Screenland (May–Oct 1927)

SCREENLAND 5 They Grinned When the Waiter Spoke to Me in French —but their laughter changed to amazement at my reply WE had dropped into Pierrot's for dinner — Pierrot's, that quaint French restaurant where the waiters speak nothing but French. Jack Lejeune, who boasted a smattering of French, volunteered to act as interpreter. "Now tell me what you want to eat," announced Jack grandly, after we were seated, "and I'll 'parley' with the waiter." With halting French phrases and much motioning of hands, Jack translated our orders to the waiter. Finally Jack turned to me. "What's yours, Fred?" he asked. "Virginia ham and scrambled eggs," I replied. Jack's face fell. He knew that my order would be difficult to translate into French. However, he made a brave effort. "Jambon et des et des " but Jack couldn't think how to say "scrambled eggs." He made motions as if he were scrambling eggs in a fryingpan, but the waiter couldn't get what he was driving at. "I'm afraid you'll have to order something else, Fred," he said finally. "I can't think of the word for 'scrambled eggs.' " Everybody smiled — everybody except me. With great ceremony I beckoned to the waiter. "I'll explain my order to the waiter," I said. A chuckle ran around the table. "Fred can't speak French, can he?" I heard a girl whisper to Jack. "No — he never spoke a word of French in his life," came the answer. "But watch him. This will be funny. He'll probably give an imitation of a hen laying an egg." A Tense Moment The waiter addressed me. "Monsieur a fait son choix?" he asked. There was a pause. All eyes were on me. I hesitated — prolonged the suspense as long as possible. Then in perfect French I said to the waiter : "Oui. Donnez moi du jambon aux oeufs brouilles — jambon de Virginie." The effect on my friends was tremen dous. The laughter stopped. There were gasps of amazement. In order to heighten the effect, I continued for several minutes to converse in French with the waiter. I asked him all sorts of questions — what part of France he was from — how long he had been in America, and many other queries. When I finally let the waiter go, everybody started firing excited questions at me. "Fred! Where did you learn to speak French like that?" "Why didn't you tell us you could talk French?" "Who was your teacher ?" "Well, folks," I replied, "it may sound strange, but the truth is I never had a teacher. And just a few months ago I couldn't speak a word of French." "Quit your kidding ! " laughed Jack_ "You didn't develop that knowledge of French in a few months. I thought it took years to learn to talk like that." "I have been studying French only a short while," I insisted. And then I told them the whole story. How I Learned French Without a Teacher "Did you ever hear of the House of Hugo?" I asked. Jack nodded. "That's that famous Language Institute over in London, isn't it?" "Yes," I replied. "They've been teaching languages for over a century. Thousands of Europeans have learned foreign languages in a surprisingly short time by their 'at-sight' method." "But what's that got to do with your learning French?" asked Jack. "You haven't been over there taking lessons from the House of Hugo, have you?" "No, I couldn't go to the House of Hugo, so the House of Hugo came to me," I replied quizzically. My Friends Look Startled "Here's what I mean," I said. "The authorities of the House of Hugo got together recently and decided to condense their knowledge of language instruction — their experience in teaching French — the secrets of their wonderful method into a course of printed lessons — a course which anyone could study at home. "This course turned out to be the most ingenious method of learning French ever devised. It was simply marvelous. It enabled people to learn French in their own homes, in an incredibly short time. "I can scarcely believe it myself, but just a few months ago I did Now I can speak and is spoken to me. A just a few minutes a ous exercises to do — class-room drills. It Everything was so Honestly, the Hugo the most remarkable ever seen I" n't know a word of French, understand French when it nd I didn't study much — day. There were no laborino tiresome rules — no dull was actually fun learning, clear, so simple, so easy. At-Sight' French Course is thing of its kind I have Try It 5 Days FREE This story is typical. You, too, can now learn French at home — quickly, easily, pleasantly — just as thousands of others are doing by the celebrated Hugo "At-Sight" Method. Twenty-four fascinating lessons, carefully planned. The most ingenious method of learning French ever discovered. Whole generations of language-teaching experience in all the leading European cities are behind this French course. 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