,transcriber's ,note ,superscript letters are preceded by caret symbols 774 ,italics are indicated by underscores1 and bold text by at symbols4 ,,how ,,to ,,teach ,a ,,foreign ,,language ,,progress ,,in ,,language with special reference to ,english4 ,by ,,otto ,,jespersen1 ,ph4,d41 ,professor of ,english at the ,university of ,copenhagen4 #gs4 #f;d4 ,,some ,,opinions ,,of ,,the ,,press4 8,it appeals not only to specialists1 but to all who concern themselves with that most fascinating of modern questions1 the origin and development of speech4 ,the opening chapter shows us the independent thinker and original investigator4 ,throughout1 the destructive criticism is clear1 incisive1 and cogent4 ,it cannot fail to affect in time even the manual-mongers and the examiners who expect the innocent school to reproduce the fictions of the cram-books4 ,a philologist1 who sees with his own eyes and sees straight1 is a rare combination40--,journal of ,education4 8,mr4 ,jespersen1 who is still young1 has long ago gained a high reputation as a phonetician4 ,the introductory essay prefixed to the tracts before us will1 we believe1 secure for him a distinguished position among philological thinkers4 ,it is long since we read so brilliant a performance of its kind40--,academy4 8,our readers will find the book as instructive as it is far removed from the dryness characteristic of most philological treatises4 ,it furnishes material for deep thought and may almost be called a new starting-point in philology40--,asiatic ,quarterly ,review4 8,the book is historical in its method1 and attempts to show1 by an examination of the typical characteristics of languages in all stages of development1 what the general drift of language has been40--,guardian4 ,,london3 ,,swan ,,sonnenschein ,,co41 ,,ltd4 ,,how ,,to ,,teach ,a ,,foreign ,,language ,by ,,otto ,,jespersen1 ,ph4,d4 ,professor of ,english in the ,university of ,copenhagen ,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,danish ,,original ,,by ,,sophia ,,yhlen-,,olsen ,,bertelsen ,m4,a4 8,this was sometime a paradox1 but now the time gives it proofe40--,hamlet4 ,colophon ,,london ,,swan ,,sonnenschein ,,co4 ,,ltd ,,new ,,york3 ,,the ,,macmillan ,,co4 #aijd ,,preface ,when1 in accordance with a wish expressed by ,english and ,american friends1 ,i determined to have my ,sprogundervisning translated into ,english1 ,i found it difficult to decide what to retain and what to leave out of the original4 ,so much of what ,i had written appeared to me to apply more or less exclusively to ,danish schools and ,danish methods1 and ,i had too little personal experience of the practice of ,english teachers or of ,english school-books to be quite sure of the advisability in each case of including or excluding this or that remark4 ,i have1 however1 made my choice to the best of my ability1 and if some parts of my criticism are not altogether applicable to ,english methods1 ,i hope ,i may be excused on the plea that what is now the really important thing is less the destruction of bad old methods than a positive indication of the new ways to be followed if we are to have thoroughly efficient teaching in modern languages4 ,,otto ,,jespersen4 ,,gentofte1 ,near ,,copenhagen4 ,i ,about twenty years ago1 when ,i began to be interested in a reformation of the teaching of modern languages1 there were not1 as there are now1 numerous books and articles on the subject1 but merely scattered hints1 especially in the works of ,sweet and ,storm4 ,it was not long1 however1 before the movement found itself well under headway1 especially in ,germany4 ,in ,scandinavia it began at the appearance of the adaptation which ,i had made of ,felix ,franke's capital little pamphlet1 8,die praktische spracherlernung auf grund der psychologie und der physiologie der sprache40 ,at just about the same time1 ,western in ,norway and ,lundell in ,sweden came forward with similar ideas1 and at the ,philological ,congress in ,stockholm in #ahhf we three struck a blow for reform4 ,we founded a society1 of course1 and we gave it the name ,quousque tandem 7which for the benefit of those not acquainted with ,latin may be rendered 8,cannot we soon put an end to this8071 that ,ciceronian flourish with which ,vitor had shortly before heralded his powerful little pamphlet1 8,der sprachunterricht muss umkehren40 ,our ,scandinavian society published some small pamphlets1 and for a time even a little quarterly paper4 ,but the movement soon reached that second and more important stage when the teachers began to put the reform into practice and when the editors of school-books began to give it more and more consideration1 until at present it may be said that the reformed method is well on the way to permanent favour1 at least as far as younger teachers have anything to say in the matter4 ,what is the method1 then1 that ,i allude to8 ,well1 if the question means1 what is it called1 ,i find myself in some embarrassment1 for the method resembles other pet children in this respect1 that it has many names4 ,though none of these are quite adequate1 yet if ,i mention them all1 ,i can perhaps give a little preliminary notion of what the matter is all about4 ,the method is by some called the 8new0 or 8newer02 in ,england often 8die neuere richtung02 by others the 8reform-method10 again the 8natural10 the 8rational10 the 8correct10 or 8sensible0 7why not praise one's wares as all dealers do in their advertisements872 the 8direct0 comes a little nearer1 the 8phonetical0 indicates something of its character1 but not nearly enough1 likewise the 8phonetical transcription method10 for phonetics and phonetical transcription is not all2 the 8imitative0 again emphasizes another point2 the 8analytical0 7as contrasted with the constructive7 could perhaps also be applied to other methods2 the 8concrete0 calls attention to something essential1 but so does the ,german 8anschauungsmethode0 too2 8the conversation-method0 reminds us perhaps too much of ,berlitz schools2 words with 8anti10 like the 8anticlassical10 8antigrammatical10 or 8antitranslation0 method1 are clumsy and stupidly negative--so there is nothing left for us but to give up the attempt to find a name1 and recognize that this difficulty is due to the fact that it is not one thing1 but many things that we have to reform1 and that is of course the reason why the reformers themselves fall into so many sub-parties3 the one lays all the stress on one point1 the other on another point4 ,however1 there is certainly enough to do for any one who wants to get better results out of the teaching of foreign languages than have hitherto been the rule4 ,it also speaks much in favour of the reform that it is impossible to name the 8new0 method after some founder1 just as in olden days we had ,lancaster's1 ,hamilton's1 ,jacotot's methods2 later1 ,robertson's1 ,ollendorff's1 ,ahn's1 ,toussaint-,langenscheidt's1 ,pltz's1 ,listov's methods1 and as we of later years have ,berlitz's and ,gouin's methods for the teaching of foreign languages4 ,if in old ,norse mythology1 the god ,heimdall had nine mothers1 our reform-method has at least seven wise fathers4 ,in this respect it differs essentially from all the methods just mentioned3 each one of them is named after a single man1 and he in return is as a rule only remembered as the originator of his method4 ,our method1 on the other hand1 owes its origin to men who1 for other reasons1 may claim a place among the most eminent linguistic scholars of the last decades 7,sweet1 ,storm1 ,sievers1 ,sayce1 ,lundell1 and others71 and the ideas which they have conceived have been adopted and applied to life with many practical innovations and changes by a large number of educators and schoolmasters 7,i may mention almost at random ,klinghardt1 ,walter1 ,khn1 ,drr1 ,quiehl1 ,rossmann1 ,wendt1 ,widgery1 ,western1 ,brekke72 on the boundary between both groups stand especially ,vitor and ,paul ,passy4 ,that shows that it is not with theoretical sophistries that we have to do2 it is not the whim of one man1 but the sum of all the best linguistical and pedagogical ideas of our times1 which1 coming from many different sources1 have found each other1 and have made a beautiful alliance for the purpose of overturning the old routine4 ,modern languages1 which were formerly treated like ,cinderella in our schools and universities1 begin to feel of age1 and want to have a word to say1 because they cannot put up with various arrangements which may have been more or less satisfactory for the classical languages1 but do not suit modern languages at all4 ,these want to be treated as living1 and the method of teaching them must be as elastic and adaptable as life is restless and variable4 ,what is the object in the teaching of modern languages8 ,well1 why have we our native tongue8 ,certainly in order to get the most out of a life lived in a community of our fellow-countrymen1 in order to exchange thoughts1 feelings and wishes with them1 both by receiving something of their psychical contents and by communicating to them something of what dwells in us4 ,language is not an end in itself1 just as little as railway tracks2 it is a way of connection between souls1 a means of communication4 ,and it is not even the only one2 expression of countenance1 gesture1 etc41 yes1 even a forcible box on the ear can tell me what is taking place in the mind of one of my fellow-creatures4 ,but language is the most complete1 the richest1 the best means of communication2 it bridges the psychical chasm between individuals in manifold cases when they otherwise would wander about isolated and cut off from all intelligent sympathy4 ,the purpose in learning foreign languages1 then1 must be in order to get a way of communication with places which our native tongue cannot reach1 for there too may be persons with whom ,i1 for some reason or other1 desire to exchange thoughts1 or at least from whom ,i wish to receive thoughts4 ,and herein really lies already the answer to the question3 which languages shall we give the preference8 ,compare the advantage of being able to talk with the inhabitants of the ,fiji ,islands in their own language with the advantage of being conversant with ,french or ,german4 ,if all that we desire or all that we can ever hope to attain in any one language is to receive thoughts1 to acquaint ourselves with the works of foreign authors1 while we ourselves neither expect nor wish to be able to impart our own thoughts in it1 it is always a question if it is not better to use translations than to learn the language itself1 especially in the case of the dead languages4 ,a translation is1 to be sure1 no perfect substitute for the original1 but on the other hand one has to know the foreign language pretty well in order to get more out of the original than out of the translation4 ,then how does the balance stand between the debit-side--the work of learning the language--and the credit-side--the extra profit thus to be got from the authors' works8 ,it is of course a question which must be decided separately for every individual case1 and there are many circumstances which may have to be considered2 but most people will not lose anything if they read ,tolstoi or ,omar ,khayym in ,english4 ,the objection may be raised that there are also other reasons for learning foreign languages4 ,a student of comparative philology1 for instance1 studies languages for their own sake1 without caring if they can serve him as a means of learning anything that he did not know before1 or that he could learn much more conveniently in some other way2 he may often be very much interested in languages which have no literature at all1 or which are spoken by peoples with whom he never comes into contact4 ,but this study1 which may be compared to the study of other means of communication for their own sake1 locomotive-construction1 railway signal-service1 etc4--only that it is probably much more interesting--is clearly a special study1 which has nothing to do with the reasons why people generally learn languages4 ,although it undoubtedly is an advantage for every educated person to know something about the life of language1 yet ,i think it will suffice for me merely to touch upon the theoretical study of languages here and there in the following pages1 so much the more as it is never with this end in view that any language is placed on the school programme4 ,neither were ,latin and ,greek introduced into our schools for the sake of training the pupils in logic1 no matter how much it may occasionally be insisted upon that exactly this is their real value4 ,but it is not necessary to waste many words on this matter1 especially since all competent classical scholars--also those who insist upon a privileged position for the classical languages in our schools--have long ago given up as unscholarly the idea that the ,latin 7or ,greek7 language should be more logical in construction than1 for instance1 ,french or ,english4 ,and there is no doubt much truth in what ,robert ,browning says3 8,learning ,greek teaches ,greek1 and nothing else2 certainly not common sense1 if that have failed to precede the teaching60#a ,but on the other hand it must not be overlooked that everything which is learned with a sensible end in view1 and according to a sensible method1 tends in itself more or less directly to develop valuable faculties1 and that especially the teaching of languages1 in addition to the actual results which it gives through the contents of what one reads in foreign languages1 is an excellent means of training such important faculties as-- the faculty of observing 7of observing correctly1 of observing independently71 the faculty of classifying under different points of view that which has been observed1 the faculty of deducing general laws from the material collected by observation1 the faculty of drawing conclusions and applying them to other cases than the ones hitherto met with1 --all1 of course1 faculties that are nearly related--also the ability to read in general1 to read intelligently1 and with reflection4 ,in the construction of our method of teaching1 especially if it is to be used in schools1 we must also take these things into consideration4 ,any instruction in languages which merely consisted in a parrot-like repetition of the words of the teacher or the book1 if indeed such a method is conceivable1 would not be in place in our schools1 and besides1 no one1 so far as ,i know1 has ever tried to introduce such a pure parrot-method there4 ,the teacher must make the pupils feel interested in the subject2 they must have a vivid conception of the reward that their work will bring them1 so that it will seem worth while for them to exert themselves4 ,they must feel that their instruction in languages gives them a key1 and that there are plenty of treasures that it will open for them2 they must see that the literature to which they have gained access contains numerous works which also have messages for them2 and they must1 to so great an extent as possible in the course of the instruction in a certain language1 also have got an interest in the land and people concerned1 so that they themselves will make an effort to extend their knowledge about these things4 ,there is thus laid a good foundation for their whole life--and the saying 8non schol sed vit0 ought not to be interpreted1 as too many 7especially parents7 do3 learn not for the school1 but in order to pass a good examination1 so that you may prosper in life1 and by virtue of your examination get a good position4 ,the school ought to equip its youth in the very best manner for life1 and the teacher ought not out of consideration for examination requirements to neglect or hinder anything which otherwise is good4 ,a word about examinations later2 here ,i simply want to warn the teacher against troubling the examination until the examination troubles him4 ,many of the things which ,i have to recommend in the following pages1 ,i have time and again heard teachers recognize as really sensible1 but they are only afraid of them on account of the examination for which they have to prepare their pupils4 ,the answer to that is1 teach in the right way1 then there will be life and love in it all1 and when the examination comes your pupils will know more than if your teaching from the very beginning had been fettered by examination requirements4 ,the pupils really learn most when they continually have a feeling that it is all something useful and valuable1 and that it is not too far elevated above that actual life which they either know or are beginning to get some notion of4 ,we learn languages1 then 7our native tongue as well as others71 so as to be enabled to get sensible first-hand communications about the thoughts of others1 and so as to have for ourselves too 7if possible7 a means of making others partakers of our own thoughts2 and if we consider what kind of communications we may be more likely to get through a foreign language than through our own1 the highest purpose in the teaching of languages may perhaps be said to be the access to the best thoughts and institutions of a foreign nation1 its literature1 culture--in short1 the spirit of the nation in the widest sense of the word4 ,but at the same time we must remember that we cannot reach the goal with one bound1 and that there are many other things on the way which are also worth taking in4 ,we do not learn our native tongue merely so as to be able to read ,shakespeare and ,browning1 and neither do we learn it for the sake of giving orders to the shoemaker or making out the washerwoman's bill4 ,so likewise in the case of foreign languages1 we ought not exclusively to soar above the earth1 nor on the other hand exclusively to grovel on the ground2 between those two spheres there are large fields in manifold shades where it might be of great value for us to stand in direct communication with other nations4 ,,footnote3 #a ,preface to his translation of the ,agamemnon of schylus4 ,,ii ,we may already from what has been said draw some conclusions as to the method which we ought to use4 ,we ought to learn a language through sensible communications2 there must be 7and this as far as possible from the very first day7 a certain connection in the thoughts communicated in the new language4 ,disconnected words are but stones for bread2 one cannot say anything sensible with mere lists of words4 ,indeed not even disconnected sentences ought to be used1 at all events1 not in such a manner and to such an extent as in most books according to the old method4 ,for there is generally just as little connexion between them as there would be in a newspaper if the same line were read all the way across from column to column4 ,i shall take a few specimens at random from a ,french reader that is much used3 8,my aunt is my mother's friend4 ,my dear friend1 you are speaking too rapidly4 ,that is a good book4 ,we are too old4 ,this gentleman is quite sad4 ,the boy has drowned many dogs40 ,when people say that instruction in languages ought to be a kind of mental gymnastics1 ,i do not know if one of the things they have in mind is such sudden and violent leaps from one range of ideas to another4 ,in another ,french schoolbook we find3 8,nous sommes ,paris1 vous tes ,londres4 ,louise et ,amlie1 o tes-vous8 ,nous avons trouv la lettre sur la table4 ,avez-vous pris le livre8 ,avons-nous t ,berlin8 ,amlie1 vous tes triste4 ,louis1 avez-vous vu ,philippe8 ,sommes-nous ,londres80 ,the speakers seem to have a strange sense of locality4 ,first1 they say that they themselves are in ,paris1 but the one 7the ones87 that they are speaking with are in ,london 7conversation by telephone872 then they cannot remember if they themselves have been in ,berlin2 and at last they ask if they themselves are in ,london4 ,unfortunately1 they get no answer1 for the next sentence is1 8,pierre1 vous avez pris la canne40 ,or take some of the books which are supposed to help ,danes learn ,english4 ,they are no better4 ,in one 7which appeared in #ahhi7 we find3 8,the joiner has made this chair4 ,what a fine sunshine6 ,for whom do you make this bed8 ,which of you will have this box8 ,i should like to have it4 ,of whom have you got this cake8 ,i am very fond of cakes4 ,i have borrowed a great deal of books from a public library40 ,from a 8practical0 primer in ,english1 which appeared in its second edition in #ahic1 ,i take the following specimens3 8,are the king's horses very old8 ,no2 but the duke's carriage is old4 ,is it older than your friend's8444 ,has the nobleman told you the news8 ,no1 sir2 but the lady has told me the news about the business and the wedding4 ,why do you not give the negro a house8 ,no1 sir2 but ,i can tell you that the ,german has given each of the negroes a pretty little house4 ,has the lady a knife8 ,yes1 the lady has two knives4 ,why do you not give the ladies the ,german's keys to the church8 ,the noblemen have the ,german's keys40 ,i could give you almost any number of that kind of specimens4 ,the ones ,i have chosen are not even of the very worst type1 since there is 7some sort of7 meaning in each sentence by itself4 ,but what shall we say when1 in a ,german reader1 to the question ,wo seid ihr8 we find the answer1 ,wir sind nicht hier6 ,the author of that book also seems to have had a very vivid imagination when it came to the use of pluperfects4 8,your book had not been large4 ,had you been sensible8 ,your horse had been old40 ,we ask ourselves in surprise1 when did this wonderful horse then cease to be old8 ,but that kind of material information is not given in the book2 it stops at the sphinx-like remark3 ,dein ,pferd war alt gewesen4 ,could it really have been that kind of schoolbooks that the ,danish writer1 ,sren ,kierkegaard1 alluded to when he wrote that language had been given to man1 not in order to conceal his thoughts1 as ,talleyrand asserted1 but in order to conceal the fact that he had no thoughts8 ,now it must immediately be admitted that there may be a big difference in the schoolbooks made1 even according to this single-sentence system4 ,it never seems to have occurred