used in the courts was studied as Latin was as a foreign language. By 1362 English had replaced French as the common language of the English parliament.
HERE IS a QUOTATION FROM Merriam Webster. I can read Middle English (Chaucer) with some annotation but I cannot read Anglo-Saxon nor am I an expert on Anglo-Saxon so here it is best to go word by word from an expert source:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/history.htm
The following brief sample of Old English prose illustrates several of the significant ways in which change has so transformed English that we must look carefully to find points of resemblance between the language of the tenth century and our own. It is taken from Aelfric's "Homily on St. Gregory the Great" and concerns the famous story of how that pope came to send missionaries to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity after seeing Anglo-Saxon boys for sale as slaves in Rome:
Eft he axode, hu ðære ðeode nama wære þe hi of comon. Him wæs geandwyrd, þæt hi Angle genemnode wæron. Þa cwæð he, "Rihtlice hi sind Angle gehatene, for ðan ðe hi engla wlite habbað, and swilcum gedafenað þæt hi on heofonum engla geferan beon."
A few of these words will be recognized as identical in spelling with their modern equivalents—he, of, him, for, and, on—and the resemblance of a few others to familiar words may be guessed—nama to name, comon to come, wære to were, wæs to was—but only those who have made a special study of Old English will be able to read the passage with understanding. The sense of it is as follows:
Again he [St. Gregory] asked what might be the name of the people from which they came. It was answered to him that they were named Angles. Then he said, "Rightly are they called Angles because they have the beauty of angels, and it is fitting that such as they should be angels' companions in heaven."
Some of the words in the original have survived in altered form, including axode (asked), hu (how), rihtlice (rightly), engla (angels), habbað (have), swilcum (such), heofonum (heaven), and beon (be).
***
Perhaps the most distinctive difference between Old and Modern English reflected in Aelfric's sentences is the elaborate system of inflections, of which we now have only remnants.
***
The period of Middle English extends roughly from the twelfth century through the fifteenth...
Other important early developments include the stabilizing effect on spelling of the printing press in 1474. William Caxton published the first printed English book in England. This began a long process of standardization of spelling. During the Renaissance, there was a large influx of neologisms from Latin and Greek in this great age of translations from Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The King James Bible was published in 1611 and is the most influential English book of all time, closely followed by the works of William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Shakespeare himself coined many new expressions and words and wove them all together in the most artistic and imaginable way possible. In 1755 Samuel Johnson published his English dictionary and the classical writers of this period (Gibbon, Pope, Swift, Boswell) used a highly polished syntax and an elaborate vocabulary borrowing many words from French, Latin and Greek. The rise of the British Empire led to the spreading of English all over the world (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India , Canada, Bahamas, Jamaica, the Thirteen Colonies) After Independence American English consciously develops as a separate dialect with its own spellings , grammar and jargon. After the industrialization of Britain and then the USA, the English-speaking peoples became a world-wide military, naval and commercial powers often trailblazing new business techniques and new technologies. English bestsellers are translated to dozens of languages and most of the great books of the world are translated into English. The great age of the primacy of the English-speaking peoples may be at its close but I think it is a fair bet that English will remain important in my lifetime and for the rest of the 21st century. Keep learning the “right true Saxon tongue”; continue studies in the excellent English language.

.

Beasts of England by Orwell with notes for Spanish-speaking learners of English

Just for fun. I begin the year in my English Learners class teaching them the basic genres, the history of the English language, phonics, pronunciation, literary devices with some short humorous limericks and poems. I try to teach them vocabulary but also cultural literacy. RICARDO MUNRO
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BEASTS OF ENGLAND by George Orwell
Notes and Commentary BY RICHARD K. MUNRO
"Beasts of England" is a fictional song in George Orwell’s satiric allegoric novel masterpiece Animal Farm (1945). It alludes to the famous Communist-Socialist anthem "The Internationale as well as Shelley’s romantic poem "Men of England"[1]
In Animal Farm, Old Major the pig describes his dream of an animal-controlled utopia just a few nights before his death. Old Major recalls a tune he heard as a piglet, so many years ago, entitled “Beasts of England”. The pigs quickly memorize the song, foreshadowing their future dominance, while other animals follow rhythm and beat as best they can.

