INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR ,—In
the interesting article on International Education in your issue of August 31st you referred to various " Inter- national " schools. May I suggest that to acquire the impulse towards an international outlook a child will do best to get to know one foreign country well and to speak one foreign language correctly ? This will probably be at least as effective as attending international schools, in Geneva or elsewhere, in enabling him to appreciate the foreign point of view (and is not this the essence of an " international outlook " ?) and in addition will have the solid advantage of the language acquired and the intellectual stimulus which a first-hand acquaintance with the ideas, the life, and customs of a foreign country may be relied upon to provide.
This could be very easily managed without any loss of time or effort worth considering by sending a child for one year to a suitable school abroad, where he , could continue his ordinary studies and go on working for his examinations, if necessary.
The additional expense to parents who already send their children to boarding-schools in England would be inconsider- able or even nothing, since school fees abroad are, quality for quality, almost without exception, greatly below fees in England.
It might be possible to arrange exchanges of pupils between schools in England and abroad. - I know many Spanish
parents whb Would be delighted to have a good opportunity of sending their children for a year to a school in England,—
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