School-Taught English And Bodily Functions

Abstract

To the Editor.— When I started practice in Texas near the Mexican border in the late thirties, I had to learn Spanish, because many people spoke only Spanish. Since those days thousands of Mexican children have gone through public schools here, have been exposed to radio (much in English) and later to television (most in English), and have learned to live in an essentially English-speaking society and by and large have learned English well. Many now speak English rather than Spanish within their families. Probably Spanish will remain a living language in the United States along the Mexican border, yet for most people below forty English is their main and natural language, be the surname Herancourt, Hudson, Heliopolidou, Herrera, or Hugendubel. This is so in all respects, except one: Hundred of times I have taken a history from a teenage high school student who obviously spoke English well and who