The animals joyously sing “Beasts of England” after the revolution against Farmer Jones. However, as Napoleon the Pig grows more powerful, using packs of dogs to terrorize the farm, he orders that the singing of "Beasts of England" be outlawed. Napoleon then replaces “Beasts of England” with an anthem praising himself! He changes the animal laws saying:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

A very funny song from a very funny but also very sad book which along with 1984 are prophetic warnings about the dangers of Communism, totalitarianism and the power of the modern state.




BEASTS OF ENGLAND (George Orwell) tune: “La cucaracha”
Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings[2]
Of the golden future time.

Soon or late the day is coming,
Tyrant Man shall be o'erthrown,[3]
And the fruitful fields of England
Shall be trod[4] by beasts alone.

Rings will vanish from our noses,
And the harnesses[5] from our back,
Bit[6] and spur shall rust forever,
And cruel whips no more shall crack.

Riches more than mind can picture,
Wheat and barley, oats and hay,
Clover, beans[7], and mangel-wurzels [8]
Shall be ours upon that day.

Bright will shine the fields of England,
Purer shall its waters be,
Sweeter yet shall blow its breezes
On the day that sets us free.

For that day we all must labour[9],
Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for our freedom's sake.

Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken well and spread my tidings
Of the golden future time.





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[1] To the Men of England by Shelley (fragment)
Men of England, wherefore plough
For the lords who lay ye low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care
The rich robes your tyrants wear?

Wherefore feed and clothe and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat -nay, drink your blood?




[2] Tidings : news (noticias)

[3] Poetic for OVERTHROWN- derrocado ; echado del poder

[4] To tread (trod) trodden (pisar/pisó/pisado; as in downtrodden (pisoteado; oprimidio)

[5] Harness: arreos

[6] Bit= bocado, freno

[7] Wheat and barley (trigo y cebada), oats and hay ( avena y heno),Clover, beans (trébol y frijoles)

[8] Animals are known to thrive excellently upon this plant, both its leaves and roots providing a nutritious food. Mangelwurzel

[9] British spelling; closer to the original French like colour for color and valour for valor.

Munro’s commentary on China, the Olympics, Immigration and challenges to the primacy of the English speaking peoples.

Q What did you think of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics? I found it very militaristic beneath the glossy exterior, and even menacing to see all those thousands of automatons.


As far as China and the Olympics go, yes, I found the ceremonies obsequious to Chinese culture and history the way the 1936 Olympics were to the Nazis and the 3rd Reich.

While we sleep –and save nothing- China is becoming an economic powerhouse. They have a 40% savings rate. Soon and very soon we will be if we are not already an economic colony of the Chinese.

I cannot see how the USA can maintain air and naval supremacy for more than one generation in the pacific. China already is endangering our aircraft carriers with nuclear subs and its army, navy and air force are huge and modernizing in leaps and bounds. In round 2 of the Korean war we would certainly lose not tomorrow or five years from now but 25 years from now. It is only a matter of time. For our own good we should withdraw our troops from Korean before they are wiped out. That’s my opinion.

We have witnessed the decline and fall of one empire (the British) and its currency in the lifetime of my family. It was a major topic of discussion from my early youth.

The why and hows of our exile and the cause was the decline and fall of the British Empire starting in 1914. By 1945 things were worse as they could no longer sustain their navy leaving an almost total collapse of the Clyde Shipyards –they revived a bit 1939-1945,

But it got to the point that my people essentially emigrated en masse to the USA, Australia and Canada. We had survived the 18th and 19th century essentially by being agents of the British Empire and Maritime fleet. Every Highlander dreamed of making his modest fortune and returning to his native place and this was the pattern for generations but gradually they were pulled to the lowland cities and finally permanent emigration.

This was the price of individual freedom and independence: we had to throw our lot in with the English-speaking communities round the world and turn our back forever, as I have, on our ancestral homes.

I do not forget but I am a realist. My future and the future of my children is in the Americas and chiefly but not exclusively in the USA. And I know in a long journey some things must be left behind. But I take comfort in the fact that something always remains.

I read a HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE by Andrew Roberts last year. Andrew Roberts brilliantly reveals what made the English-speaking people the preeminent political culture since 1900, and how they have defended their primacy from the many assaults upon them. And yes, primacy or supremacy are the words we must use. America is free and independent because of economic, cultural, political, naval, military and air supremacy.

