MLAILBOX WORLD UNDERSTANDING Don't leave it to the missionaries Dear Editor: 1 am writing in response to the Sept. 29 letter to the editor written by J.H. Cooley, entitled Leave Languages to Missionaries. | have recently returned from a year in Japan as an exchange student and I have a different perspective. Capilano College offers several Asian languages which seems to make J.H. Cooley anxious. Con- trary to his opinion, | don't find it threatening that Pacific Rim lan- guage courses are available. It is to everyone’s advantage to be able to speak to one another. What I do see as threatening is a world where people can misunderstand each other because they don’t speak the same lan- guage. To me learning foreign lan- guages is not a useless exercise that I will never use. I see Pacific Rim language study as an opportunity for me to laugh and have fun and prepare myself for friendships and great adventure in 2 world that seems to get smaller every day. I suppose we could wait for the foreigner to learn English but life is short and how much bet- ter if we meet each other half way. It is sad that J.H. Cooley was unable to practise his French over the past years, but times and needs change. Now it is up to everyone to make the world a safer and kinder place. We can’t leave it to missionaries any longer. Sarah Zlotnik North Vancouver French school requirements elitist Dear Editor: I would like to comment on Johanne Howard-Jornitz’s letter of Sept. 29 in which she notes that French is not limited to France nor English to England. The reason, usually, for a lan- guage being transplanted from the country of origin is a pragmatic one. You need the language for commerce, or to read scientific *journals, for example. French people in Quebec found it nzces- sary to fearn English when the English took over Quebec, but they still had the right to use their own language. The spread, across Canada, of interest in French language educa- tion is pragmatic, too — pecple want their children to get jobs, which are increasingly being desig- nated ‘‘bilingual’’ by the govern- ment of Canada. These are, in large part, artificial designations, as French, if not pushed by government, would be as ummecessary in the west as English has been found to be in Quebec. If Johanne Howard-Jornitz is bilingual enough to read the French language newspapers and journals, as I have done, she probably writes them letters, too, lamenting their open dislike of anglophones. About the Cadre program she mentioned, it seems racist to me. When I enquired I learned that if at least one of your parents is rais- ed French-speaking you can get in- to it. If your non-French parents have studied French all through Glass covered Deer Editor: . Readers of your Sept. 29 article on taking precautions to prevent fireplace doors from breaking should be reminded that if there is a breakage they can probably claim on their home insurance pol- icy. The insurance company may try to evade responsibility by claiming it only covers window glass, but unless that is specifically stated, any glass that forms part of the premises is covered. R.E. Underhill North Vancouver 7:30 ENDANGERED SPECIES ' » in B.C. - What can be done? ' P 4 iy 845 BIG IS BEAUTIFUL: Insights on Whales & Man § afl At 1131 Howe St. Vancouver , | Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society 736-8750 om . This NORTH VANCOUVER 986-0388 WEST VANCOUVER 928-5541 university, studied in France — it's no go. My taxes are paying for something from which my children are excluded, for no reason other than parentage. I wonder about the chiidren who graduate from these courses. 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