to the authors of some of them that there might be a limit to the amount of rubbish that can be offered children under the pretext of teaching them grammar4 ,others again try to give sentences which are both sensible and in accordance with a child's natural range of ideas4 ,with respect to the latter principle1 there has been steady progress from the times when the sentences either were moral rules of conduct and philosophical profundities1 or selections about ,greek heroes1 etc4 ,but even in the best modern books the exercises are often strangely disjointed 7cf41 for instance1 this exercise from one of the better books3 8,my brother had not many lessons yesterday4 ,where had you been8 ,the weather had been fine for a long time4 ,this boy had only been in our house three or four weeks4 ,has your uncle had many tulips this year8 ,how long had you had this frock8071 and even if they are not so glaringly nonsensical as some others1 yet their very disconnectedness makes them bad enough4 ,it is easy enough1 however1 to find something to make fun of in all such books4 ,let us then rather ask the reason why this system has so long been dominant4 ,its defenders will1 of course1 refer to the difficulties in all connected reading exercises2 even the simplest stories contain so many grammatical forms1 and so many words1 that the beginner would be overwhelmed and confused by having them all thrown at him at once4 ,there must be gradual progress in difficulty1 that is1 the material for instruction must be arranged in stages from very easy to more and more difficult things1 and this is supposed to be attainable only by means of disconnected sentences4 ,the principle is sound1 but it is unsound to put it into practice in such a manner that other pedagogical principles which are just as sound are neglected4 ,should pedagogy not also demand some sense in what one treats the children to8 ,but1 as we have seen1 it is not always so easy to find the sense4 ,and should it not also be of some significance to attract the interest of the pupils8 ,nothing seems hard to a willing mind4 ,that which is associated with pleasant recollections has a firmer place in the memory than dry stuff4 ,but exercises where it alternates between the ,frenchman who has taken the ,englishman's hat and the ,englishman who has taken the ,frenchman's cane1 or where either ,marie sees ,louise's dog or ,peter sees ,henry's horse--they cannot be anything but boring1 even if they give the pupils ever so gradual practice in the use of the genitive4 ,grown persons can1 of course1 put up with a little boredom1 if they think they can attain anything by it2 but in their heart of hearts they find such things killing1 and so they are2 yes1 even killing for the linguistic sense4 ,children can1 of course1 put up with a good deal1 too1 when they have a teacher who can win their respect and affection2 they also put up with many things only for the sake of getting good marks1 or when they are stimulated by other equally unsound means4 ,but still1 it is better to avoid boring them4 ,i suppose it is also of pedagogical importance for the teaching to be correct4 ,but here we have just one of those points where we see what evil results may come of the system of disconnected sentences3 it is so extremely easy for them to become stilted2 indeed1 even incorrect4 ,some examples may be found in the exercise already cited on p4 #ab1 where the sentence1 8,for whom do you make this bed80 is not good ,english1 at any rate1 and where 8a great deal of books0 is a bad blunder for 8a great many books40 ,it is really easier to write a long connected piece in a foreign language about something that one is interested in than to construct merely eight disconnected sentences for the illustration of a couple of grammatical rules1 and without using other words than those the pupils already have had4 ,as impossible1 even if not positively incorrect1 ,i consider such sentences as the following1 to which any one can find many parallels3--8,tie4 ,do not tie4 ,fetch4 ,do not fetch4444 ,give4 ,do not give40444 ,judged as thoughts they are unfinished or half-finished ideas4 ,judged as language1 they are also very problematical4 ,such questions1 as 8,do ,i take80 require the necessary information as to what and when4 ,such fragments of sentences are never heard in real life4 ,finally1 sentences of this kind give the pupil quite an erroneous notion of what language is on the whole1 and of the relation between different languages4 ,he is too apt to get the impression that language means a collection of words which are isolated and independent1 and that there must be a corresponding word in his native tongue for each new foreign word that he learns4 ,these words are then shoved about without any real purpose according to certain given rules1 somewhat after the manner of a puzzle that was popular some years ago4 ,the mistake thus made is by ,sweet called the arithmetical fallacy1 because languages are taken as collections of units where the order of the addends and the factors is immaterial4 ,everything that is idiomatic in the languages is quite set aside1 at all events for the time being1 without consideration for the fact that the most indispensable expressions often are those irrational groups which cannot be constructed merely of words and grammatical rules1 expressions like 8,what's the matter8 ,i couldn't help laughing4 ,serve you right4 a va sans dire4 a y est4 ,voil qui est drle4 ,wie spt haben ,sie8 ,wer ist jetzt an der ,reihe8 ,sie sind dran4 ,was ist denn los80 ,where the ,englishman circumstantially says 8ring the bell10 the ,frenchman has the short 8sonnez10 etc41 etc4 ,when the pupil does not get a good deal of that kind of thing as soon as possible1 but for years continues translating word-groups of the arithmetical kind until he is well drilled in all the rules of the grammar1 the result is that when he is left to his own resources he takes each word of the ,english phrase that happens to occur to him and translates it literally into the language which he is trying to speak4#b ,that is how we come to hear such ridiculous things as 8,ich konnte nicht helfen zu lachen40 ,it is grammar that plays the chief rle4 ,a characteristic teacher's report is3 8,in the course of the school-year we have gone through accidence as far as the third class of verbs40 ,the raison d'tre of each sentence lies merely in its value for the grammatical exercises1 so that by reading schoolbooks one often gets the impression that ,frenchmen must be strictly systematical beings1 who one day speak merely in futures1 another day in pass dfinis1 and who say the most disconnected things only for the sake of being able to use all the persons in the tense which for the time being happens to be the subject for conversation1 while they carefully postpone the use of the subjunctive until next year4 ,now1 as misfortune will have it1 although the whole system is planned for drilling in grammar1 this end is by no means attained by these too systematical exercises4 ,the pupils get the scent of what is to be used in a certain exercise1 and they use it mechanically there1 but they do not learn how to transfer it to other connexions1 so if they suddenly have to use a future in an exercise on the pluperfect the future form is apt to bear a suspicious resemblance to the pluperfect form2 when the pupils are being drilled in the endings of the fourth declension1 and a word belonging to the third declension happens to have crept in1 it is very difficult to get it correctly declined without any reminiscence of fourth-class endings1 etc4 ,i once read a pedagogical article by a ,german schoolmaster1 ,i think it was1 who had discovered that the reason why there were so many poor ,latin exercises written was that the pupils often had to apply several rules of syntax in one and the same sentence2 if the sentences were only so made that each one of them contained but one grammatical phenomenon1 it would soon be seen how clever the pupils could be4 ,yes1 how pleasant it would be if life too could be so arranged as to have the difficulties come one at a time4 ,as previously remarked1 there is too little attention paid to what is idiomatical1 and sentences constructed by non-natives are apt to be of the kind that never would occur to a native1 even if it may be difficult enough to find positive 8mistakes0 in them4 ,many of the ,french and ,german sentences in our schoolbooks must surely have the same air of unreality for a native as not a few of those found in ,english primers published abroad have for an ,englishman4 ,very closely connected with the idiomatical elements of a language are its characteristics of style1 and in this respect too our schoolbooks are clumsy enough1 for words which belong merely to elevated or specially poetical style are bundled together with every-day words in the very beginning of the first primer without any caution to the pupil against using them4 ,a foreigner who wants to learn ,english has first of all use for words like 8grief1 sorrow10 but he had better postpone acquaintance with 8woe10 otherwise he is as likely as not to make himself ridiculous by saying 8it was a great woe to me40 8,unwilling0 is more necessary than 8loth10 8wash0 than 8lave10 8lonely0 or 8forsaken0 than 8forlorn10 etc4 ,but on one of the very first pages of ,listov's ,english ,reader which is written for beginners1 we find 8,i bid him go10 which is altogether old-fashioned1 stiff and bookish 7for3 ,i told him to go1 ,i asked him to go1 or ,i ordered 44471 and in the same book 8foe0 is preferred to the ordinary1 indispensable 8enemy40 ,and in several ,english primers the unnatural 8commence0 is used all the way through instead of the natural 8begin02 likewise the rare 8purchase0 for the everyday 8buy0--the only reason which ,i can think of is that the ordinary1 indispensable words follow irregular declensions and inflexions4 ,the beginner has only use for the most everyday words2 he ought to have nothing to do with the vocabulary of poetry or even of more elevated prose2 like everything superfluous1 it is detrimental1 because it burdens the memory and hinders perfect familiarity with that which is most necessary4 ,it will1 moreover1 be impossible for him to get a proper conception of the linguistic effectiveness of poetry and elevated prose1 when he is so far advanced as to read the good writers1 because from his very first lesson in the language he has learned the literary expressions side by side with the phrases of normal prose and everyday conversation4 ,but even among words not belonging to the language of literature1 many may without scruple be postponed in order to make room for the most necessary words1 which must be learned in such a manner that one always may have them on hand without the slightest hesitation4 ,in ,miss ,goldschmidt's picture-method 7which is now used a good deal outside of its native land1 ,denmark1 and also in large part deserves the popularity and praise which it has won71 ,i find1 for instance1 not less than #eh words for that many more or less intimate articles of women's clothing2 and when ,i in the same book under the heading 8cuisine0 find #df words1 among others1 8bouilloire tamis1 passoire1 pelle main1 puisoire1 lavette1 canelle vier1 coquetier1 cumoire1 entonnoir1 pilon1 rtelier1 rpe1 billot1 manne10 ,i cannot help feeling thankful that no one ever tormented me with learning them2 it seems to me ,i have got along pretty well in ,paris and elsewhere in ,french conversations1 just as ,i have read many ,french books1 without knowing all these technical words4 ,but1 on the other hand1 ,i have a strong notion that ,i should not have got along so well in conversation1 and should not have been able to read ,french so well1 if my vocabulary had been limited to the one in ,miss ,goldschmidt's pictures4 ,the usual treatment of grammar1 too1 involves the learning of a number of words that one has no use for4 ,there are few words which even the stupidest pupils in ,french and ,english have so pat as 8louse10 and the reason is that the plural of both 8pou0 and 8louse0 happens to be something out of the ordinary4 ,for as soon as a word is declined differently from the usual paradigms1 it has to be learned for the sake of so-called completeness4 ,thus we had to learn in school the rigmarole3 8amussis1 ravis1 sitis1 tussis1 vis0 and usually also 8febris1 pelvis1 puppis1 restis1 turris1 securis10 where 8vis vim0 7perhaps also 8sitis sitim07 would have sufficed2 the others 7with meanings like ruler1 hoarseness1 rope71 ,i am sure1 never occurred in what we read of ,latin literature1 and as far as the last words are concerned1 why it would not have made any difference anyway if we had let the accusative end in 8--em10 if we had to use the word in a catch exercise4 ,and then there was the 8long rigmarole0 which it was our pride to be able to run through without winking3 8amnis1 axis10 etc41 and which doubtless has cost us all some hours of drudgery before we could quite make it stick4 ,of the words in it1 8scrobis1 sentis1 torris1 vectis10 at least1 were entirely superfluous for us--aside from the fact that if by some wonderful chance we should come across one of the words in the course of our reading1 we were sure enough to remember that the word stood in the long rigmarole1 but why it stood there or what the word meant1 that was apt to be quite forgotten4 ,well1 it did not make much difference in so far as the chances were a thousand to one that for understanding the passage in question it was absolutely of no consequence if we had remembered that the word was masculine4 7,it may be of some comfort to add that some of them may also be feminine3 the old ,romans were not always as big pedants as ,latin teachers would like to make them out to be47 ,sweet writes3 8,in the ,german grammar ,i began with the word ,hornung1 #8,february1' was given as an exception to the rule that nouns in -ung are feminine1 and for many years no ,german word was more familiar to me1 except perhaps petschaft1 #8seal1' whose acquaintance ,i made at the same time and in the same way4 ,but to the present day ,i cannot remember having met with either of them in any modern ,german book1 still less of ever having heard them in conversation1 ,hornung being now entirely obsolete except in some ,german dialects4 ,at last1 when ,i began ,middle ,high ,grammar1 ,i met with it for the first time in my life in a poem of ,walther von der ,vogelweide1 but by this time ,i had forgotten all about it40#c ,in most ,english grammars for foreigners1 the word caiman plays such an important part that the children never can forget it1 and this is just because it is not caimen in the plural2 likewise it is carefully inculcated on the pupils that die meaning 8a stamp used for coining money0 has the plural dies1 but it is scarcely probable that one in a thousand will ever have any use for the word in this sense2 cf4 ,storm's remark on travail quoted below4 ,much of that kind of thing has fortunately been removed from the schoolbooks of later years1 but there is no doubt still some weeding to be done4 ,,footnotes3 #b ,a funny instance of the arithmetical fallacy is the following sign in ,copenhagen3 ,stvle--og skomager4 ,boot--and shoemaker4 ,botte--et cordonnier4 #c ,sweet1 ,practical ,study of ,languages1 p4 #aaj4 ,,iii ,on the basis of the above negative criticism1 we may perhaps formulate the following positive requirements for those reading selections which are to be the foundation for instruction in languages1 namely that as far as possible they must 7#a7 be connected1 with a sensible meaning1 7#b7 be interesting1 lively1 varied1 7#c7 contain the most necessary material of the language first1 especially the material of everyday language1 7#d7 be correct ,french 7,german1 etc471 7#e7 pass gradually from that which is easy to that which is more difficult1 7#f7 yet without too much consideration for what is merely grammatically easy or difficult4 ,this order does not indicate the relative importance or value of the requirements1 which might be difficult to determine4 ,if there should be any disagreement between them1 ,i suppose it is generally best to try to find some practical compromise4 ,we must now pass on to examine some of these requirements more closely4 ,the use of connected texts in the elementary teaching of languages has already previously been tried1 but it seems as if in the effort to avoid the ,scylla of disconnected sentences it has been impossible to escape the ,charybdis of such texts as ,chateaubriand's ,atala1 ,dickens' ,christmas ,carol 7,mthode ,toussaint-,langenscheidt71 the ,new ,testament1 or ,csar's ,gallic ,war1 etc4 ,how often after such experiments1 when the pupil was overwhelmed and did not learn anything because he was to learn everything at once1 has not the teacher returned in despair to the disconnected sentences4 ,but between the two extremes there is no doubt room for the golden mean of beginning with quite short connected pieces1 and then gradually1 as each lesson may be lengthened1 passing over to longer texts--of course this does not necessarily mean that a whole piece must always be taken for each lesson2 the breaks in the lessons do not need to correspond to the breaks in the text-book4 ,anecdotes meet the requirements in so far as they are short connected pieces1 and therefore they play such an important part in many readers4 ,but yet they are not quite the thing1 especially when they are used in too great numbers4 ,a pointed anecdote can only be really funny once2 if it is to be repeated many times1 it soon becomes stale and indeed more tiresome than most other things4 ,and just the very quality which makes it amusing makes it less valuable for teaching purposes2 that is1 an anecdote must by its very nature contain as few words as possible2 but it is better for beginners to get a little broader colouring1 so that the most necessary words and phrases may recur frequently4 ,if many anecdotes follow one upon the other1 it is not easy to avoid frequent jumps between totally different spheres of thought and accordingly between totally different worlds of words2 this increases the difficulty1 and the result is apt to be that words and expressions once learned are soon forgotten4 ,anecdotes depending upon puns cannot be appreciated at all without full familiarity with the words resembling each other1 and that can only in a minority of cases be assumed for our pupils4 ,the best way to use anecdotes in teaching languages is to let them serve as spice in or in connection with other pieces1 especially descriptive pieces1 so that the words used in the anecdotes may there appear in their natural surroundings4 ,this can best be done in short stories about animals2 in my own books for beginners in ,english1 ,i have taken several such pieces from purely scientific works by ,sir ,john ,lubbock1 ,romanes1 ,tylor1 etc4 ,i mention these as examples of a kind of texts which seem to me to be especially attractive 7but which are neither so easy to get hold of nor to concoct71 because they give entertaining and sensible information about things which are often neglected in the natural science instruction itself1 and at the same time they give an opportunity of learning a good deal of useful language-material without being too difficult4 ,the pieces which are merely descriptive of nature1 and which ,sweet lays so much stress upon1 have the advantage that they in a still greater degree allow of the employment of the most indispensable material of language1 and that a number of the sentences may be made self-explanatory 7v4 below74 ,there are1 however1 but relatively few subjects that can be dealt with in this way--the most elementary natural phenomena--and when they are not written in such a masterly manner as in ,sweet's ,elementarbuch des gesprochenen ,englisch1 there are apt to be so many well-known truths told in these pieces that the interest flags4 ,in deciding on what will be of interest as a selection for reading1 differences in age must of course to a great extent be taken into consideration4 ,but it is an experience which ,i myself have had1 and in which many teachers bear me out1 that beginners in a foreign language may very well be interested in certain reading matter even if they are beyond the age when corresponding things would interest them in their native language4 ,so one must not be afraid of childish texts2 but by this ,i do not mean to recommend a certain kind of juvenile literature which flourishes in all countries1 and which aunts1 especially the unmarried ones1 often think that children appreciate1 and so they themselves also proceed to produce it in large quantities1 that is1 milk-and-water stories and verses about the reward of good children and the frightful punishment of the naughty ones2 both young and old find such 8literature0 nauseating1 and it were best to avoid it in text-books in foreign languages4 ,but there is another class of literature1 that collected by folklorists1 which is orally transmitted from generation to generation1 and which shows its vigour by being continually amusing and by continually shooting new shoots4 ,much of it can successfully be used in teaching languages2 and that which amuses a ,french child of five or six years may often amuse an ,english child of ten or eleven or even more1 because in the foreign language it gets the charm that always is connected with the unknown4 ,much of this material--and of other material1 which1 without belonging to popular tradition1 is related to it--is in verse-form1 which has the great advantage for our purpose1 that rhythm and rhyme naturally rivet the words and expressions fast to each other1 so that the memory gets hold of them like an unbreakable chain4 ,it is only with great difficulty and with much repetition that prose sentences can be inculcated in a certain given form2 but to learn verse is like play--it learns itself4 ,if therefore the poetry of art1 with its more or less unnatural language1 is unsuitable for the beginner1 the little witty natural verses of the genuine