What connects those countries where the majority of the population speaks English as a first language—the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, even Ireland—is far greater than what separates them, and the development of their history since 1900 has been a phenomenal success story. But we may have witnessed the peak of the English-speaking peoples circa 1970.

I am not, as you know English, but I am an English-speaking person and have always considered myself an Anglophile.

But there is much evidence of a real cultural decline as well as an economic decline. In Britain things are worse than they are here because they are not assimilating immigrant populations.

But many of my English friends say that their former hometowns have become hostile alien communities. Here in California –perhaps you know the book Mexifornia- I hear the same complaint whole neighborhoods of Los Angeles and entire rural communities of the San Joaquin Valley have effectively ceased being part of the English-speaking world. Punjabi owners of the Chevron gas station in Arvin, California all speak Spanish –they say it is essential and 90% of their customers speak Spanish. In fact, they were afraid that English-speakers would not even stop there which is why they put up big signs ENGLISH SPOKEN HERE and AMERICAN FLAGS.

I asked my Auld Pop when I was a small boy why we spoke English if we were not English. He puffed on his unfiltered Pall Mall cigarettes and pondered a minute and then he said: “English is the language of the banks and the long-range guns. That’s why everybody speaks English even the English.”

The implication was, and I think this is true is that English has gained its primacy due to its prosperity, political stability and unity which are based on its culture –which includes home and community life.

English-speaking women -like many Europeans- are having children more reluctantly and less frequently. One of the results of this birth dearth is that in many communities there is no large cohort of English-speaking children to assimilate to.

English-speaking people take the survival and success of their language as a given.

As a Gael by heritage I do no take the survival and success of any language as a given. Gaelic has survived centuries of repression and neglect but now what will kill it will be Margaret Sanger. One of the reasons the language has survived was the abnormally high traditional birth rate of Highlanders as compared to other Britons. This is no longer true as birth control has reached the Islands and as people abandon a life of rural crofts and fishing. At present there are only 2,000 Gaelic speaking children in Gaelic speaking households; the median age of a Gaelic speaker is over 50 years of age.

It is ironic that Gaelic has become popular and fashionable at the same time the Pill and “Free Love” have undermined –in my view- its healthy family culture. There is hope of course but only just.

But I watch from afar as an American. Naturally I have a sentimental tie to the Old World –especially Scotland, the Holy Land, Rome and Spain- but I am an American by choice and it is America which concerns me most.

English-speakers are so sure about the automatic supremacy of American and the English language and I think many resent the competition of Spanish. Yet in Spanish English has found a tenacious rival.

There can be no question that Spanish will continue to thrive and grow in the United States and this is due in large part do the gaps in our own native-English speaking population (perhaps caused by 48,000,000 abortions?). Nature abhors a void and into that demographic void come countless millions of Asia and Latin immigrants.

Of course the problem is greater than the abortion question by itself. No one knows how many pregnancies were blocked and how much birth control and the ZPG mentality has led to cult of childlessness not merely “birth control.” The birth rate per 1000 has dropped dramatically. It was 30.1 in 1910 to a low of 19.1 in 1940 to the so-called ‘baby boom’ of the 50’s (every year at 24.1 to 25.3). From then it is has gradually declined to less than half of early 20th century levels to recent years of 13.9 to 14.1. SOURCE http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005067.html

But the percentage is misleading because the birth rate for native English speaking Americans is much lower than ZPG in many states. It is well-known that educated women tend to have fewer children than less educated women.

Over 50% of the children born in California are Hispanic and in some communities the number is closer to 90%. Demography is destiny both for nations, cultures, religions and languages. Of course the fact that one is born “Latino” whatever that means does not mean this person is going to be a Spanish speaking Roman Catholic. One must take into account mixed marriages, Americanized Hispanics (who are no longer Spanish-speaking) and other factors. Julie Banderas on Fox News is part Hispanic (she is part Columbian) but as far as I know she doesn’t speak a word of Spanish she just has a South American look due to her Latin American connection.

