On Education

French in the Ashram and the School

(Two or three teachers were having a discussion about the language of instruction in the school. Their discussion was submitted to Mother with the remark:) Sri Aurobindo says in his book on education that the child should be taught in his mother-tongue.

Sri Aurobindo did say that, but he also said many other things which complete his advice and abolish all possibility of dogmatism. Sri Aurobindo himself has often repeated that if one affirms one thing, one should be able to affirm its opposite; otherwise one cannot understand the Truth.

(In the same letter, one of the teachers wondered about the future of French in the Ashram.)

French will continue to be taught in the Ashram, at least so long as I am here, because Sri Aurobindo, who loved French very much and knew it very well, considered it to be an essential part of the knowledge of languages.

23 August 1965

(In the course of a conversation about French, a disciple pointed out to Mother that now many French people, especially newcomers, speak in English, even to people who know French perfectly well. Mother concentrated for a moment and said: "So much the worse for them." The disciple then asked whether it would be helpful if she gave a message on this matter. She wrote the following message and suggested that it should be put up in the Ashram and in the school, and that a copy should be put up in the

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"Bibliothèque Choisie". Photocopies were made for this purpose.)

Sri Aurobindo loved French very much. He used to say that it was a clear and precise language, whose use encouraged clarity of mind. From the point of view of the development of the consciousness, that is precious. In French, one can say exactly what one wants to say.

Blessings.

19 October 1971