children's literature are1 on the other hand1 excellent4 ,but of course not even these are always pure pearls1 and there are many of them to be rejected as containing impertinences1 nonsense-words1 fragments of antiquated language1 or words which beginners have no use for2 it seems to me1 for instance1 that ,vitor and ,drr should not have transferred the nursery rhymes wholesale 7even the old forms with --th in the third person1 and much more7 into their otherwise excellent ,english reader4 ,with respect to the requirement that the reading must be easy--or rather that there must be gradual progress from easy to difficult--it must be recognized that difficulty may depend upon several different things4 ,in the first place1 the subject-matter may be too difficult2 it ought never to be beyond the horizon of the pupils4 ,as previously remarked1 in the very beginning1 one may even take something simpler than what would otherwise be suitable for persons of that age4 ,but later1 on the other hand1 the subject-matter ought not to be too light2 it is well1 as soon as possible1 to use matter which really has a permanent value of its own4 ,a large part of the reading will no doubt always be taken from lighter literature1 and most of it will not cause any real difficulty as far as the comprehension of the subject-matter is concerned4 ,but in addition to that1 there ought surely to be read to a far greater extent than has hitherto been the case in modern language instruction1 matter which cannot be understood without some serious thinking1 articles on natural science and on human relations in the widest sense of the word1 political speeches1 etc4 ,many teachers seem to be afraid to read anything else with their pupils than the most insignificant novel-literature whose contents furnish starvation food4 ,a little friend of mine seven years old once said to his mother3 8,i like that best which ,i can scarcely understand40 ,he thereby expressed the same thought as ,dante when he said that man is not happy unless he strains every nerve1 or ,stuart ,mill in his remark3 8,a pupil who is never required to do what he cannot do never does what he can do40 ,all instruction must spur the pupil on with problems that are not too easy2 in the first stage of instruction in languages1 there are problems enough in the purely linguistic difficulties2 later on the contents of the reading1 too1 ought to require some independent powers of assimilation4 ,sometimes it may even be best to choose selections where the language is very easy1 but the matter rather weighty--especially in teaching according to the reform-method1 where subject-matter is necessarily assigned a more important part than hitherto1 and where even an easy text can in various ways be advantageously employed as a means of training in purely linguistic skill4 ,even linguistic easiness or difficulty may depend upon different things4 ,difficulties in pronunciation ought not to be piled up1 a caution applying especially to selections for the very first beginners4 ,some teachers try to begin with words which may be almost or wholly pronounced with sounds occurring in the native language of the pupils4 ,aside from the fact that in most cases it only leads to disappointment to exaggerate the resemblance between the foreign and native sounds1 this principle may easily lead to slovenliness at a stage when it might involve the most dangerous consequences4 ,the pupil ought from the very first lesson to have the clearest sensation of being on foreign ground1 and he ought to realize that the foreign sounds cannot be learned without work4 ,but the difficult sounds ought not to occur too many in succession or in too difficult combinations4 ,it is perhaps best to begin with words of one syllable1 but this need not be strictly carried through4 ,i do not1 however1 attach so much importance to mere difficulties in pronunciation that ,i would advise an otherwise suitable opening selection in a ,french reader for beginners to be discarded because it contained such difficult words as manger and chien4 ,it cannot be long1 anyway1 before the pupils must make acquaintance with1 and1 what is more1 master all the sounds in the language they are about to learn4 ,by difficulties in pronunciation here ,i mean the real ones1 and not such apparent difficulties as are due to freaks of orthography2 it is equally troublesome for a ,german to pronounce ,english pear and pair2 such difficulties as are found in ,english scarce1 fatigue1 victuals1 ,french eut1 pupille1 piti1 balbutier1 etc41 may be overcome by a panacea which ,i shall come to later1 namely1 phonetical transcription4 ,furthermore linguistic difficulty may be due to the use of too many new words1 and in this respect the best principle at all stages is3 as few new words as possible4 ,every one who has read such pages as often occur in ,zola or ,daudet1 where technical expressions are abundantly piled up1 will have had the experience that even with the most careful reading or study it did not take long before all the new words were just as unfamiliar as before the selection was read4 ,likewise1 when one sets to work to learn systematic vocabularies like ,pltz's ,vocabulaire ,systmatique1 it requires enormous exertion and a long time to learn them1 and it takes an amazingly short time to unlearn them again4 ,but if1 in the course of one's reading1 the new words turn up occasionally at relatively large intervals1 then the mind is able to absorb the one before the next appears2 the intervening passages1 which contain only familiar things1 manure the soil1 as it were1 for the new things that are to be sown in it4 ,ten or twelve new words are more easily and more thoroughly learned when they are scattered over five pages than when they are crowded into ten lines1 and then besides there is the benefit to be derived from the recurrence of a number of usual words1 to say nothing of sentence-constructions1 etc41 so that he who has read those five pages has had more opportunity to familiarize himself with the idiosyncrasies of the foreign language than he would have had in ten lines2 the apparent waste of time in reading the longer piece has really been profitable1 for the capital which had already been acquired in the language has in that time borne interest and compound interest4 ,now since it is also better1 as we have said1 to learn five absolutely necessary words than twenty-five of less importance1 it is of course the duty of the editors of text-books in large part to revise the selections which they reprint1 so that that which is of linguistic value for the pupils may be cultivated at the expense of everything that is unusual or odd4 ,texts whose subject-matter is good1 but whose language makes them impossible for our purpose1 may often be made pedagogically practicable by means of curtailing1 paraphrasing1 and adaptation in various ways2 many popular fairy-tales in the collections of folklorists may be used if one only will take the trouble to translate them from the dialect in which they are written4 ,such a splendid little story as ,mrs4 ,ewing's ,jackanapes1 which is frequently read as it stands in ,german and ,swedish schools1 is1 according to my judgment1 too full of literary expressions and unnecessary words to be easily comprehended by our little pupils4 ,in the passage which ,i have selected for my own primer1 ,i have therefore in several places made considerable omissions1 and the style has throughout been made more colloquial and direct1 by means of corrections like these for instance3 having ceased to entertain 7given up7 any hopes of his own recovery4 ,tony tumbled off during the first revolution 7before he had gone round once74 ,and what bright eyes peeped out of his dark forelock as it was blown by the wind6 7he had67 told him that he must be on his very best behaviour 7behave properly7 during the visit4 ,if it had been feasible 7possible7 to leave off calling him ,jackanapes and to get used to his baptismal 7real ,christian7 name of ,theodore before the day after to-morrow it would have been satisfactory 7she would have done it7 said ,j41 shaking his yellow mop 7hair71 and leaning back in his one of the two ,chippendale armchairs in which they sat 7the italicized words left out7 took their early promenade 7went out for their walk7 earlier than usual ,his golden hair flew out1 an aureole from which his cheeks shone red and distended with trumpeting 7left out74 ,it is very probable that on comparing the original with the revised text1 it will be found that some of the colouring has been lost2 ,i merely maintain that the pupils gain thereby4 ,the more it is insisted upon 7as according to the reform-method7 that the selections are not only to be read but also to be mastered1 so that their language becomes the mental property of the pupil1 the more necessary is such revision4 ,it is clear that as the pupil progresses1 the texts may become more and more literary1 and for various reasons the advisability of such curtailing and adaptation becomes more questionable4 ,as a sample of such revision1 ,i shall reprint a part of an anecdote1 7,a7 as it ought not to be given in a book for beginners 7but as it stands in a certain ,english reader for foreigners7 and 7,b7 as it stands in ,sweet's excellent edition3-- 7,a7 ,his table1 however1 is constantly set out with a dozen covers1 and served by suitable attendants4 ,who1 then1 are his privileged guests8 ,no less than a dozen of favourite dogs1 who daily partake of my lord's dinner1 seated very gravely in armchairs1 each with a napkin round his neck1 and a servant behind to attend to his wants4 ,these honourable quadrupeds1 as if grateful for such delicate attentions1 comport themselves during the repast with a decency which would do more than honour to a party of gentlemen2 but if by any chance one of them should1 without due consideration1 obey his natural instinct1 and transgress any of the rules of good manners1 his punishment is at hand4 7,b7 ,every day he used to have dinner laid for twelve guests besides himself2 but no one was ever invited to the house4 ,who were the twelve covers laid for then1 do you think8 ,for twelve dogs4 ,each dog had a velvet chair to sit up in1 and a napkin round his neck1 and a footman behind his chair to wait on him4 ,the older dogs always behaved in the most gentlemanly manner1 but it sometimes happened that one of the younger dogs forgot his manners1 and snatched a chop or a piece of pudding off the plate of the dog that was sitting next to him4 ,finally the difficulties may be grammatical4 ,these are the difficulties that teachers have been most afraid of according to the old methods1 so that they have even preferred to give up almost all sense and connection in the subject-matter rather than make a break in the systematical progress in grammar4 ,such a form as pu was not allowed to occur before the pupils had learned the whole conjugation of pouvoir pouvant pu je peux1 etc42 these forms must be learned connectedly1 it was said4 ,but the irony of it all is that this 8connectedly0 means that they are learned out of all connection--and therefore to little profit4 ,when the pupil is required to 8understand0 the forms which occur in his reader1 it will be found on closer examination that this means merely that1 for instance1 il a is understood by the one who knows that it is #c pers4 sing4 pres4 of avoir1 or who at least knows the formula j'ai1 tu as1 etc42 that yeux is 8understood0 by the one who has learned that it is an irregular plural belonging to the singular il1 etc42 in short1 to 8understand0 means here to know where the form in question belongs in the grammatical system2 and the forms must be given in exactly the same order in which they are arranged in the grammar1 the present before the past tense1 etc4 ,but what has the beginner got to do with all this system8 ,the idea is not carried out consistently either1 for when all the exercises on accidence have been gone through1 it is generally the rule to pass over to connected 7unrevised7 texts1 where such a form as puisse may occur1 but the only thing that the pupils get to know about it is that it is subjunctive1 for it may easily take a year or two before they learn why the subjunctive is used4 ,why is syntax less important than accidence8 ,to be quite consistent1 it ought no more to be permissible for a syntactical phenomenon than for a form in accidence to occur before the corresponding grammatical section has been learned4 ,but since it seems to be inevitable that we must be inconsistent on some point or other1 it is no use beating about the bush2 in other words1 we must not be afraid of using irregular forms in the very first selection4 ,grammatical irregularities1 viewed from a pedagogical point of view1 fall into two entirely different classes1 which are too apt to be treated as if they were co-ordinate4 ,in the first place1 all languages contain a number of irregularities which play a most insignificant part both in life and in literature1 because they occur so seldom4 ,when the users of the language produce them at long intervals1 it is generally with the utmost caution1 because they merely have a hazy conception of what the proper form of the expressions ought to be4 ,but they are taken up in the grammars1 and as soon as one grammarian has caught sight of one of them1 it is carefully copied in all succeeding grammars for the sake of completeness4 ,foreign grammarians are even more inclined than the natives to pay attention to everything of that kind because they have no instinctive feeling of what is rare and what is common4 ,in some ,english grammars which are used on the ,continent1 there may still be found ,i catched1 ,i digged1 ,i shined1 ,i writ1 as the preterite forms of ,i catch1 ,i dig1 ,i shine1 ,i write2 in one1 ,i find given as two different verbs ,i weet1 wit or wot1 past tense wot1 and ,i wis1 past tense ,i wist4 ,what a big mistake it is to include such musty and impracticable forms1 we can best judge from our own language--but in those ,french and ,german grammars which we ourselves write there are things which are just as bad as the above offences in ,english4 ,when ,i went to school1 ,i learned the following rule about the plural of travail1 8,travail has travails in the plural when it means a report from a minister to the king or from a subordinate official to the minister2 likewise when it means a machine to hold unruly horses1 while they are being shoed40 ,this rule is thus criticized by ,storm3 8,now ,i must say ,i have read many hundreds of ,french books in my day1 but so far as ,i remember1 ,i have never come across travails in modern literature6 ,in the sense of report1 it occurs in ,mme4 de ,svign4 ,an educated ,frenchman1 when asked if the word was used with that meaning1 answered me that he thought it was no longer used4 ,so one would expect that the word had long ago ceased to have any show in modern grammars1 but it seems to be continually creeping in again40 ,however1 it is easy enough to take a position with respect to this first kind of irregularities2 they ought to be removed from the instruction as radically as possible2 they ought to be weeded out root and all to a far greater extent than has yet been done in most text-books1 even if it must be admitted that something has been done in this direction of late years4 ,it is quite another matter when we come to the other kind of irregularities1 which are found in the very commonest words1 in words like ,german ist war1 kann konnte1 geht ging1 ich mein1 mann mnner4 ,those irregularities the pupil must learn1 and learn thoroughly--there is no doubt about that4 ,the only question is1 at what stage8 before or after the regular inflections8 ,most teachers will answer1 after4 ,that a systematic grammar first gives what is normal1 that which can be expressed in general1 comprehensive rules1 and then afterwards mentions the exceptions1 the isolated phenomena1 that of course is all right4 ,but it does not necessarily follow that the pupils ought to familiarize themselves with the forms in the same order4 ,what is won thereby8 ,perhaps some advantage for the theoretical knowledge about the language4 ,but the loss incurred by this method of procedure is undoubtedly far greater4 ,for it will be found to be absolutely impossible to arrange texts which are the least bit suitable without using irregularly inflected words1 so indispensable are they4 ,the dread of being unsystematic by taking up exceptions immediately is one of the causes of the prevalence of the disheartening series of detached sentences without any sensible meaning4 ,it is only by freeing ourselves from this principle which requires rules first and exceptions later that we shall be able to get good texts for the teaching of beginners4 ,furthermore1 by beginning with the regular forms1 we perhaps run the risk that the pupils will analogically apply the rule even to the exceptional words1 whereas the irregular forms generally deviate so much that they preclude the possibility of such mistakes4 ,those who have learned that the plural in ,english is formed by adding s1 may perhaps construct such improper forms as mans1 childs1 but the plural forms men and children are not apt to tempt the pupils to inflect other words after the same pattern4 ,but the moral of this is not that we are to turn the customary method of procedure upside down1 and systematically learn the exceptions first4 ,here1 too1 nature must be our guide2 just as persons talking within a child's hearing never stop to consider if the words they are using are regular or not1 so we ought not to be too painfully careful in selecting or arranging the first reading-exercises in a foreign language2 we ought to choose what is otherwise good and take the forms as they come1 wasting no words at this stage to explain their place in the system4 ,in other words1 the deviating forms must be learned as if they were merely matters of vocabulary4 ,if in one of the first pieces there stands ,il y avait une fois un roi et une reine1 it is enough for the time being if the pupil is told that il y avait there was2 the forms for 8there is0 and 8there has been0 he can learn another time when he has use for them1 and then the teacher can refer back to this early piece and remind the pupil about the related form which he learned before4 ,for beginners in ,french1 peux--8can0 is just as difficult 7or easy7 as peu--8little10 and faire--8make1 do10 as fer--8iron10 and it makes no difference if the one is regular and the other irregular4 ,indeed1 an irregular plural like geese is even easier for ,danes than the regular bees 7on account of the z-sound72 likewise1 it is easier for an ,englishman to learn the ,german irregular forms of comparison besser best than regular forms like ssser sssest4 ,later when the time has come for a more systematic study of the grammar1 it will be rather an advantage that a number of the 8exceptions0 already have occurred at so early a stage that they are not at all felt to be strange and unusual4#d ,on the other hand1 the beginner ought to be spared such grammatical difficulties as are due to complicated sentence-structure4 ,all sentences ought from the very beginning to be constructed as evenly1 simply and clearly as possible2 co-ordinate independent clauses ought to be1 if not the only1 at least the predominating type of sentence4 ,not even1 for instance1 in the second year of ,latin instruction1 although there are just as many hours devoted to ,latin in a year as generally fall to the share of modern languages in the course of two or three years1 is it justifiable to let the pupils read the long passages of indirect discourse in ,csar2 they ought not to occur until the pupils are so far advanced that they could easily understand the same matter when directly presented4 ,this is also a point to be kept in mind for any one who undertakes to revise the selections for reading according to the suggestions given above4 ,,footnote3 #d ,it will be noticed that in the whole of this argument ,i agree with ,sweet4 ,,iv ,so much for the reading selections--now for the way in which they ought to be used in the classroom4 ,i have a very vivid recollection of how most of the language lessons were conducted when ,i went to school1 and ,i have a suspicion that this method of procedure has not yet quite died out1 even if in many places it has more or less felt the influence of the law of change4 ,first the 8old lesson0 is gone through1 and that must take as little time as possible1 therefore the pupil is required to be able to translate it fluently without reading it aloud first4 ,then we come to the 8new lesson40 ,a boy stands up and reads a little piece out of the reader--stuttering2 the words are separated from each other by pauses and various unaesthetic hm- and er- sounds1 and sometimes by the teacher's corrections1 or 8now hurry10 8what a terrible pronunciation60 8how do you pronounce g before e8 well1 you know that just as well as ,i do1 you blockhead10 etc4 ,all that the boy thinks about1 whenever he gets an opportunity1 is1 what in the world can be the meaning of that word ,i am coming to4 ,then he translates1 interrupted by the teacher's corrections1 or 8look out10 8where is the verb10 8but what case is it10 etc4 ,then there are1 perhaps1 some grammatical questions2 he is to give the principal parts of a verb or two1 explain the use of a subjunctive1 etc42 the questions are not asked in the foreign language and are not to be answered in that tongue4 ,the next boy is called upon to recite in the same way1 and so on until the lesson has been gone through2 if there is time enough1 perhaps we go through it once more1 but that must be in a hurry1 so we do not stop to read it first this time4 ,the last five or six minutes are devoted to looking through the lesson for next time2 the teacher translates it while the pupils follow it in their books1 and perhaps exert themselves to write down the meaning of some difficult word in the margin of the reader or in a note-book4 ,the most prominent feature of the teaching is haste2 there