So culture and education are the crucial factors. If I didn’t believe it were so I would not be a teacher. But so are families and communities. If the language of the community ceases to be English then this will undermine English medium education. Perhaps it already has. I have dedicated my life to teaching in the public schools and as a private citizen to the teaching of ethics, family culture and religion. I am, of course, a Roman Catholic, but I have militated against sectarian prejudice and anti-Semitism as well. But I am also a public school teacher. I believe that religion must be a voluntary association and that as Americans we must peacefully coexist with private differences of religion. That having been said, the future history of America and its political unity will depend on our education or intermarriage with and assimilation of immigrant populations. Of this I am certain.

There is no question that immigration and especially illegal immigration is controversial and perhaps unsustainable. I have sympathy for the orphans of empire but I have no sympathy whatsoever with criminal gangs and lawlessness. So this is serious problem that must be addressed. In this age of terror we cannot afford to be laissez faire about immigration.

Nonetheless, I see most Latino and Asian immigrants as cultural allies not enemies. Hispanics can become a pillar of American society. Whatever problems they bring they bring us youth and energy. It is up to people like me to see that this energy is channeled into positive avenues. That’s the way I see it.

And so I serve not just to work and do a job but carry on my calling with absolute and total dedication. I believe America is, on the whole a good and free country and as an American I want the country where we have settled to be free, prosperous and united for the common good not just for myself alone in my life time.

And of course I am interested in the survival and success of the English-speaking world as well because those democracies are our natural allies followed by Latin Democracies (including Quebec and France) and other democracies. China is not a democracy. It remains a Pagan Fascist-Communist dictatorship. It may prove to be a much greater danger than Islamofascism in the long run.

I want Hispanic immigrants on our side the way William Pitt wanted the Highlanders on HIS SIDE not rebelling or fighting for the French. Pitt began a policy of amnesty and religious tolerance. The Highland poet, Duncan Ban Macintyre wrote:

Men bred in the rough bounds,
the host that is trustworthy...
Men of elan and mettle
with blue blade in pommel...
Descendants of noble clans,
begotten of north men,
'twas their instinct in every action
to advance...


William Pitt (the Elder), (1707-1778) on his famous eulogy to the Highland Regiments in 1766:

I sought for merit wherever it could be found. It is my boast that I was the first minister who looked for it, and found it, in the mountains of the north. I called it forth, and drew into your service a hardy and intrepid race of men; men who, when left by your jealousy, became a prey to the artifices of your enemies, and had gone nigh to have overturned the State, in the war before last. These men, in the last war, were brought to combat on your side; they served with fidelity, as they fought with valour, and conquered for you in every quarter of the world.

Pitt was right,of course, and thanks to him French-speaking Gaels –former soldiers of the French King’s Bodyguard of Scottish Archers- penetrated the French lines at Quebec in 1759 climbing up the hill and passing through the French lines without a shot. Parkman has a wonderful description of the event. The French soldiers assumed that no Englishman could speak French so fluently but then they forgot if they ever knew that French was the second language of generations of Highlanders who had served in French regiments –English being their third language.

People often underestimate people and cultures they do not know or understand. Part of the fear of new immigrants –part of it- is the uncertainty of how these immigrants will behave. Will they be good citizens or selfish brutish hooligan gangsters? There is no question that the strain of immigration and urbanization puts an unbelievable pressure of family life to the point that normal family life is shattered. This is why I believe everything possible should be done to keep families united as much as humanly possible and providing a healthy environment for youth.

But having stable families and creating large cohorts of native-speaking English children are essential if we are to Americanize immigrants or become in the words of TR a “polyglot boardinghouse”. The immigrants we have and the Hispanics we have are not going away. We need to find a way to peacefully coexist with them and make paths for their full citizenship in the USA if that is what they desire.
It is a fact of life that Mexico and Latin America share the American continent with us. But what we don’t know is how they will share the continent. As neighbors, as allies, as friends or as enemies? Are we going to have more Brazils and more Colombias or more Cubas and more Venezulas? We should do all we can, in my view to support the survival and success of free institutions in the USA and in the Americas, particularly.
John F. Kennedy in his address to the Canadian Parliament in 1961 spoke of the relationship with the USA and Canada but it could easily apply to Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Columbia and other Latin American nations:
Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.
What unites us is far greater than what divides us. The issues and irritants that inevitably affect all neighbors are small deed in comparison with the issues that we face together--above all the somber threat now posed to the whole neighborhood of this continent--in fact, to the whole community of nations. But our alliance is born, not of fear, but of hope. It is an alliance that advances what we are for, as well as opposes what we are against.

