All educators recognize the fact that languages are attained best in
childhood. The child's power of mimicry is so wonderful that it acquires
a foreign language quite without any suggestion of accent, in a time
which will always put their elders to shame. Foreign children, who come
to America before the age of ten, speak both then-native tongue and
English with equal fluency.
The first new language to be taken up should be Italian. Properly
spoken, there is no language so mellifluous as Italian. The beautiful
quantitative value given to the vowels--the natural quest for euphony
and the necessity for accurate pronunciation of the last syllable of a
word in order to make the grammatical sense understandable--is a
training for both the ear and the voice.
Italy is the land of song; and most of the conductors give their
directions in Italian. Not only the usual musical terms, but also the
other directions are denoted in Italian by the orchestral conductors;
and if the singer does not understand she must suffer accordingly.
After the study of Italian I would recommend, in order, French and
German. If my daughter were studying for opera, I should certainly leave
nothing undone until she had mastered Italian, French, German and
English. Although she would not have many opportunities to sing in
English, under present operatic conditions, the English-speaking people
in America, Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, and Australia are great
patrons of musical art; and the artist must of course travel in some of
these countries.