is much to be done1 especially as examination draws on4 ,it seems to be an established custom that the examination marks are determined by the quality of the translation1 and it is in order to get practice in translating that the reading selections are gone through as many times as possible4 ,there is not much time for reading aloud2 why1 when one has only learned the main principles of pronunciation1 one can generally infer the pronunciation of any word from the spelling1 especially in ,german1 but also in ,french4 ,i suppose it is more or less in this confidence that the teachers let a piece be translated three or four times for every time it is read aloud in the original4 ,how much of the foreign language does the pupil hear in the course of such a lesson8 ,the teacher says a word now and then--for instance1 when a pupil translates incorrectly2 but then the attention is not directed to the pronunciation2 besides1 it is generally only one word that he says1 and that word occurs most likely in a sentence in the pupils' own language4 ,now1 it is a matter of fact that even one who pronounces very well cannot get the proper ,french swing of a ,french word when it occurs in company with words of another language4 ,the basis of articulation is different in the two languages1 and it is not easy to shift from the one to the other in a moment4 ,so it is but little that the pupil hears from his teacher4 ,from his classmates he hears a little more1 no doubt2 but theirs is not exactly exemplary pronunciation1 and besides1 it does not interest him to pay attention to it4 ,if he only can manage to keep the place in the book where the others are for the moment1 he can very well think about other things while the others are reciting2 he can1 for instance1 review the difficult words in the next piece1 if he does not prefer to dream about his stamp collection or his bicycle4 ,finally1 on rare occasions1 he is permitted to read a couple of lines aloud in class1 but it is considered merely as a sort of introduction to the main business in hand1 translation4 ,he never gets an opportunity to say anything himself in the foreign language outside of what stands in the book1 and he very seldom hears others say anything that he is not following in print4 ,so it is no wonder that such instruction scarcely cultivates at all the pupil's ability to understand a foreign language as it is rapidly and naturally spoken by a native4 ,if he should hear the simplest every-day sentence in a foreign language1 correctly and naturally pronounced1 and he should be asked merely to repeat it1 he would in nine cases out of ten betray the strangest perplexity1 although he would have had no trouble whatever with a far more difficult piece which he happened to meet with in print4 ,but that is not all2 this method has other disadvantages4 ,the foreign words gallop past the pupil's eye2 his main object is to be able to recognize them in a vague sort of way so that they may give him the clue to the translation4 ,oftentimes one word thus vaguely remembered even gives him the clue to the translation of a whole sentence which he knows by heart because there was something special about it4 ,what he gets hold of is the translation1 and the whole translation often comes to his mind when he has only looked at the beginning of the sentence in the original--sometimes1 however1 only on condition that it stands in the same place on the page 7at the top to the left1 etc471 where he is used to seeing it4 ,there is not the same inducement to remember the forms of the foreign expressions exactly4 ,if you take a clever boy who has been taught according to the usual method and1 after he has translated a little piece of his lesson1 close his book and ask him to give the original of the last sentence which he has translated1 it will in many cases be impossible for him to do it4 ,i reported an example of this at the congress in ,stockholm in #ahhf2 a clever pupil was translating a piece of ,mrime's ,colomba at sight1 and was doing it very well1 when ,i made the experiment4 ,he apparently remembered the sentence well enough in the translation1 but it was slowly and with difficulty that he ventured the ,french3 ,et il pleurait comme le fils de ,pietri pleurait4 ,but in the book there stood3 ,et il pleura comme pleurait le fils de ,pietri4 ,it is clear that it is impossible for a pupil to get a correct conception of the radical difference between pass dfini and imparfait1 or of the effect of the order of words1 when he pays so little attention to the ,french forms that he meets with4 ,one can never get any real appreciation of the idiosyncrasies of a foreign language as long as the translation is the main object4 ,let us consider for a moment the workings of a boy's mind when it is his turn to recite and he has to translate such a sentence as1 for instance3 cet homme1 dont elle ne voyait jamais les enfants4 ,cet1 this1 homme1 man1 dont1 whose--now he discovers that it will not be ,english if he continues to take one word after the other in the ,french order1 so he looks ahead1 tries every word hurriedly2 finally he finds les enfants1 the children2 no1 ,i forgot1 we must not have the article there in ,english1 so merely children2 back to elle1 she2 now he sees that ne jamais must be taken first3 never2 voyait1 saw4 ,so instead of taking the ,french words in the natural order1 #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1 #e1 #f1 #g1 #h1 #i1 he has to skip backwards and forwards in order to get them in the order #a1 #b1 #c1 7#h71 #i1 #d1 #e1 #g1 #f4 ,in an ,english text-book for ,german schools the following sentence#e is given for translation with numbers indicating the order in which the words are to be taken in ,english3 #a,wrden #b,sie #cnicht #fviel #gzeit #e;gehabt #d;haben #hwenn #i,sie #aanicht #ae;jenen #af;brief #aczu #adschreiben #ab;gehabt #aj;htten4 ,in other cases1 it is the pupils themselves who by means of numbers and letters 78paving letters07 smooth the difficulty of translation4 ,anyone who is accustomed to translate ,german at sight knows how when he has translated the subject of a dependent clause he silently runs through what follows1 often several lines1 in order to find the verb1 which according to ,english usage must not be too far separated from its subject1 and how in hastily trying each single word his attention is drawn to a number of subordinate thoughts while the main thought stands and waits1 as it were4 ,this mental process is made even more complicated by the fact that only in a minority of cases does every word in a sentence 7like the simple sentence given above7 in any way correspond to an ,english word2 as a rule the translator also has to think about such questions as1 does sich here mean him1 or her1 or himself1 or herself1 or itself1 or oneself2 does si mean so1 or as1 or if2 is il fait to be taken as he does1 he makes1 he has 7something done71 or it does1 or it is1 or in still another way1 etc41 etc4 ,this mental process1 which is much more complicated than would generally be supposed1 is far beyond the ability of the children4 ,therefore they often remain contented with the text-book's1 the teacher's or the parent's translation1 which is learned partly or entirely by heart2 otherwise the translation is apt to swarm with the well-known offences against the mother-tongue1 word-formations1 phrases1 expressions1 order of words1 etc41 which are not ,english4 ,since the teacher of course cannot put up with this murdering of the ,king's ,english1 a large part of every lesson in the foreign language has to be spent in the troublesome task of rooting out these barbarisms4 ,that is why it is so often said that instruction in foreign languages always is1 or ought to be1 at the same time instruction in one's native language1 or1 as the matter is sometimes more pointedly put1 that the main object in learning other languages is to get a correct knowledge of one's own4 ,of course there is much truth in this last statement1 if it is the theoretical understanding of languages that we are thinking about2 for it is only natural that we cannot appreciate the richness of our mother-tongue1 or have any opinion about its structural advantages or disadvantages1 or even give a correct description of its structure or understand its historical development1 when we have no other languages to compare it with4#f ,yet all this ought not to close our eyes to the fact that as soon as it is a question of the practical command of the mother-tongue1 the assertion is utterly false4 ,in this respect instruction in foreign languages does not help us1 and it is not the people who are most accomplished in other languages who are the best stylists in their own4 ,on the contrary6 ,only compare the language used by the same pupil in his ,english essays and in his translations from the ,latin2 in the latter1 you will find a number of offences against good ,english usage which could not possibly have occurred in the former4 ,so the errors are in reality not due to a deficient command of the mother-tongue1 but solely and alone to the restraining and confusing influence brought to bear upon the pupil's thoughts by the foreign forms of expression2 the strange language lures him in upon linguistic paths where he would never set his foot otherwise1 and which only lead him into a mire4 ,it is the school with its translation-method that has sown the dragon's teeth1 and it must now reap the consequences4 ,instruction in foreign languages1 according to the prevailing method1 is so far from being a help to the pupils in their treatment of ,english1 that1 on the contrary1 in spite of all the energy which is put in on combating ,germanisms1 ,latinisms1 etc41 in the translations1 it often makes them uncertain and vacillating in their feeling for what is good ,english4#g ,the acquirement of a certain intuition for good usage in a foreign language had best be left out of the discussion here2 a really thorough knowledge of ,french or ,german habits of expression is1 of course1 not to be obtained as long as we are unable to see anything in these languages without straightway turning all our attention to something quite different1 namely1 the ,english rendering4#h ,we get no further than to a 8nodding acquaintance0 with the component parts of the foreign language1 so that we know them pretty well by sight and can repeat their names1 but we do not become quite intimate with them1 we do not live together with them1 they do not become flesh of our flesh and blood of our blood4 ,if something difficult is to be learned1 the very first essential is to be much occupied with it2 therefore the first condition for good instruction in foreign languages would seem to be to give the pupil as much as possible to do with and in the foreign language2 he must be steeped in it1 not only get a sprinkling of it now and then2 he must be ducked down in it and get to feel as if he were in his own element1 so that he may at last disport himself in it as an able swimmer4 ,but what is most characteristic for the prevailing methods is that the translation with its accessories swallows up so much time1 that there is none left for this free disporting in the foreign element4 ,then why does translation play such an important part8 ,we must first find an answer to this question before we proceed to ask if it can and ought to be thrust into the background1 and by what means4 ,now the ability to translate may either be considered the end of instruction in foreign languages1 or translation may be regarded merely as a means of instruction 7one of several means or perhaps the only means74 ,now is it right to say that the purpose of instruction in a foreign language is that the pupils may learn to translate fluently and exactly 7from and into the language78 ,the answer must be an emphatic ,no4 ,the popular opinion among those who have not thought the matter over1 or who have not given sufficiently careful attention to their own mental processes1 is that a foreign language can be understood only by transposing it into one's mother-tongue2 but this is not so4 ,those who read foreign authors in the original with real advantage do not actually first translate each word1 still less each sentence or each period1 into ,english before they proceed further4 ,those who are listening to a ,french lecture or seeing a play in ,paris have no time to translate to themselves1 but it is not necessary for them to do it either4 ,and finally1 it goes without saying that the ,englishman who really speaks ,french and ,german well does not first construct his sentences in ,english and then translate them in the same way as a schoolboy translates his exercises4 ,no2 in all these mental processes1 ,english occupies a place in the background and is just as superfluous as for instance ,german is for me while ,i am reading or talking ,french4 ,how often are we not asked the meaning of some foreign word or expression which we know very well and would neither pay any special attention to in a book nor hesitate to use in conversation but yet we cannot give any ,english equivalent for it without resorting to some vague uncertain circumlocution2 then suddenly1 after a good deal of speculation1 we hit upon the correct ,english expression4 ,or the questioner may suggest first one and then another translation of something ,french or ,latin2 we do not feel satisfied1 but cannot mention anything better2 then he attempts a new suggestion and instantly it flashes upon us that this is the best4 ,in all these cases1 then1 we have clearly and distinctly understood the foreign expressions without being able to translate them 7or before we could translate them74 ,of course the ,german word fall is only one and the same word for me whether it be used in such a manner as to be best rendered by ,english case1 instance1 or by fall1 decline1 descent1 or in still another way 7unglcksfall1 accident2 schlimmsten falles1 if the worst come to the worst2 auf keinen fall1 on no account1 etc474 ,when ,i come across the word gegen1 ,i do not consciously stop to decide if it 8means0 towards1 to1 about or against2 nor in the case of bleiben1 if it is to be rendered by remain1 stay1 stop1 continue1 keep1 or survive4 ,il a d se taire2 elle a le cur serr2 il traite le sujet avec la comptence qu'on lui connat--should ,i really have to hunt for the proper translation every time such an idiom occurs8 ,should ,i stop at every perspicuous ,german compound until ,i had found the cumbersome ,english circumlocution that is often needed to render it8 ,no2 in all of these cases1 ,i directly and spontaneously connect the idea with the language in which it is expressed without going any roundabout way through the words of my native language4 ,any one who introduces a foreign word into his ,english either because there is no exact equivalent in ,english or1 at least1 because he cannot recall it for the moment1 also thereby shows that people really can1 and very frequently do1 learn words in other languages without getting at their meaning through their mother-tongue4 8,il trouva la pauvre fille dans un tat faire piti40 8,on a voulu trouver dans ses uvres un pessimisme de parti pris40 8,pour lui1 il y allait de la gloire de cette maison qu'il servait depuis sa jeunesse40 ,how many a man will understand without difficulty such sentences as these and a hundred others1 and yet hesitate at once when asked to translate them6 ,we must on the whole make a distinction between the ability to feel at home in a language and skill in translating from or into it2 even if these two accomplishments may be found in one and the same person1 yet they are not seldom to be seen separated4 ,if ,i may be allowed to talk about myself1 ,i may say that my ability to translate quickly and well is so decidedly inferior to my ability to understand and to express my thoughts in those languages which ,i have studied1 that ,i should scarcely like to have my linguistic attainments judged by my skill in translation4 ,the lately deceased art-critic1 ,p4 ,g4 ,hamerton1 the author of that interesting book ,french and ,english1 says about himself3 8,as my wife was a ,parisian with a strong taste for the classical literature of her own country1 ,i became her pupil in ,french and she became mine in ,english4 ,we made it a rule in our private conversation never to allow a fault in either language to pass uncorrected1 and we read aloud to each other a great deal4444 ,in the use of languages ,i have one faculty which seems to be rather uncommon3 that of keeping them entirely separated4 ,when speaking or writing ,french ,i am1 for the time being1 like one totally ignorant of ,english1 as ,english words do not occur to me1 and ,i never translate anything1 not even weights and measures1 or money1 or the thermometer1 from one language to the other1 but think in each1 independently40 ,when ,hamerton here says that this ability is unusual1 he no doubt means that it is unusual in so high a degree as he had it4 ,perhaps it is not all people who get so far that dix-huit degrs1 for instance1 awakens in them just as precise a conception as the corresponding degrees of heat in terms of ,fahrenheit2 and yet1 no doubt1 by habit1 this too will become quite natural for those who care very much to have the temperature expressed in degrees4 ,it is just like the foreigner in ,france who1 after a very short time1 involuntarily begins to calculate with ,french money1 so that he does not have to transpose deux francs cinquante into ,english shillings and pence before he can judge as to whether the price of an article is high or low4 ,though ,i may admit1 however1 that this ability to feel at home in a strange language is not altogether common in so high a degree1 yet ,i think it may be said that the same ability only in a less degree is not unusual4 ,i mean that it is rather the exception than the rule for people who read foreign books to any extent at all to have to translate to themselves in order to understand what they are reading1 with the exception1 perhaps1 of some difficult lines here and there4 ,and even in the difficult places1 where they have to resort to their mother-tongue in order to understand the meaning1 it is generally only one or two words which have to be looked up1 so they generally do not even pause to translate the whole clause in which those words have occurred2 still less frequently do they stop merely to untangle some involved sentence construction4 ,when a whole population has to make constant use of two languages1 the circumstances are no doubt always the same as among the ,wends in ,lusatia3 8,they speak both ,wendish and ,german with equal fluency2 yet the common people generally refuse when they are asked to translate something from one language to another3 #8he cannot do it1' or1 as one of my informants expressed himself1 #8he is afraid to4' ,he can1 however1 without difficulty repeat in ,german a tale which he has heard in ,wendish1 and vice vers1 and likewise he can give the exact translation of single words40#i ,while there are countless persons who have use for the ability to understand a foreign language directly1 and while there is at all events a constantly increasing number of people who need to express their thoughts in a foreign language1 there are really very few who will ever have any occasion to exercise skill in translation4 ,there are many who write private letters in ,german1 etc41 but they do not compose an ,english text first which they then proceed to translate with exactness4 ,even those who have foreign business letters to write for someone else are not generally given every word that is to stand in them1 but merely a rough draft of the contents1 which they are to clothe in a foreign language as best they can4 ,there remain1 then1 the few translators connected with the law-courts1 the providers of translated novels1 and finally the very small number of choice spirits who have the courage to grapple with the valuable and charming art of transplanting poetry in a poetical rendering4 ,but they may all find comfort in the fact that skill in translation at the very bottom rests on that same direct command of language that we all need1#aj so there is no need for them to feel dissatisfied if we refuse to recognize skill in translation as the end and aim of all instruction in languages4 ,our ideal must rather be the nearest possible approach to the native's command of the language1 so that the words and sentences may awaken the same ideas in us as in the native--and these ideas1 as we well know1 are not the same as those called forth by the corresponding words in our own language4 ,the relations between languages are not like the relations between mathematical equivalents2 cur1 herz1 heart do not all cover the same ground1 to say nothing of the difference between sens1 sinn1 sense1 etc4 ,even when the literal meaning may be said to be the same1 the suggestions associated with the words vary in the different languages1 suggestions arising from related words1 from words that are similar in sound or similar in some other way1 from frequent combinations in which the words occur1 etc4 ,the same animal is in ,english called bat1 in ,french chauvesouris1 in ,german fledermaus1 in ,latin vespertilio1 in ,danish flagermus1 but what a difference in the suggestions6 ,the ,french1 the ,german and the ,danish words call attention to the animal's resemblance to a mouse1 the ,danish word besides to its flapping movement 7a suggestion which must be lost for the ,germans since flattern has taken the place of fledern71 but the ,french word to its bald appearance2 the ,latin word makes us think of the time of day when the animal is abroad1 but the ,english word bat is rather an abstract expression without any suggestiveness1 and we can understand why ,tennyson declared that the provincial word flittermouse was far more suitable for poetical use than bat4 ,these 8undertones0 of the words sound more distinctly in puns1 rhymes1 etc41 but still they always lie lurking in the background of our conscience4 ,it is all such things as these1 together with the