In the final analysis I think this is true. What unites the peoples of the Americas is far greater than what divides us. Let us put away the misunderstandings and misconceptions which give rise to uncertainty, fear and confusion but let us also be honest about the problems relating to uncontrolled illegal immigration and lawlessness. I know this world is a dangerous place but I hope that all the nations of the Americas will continue to grow in friendship, to grow in prosperity, and to grow in peaceful and democratic achievement. We are all Western peoples and I would be glad to welcome any Latin country as a cherished Western Ally.







Some sources on demography:



http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/5171


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/12/19/MN53431.DTL


http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/abortionstats.html

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8136 John F. Kennedy address to the Canadian Parliament 1961

Davey O' Bruton (Daibhi O' Bruadair c.1626- 1698)

He spent most of his adult life in Limerick supported by patrons such as the Fitzgeralds but by 1674 at the age of 48 he was reduced to laboring in the fields.

Irish is harder for me than Scots Gaelic (the are about as close as Portuguese and Spanish) since I had little contact with native Irish Gaelic speakers as a boy but I enjoy the "big songs" nonetheless and I can always understand the gist of something Irish and I enjoy reading, translating and singing songs of the Irish Gael.

This is one of my favorite Gaelic poems.

1) "THE HIGH POETS ARE GONE FROM US "(D' Aithle Na bhfileadh)

by Daibhi O' Bruadair (Davey O' Bruton) from the Irish Gaelic

For the familiy of Cuchonnacht O Dalaigh

D' aithle na bhfileadh n-uasal

truaghsan timeal an tsaoghail

clann na n-ollamh go n-eagna

folamh gan freagra faobhair.

THE NOBLE HIGH -POETS ARE GONE FROM US

I MOURN FOR THE WORLD'S LOSS,

THE CHILDREN OF THOSE BARDS

SO WISE ARE HUSHED

YOU'LL NOT HEAR THEIR WITTY REPLIES!

Truagh a leabhair ag liath

tiach nach teabhair bhaoise

ar ceal nior choir a bhfoilcheas

toircheas bhfear n-oil na gaoise

BORN BY THE DRINKERS OF WISDOM'S SPRING

I PITY THEIR BOOKS A-GRAYING.

(NOT BOORISH PACKS OF STUPIDITY)

LOST, UNFAIRLY TO OBSCURITY.

D' aithle na bhfileadh dar ionmhas eisge is iul

Is mairg de chonnairc an chinneamhain d' erigh dhuinn

a leabhar ag titim i leimhe 's leithe i gcuil

's macaibh na droinge gan siolla da seadaibh run.

AFTER THE HIGH POETS

FOR WHOM ART AND KNOWLEDGE WERE RICHES,

IT IS WITH REGRET I LIVE TO SEE

THIS FATE BEFALL US

THEIR MOLDERING BOOKS IN CORNERS

THEIR LIFE'S WORK A BLUR

AND THE SONS OF THEIR RACE

WITHOUT A SYLLABLE OF THEIR SECRET TREASURE.

(translated R. MUNRO if that doesn't bring a tear to your "een" then are you are no Highlander as Auld Pop would say)

#2 THERE IS A lOVELY Highland Song called Mi'n So 'Nam Onar (Here I am in my loneliness)

I learned it from Lismore recordings of DAVID SOLLEY.

This song, written by me was set to the same melody (fonn).

It's all about knee-mail or the power of prayer, the last weapon of the poor or powerless.

WHEN I AM LOW AND SHADOW-HEARTED a song by RICHARD MUNRO (Ruiseart M'anrothaiche)

1)When I am low

and shadow-hearted,

When I am sad,

all joys departed

I turn to thee,

God of my fathers

and kneel and offer my quiet prayer !

2)Some misfortunes bring success,

Some things gained prove bottomless

Be Swift to hear, but slow to answer

Whatever befalls you ,

THIS TOO SHALL PASS!

3) When the world seems cruel and callous

So false and cold and full of malice

Remember this, remember it always:

Whatever befalls you, this too shall pass!

Munro's Commentary on Reading and Education

SEE BRIDGING DIFFERENCES the blog by Deb Meier and Diane Ravitch.


