This classic study is one of a series of reports of investigations carried out during 1936 and 1937 under the "Project in Research in Universities" of the Office of Education. The report describes work done during a 6-year period (1930-36) in a school for Spanish-speaking children where English (language, spelling, writing, reading) was not taught as a subject but was acquired incidentally in the course of normal childhood activities. The work described took place at La Jolla School--which had an enrollment of approximately 180 Mexican children--in Placentia, California. Chapters 1 and 2 discuss problems of educating non-English-speaking children; Chapter 3 focuses on the problems of the Mexican American child with sections on racial background and social status, income and health handicaps, and school performance. Chapter 4 describes the school and its experimental curriculum based on four major subjects: (1) learning to play wholesome games; (2) learning to make things, both useful and ornamental; (3) learning to enjoy stories, songs, and pictures; and (4) learning about the environment affecting child life. In Chapter 5, which makes up nearly one-half the report, it is explained that English as studied in this project is largely limited to vocabulary. The chapter consists of a variety of vocabulary data collected at the school and presented in tabular form: oral vocabulary by teachers, oral and written vocabulary by pupils, and spelling and language errors by pupils. Extensive word lists and word frequencies are included along with discussion of vocabulary and language learning. Concluding chapters cover educational philosophy and administration of the school and program evaluation issues. A 116-item bibliography concludes the document. (JHZ)