fact that some languages carefully distinguish between certain shades of grammar or meaning which are of no consequence in other languages1 where the finesses seem to be extended to totally different points1 and furthermore together with different habits as to order of words1 etc41 etc41 which1 taken all in all1 make it impossible for any translation ever to be a perfect reproduction of the original3 traduttore traditore6 ,for all these reasons1 it is not translation 7or skill in translation7 that we are aiming at in teaching foreign languages4 ,,footnotes3 #e ,quoted in ,englische ,studien ,,viii41 #age4 #f ,wer fremde sprachen nicht kennt1 weiss nichts von seiner eignen4 ,j4 ,,grimm4 #g ,ch4 ,darwin had the strongest disbelief in the common idea that a classical scholar must write good ,english2 indeed he thought that1 the contrary was the case4 7,life and ,letters1 i4 #aee47 ,see also the strong expressions to the same effect in ,h4 ,spencer's ,facts and ,comments1 #aijb1 p4 #gj4 #h ,der geist des schlers muss eine ganz wunderliche turnerei treiben1 immer hin- und herhpfen zwischen den beiden sprachen1 in keiner recht zur ruhe kommen4 ,das mag eine treffliche bung sein zu mancherlei anderen verstandesleistungen 78 ,o4 ,j471 nur gerade fr die spracherlernung ist der gewinn zweifelhaft4--,g4 v4 d4 ,gabelentz1 ,die ,sprachwissenschaft1 #ahia1 #gc4 #i ,f4 ,polle1 ,wie denkt das volk ber die sprache4 ,leipzig1 #ahhi1 p4 #ce4 ,the languages are as different from each other as ,english and ,russian4 #aj ,only by understanding the connexion in which they occur is it possible to know what is meant by ,english light1 or bow1 ,french montre or fin1 ,german thor or lieben4 ,so the language must be understood before it can be translated4 ,v ,but for all that translation might still be a useful and indispensable means in the service of language instruction4 ,in order to judge of this we must have a clear conception of the different ways in which translation can be and really is used3 7a7--,translation into ,english is a means of getting the pupil to understand the foreign language1 as for instance1 when ,i tell him that cheval means 8horse10 or when ,i translate a whole sentence for him2 7b7--,translation into ,english is a means of testing whether the pupil understands1 as1 for instance1 when ,i ask him what cheval means in ,english1 or when ,i let him translate a whole sentence2 7c7--,translation from ,english is a means of giving the pupil practice in producing something in the foreign language2 7d7--,translation from ,english is a means of testing whether the pupil can express himself in the foreign language4 ,it is really a subdivision of this when the teacher lets a pupil translate an ,english sentence in order to see if he understands some grammatical rule in the foreign language4 ,it is clear that a and b are right closely connected1 likewise c and d2 yet it will be seen later that the one does not necessarily presuppose the other1 as is no doubt generally assumed4 ,advocates of the routine-method will throw a1 b1 c1 and d together indiscriminately and say about them all that translation is an excellent and indeed the only practical means4 ,but their opponents1 now1 maintain that in none of these four cases is translation the only means--very far from it6--and that besides it is not equally valuable in all instances4 7a7--,there is always danger in translation2 but in spite of this there are many who in certain cases will use this means as being the surest and quickest way of getting the pupils to understand1 but in other cases will try to do without it2 some teachers even think that in all cases they can find other and better means of getting the pupils to comprehend the meaning of foreign expressions4 7b7--,as a means of testing whether the pupil understands the foreign language1 it is a tolerably good thing to let him translate1 but only tolerably good2 it is not always reliable1 and ought in many cases to be a last resort4 7c7--,translation from ,english is1 for beginners at least1 an extremely poor means in comparison with the many other hitherto generally neglected ways in which the teacher may get a pupil to say 7or write7 something in the foreign language4 8,das bersetzen in die fremdsprache zum zwecke der erlernung derselben gehrt einfach in das gebiet pdagogischer snden und verirrungen0 7,bierbaum1 ,die neueren sprachen1 i4 #eg74 7d7--,as a test of whether the pupil can express himself in the other language1 an oral or written exercise in translation is either illusory or is at least suitable only for the most advanced pupils4 ,these assertions must now be made good1 especially by the suggestion of other means which may be substituted for translation4 ,i shall not continue strictly to observe the distinctions between the four categories1 a1 b1 c1 d4 ,in order to avoid tedious repetitions of expressions like 8the foreign language in question10 ,i shall in the following pages say in short 8the language0 in contrast to ,english4 ,are there other means by which ,i can get the pupil to comprehend the meaning of foreign words and sentences8 ,yes2 in the first place by means of direct observation or immediate perception 7what the ,germans call anschauung74 ,this applies to substantives which designate objects1 etc41 to be found in the school-room3 fentre1 porte1 banc1 chaise1 tableau 7noir71 craie1 livre1 plume1 crayon1 montre1 lve1 matre 7professeur71 etc4 ,all that is necessary is to point to the objects with such remarks as c'est 7or voil7 la craie1 on appelle a le tableau noir1 etc41 and the pupil cannot mistake the meaning of each word4 ,furthermore1 this is the best way to teach the most necessary words relating to the human body3 tte1 cheveux1 nez1 yeux1 bouche1 lvres1 barbe1 joue1 oreille1 bras1 main1 doigt1 etc4 ,but in addition to the many substantives there are also a number of words of other classes which can be learned in this manner3 voil une fentre1 et voil une autre fentre2 ,pierre est un lve1 ,paul est un autre lve2 words like ici1 l2 especially a number of verbs of action3 j'cris2 ,victor crit4 je prends la craie2 ,jean prend la craie4 je me lve2 ,pierre se lve4 je m'assieds1 je marche 7vers la porte71 j'ouvre la porte1 je ferme la porte2 je donne le livre ,pierre1 ,pierre me donne le livre1 etc4 ,at the same time as the teacher or the pupil says something or other1 the teacher illustrates the action4 ,in that manner1 already in the first stage1 before the pupils have any ,french vocabulary to operate with1 a number of words and sentences may be learned without the use of a single ,english word4 ,yes1 even the various tenses of the verbs can be explained by this method4 ,if1 for instance1 in the course of their reading1 the pupils come across il a pris and they do not understand it1 the teacher can show what it means--this of course does not apply to the very first lessons--by first taking the chalk and saying3 je prends la craie1 then a book3 je prends le livre de ,jean1 then his hand3 je prends sa main1 and then saying3 d'abord j'ai pris la craie1 puis j'ai pris le livre de ,jean1 et enfin j'ai pris sa main4 ,with a little ingenuity a good deal can be brought in in this way2 some material in ,french has been well arranged in ,p4 ,passy and ,t4 ,tostrup1 ,leons de choses4 ,i shall later come to the question as to whether and how the pupils are to repeat what the teacher says in this way1 as likewise to the objection that the pupils in reality understand these words in ,english4 ,here ,i shall merely caution against taking too much material of this kind at a stretch2 it is best to intersperse it with other things4 ,in the second place1 the meaning of the words may be communicated through mediate perception1 through pictures4 ,this is what ,miss ,goldschmidt with so much energy has put into practice in her 8picture-words0 and in other books on the same plan1 which have been edited partly by her and partly by others4 ,each page contains a collection of pictures representing a series of objects belonging to the same sphere of ideas4 ,sometimes they are joined together to make a whole scene2 sometimes the objects remain separated1 without being brought into connection with each other2 some of the pictures are well put together2 others present several curiosities1 as1 for instance1 a telescope freely hovering in a rainbow4 ,each object is supplied with a number referring to lists where the corresponding ,french 7,english1 etc47 words are given4 ,in many ,german schools1 and in several places in ,denmark now too1 large picture-charts are used to hang upon the schoolroom wall1 especially the ,hlzel charts1 where1 for instance1 on a winter-picture are collected representations of the most important things belonging to winter4 ,then the teacher can point to one of these things and at the same time explain it in the language which is being studied4 ,finally pictures can also be used to illustrate a narrative or descriptive text1 as in the ,english primers published by ,sarauw and myself4 ,there have been several objections raised against the perception-method4 ,thus ,sweet says that the idea is not so sharply defined as in the case of translation4 ,if we see chapeau by the side of 7the picture of7 a silk hat1 we do not know if it merely designates that kind of hat or other kinds too1 so that the translation 8hat0 is more apt to suggest the correct idea4 ,or if the teacher points to his mouth and says bouche1 the pupils might just as well think that it means lip1 etc4 ,the objection comes from a closet philosopher1 who has not seen the thing in practice2 there is almost no danger except for one who would try to learn a language by himself and exclusively through pictures4 ,in oral instruction1 such mistakes are scarcely frequent enough to be worth mentioning1 even if it might be a good thing perhaps for teachers to realize that they are possible--they even occur now and then in a child's apprehension of his native language1 which in large part follows exactly these same paths4 ,if the teacher understands his business1 no mistake at all occurs or else it is soon corrected1 for of course he will never stop at merely pointing to the object and giving the word1 but he will immediately use it in sentences and connections in which the meaning becomes perfectly clear2 for instance1 if he only says tu as une bouche et deux lvres1 or1 after having pointed to his mouth and said bouche1 he asks one of the boys3 ,combien as-tu de bouches8 there will be no danger of such mistakes2 indeed all danger is generally precluded from the very beginning1 for when the teacher points to his mouth1 he is not apt to say merely bouche1 but voil la bouche or voil ma bouche1 where the singular form la1 ma unmistakably indicates the correct meaning4 ,such misunderstandings as in the case of chapeau are no doubt of rare occurrence1 but at all events1 the teacher may prevent them too by talking about his own and the pupils' hats with the use of the same word4 ,another opponent of the perception-method has said that it causes disturbance in the class when the teachers in modern languages now get up1 now sit down1 open the door1 close the door1 blow their noses1 pull their boots off and on 787 etc4 ,a third opponent carefully depicts all the asides a pupil will think of when the teacher1 in order to teach him the word gants1 pulls his gloves out of his pocket3 8,they are pretty bad specimens10 or 8,oho6 he has brought his best ones along to-day because he knew he was going to use them10 etc4 ,of course the method can be driven to caricature1 and of course the discipline can become lax if the teacher goes through the various actions with too much restlessness1 but in general the method does not require very different or more disturbing movements than those which take place in every or every other lesson3 a pupil goes to the blackboard or the door or opens a window4 ,and if there is any spirit in the teaching1 the pupils indulge in no more irrelevant asides than in other lessons4 ,there seems to be greater weight in the objection that only apparently is the foreign word directly attached to the idea by means of the perception-method1 since either a real hat or a picture of one immediately suggests to the pupil the ,english word hat1 so that after all we do not avoid the roundabout way through the native language1 as we desire2 the hobgoblin moves with us4 ,well1 if we think it is possible entirely to prevent ,english words from turning up in the children's consciousness1 we certainly deceive ourselves4 ,but if we are more modest in our demands and simply want the foreign language to be kept as much as possible in the foreground and ,english in the background1 then it cannot be denied that it must make for this end when it is not necessary for either the teacher or the pupil to mention the ,english word4 ,and the more they both become accustomed to this method of teaching1 the more previously learned words there are for the new ones to be associated with1 and the more ingenious the teacher is to vary the whole1 the more seldom do the ,english words occur to the pupil4 ,with the pictures as a basis of suggestion1 there can and ought to be conducted talks in the language1 at least after the very first lessons are past4 ,it is but seldom necessary to resort to the native language1 and the time is almost exclusively occupied in hearing and saying something in the language4 ,but this can best be done when the pictures not only suggest single words but are rich in content4 ,thus ,mrs4 ,freudenthal1 in ,finland1 has to a large extent in her teaching used reproductions of genre paintings1 which give occasion for spinning out whole narratives suggested by the pictures4 ,perhaps it is still better1 as ,sarauw and ,i have done in our book for beginners in ,english1 to supply the tales 7or other selections7 with little illustrations2 they may occasion conversations which have more or less to do with the text and which can be conducted with essentially the same vocabulary2 and the teacher ought also to return now and then to previously discussed pictures1 which may be treated more fully than before on account of the progress made by the pupils in the meanwhile4 ,pictures1 then1 are of undoubted significance in the teaching of languages1 even if their scope must not be overrated and they must not be used as the only means of explanation--all one-sidedness is hurtful4 ,but the pictures ought to be characteristic of the foreign land and people1 especially when they are to be used beyond the beginner stage4 ,i am not the first one to reproach ,miss ,goldschmidt because she gives pictures showing1 for instance1 a ,danish sitting-room1 a ,danish postman1 etc41 and lets the pupils use the same pictures in learning all three foreign languages1 something which is not exactly calculated to win interest but must be pretty monotonous whereas exactly what should be done is to open the pupil's eyes to the manifold and characteristic differences existing between the various nations4 ,schools ought to be well supplied with pictures on the walls and illustrated works which may serve to give the pupils some enlightenment about ,french and ,german conditions of life1 natural scenery1 buildings1 art1 institutions4 ,foreign illustrated papers will be found to contain much useful material1 and the teacher ought frequently to use #e-aj minutes or more of the lesson to discuss such a picture in the language with the pupils4 ,that would be an excellent way in which to supplement the teaching based on the text-book4 ,but not only such ready-made pictures may be used in teaching languages4 ,the teacher can often1 by means of rough chalk-drawings on the blackboard1 illustrate various things in the text which is being read and base his explanations 7in the language7 on them4 ,the few times ,i have done it1 the pupils immediately took to it1 so that ,i began to deplore my great lack of skill in drawing4 ,if there was any subject that was neglected when ,i went to school1 it was drawing4 ,now people have1 fortunately1 begun to get their eyes open to the importance of this branch1 first and foremost for teachers of all subjects as a help in their teaching1 and1 secondly1 for the pupils as the good thing it is from an educational point of view for them to learn to see an object correctly and to reproduce what they see in a drawing4 ,and just as in the case of natural history and geography1 the drawings of the pupils now are an important feature of the instruction1 so they might play a similar part in the teaching of languages4 ,it is a splendid idea that has been put into practice in 8,det danske selskabs skole40 ,i shall quote from its 8,beretning10 #aijj3 8,exercises in drawing have also played an important part4 ,before the lesson begins there is written on the blackboard one subject for each pupil to illustrate by a drawing4 ,each one has a certain amount of space apportioned to him4 ,the pupil is ordered to draw only such things as he can mention and explain in ,german4 ,but of course the intention is that much more is to be drawn4 ,for instance1 if the subject is a wagon1 the pupil naturally draws both wheels1 wagon-pole1 stud-stave1 side pieces1 seat1 driver with whip1 horses1 harness1 etc4 ,the pupil has to explain his drawing to the class1 and of course he gets into a tight place2 the result is that his interest is aroused for what all the things are called1 and he pays close attention to the words when the teacher says them4 ,fourteen boys in a class can finish their drawings in #aj minutes1 and it takes #cj minutes to go through the #ad drawings40 7,c4 ,lambek47 ,here it looks as if the subject were given in ,danish2 and perhaps the words learned in the exercise have been taken up too much in detail4 ,i should think it might be still better to announce the subject orally and rather fully in the language1 to say1 for instance1 to a ,danish pupil who is learning ,english--,you draw a picture of a two-storied house with three windows in each story and one door2 outside the house a man is to stand smoking his pipe2 or1 you draw a carriage and pair1 inside the carriage is a gentleman1 but you see only the tip of his nose2 a dog is running fast behind the carriage4 ,if there is--as there always ought to be--blackboard space enough for several pupils to execute their drawings at the same time1 so much the better2 the rest of the class can be occupied with something else until the drawings are finished2 then they are first explained by the drawer1 thereupon by one or several of the other pupils2 of course both the teacher and the pupils call attention to anything that has been forgotten in the drawing1 and new points are brought up1 as suggested by ,mr4 ,lambek4 ,also in connection with little stories1 the pupils may be asked to make drawings to show that they have understood what they have been reading4 ,in speaking about the use of pictures1 ,i have wandered a little from my point of departure1 namely1 the ways in which 7aside from translation7 the pupil may be taught the meaning of a foreign word4 ,all of us who are further advanced must confess to ourselves that in reading foreign books we have often omitted to look up an unfamiliar word in the dictionary1 because its meaning was perfectly clear from the context4 ,and we have all learned thousands of words in our mother-tongue in the same way4 ,then why not use this experience in the teaching of foreign languages8 ,because it leads to guesswork1 to carelessness in studying1 to an approximate and uncertain comprehension1 is the answer we get4 ,granted--as far as some cases are concerned6 ,there are many combinations where the meaning of a word may be 8scented0 through the context1 and where a conscientious teacher cannot remain satisfied without some proof that the pupil really understands the word2 and there are cases where the teacher imagines that the pupils cannot help seeing the meaning immediately1 and yet their guesses are all wrong4 ,but still the ability to arrive at the meaning of an unfamiliar word through the text is valuable and does not deserve to be neglected1 but should1 on the contrary1 be cultivated--under control1 of course4 ,at all events1 there can be no danger in using really self-interpreting sentences where the meaning of an unfamiliar word may be assumed with unfailing certainty and without guesswork4 ,in a sentence like 8,il y a douze mois dans l'anne10 the pupil who is acquainted with any two of the three italicized words will be able to reason out the meaning of the third with as great accuracy as in the equation a b c the unknown quantity may be found when the two are given4 ,and if you continue3 le premier s'appelle janvier1 le second s'appelle fvrier1 le troisime s'appelle mars1 etc41 then it is no guesswork at all if the pupils gather both the ordinal numerals and the names of the months4 ,the same may be said of the following sentences-- ,le jour se divise en vingt-quatre heures2 l'heure se divise en soixante minutes1 et la minute en soixante secondes4 ,soixante secondes font une minute2 soixante minutes font une heure2 vingt-quatre heures font un jour2 sept jours font une semaine2 cinquante-deux semaines et quelques jours font une anne2 cent annes font un sicle4 ,here the pupil can infer the meaning of a number of words without needing the teacher's translation4 ,so it is only a waste of time to let the pupil himself translate such pieces--for he can do that half-asleep without looking very much at the ,french1 and he does not learn much that way4 ,no2 let him repeat them in ,french until he can say them fluently1 then let him isolate the ordinals3 le premier1 le second 4441 thereupon the names of the months3 janvier1 fvrier 4442 thereupon go through both series backwards1 and then finally answer questions at random3 ,comment s'appelle le troisime mois8 ,quel est le dixime mois8 etc4 ,or in connexion with the second selection1 let him go through all the divisions of time1 first beginning with the smallest and then with the largest 7with the use of the article un1 une72 then ask3 ,comment se divise l'heure8 ,comment se divise le jour8 ,combien de secondes a une minute8 ,trois heures1 combien de minutes8 ,deux annes1 combien de mois8 etc41 etc4 ,in this way it seems as if a teacher can with complete confidence continue for a long time to keep even those pupils occupied who do not know much ,french1 without needing to mention a single ,english word4#aa ,now of course there are only few subjects which can thus be talked about in one self-interpreting sentence after the other3 ,sweet has1 in his ,elementarbuch1 got hold of more of that sort of thing than any other author of similar text-books that ,i know of2 but almost any text will be found to contain sentences where the general sense unmistakably indicates the meaning of the new words2 the more of that kind of combinations the pupil commits to memory the better for him4 ,the ability to infer the meaning from the context ought rather to be encouraged and practised than ought the tendency to go by resemblances to words in the mother-tongue or in other languages2 even if much may be learned in this way 7,eng4 send1 ,german senden2 ,eng4 ruin1 ,ger4 ,french ruine1 etc471 yet there is still reason to caution against too much confidence in resemblances1 for they often lead us astray 7even in the case of 8etymologically identical words074 ,most of the really valuable associations of this kind come of their own accord4 ,but to continue1 the new words may simply be explained in the language to the pupil--this of course really means that the teacher puts the word into a self-interpreting sentence1 so it is merely a subdivision of what we have just been speaking about4 ,anyone who has been accustomed to use the excellent ,french and ,english dictionaries1 large or small1 all the way from ,littr and ,murray to the little ,larousse or ,annandale's ,concise1 knows how often he has been able to find in them quite sufficient explanations of unfamiliar words4 ,why not use this experience too in the teaching of foreign languages8 ,thus1 for instance1 explain veuf3 ,un veuf est un homme dont la femme est morte2 une veuve est une femme dont le mari est mort4 ,this explanation1 to be sure1 contains no more information than is to be got out of the simple translation 8widower0 78widow072 but there are cases where an explanation gives better information than a translation4 ,it is not improbable that many ,englishmen1 when given the translation primage or hat-money for ,german kapplaken1 will remain just as wise as they were before1 but they will immediately understand it if it is explained in ,german3 prmiengeld1 das frher dem schiffskapitn ausser der fracht gezahlt wurde1 ursprnglich freiwilliges geschenk1 dann vertragsmssig bestimmt4 ,the ,english word dentil is in ,english-,german dictionaries translated by klberzahn1 but ,i suppose that most ,germans would get more out of ,annandale's definition3 8the name of the little cubes or square blocks often cut for ornament on ,greek cornices10 or ,funk-,wagnalls' definition3 8,one of a series of small square tooth-like ornamental blocks in the bed-moulding of the cornices of some ,ionic and other entablatures0 7here even an instructive illustration74 ,well1 such technical words1 where we do not even know the ,english term1 we shall scarcely have much use for in school2 but sometimes on account of the chance vagaries of language a translation does not give as exact an idea as an explanation4 ,if ,i say that stockwerk means floor1 ,i run the risk of getting an exercise with stockwerk used where there ought to be fussboden2 but if ,i explain it as 8eine der horizontalen einteilungen eines hauses10 or something like that1 there is no danger of any misunderstanding4 ,on the other hand1 it must of course be admitted that there are many words where an ,english translation gives the information required more quickly and more clearly than it could be given in a long explanation in the foreign language2 and the teacher ought to consider in each separate case which of the two ways of helping the pupil is to be preferred4 ,still he must not let laziness influence him to give the translation1 which of course is always easiest for him1 but he must remember that an explanation in the language always has the great advantage that the pupil1 in addition to the new words1 hears a number of others which he thereby reviews1 as it were1 and that the pupil is for the time being wholly occupied with the foreign language4 ,besides1 these explanations amuse the pupils because they get more intellectual work out of them than out of translations1 which are given to them gratis4 ,however1 such explanations ought perhaps not to be used to any great extent in the glossaries of text-books1 especially in readers for beginners2 here it is best to weave them into the text itself4 ,in the first place1 in such glossaries or notes1 the explanations naturally become drier and more like definitions than is necessary2 in the second place1 the pupil who does not feel inclined to read those few lines through is tempted to get some comrade1 a parent1 or a sister to tell him in short the meaning of the word3 that is1 to translate it4 ,to counteract this by always requiring the pupil to commit the given explanation to memory is not exactly a wise plan1 since it may easily lead to mere thoughtless memory-work4 ,for the glossary ought to play no more important part in really good teaching for beginners than as a help to the forgetful pupil in his home-preparation1 where he can look up the meaning 7and pronunciation7 of a word which he cannot remember1 ,i do not hesitate to use translation there4#ab ,the explanations in the foreign language are especially in place when the teacher assigns the lesson and goes through it orally4 ,this must be done with the greatest care and with a view to giving the pupils a really full and all round insight into the new selection to be read--with as much life and as few ,english words and sentences as possible4 ,much depends upon the way in which the teacher reads the piece2 many pieces can be read in such a way that the pupils cannot help understanding them3 for instance1 by the use of stress1 emphasis of contrasts1 change of voice1 etc4 ,and then he can point to various things by way of illustration--and it does no harm to point at the window1 for instance1 on coming across the word fentre1 even if the class has had that word before4 ,many words can be made clear by means of gestures1 etc42 scie1 for instance1 can be illustrated by a sawing movement accompanied by a wheezing sound2 for tailler1 it is only necessary to cut for half a second with an imaginary knife2 thus the meaning of boire1 chanter1 coup de pied1 grimper1 joyeux1 mcontent1 pleurer1 dormir1 taper1 and many other words can be given2 as a rule1 merely little 7not noisy67 suggestions are necessary for the class to understand immediately4 ,finally there are circumlocutions in the language1 not straightforward definitions as in the dictionaries1 but also other explanations2 often it is only necessary to lead the thoughts of the pupils in upon the right track4 ,on coming across ,german hauptstadt1 for instance1 the teacher can say3 ,london ist die hauptstadt ,englands1 ,paris ist die hauptstadt ,frankreichs1 und ,kopenhagen ist die hauptstadt ,dnemarks--and then ask one of the pupils3 ,heinrich1 weisst du jetzt was hauptstadt bedeutet8 ,perhaps he will answer1 8,capital10 but then the teacher can say3 ,ganz richtig1 aber kannst du nicht das wort auf deutsch erklren8 ,the pupil3 ,ja1 die hauptstadt ist die grsste stadt eines landes4 ,the teacher3 ,ja wohl1 es ist die erste stadt1 die grsste stadt1 die wichtigste oder bedeutendste stadt eines landes4 ,then he may add3 ,nun1 ,johan1 kannst du andere hauptstdte ,europas anfhren1 and when he has mentioned a few1 the teacher says3 ,schn1 das gengt1 and passes on4 ,even if many words are used1 yet they are not superfluous because they are foreign words1 and therefore a few minutes' conversation in this manner is about just as useful as if a whole page had been read in the language4 ,and the pupils will ever after remember the meaning of the word hauptstadt much better than if the teacher had simply told them the translation and then continued with the reading4 ,in every separate case1 the teacher must feel his way to decide where there yet remains something that is not understood1 and where further explanation would be superfluous or tiresome2 that is also one of the reasons why such circumlocutions had better be left to the teacher than included in the text-book4 ,of course it is necessary to have practice and a good deal of tact in order to give this kind of explanations naturally and well1 and carefully adapted to the needs and standpoint of the class2 the teacher must have a pretty good idea of what the class knows beforehand1 and thereby which words and expressions he may use with certainty2 the easier and the more colloquial the words are which are used in the circumlocution1 and the more concretely it is expressed1 the better4 ,it is better to explain too much than too little1 and one must not be afraid of using a number of words when they only are in the foreign language4 ,there is some truth in ,gabelentz' remark3 8,gesprchige leute von engem gedankenkreise sind fr den anfang die besten lehrmeister0#ac2 the teacher must not exactly make himself stupid1 but he must admit that no matter how high he himself stands intellectually1 he can very well learn something from the nursery-method of teaching languages3 for instance1 that taciturnity or conciseness of expression do not lead to the goal4 ,it pays to give some attention to this form of instruction and to find out what kind of explanations are of the greatest linguistic benefit to the pupils4 ,it is not difficult1 as a rule--even without direct questions1 which1 however1 the teacher ought not to be sparing of#ad--to feel what is understood and what is not1 just as the boys can easily be trained to say so immediately when there is something that they do not understand4 ,all that is necessary is to make them feel confident that their teacher is always willing and glad to answer their questions1 and that they will never be made fun of for asking4 ,sometimes1 of course1 he may also make another pupil answer the question if it is an easy one4 ,the following may serve as a connected specimen of the method of procedure1 even if ,i have1 perhaps1 explained a word or two which for an ,english class would need no explanation4 ,devant la porte d'une maison forestire c'est dire une maison situe dans une fort4 ,vous ne savez pas ce que c'est qu'une fort8 ,eh1 bien1 c'est plus grand qu'un bois1 une trs grande collection d'arbres1 a s'appelle une fort4 ,adolphe1 peux-tu me nommer une fort en ,angleterre8 ,la maison dont nous allons parler1 tait situe dans le milieu d'une fort1 et devant la porte une jeune femme1 les bras nus1 cassait du bois coups de hache sur une pierre4 ,elle avait les bras nus1 il n'y avait rien pour couvrir ses bras1 elle n'avait pas de manches4 ,pierre1 dis-moi si ,jean a les bras nus8 ,elle cassait du bois 7shown by a gesture7 et elle employait pour a une hache 7if the word is not known1 and is not understood at once1 you may give the translation72 chaque fois qu'elle fait un coup de hache elle casse un morceau de bois4 ,elle tait grande et bien faite1 une fille de fort1 fille et femme de forestiers son pre et son mari taient des forestiers1 ils avaient des emplois dans la fort2 et elle avait t leve dans la fort de sorte qu'elle appartenait tout fait la fort4 ,c'est ce qu'on a exprim en l'appelant fille de fort4 ,une voix cria de l'intrieur de la maison3 ,nous sommes seules ce soir1 ,berthine1 il faut rentrer il faut que tu rentres1 voil la nuit il commence se faire tard2 il y a peut-tre des ,prussiens les ,prussiens sont les habitants de la ,prusse2 ceci se passe pendant la guerre entre les ,allemands et les ,franais--il y a peut-tre des ,prussiens et des loups qui rdent qui vont et l2 le mot rder s'emploie trs souvent en parlant de btes froces4 ,j'ai fini1 maman1 rpond la jeune femme1 n'aie pas peur2 il fait encore jour4 ,elle dit que la nuit n'est pas encore arrive2 elle y voit encore1 et elle n'a pas peur1 elle2 mais1 du reste1 elle a fini son travail2 il n'y a plus de bois casser4 ,puis elle ferma les volets les volets1 ce sont les pices de bois qu'on applique sur les fentres pour les protger4 ,paul1 dis-moi s'il y a des volets sur les fentres de cette salle-ci8 ,il y en avait dans la maison dont nous parlons dans l'histoire2 ,berthine les ferma1 rentra1 et poussa les lourds verrous de la porte un verrou est fait de fer1 on le pousse pour empcher d'ouvrir la porte4 ,sa mre filait auprs du feu4 ,to explain filer1 a gesture and the imitation of the sound of the wheel may be employed1 or else the translation supplemented1 perhaps1 by3 filer1 a vient de fil puisqu'en filant on fait des fils4 ,je ne suis pas tranquille1 dit-elle1 quand le pre est dehors4 ,vous voyez que la mre a plus peur1 elle1 que la fille4 ,c'est que son mari n'est pas l4 ,deux femmes1 a n'est pas fort4 ,ce n'est pas beaucoup2 c'est si peu de chose que deux femmes si les ,prussiens viennent4 ,la jeune rpondit3 ,oh6 je tuerais bien un loup ou un ,prussien tout de mme4 ,et elle montrait du doigt un gros revolver suspendu au-dessus de la chemine4 ,la chemine1 c'est l o on fait du feu4 ,son mari s'tait engag dans l'arme il s'tait fait soldat au commencement de la guerre1 et les deux femmes taient demeures seules avec le pre1 le vieux ,nicolas ,pichon1 qui avait refus de quitter sa demeure pour rentrer en ville refus8 ,si tu dis ,alfred de te prter son canif1 il refuse s'il dit3 8,non1 je ne veux pas te prter mon canif40 ,on avait dit ,pichon d'aller en ville1 mais il avait dit3 8,non1 je ne veux pas quitter ma maison02 donc il avait refus4 ,la ville prochaine1 c'tait ,rethel4 ,on y tait patriote vous savez que celui qui aime sa patrie1 est nomm patriote2 et les bourgeois les habitants de la ville avaient dcid de rsister l'ennemi4 ,tous--boulangers1 piciers1 bouchers1 menuisiers1 libraires1 pharmaciens1 manuvraient des heures rgulires ,tout le monde s'tait fait soldats2 le boulanger1 c'est celui qui vend du pain2 l'picier vend des pices1 du th1 du caf1 du chocolat1 et mille autres choses2 le menuisier fait des tables et des chaises2 le libraire vend des livres2 le pharmacien vend tout ce dont on a besoin quand on est malade--donc vous voyez que tous les hommes1 de toutes occupations et de toutes classes1 allaient manuvrer tous les jours une heure fixe sous les ordres de ,m4 ,lavigne1 ancien sous-officier de dragons il n'tait plus sous-officier1 mais il l'avait t2 c'est ce qui est indiqu par le mot ancien1 etc41 etc4 ,it is best to go through the lesson for the next time in the beginning of the hour1 when both the teacher's and the pupils' powers are freshest1 and when there is sure to be plenty of time for it2 at the end of the hour the teacher may be too hurried and nervous in his anxiety to get through the proper amount before the bell rings4 ,in going through it1 the teacher may either let the pupils look at their books or require all books to be closed4 ,the latter is the better way1 since then the pupils can give more undivided attention to the teacher2 for they must drink in all his words and follow his slightest movements4 ,in that case it is no doubt always best for him to write down on the blackboard each new word as he explains it1 and after everything has been explained he may close either by reading the piece aloud himself 7without interpolations7 or by letting one of the pupils read it4 ,yet it is not well to follow one method of procedure all the time2 and if the piece is easy1 so that there are only a few new words1 it may immediately be read aloud by one of the pupils 7slowly1 not in a forced way671 who may stop and ask whenever there is anything that he does not understand4 ,if a sentence contains two or three unfamiliar words or some other difficulty which has given occasion for a question1 it must by all means be read again connectedly without interruption as soon as a period has been reached4 ,finally the teacher can1 if it seems necessary1 as a further guarantee1 let one of the pupils give a free rendering of the contents in his native language2 that is a sort of control1 at all events until the class has become quite accustomed to having the lesson gone through in this way4 ,let me suggest here that1 in going through the new lesson1 the teacher can also counteract the injury which an unusual order of words or expression occurring in a selection of poetry might do to the pupil's instinct for the natural language1 by giving the prose order of words and explaining it4 ,for instance1 the lines3 8,and everybody in the house ,on tip-toe has to creep0 can first be explained as if they ran3 8,and everybody in the house has to creep on tip-toe02 again1 such an expression as at eve may be altered to in the evening4 ,then when the pupil sees the changed order of words and the unusual expression in his book1 he will understand that they are due to the poetical form4 ,therefore he will not be tempted to imitate them2 if he should do so in later exercises1 the teacher must correct him1 since there is no earthly reason why the pupil should practise using anything else but everyday language4 ,it is1 however1 a matter of course that whenever ,i have used verses in my own books for beginners in ,english1 ,i have tried to find such as contained very few deviations from the usual form of the language4 ,,footnotes3 #aa ,see below about exercises in counting4 #ab ,it is quite a different matter if the 7literary7 texts which more advanced students can read are to a large extent annotated in the language itself4 ,but the annotated editions prepared for native students in many cases assume too much for our pupils1 and on the other hand are apt to give a good deal of information which is not so valuable for them2 so it were best as soon as possible to prepare editions of works of foreign literature with commentaries in the language1 which especially meet the requirements of our pupils4 #ac ,die ,sprachwissenschaft1 #gj4 #ad ,but which1 of course1 ought not to be asked in the form 8,do you understand80 with the obligatory answer 8,yes10 which too often means nothing4 ,,vi ,we have then come to the following result with respect to translation as a means of interpreting a foreign language to the pupils 7p4 #ef a73 it is not the only and the best means2 it ought to be used sparingly2 and at all events it is not necessary to translate whole connected pieces1 but merely a word or1 at the very most1 a sentence now and then4 ,but this investigation has already thrown some light upon our next point1 namely1 translation as a means of testing whether the pupils understand the foreign language 7p4 #ef b74 ,here1 too1 observation may take the place of translation4 ,the pupil who obeys the teacher's command1 montre-moi la fentre1 by pointing at the window shows that he understands the word just as well as the one who in answer to the question3 what is the meaning of fentre8 answers1 window4 ,likewise the one who can point to the right thing when the teacher shows him a picture and says2 o est le chapeau du garon8 o sont ses souliers8 vois-tu le toit de la maison8 etc41 or the one who carries out a command like prends la craie1 lve-toi1 assieds-toi1 donne-moi ton livre1 prends le livre de ,jean et donne-le ,henri--especially when he at the same time says3 voil la fentre1 voil le chapeau du garon1 voil la craie1 je me lve1 etc41 with a correct application of the words desired4 ,nor can there be any doubt that a boy has understood a ,french question when he can give a sensible answer in the same language1 or that he has understood a narrative which has been told or read to him when he can retell it 7in ,english1 or still better in ,french74 ,the teacher is no doubt most tempted to let the pupils translate when he wants to make sure that they know the new selection which has been assigned to them for home-study4 ,but even in this case1 if the teacher has only gone through the lesson on assigning it 7as indicated above7 in a detailed and lively way1 and with continual appeal to the pupils1 so that the whole does not become a mere monologue by the teacher1 the translation test is not as necessary as it would have been if the lesson had either not been gone through at all or if the teacher had merely translated it rapidly4 ,he will often find it sufficient to ask a question now and then about some single point in the selection1 especially if the selection is used for such exercises as will be described below1 which directly and indirectly show whether the pupils have understood it all or not4 ,but still1 let us assume that the teacher insists on having the selection translated--and of course this may always be a good thing once in a while by way of a change1 most so perhaps when the teacher has not been quite able to digest and absorb the new methods4 ,then the best thing for him to do is to require the translation immediately1 before the pupil has read the piece aloud4 ,this is the most reliable test as to whether the lesson really has been learned in time1 for the pupil has not the chance while he is reading aloud to speculate about how it is to be translated1 and1 on the other hand1 when he comes to read it in the foreign language1 he is not disturbed by irrelevant thoughts in his native language4 ,besides1 the teacher must understand that this translation is not the most important event of the hour2 it ought therefore to occupy as little time as possible4 ,the pupil must be required to deliver his translation quickly1 and it is not necessary to criticise the ,english expressions with pedantic exactitude4 ,as soon as it is clear that the pupil understands perfectly1 it is better for the teacher himself to give the correct ,english expression in passing1 than to waste time in letting him find it out for himself4 ,a little turn of expression1 a word-formation1 or an order of words which is not quite ,english can very well be allowed to pass unnoticed2 it is just when there is no attention paid to these things that they are less apt to be injurious to the pupil's ,english than when the translation is treated as if it were the only thing4 ,in case of any unusually awkward expression1 the teacher can indulge in a hearty laugh together with the pupils and say3 8,well1 that is not the very best ,english you are giving us1 but the meaning is clear enough1 and all that we are concerned with here is if you understand the ,french1 and that you do4 ,of course we know that you would never seriously say or write anything like that in your mother-tongue40 ,no more attention than this1 it seems to me1 ought to be paid to the ,english in these oral translations--the less we occupy ourselves with our native language during the ,french or ,german lessons1 the less will it become contaminated2 good ,english is not to be learned in those lessons1 and poor ,english the teacher must give both himself and his pupils as little occasion as possible to use4 ,it is a different matter when advanced pupils can get both pleasure and benefit out of occasional exercises in translation4 ,then these must be chosen so that there are considerable deviations between the foreign language and ,english1 which of course does not mean that the selected specimen of the foreign language itself need be difficult to understand4 ,when the pupils are not daily occupied with translation1 but move freely in the foreign language1 it would just be great sport for them for a change to have a contest as to who could find the best and most exact ,english equivalents for foreign expressions4 ,thus there is no little difference between this kind of exercise and those now prevalent sight translations whose chief object seems to be to test the vocabulary of the pupils4 ,the translation exercise that ,i have in mind should be conducted on about these lines3 the selection should be read aloud to the class2 if it contains any unfamiliar words1 they should be explained in the manner described above1 or1 if they are translated instead1 there should be given 7as in a dictionary7 perhaps five or six ,english equivalents to choose between2 thereupon the pupils 7in class under supervision7 write their translations1 which the teacher afterwards reads aloud and compares1 so that the pupils themselves may judge as to whose translation has come nearest to the original and as to whether that rendering is to be preferred where every little element in the original has been taken into account but where the ,english has thus become a little bit long drawn out1 or that rendering which in pith and euphony can stand comparison with the original1 but where every detail has not been strictly included1 etc4 ,in short1 the exercise is not to test the pupils' knowledge in the foreign language1 but to give them some idea of the difficulties which the art of translation has to contend with2 and for the same reason the pupils might also be asked sometimes to try their skill in a metrical translation of a piece of poetry1 but perhaps only in such a way that all participation in the contest is quite voluntary4 ,such selections might be chosen where we have good poetical translations in our literature1 which could then be compared with the efforts of the pupils4#ae ,some few exercises in artistic translation1 which the teacher carefully goes through with them1 will help to give the more advanced pupils a vivid perception of some of the most delicate shades of variation in the languages as means of expression for human thought--but as the daily bread of language instruction that kind of exercise is not to be recommended1 especially not for beginners4 ,in the daily teaching of languages it is in a number of cases quite superfluous to let the pupils translate4 ,if the reading selections are as easy as is desirable1 there will be some sentences in each lesson where neither the vocabulary nor the construction presents the slightest difficulty4 ,in other sentences1 the difficulty is simply due to a new word1 but if the teacher just devotes a few minutes right away to hearing the new words1 it is not necessary to have those sentences translated either4 ,there are1 as we know1 many sentences which can be understood without any difficulty at all1 but which are still difficult to translate2 if the pupil knows the meaning of schwren1 he will readily understand 8er hat hoch und teuer geschworen10 but it will not be so easy for him to find the best way of rendering the adverbs1 and it is really purposeless to waste time over them4 7,see also above1 p4 #ej74 ,then finally there remains one or another really complicated sentence1 which can be separated out from the rest and translated by the pupils--if the teacher in order to save time does not prefer to translate the whole of it himself4 ,to test the pupil's comprehension of single words by letting him explain them in the language is not very practical except to a limited extent2 it might only be useful in dealing with clever advanced pupils where it would not necessarily degenerate into a mere committing of definitions to memory4 ,it is therefore more properly in place in university instruction than in schools4 ,if any one now says that this method of procedure by which translation as a test of the pupils' comprehension of what they have read is limited to the least possible1 and in many lessons even the very last remnant of it is done away with1 is far less satisfactory than the old-fashioned translating over and over again of the whole lesson1 and that the teacher thus has no means of knowing what the pupils understand and what not1 ,i answer that1 in the first place1 the pupils' comprehension of a piece which they have even translated several times in the old way is often poor enough2 the most incredible thoughtlessness can thrive under the shelter of rehearsed translations4 ,in the second place 7and this is more important7 the new method1 when applied in the right way1 offers such an abundant variety of means by which to sound the pupils and test how deeply they are penetrating into both the language and contents of their reading1 that the teacher can easily feel sure of all essentials4 ,this will be made perfectly plain in the following description of the manner in which the lessons ought to be conducted4 ,the selection must be read aloud4 ,this had best be done--at all events as a rule--by the teacher first2 of course he read it yesterday when he went through it for the first time1 but he did it more slowly1 interrupting himself with explanations1 etc41 for it was new for the pupils1 and it was necessary for them to comprehend the meaning4 ,but now the teacher may read it quickly1 fluently1 with the proper 8expression10 in short1 in a lively and natural manner4 ,then the pupil 7the pupils7 reads the same4 ,at the beginner-stage1 the teacher must read each sentence by itself and then get the pupils to repeat it while they have the teacher's pronunciation fresh in mind4 ,later on the teacher may take larger sections1 which may be parceled out to the pupils in not too small portions4 ,and one cannot be too particular with the way in which this reading is done2 such stuttering1 with pauses between words belonging closely together1 and neglect of natural and necessary pauses1 which used to be the rule1 ought never to be tolerated1 not even as an exception4 ,even the first beginners ought to be required to read each sentence connectedly with natural expression2 the teacher will not regret any trouble taken on this account1 even if it involves ever so much repetition4 ,the more attention that is paid to this in the first few months1 the easier will it be later to require the pupils to read well--that is1 intelligibly and intelligently4 ,this reading aloud1 besides being an exercise in pronunciation1 also has its other advantages for teaching purposes4 ,milton1 already1 said that it is easy to hear only from the way in which a piece is read1 if the reader understands it or not4 ,a really good reader can in the most delicate manner lay bare his appreciation1 and vice vers it is not difficult for a teacher quick of hearing to detect1 through a pupil's uncertainty1 false emphasis1 etc41 what he has not understood 7or learned7 in the piece he is reading--and then he can pounce on him and get him to disclose the gap in his knowledge4 ,when this is filled up1 of course he must read the piece again better than the first time4 ,the reading 7or reciting7 of dialogues1 with the parts assigned to various members of the class1 is always amusing1 and can easily be used as a means of encouraging natural emphasis and expression4 ,reading in unison ought not to be neglected2 it has the advantage of occupying the whole class at once1 so that the pupils get more practice in producing the foreign sounds than when each one reads separately4 ,of course the teacher cannot exercise so sharp a control as when he hears one at a time1 but yet he has by no means lost his control2 by practice1 he can learn to detect single mistakes through the whole chorus1 and can even be tolerably certain as to where they come from1 and then he can get the suspected pupil 7or pupils7 to read the difficult part alone4 ,a help of a similar nature in language-instruction is singing4 ,when a teacher knows how to get his pupils to learn to sing some of the verses in the reader1 such class-singing will be found to be both beneficial and enlivening2 the words are more easily remembered and the pronunciation is improved4 ,singing in a foreign language as a factor in teaching was already a number of years ago used by ,paul ,passy2 it plays an important part in the well-known 8,palmgrenske samskola0 in ,stockholm and in several ,german schools1 and has now of late years also been put into practice by some ,danish teachers in a very enjoyable manner2 on several occasions1 the pupils have even given up a part of their recess in order to sing foreign songs1 when the teachers in adjoining classes have looked askance at the singing during the lesson-hours4 ,the oftener a piece is recited by a pupil1 the more firmly are the single words and especially the word-combinations rooted in his memory2 indeed it has even been attempted to base a whole system of instruction on this experience1 as for instance in v4 ,pfeil's highly interesting pamphlet3 8,wie lernt man eine sprache am leichtesten und besten80 7,breslau1 #ahhd71 and in several other works by the same author1 especially his 8,eins1 ,beitrge zur erziehung im hause0 7#crd ed4 ,leipzig1 #ahgi71 which is also valuable for other pedagogical suggestions4 ,his method of procedure is simple3 no grammar2 no translation from the mother-tongue2 only one language at a time1 which then is pursued at full speed 7as a rule1 six or more hours a week7 in the following manner4 ,from the very beginning1 an author is taken up2 the same piece 7a couple of lines to begin with7 is first read aloud by the teacher1 then by the pupil 7if necessary1 several times71 is thereupon translated word by word by the teacher 78to the complete neglect of ,german sentence-construction2 ,i would not tolerate having turns of expression rendered into good ,german07 and afterwards in the same way by the pupil1 is then read aloud by the pupil twice more in the course of the same lesson and once again in the beginning of the next2 finally every ,monday1 the pupil reads aloud all that has been gone through in the preceding week1 and1 not stopping at that1 whole books or large sections of books may be read through connectedly after they have in this manner been studied in instalments4 ,translation is omitted as soon as there is no danger of miscomprehension1 and can soon be quite dispensed with in dealing with easy sentences1 which then are only read through the stated number of times4 ,during this repeated recitation of the foreign sentences--at least four times after the pupil has understood their meaning--the mother-tongue steps into the background of its own accord1 as it were1 and the idioms of the foreign language take firm hold upon the memory4 ,so far v4 ,pfeil1 who1 as he himself asserts--and why should we not believe the man8--has had good results in the course of a short time1 both in taking and giving instruction according to this method1 which1 to be sure1 he has only employed in private instruction1 never having tried it in a class4 ,the impulse to make independent use of the language-material thus learned makes its appearance very early4 ,thus v4 ,pfeil tells about a pupil thirty-two years old1 who was brought up in a country school and who had never before learned any foreign language1 but who after ten lessons wrote him an ,italian letter filling four octavo pages1 which1 if not quite correct1 was still quite intelligible4 ,but the method is terribly spiritless and mechanical1 perhaps you will say4 ,oh1 yes--but is it really more spiritless to read something aloud many times in which there is some meaning--and some meaning which you understand--than to translate something just as many times in which there is no meaning at all1 to say nothing of all the other inane things which our old methods bring in their train1 such as grammatical rigmaroles1 etc4 ,however1 it is by no means my intention to give the v4 ,pfeil method an unqualified recommendation1 at all events not for school purposes2 it is too monotonous1 and a more varied method of instruction may surely have the same or greater advantages4 ,already1 in the preceding suggestions1 it will have been noticed that there were several deviations from v4 ,pfeil's method of procedure2 here ,i shall merely call attention to some things which we can learn from it3 first1 that we must as soon as possible dispense with translation where it is decidedly superfluous2 and secondly1 that our most important object1 namely1 that the foreign turns of expression shall make such an impression upon our pupils that they themselves can use them on occasion1 cannot be attained without much repetition4 ,during the first lessons1 it is of so much importance for the pupils to catch and reproduce the sounds that the repetitions which are necessary for practice in pronunciation also serve to impress the sentences on their memory2 the teacher must only make sure that the pupils know the meaning of each sentence before they begin to practise pronouncing it1 and that they do not forget it1 so that the words become merely meaningless sounds4 ,such a selection as the one introducing my ,french primer 7,la chvre7#af lends itself well to this purpose2 it occasions many repetitions of the same sentences1 still without becoming tiresome1 and the rhythm encourages natural1 fluent and non-stuttering recitation4 ,later on1 of course1 there is no necessity for so much repetition merely for the sake of the pronunciation4 ,then one might require the texts to be committed to memory2 but this involves the danger that they might be learned and remembered as lifeless series of words without any regard for their meaning1 especially if the teacher makes a routine of it4 ,but it might be quite useful every half-year1 for instance1 or perhaps a little oftener1 for the pupils to be assigned each a piece to commit to memory2 they may themselves choose one of the pieces which have been read1 and then they must be expected to recite it with a very good pronunciation and correct expression2 no parrot-performance6 ,but otherwise the main point is for the pupils to be occupied with the text repeatedly in such a way that they do not lose sight of the meaning1 so that they may thus become so familiar with it that at last they know it almost or entirely by heart without having been directly required to commit it to memory4 ,and this can at the same time be done in such a way that the pupils are led to say a number of things without following them in the printed text1 so that imperceptibly they are being prepared to be able to say something in the language quite of their own accord4 ,the teacher can divide the day's lesson into sentences1 which he pronounces and the pupils repeat after him4 ,they have all closed their books1 and when the teacher says a sentence1 no one knows who is to repeat it4 ,by this manner of teaching1 which is also practicable in connection with the exercises which ,i shall suggest later1 the teacher makes sure that a pupil's attention cannot wander in the confidence that it is some one else's turn2 it is every one's turn all the time4 ,thus the teacher says1 for instance3 ,les abeilles ressemblent aux mouches2 ,pierre1 rpte4--,peter3 ,l4 a4 r4 a4 m4--,teacher3 ,jean1 rpte a encore4--,john3 ,l4 a4 r4 a4 m4--,teacher3 ,mais elles ont un aiguillon2 rpte1 ,charles4--,charles3 m4 e4 o4 u4 ai4--,teacher3 ,et elles piquent trs fort quand elles sont en colre2 rpte tout a1 ,adolphe1 etc4 ,or1 by way of a change1 the teacher can let the first one who repeats the sentence mention one of his comrades1 who is to repeat it again4 ,let me remark in passing that ,i have always given my pupils ,french names immediately in one of the first lessons2 they are written on the blackboard 7in phonetical transcription of course1 see below71 and are very quickly learned2 as a rule1 they are simply translations of their first names1 occasionally of a nickname1 etc4 ,it amuses the pupils1 and the teacher has the advantage of being able to use their names in the middle of a ,french sentence without marring the run of the language4 ,other similar methods3 pupil ,a reads aloud2 after every sentence1 either the teacher or he himself appoints someone to repeat4--,or3 the teacher reads a sentence aloud1 then says3 traduis1 ,jules2 and after ,julius' translation3 rpte a en franais1 ,paul4 ,this is better than to let the same pupil first translate and then say it in ,french1 for thus neither one has to make a sudden change from one basis of articulation to another4--,or3 when a piece has been read aloud as a whole1 the teacher may render it into ,english1 a sentence at a time1 and get the pupils to express the same thought in ,french4 ,this is1 of course1 the most difficult of these methods and ought to be employed with caution1 for the pupils may easily be tempted to translate from ,english 7that is1 to construct their ,french after the ,english7 instead of reproducing the ,french which has been given1 so that we thus risk all the dangers which are commonly associated with the old-fashioned method of translation from the native to the foreign language 7cf4 below74 ,therefore it were best that this kind of exercise merely be used occasionally1 and only when the selection employed is otherwise so familiar to the pupils that they almost have it by heart in its ,french form4 ,a variation of all these exercises is1 instead of a single pupil1 to let the whole class repeat the sentence in unison4 ,if the pupils should begin to lag1 it indicates that the class is not yet sufficiently familiar with the text1 and then the best thing to do is to say3 ,well1 now you read the piece through three times in chorus and then we shall begin from the beginning in the same way as before with repetition without the book4 ,it does not take long before the teacher can to advantage enter upon little deviations from what the pupils know from the book2 thus he secures himself against thoughtless pattering out of what has been committed to memory at home--which of course the attentive teacher easily can detect through the manner in which the pupil reads4 ,but too great deviations are scarcely advisable2 they easily lead to confusion and to the danger of wandering too far from the matter in hand1 which is of course to make the pupils thoroughly familiar with the text4 ,as examples of permissible changes of the sentences which have just been employed1 ,i shall mention3 ,une abeille ressemble une mouche 7,l'abeille ressemble la mouche7 mais elle a un aiguillon et elle pique trs fort quand elle est en colre--or3 ,les abeilles ressemblent beaucoup aux mouches1 mais elles ont un petit aiguillon1 et elles piquent fort4444 ,or one may interpolate3 les mouches ressemblent aux abeilles1 mais elles n'ont pas d'aiguillon1 et elles ne piquent pas comme les abeilles4 ,it is best not to enter upon greater deviations1 because then it will too frequently be necessary to let a pupil translate the sentence constructed by the teacher1 since otherwise it is not certain whether the whole class has understood it or not#ag4 ,the most important thing in these exercises1 as also in the exercises with questions 7see below71 is not to let the pupil get beyond his depth so that he will become frightened and lose confidence1 for then he will never learn to swim4 ,we have hitherto assumed that the pupils repeat what has been said orally2 if the repetition is written1 we have dictation--an exercise which must not be neglected and which can be conducted in different ways1 partly parallel with those just mentioned4 ,the teacher can either say a sentence or one of the boys can read it aloud2 once may be enough1 but the teacher may also say it twice1 or else say it himself first and then let one of the pupils repeat it before it is written down2 it may be a sentence taken from the reader 7first stage71 a sentence taken from the reader but slightly changed 7second stage71 or an entirely new piece 7only for advanced students72#ah the dictation may be written on the blackboard or in copy-books 7on slates72 one pupil may be occupied in the first way while the rest of the class is occupied in the second way2 sometimes the class itself may correct the mistakes2 if there is blackboard space enough1 several pupils can be writing the same or different things at the same time4 ,the dictation may be required to be written with phonetical transcription 7see below7 or orthographically1 or one pupil may write in one way1 another in the other way1 the two being afterwards compared4 ,finally1 dictation may be used in connection with several of the exercises which ,i shall suggest later4 ,a question is dictated1 and the pupils are required to write both the question and the answer2 a sentence is dictated in the first person1 which is then to be