Some problems about the learning of the English language in 19th c. Spain: philological notes referring to an unpublished collection of letters

Abstract

At Wadham College, Oxford, there are seven letters by Santiago Usoz y Río, a professor of Greek at the University of Santiago de Compostela, addressed to the Hispanist Benjamin B. Wiffen, dated between 9th January 1841 and 25th September 1850. As far as the philological interest of the letters is concerned, nos. I, II, III and IV deal with Santiago Usoz's problems as autodidact to learn the English language. Not only did his linguistic intuitions derive from his command of the classical languages but also the awareness of his own technical limitations —that is, the rudimentary Traditional or Grammatical techniques of his time— will immerse us into Usoz's efforts to achieve —by means of translation— some purely extraphilological aims.