In connection with our Chautauqua Circle here, Corning, N. Y., we
have two German classes in a flourishing condition; both classes were
organized and are now being instructed by Miss S. K. Payne, one of the
Chautauqua (1882) graduates. The classes in reality form one of Prof.
Worman’s German Circles, and are in a measure under his direction, but
Miss Payne is our leader, and she fills that position with gratifying
success. She leads us not only in our efforts to acquire the language,
but she devises so many little plans calculated to stimulate the
endeavors of her scholars and invest the meetings with more than usual
interest. We meet once a week at her home for recitation and German
conversation, and much of the dry, hard rind of the German grammar is
smoothed away by the pleasant nature of our meetings. We intersperse
our work occasionally with delightful little entertainments at which
nothing but German speech or German songs are tolerated. Quite
recently we had a German picnic or tea-party, and still more recently
we celebrated the Emperor William’s birthday, not because we were
particularly fond of the Emperor William, but because he furnished such
a purely German topic. We were favored with a German speech from our
teacher, we had German recitations and essays, German songs and German
toasts, and when we adjourned to the dining-room, we were invited to a
repast not so strictly German, but one which the German king himself
might have relished. The entertainment which these little tea-parties
afford is as instructive as it is amusing, and if other German circles
have not already inaugurated similar affairs, we advise them to take
steps in this direction at once. Such occasions promote new ideas,
teach new words, and give one confidence to express his or her thoughts
in German. We subjoin the program of our last entertainment: