I am very much interested in your letter and the cause you have at heart. There is a French language and literature in North America³, though most American "tourists" deny it. The tourist stops his motor car beside a field, calls to the old farmer and asks directions. The old man often answers him in French which the tourist can't understand. I myself have found that it is hard to understand the people in the remote parishes, chiefly because they drop out syllables, just as people in the Southern States do. The country people in our Southern States say "reg'ler", "mis'try", "gen'elman." Indeed, they very seldom pronounce clearly all syllables in an English word. But I have always thought that the French speech in the larger cities of Canada⁴ pleasant to listen to, because it is often a little quaint and old-fashioned.

Soon after "Shadows on the Rock"⁵ was published, President Thomas Masaryk⁶ wrote me that during the World War he one night heard in a London⁷ street a conversation between soldiers which puzzled him, since in their talk he kept hearing phrases of several centuries ago. He followed the boys down into a basement restaurant and listened with great pleasure to their conversation. In his youth President Masaryk had been a passionate student of Old French. Thereafter he went to that restaurant every night to listen to this conversation, in which he found words and constructions which seemed to come out of the reign of Louis XIV⁸ and Louis XV⁹. I think the troubles of the American tourist usually arises from the fact that he knows so little French rather than that he knows so much. Of course, though, one must admit that even in Quebec¹⁰ many of the French speaking ⬩W⬩S⬩C⬩ people drop out syllables in a most disconcerting way.

Thank you for informing me about this new branch of the Modern Language Association, and I heartily wish you every success.