The purpose of the study was to determine what methods and techniques seem to be the best in helping the beginning Latin-American child to understand the written and oral English as taught by our schools today and to what extent these methods and techniques meed democratic and psychological criteria governing such a program.

Because superstitions and customs of the people of Starr County, Texas, have a bearing on health practices that affect their well-being, the purpose of this study is to explain the deep-rooted superstitions and customs adhered to by the settlers. In order to understand more fully the cultural factors which relate to health, it is necessary to study the lives and customs of the people of Starr County. An effort has been made to look at their problems, not from a critical standpoint, but from the standpoint of helping the people and of viewing them sympathetically. A keen interest in the health practices of the people of Starr County, Texas, originated in tracing superstitions and customs in relation to the backward condition of these people. This thesis is a report of the writer's findings of those superstitions and customs as viewed by one who has lived in the county for six years.