Letters, Mar. 1, 1943

Spanish Lesson

Sirs:

The other day in Mexico City, I stopped on Avenida Insurgentes (pronounced,my Spanish phrase book says, "Ah-ve-nee-da In-soor-hen-tess") to enquire of a policeman how to proceed to Avenida Hidalgo (pronounced, according to the book, "Ee-dahl-go"). A Mexican gentleman with glasses and a professorial black coat was boarding a streetcar near me, and as he stepped up on to the car, he dropped a folded paper. I opened the paper, thinking it might bear some forwarding address. My ears pricked as I read the contents of the paper. Remembering that in Mexico, the letter "j" is pronounced "h," and that "i"...

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