Dear Deb: Tony makes a very good point. Continued extended commentary (essasys) and refrences to literature are splendid. I too have read Horace's Choice by Sizer and agree it is a very good book. There is no question that secondary teachers have to compromose to the reality that
1) they want you to teach at the collee prep level but few students can read at the 8th grade level
2) a text is chosen for you and today with NCLB every teacher has to give standarized objective based tests. A good teacher will work harder to give some other quizzes, essays and projects but many teachers find that giving a series of computer corrected Scantrons meets the minimum requirement. So in that way standarized testing is insidious.
3) A secondary teacher will rarely teach a subject area or text more than for a few years. A Jack of all trades is a master of none.
4) High School exit exams help motive students a little bit but can devalue other classes such as science and social studies which are NOT specifically tested. Student know that a D is good enough for those classes passing in English proficiency and Math is enough.


In any case continue on with your discussions. They are illiminating.

I only know about Deb Meier by the way because Diane Ravitch recommended her books to me. Deb is obviously savvy, experienced and wise and she has a lot to teach others.

I think tempermentally and politically I could not be more different than Deb BUT I recognize we have much common ground. WE CARE ABOUT THE KIDS AND WANT TO SEE THEM AUTHENTICALLY ACHIEVE.

Both of us are skeptical of the superficial scantron quiz approach which does not favor, speaking orally on a topic, research or writing -all elements we both agree are needed for a student to develop.

I think Deb and I would agree that Scantron tests BY THEMSELVES are not accurate instruments and that they are acadeic junk food. For mass testing there may be no other recourse but there is no reason for a CLASSROOM teacher to be completely dependent on them. My idea is always teach BEYOND the test.

But one idea I have always held as a teacher that STUDENTS SHOULD BE EXPOSED TO AS GREAT A VARIETY of speech patterns, methods and approaches as possible. I have been a teacher long enough to know different students respond differently to different stimuli. I would not be good, for example, for a student only to hear a male voice in Spanish or English or only an American accent. A student should be conscious of what is standard for an educated native speaker but also be aware there is a British/Indian standard and an American standard. The only way for a student to become totally fluent in English is to read a wide variety of authors both classical and contemporary. Some free choice in reading or research projects is essential. One student may like Ken Follet's spy novels and another might like his more serious historical novels.

One thing is for certain: students should be encouraged to do some general reading (journals, newspapers, book and mmovie reviews) and some reading that is just for amusement. I believe if a student does both regularly he or she will be able to develop the seriousness and the stamina to be able to read and sstudy more serious works. Similarly, I bbelieve that it is useful for students tto translate poems, articles and defintions. If one can translate something one understands it. Translation is yet another tool for language learning. But it is not for everyone. I like to study etymologies bbut that is not for everyone. Diagraming sentences or learning Latin or a foreign langauge helpes in understanding English grammar but understanding grammar has to be secondary to developing and promoting reading ability. In my view all liberal arts classes must emphasize with equal measure oral participation, reading, and writing about what one has read (synthesis) in short form (sentences) or a longer form (paragrahs, five paragraph essays or research papers).


But there are as many opinions as there are men and women. There are many roads to Rome. A teacher does what he or she can but must do:
1) No harm.....you have failed if you hurt students or make them hate your subject material
2) do the best one can do and sometimes try new approaches. This is why exchanges with students and other teachers are illiminating. One learns from all sides, one learns by teaching and one learns from other teachers and one learns from students.
3) do what seems to work. We must always do our duty but in my experience there is always time for some individuality. Excessive conformity and a too scrpited approach is deadly to classroom enthusiasm. I love the subject materials I teach and I want to invite my student to consider the value and delight they can take from learning. Yes, there are practical aims in education but education must always be about bigger things and we as teachers must encourage students to be lifelong readers and learners. I tell my students over and over they must learn throughout their lives and they must read throughout their lives otherwise they will be gravely handicapped.

In any case we look foward to reading the exhanges of two very worthy dames of American education. Quid est vertias? What is the truth? It may exist in theory but practically speaking it is very elusive. We can come closer to understand the truth if we approach it from different viewpoints and give all viewpoints serious consideration.

Posted by: Richard "Ricardo" Munro | August