inflected in all persons1 etc4 ,the advantages of dictation are1 that it trains the pupils in rapid and sharp comprehension of spoken words1 that it gives the teacher an effective means of testing what each pupil has comprehended1 and that the pupils generally remember pretty well what they have once written down4 ,but the disadvantage of dictation1 as of all written class work1 is that it consumes more time than oral exercises4 ,dictation with 8catches0 is of course beneath the dignity of a modern language teacher4 ,,footnotes3 #ae ,as an introduction to these exercises1 the teacher might compare several different translations of a part of ,goethe1 for instance1 with each other1 and with the original4 #af ,somewhat similar to 8,the ,house that ,jack ,built40 ,biquette veut pas sortir des choux4 #ag ,the text-books may sometimes contain a whole piece in two versions2 perhaps the teacher himself may occasionally undertake to re-write 7on the blackboard7 or re-tell a selection4 #ah ,and even for them only in small measure1 since it must be remembered that nothing is learned thereby1 but it is merely a test in what has been learned1 and that the mistakes made by the pupils1 as we know from experience1 easily take root in their memory because they have written them1 and are not effaced by the teacher's corrections4 ,,vii ,i shall here deal with various kinds of exercises in which the pupils have to say something in the foreign language which they have not either seen in their books or heard from someone else just a moment before4 ,some of the first and easiest of these are arithmetical exercises4 ,but here ,i must first stop to make a remark about the numerals in general4 ,it is not so seldom that we find pupils in our schools who have studied ,french for several years without having become perfectly familiar with the ,french numerals2 they have great difficulty with dates4 ,what is the cause of this phenomenon8 ,of course the ,french numerals are difficult1 more difficult than the ,german2 but the ,french verbs are also more difficult than the ,german1 so that alone is not the reason why this class of words troubles the pupils4 ,no2 the matter is quite simple4 ,only imagine a ,french reader so planned that there is not a single ,french adjective in the text1 while ,english words like 8good10 8ugly10 8dazzling10 8white0 are mixed in among the ,french words4 ,would the pupils then be able to learn the ,french adjectives8 ,but is not this exactly what is done in the case of the numerals8 ,it makes no difference if the ,french text has #ahhh or 8eighteen hundred and eighty-eight10 in both cases the pupil has to translate from ,english to ,french when he is reading the passage aloud4 ,there are scarcely any exercises at all in translating numerals from ,french or in understanding ,french numerals2 as far as this class of words is concerned1 the very poorest method of translation is used1 the one by which the pupil is himself required to construct expressions in the foreign language according to certain rules1 without having previously had sufficient opportunity to see and hear how the foreigners themselves go about it4 ,in the home preparation we may be very sure that only the most conscientious pupils trouble themselves to think about how #agic ought to be read4 ,then here we have a point where reform is necessary and unusually easy to bring about4 ,let the ,arabic numerals disappear from all text-books for beginners in a foreign language1 and then if they contain enough of numerals written out in full--and especially if the teacher drills the pupils a good deal in simple arithmetical exercises in the foreign language in the manner now to be suggested--it will be found that when the pupils are so far advanced as to give up text-books and read literary works1 they will have no difficulty in reading all the numerals which they happen to come across fluently and correctly4 ,already1 at a very early stage1 after one or two months' instruction1 the teacher can begin with arithmetical exercises1 because they do not require any great command of language2 they not only give the pupils practice in the numerals themselves1 but also in catching the foreign words and sounds4 ,the question is directed1 as suggested above1 to the whole class1 and then the teacher points out--by name or merely by a glance--the one who is to answer it2 the answer must include the question4 ,thus the teacher3 ,deux fois six1 combien1 ,henri8--,henry3 ,deux fois six font douze4 7,rpte1 ,jean74 ,trois et neuf font1 ,alfred8 ,a43 ,trois et neuf font onze4 ,t43 ,c'est faux1 n'est-ce pas1 ,louis8--,louis3 ,oui1 trois et neuf font douze4 7,or3 ,est-ce correct1 ,louis8 or3 ,est-ce bien a1 ,louis87 ,in addition to this1 sums may be set containing concrete numbers1 especially such as may familiarize the pupils with the foreign coins3 deux francs1 combien de sous valent-ils8 trois sous1 combien de centimes84442 or a little rule-of-three sum3 si une poire cote trois centimes1 combien cinq poires8 ,or1 for instance3 deux ufs deux sous et trois pommes un sou1 combien a fait-il8 ,the teacher must not be afraid of using several whole lessons for such exercises1 and afterwards he can take a few minutes of a lesson now and then in order to keep the pupils in practice4 ,since of course it is not arithmetic that is being taught1 it is best to stick to easy problems1 mostly addition and multiplication4 ,of course1 by way of a change1 one pupil may be allowed to give a problem to another to solve4 ,the numerals may also fittingly be brought in when the vocabulary is to be reviewed1 the boys being allowed to count with concrete numbers in a certain order1 so that each boy in turn has to think of some word which has not previously been used during the lesson2 it is often funny to see how eager they are to outdo each other4 ,and it often happens that a pupil who has said ,pass1 suddenly recalls a whole series of words when one of his comrades mentions a word from a selection which has not been broached before2 the one thought suggests another that is associated with it4 ,in ,french1 the pupils must also pay attention to the form of the numeral1 which changes according as it precedes a vowel or a consonant4 ,it very seldom happens that a boy uses a word which is impossible after a numeral1 as for instance1 venir or bonsoir or trot1 which indicates that he is ignorant of the word's signification1 but then the whole class laughs of its own accord4 ,but it is the easiest thing in the world to hear from the manner in which the words are said if they are really understood2 and1 in case of doubt1 the teacher can suddenly ask for a translation2 this is1 however1 generally superfluous1 for the pupils only mention words which they understand1 but still of course it is good for them to review them4 ,one of the most important exercises is to transpose a selection which has been read into questions and answers4 ,the teacher can begin this rather early1 but he must from the very beginning and always strictly require the pupil's answer to be given in the form of a complete sentence4 ,we have no use for such an undignified performance in which the pupil gets along bravely if only he is able to answer all his teacher's questions with either ,oui1 monsieur1 or ,non1 monsieur1 or some other equally intelligent answer4 ,as an illustration of the kind of exercise ,i mean1 take for instance the following one based on one of the very first texts in my own ,french ,reader1 which runs3 ,enfant gt4 ,veux-tu du pt8 ,non1 maman1 il est trop sal6 ,veux-tu du rti8 ,non1 maman1 il est trop cuit6 ,veux-tu du jambon8 ,non1 maman1 il n'est pas bon6 ,veux-tu du pain8 ,non1 maman1 le pain ne vaut rien6 ,enfant gt1 tu ne veux rien manger1 ,enfant gt1 tu seras fouett6 ,the following questions may be based on this piece4 ,the pupils' answers are given in 3--,es-tu un enfant8 ,oui1 monsieur1 je suis un enfant4 ,es-tu un enfant gt8 ,non1 monsieur1 je ne suis pas un enfant gt4 ,l'enfant gt veut-il du pt8 ,non1 monsieur1 il ne veut pas du pt2 or3 l'enfant gt ne4444 ,veut-il du rti8 ,non1 monsieur1 il ne veut pas du rti4 ,veut-il du pain8 ,non1 monsieur1 il ne veut pas du pain4 ,veut-il du jambon8 ,non1 monsieur1 il ne veut pas du jambon4 ,pourquoi ne veut-il pas du pt8 ,parce que le pt est trop sal4 ,pourquoi ne veut-il pas du jambon8 ,il ne veut pas du jambon parce qu'il n'est pas bon4 ,pourquoi ne veut-il pas du rti8 ,parce qu'il est trop cuit4 ,pourquoi ne veut-il pas du pain8 ,parce que le pain ne vaut rien4 ,qu'est-ce qui est trop sal8 ,c'est le pt qui est trop sal4 ,qu'est-ce qui ne vaut rien8 ,c'est le pain qui ne vaut rien4 ,qu'est-ce qui est trop cuit8 ,le jambon est trop cuit4 ,l'enfant gt sera-t-il fouett8 ,oui1 monsieur1 il sera fouett4 ,pourquoi sera-t-il fouett8 ,parce qu'il ne veut rien manger4 ,va-t-on chercher le bton pour taper l'enfant gt8 ,oui1 monsieur1 on s'en va chercher le bton pour venir taper l'enfant4 ,thus it will be seen that a simple little piece can suggest a large number of questions1 and it is important1 especially in the beginning1 for the teachers to ask the pupils as many questions as possible in order to accustom them to the exercise1 so that they may take part intelligently and fluently4 ,anyone who sees all these questions in print may think that they occupy a long time in a monotonous way2 but after a little practice1 on the part of both the teacher and the pupils1 the exercise really proceeds very rapidly4 ,in dealing with beginners1 it were best for the teacher in formulating his questions to deviate as little as possible from the words of the text1 so that they can be used in the answers almost or entirely without any change4 ,it is not assumed in this exercise that the pupils have committed the piece to memory1 but of course the exercise itself tends to make them thoroughly familiar with it4 ,in order to give the pupils confidence1 and in order not to require too much of them immediately1 the teacher can in the first few lessons allow them to keep their books open while the piece is gone through once in question form1 so that they can look up their answers when they cannot remember them4 ,then they can be told to close their books and answer the same or almost the same questions without referring to the text4 ,of course1 the first few times when such an exercise is used1 it is also well for the teacher to direct the same question to several boys in succession2 and the very first time he can also write a few questions with their corresponding answers on the blackboard1 in order to show the class how the exercise is to proceed4 ,even if the pupils learn the piece by heart in the course of the exercise1 yet their answering the teacher's questions does not become mechanical1 since they have to consider the form of the question1 and then reflect over what is to be included in the answer1 and how it is to be worded and constructed4 ,of course1 the teacher ought to feel gratified if the pupils of their own accord make slight alterations in the words of the book1 substitute a pronoun for a substantive1 etc41 only it is best not to give too early encouragement to great deviations from the text4 ,the last question of the above examples1 which is based on a piece that has been read before in the same book1 shows how the teacher already at a very early stage can vary a certain day's exercise by bringing into connection with it something previously learned4 ,the pupils will greet such a question with pleasure1 partly the pleasure of recognition1 and partly the pleasure of the opportunity thus afforded them to feel at home in the language4 ,as time goes1 the teacher may depart more and more from the material of the book4 ,for instance1 he may use its words in asking the pupils questions about their own personal affairs1 or about things in which they are interested outside of their ,french lessons4 ,if they are having a selection which contains the word roi and the names of various countries1 the teacher may say3 ,comment s'appelle le roi d',angleterre8 7or1 notre roi87 ,qui est roi d',espagne8 etc42 yes1 why not also ,comment s'appelle le roi de ,france8 ,in the beginning1 it is only the teacher that asks questions1 but it does not last very long before the teacher by way of a change can allow the pupils themselves to ask each other questions2 thus they learn to construct sentences in the interrogative form1 which1 when they come to make practical use of the language1 is just as important for them as to be able to answer4 ,in ,german schools1 they have a regular system of exercises on this plan in connection with grammatical categories2 of a given sentence in the book the pupils are to construct first a subject-question1 then a verb-question1 then an object-question1 etc4 ,if1 for instance1 the sentence is ,la mre de ,gribouille a cass sa marmite1 and the teacher wants a subject-question1 pupil ,a asks ,b3 ,qui a cass la marmite8 7or ,qui est-ce qui a cass la marmite872 or a verb-question3 ,qu'est-ce qu'a fait la mre de ,gr482 or an object-question3 ,qu'est-ce que la mre de ,gr4 a cass8 ,in order to help beginners with the grammatical difficulties1 several sentences may be written on the blackboard with their various parts differently underlined4 ,later on the teacher can tell one of the pupils to change all the sentences in a piece which has been read--of course only in so far as they lend themselves to such a change--into1 for instance1 object-questions4 ,after each question1 the teacher points out the one who is to answer4 ,then another pupil may change the same sentences 7or those in the next paragraph7 into subject-questions1 etc4 ,of course the teacher must not put up with a mere mechanical alteration of the text1 but must always require the pupils to exercise so much common sense that no questions are made which would not occur in a natural conversation4 ,when the pupils themselves ask questions1 they naturally cannot do anything else but follow the text slavishly as it stands1 so therefore it is not advisable always to let them ask the question2 the teacher must on the whole avoid getting into any rut4 ,he himself must do the asking rather frequently2 he may either pounce upon some little point or ask comprehensive questions1 including the gist of several sentences4 ,only he must remember that sentences which are too comprehensive either require too much of the pupils1 or are quite empty and meaningless2 besides1 the result may only be that the exercise shrinks into almost nothing1 since then there can only be two or three questions to correspond to a whole page of the text1 and thus the text cannot make as strong and detailed an impression as it should4 ,and1 above all1 the questions must be asked as naturally as possible4 ,if this question-exercise is used and all its possibilities for variation exhausted in the right way--with liveliness1 tact and constant consideration for the pupils' standpoint--it gives ample and abundant opportunities for the teacher not only to talk to1 but with1 the pupils in the foreign language2 and notice that it is not 8talking to the pupil in a language which he does not yet understand0--this fear is often expressed by those who have misgivings as to the advisability of conversational exercises at an early stage--but from the very beginning nothing is said which the pupil cannot be required to understand and to answer intelligently in the same language4 ,quite imperceptibly the teacher may pass from this exercise to renarration2 the question has merely to be formulated in such a way that it cannot be answered in a single sentence but only by an account of the contents of at least a few lines or so4 ,thus longer and longer pieces may be required to be retold1 although during the first years it should only be such pieces as have previously been learned and gone through in detail by means of questions and answers4 ,later on1 the teacher can use pieces for renarration which have not been assigned to the class for preparation2 the teacher reads aloud 7or may possibly let one of the pupils do it71 if necessary1 several times1 and thereupon requires as much as possible to be retold either orally or in writing1 or first orally1 then in writing4 ,or if there is a sufficient number of copies of the book used1 the pupils may be given say ten or twenty minutes in which to read the piece through silently to themselves1 and then they can use the rest of the hour to write down what they can remember of it4 ,such exercises are used to a large extent in teaching the mother-tongue1 and it is agreed that they are highly beneficial1 because they not only sharpen the powers of apprehension1 especially the ability to distinguish between the essential and the unessential1 but they also develop linguistic technique1 that is the formal command of means of expression1 since much of the language used in the original creeps into the renarration and thus becomes the possession of the reteller4 ,of course the pupils are earlier ripe for such exercises in their native language than in foreign languages1 but that does not lessen their value in the two respects mentioned1 of which the latter is the more important here1 while there is perhaps too great a tendency to attach the chief importance to the former in the teaching of the native tongue4 ,even when the pupils are far advanced1 it is highly beneficial for them to give 7,french1 etc47 reports of something which they have read--not merely simple renarrations of bits of fiction or history1 but also rsums of the trend of thought in some philosophical or critical essay1 etc4 ,many pieces also lend themselves to reshaping in various ways1 whereby grammatical relations may be practised at the same time as the words and sentences of the selection once more pass in review through the minds of the pupils4 ,all the singulars may be changed to plurals1 as far as the plurals make sense in the connection4 ,after the piece has been gone through in its printed form1 the pupil reads it aloud1 remembering in the case of each word to consider whether or not it has to be changed to the plural and what it would be in the plural4 ,thus1 according to circumstances1 there are either nouns1 adjectives1 pronouns or verbs to be changed4 ,or what is told about a boy may be said about a girl4 ,changes in time from 8now0 to 8yesterday10 from 8to-day0 to 8in a week10 occasion many alterations in the forms of the verbs1 fewer in the adverbs4 ,the person may also be changed1 especially in such a way that the pupil puts himself in the place of that ,peter about whom something is told1 and thus substitutes ,i for he1 etc42 if desirable1 those further alterations may be made which make a letter out of the narrative4 ,a change from the first to the third person can easily be combined with the shifting of tense which gives us indirect instead of direct discourse4 ,thus the following sentence3 8,eh bien1 ,pierre1 dit ,jean1 qu'est-ce que tu vas faire demain8 ,je ne sais pas1 dit ,pierre10 may be changed to3 8,jean a demand ,pierre ce qu'il allait faire le lendemain1 et ,pierre a rpondu qu'il ne savait pas 7qu'il n'en savait rien740 ,in ,german1 this kind of transposition involves such complicated changes 7person1 mood1 order of words7 that they cannot be required until at a later stage than in ,french2 but transposition from indirect to direct discourse is not very difficult4 ,changes from the active to the passive must be undertaken with a good deal of care1 since there are comparatively few sentences which can be thus transposed without undergoing a shifting of meaning1 which it is not always easy to explain or understand the cause of1 and many sentences do not lend themselves to such transposition at all4 ,likewise there are relatively few connected passages where negative sentences can be made affirmative and vice vers without giving us sheer nonsense4 ,so these last two kinds of transposition can1 as a rule1 only be applied to single sentences1 which the teacher has to pick out of their connection2 but when carefully selected in this way they will be found to be very useful1 especially in ,french1 where the correct placing of ne and pas is so important2 they are less useful in ,german4 ,now and then1 too1 dependent clauses 7for instance relative1 adverbial clauses1 etc47 may be changed to independent clauses and vice vers1 and still more complicated changes may be undertaken by which one may try the different ways in which the thoughts of a passage may be linked together4 ,of course it is also possible to have mixed exercises of this kind4 ,for instance1 pupil ,a reads aloud2 the teacher interrupts him at the end of a sentence1 mentions what kind of change it is to undergo1 and thereupon points out one of the other pupils 7whose books are closed7 who is to make the change4 ,but the teacher must never allow any of these exercises to become something merely mechanical which is turned out according to a certain fixed formula2 the pupils must always be trained to consider whether a newly constructed sentence makes sense or not2 thereby both their linguistic intuition and their powers of logic are sharpened at the same time4 ,,viii ,by this time we have fairly encroached upon the question as to the method to be used in training pupils in the grammar of a foreign language4 ,i want to introduce my discussion of this subject with the following quotation from ,n4 ,m4 ,petersen 7,sprogkundskab i ,norden1 ,collected ,works1 ,copenhagen1 #ahgj1 ii4 #big-h73 8,with respect to method1 the artificial one must be given up and a more natural one must take its place4 ,according to the artificial method1 the first thing done is to hand the boy a grammar and cram it into him piece by piece1 for everything is in pieces2 he is filled with paradigms which have no connection with each other or with anything else in the world 444 he is filled with words1 only half of which occur occasionally1 and some never at all in what he reads4 ,how old are not the complaints over this perverted method6 how many sighs it has occasioned1 how much deformity it has produced6 ,on the other hand1 the natural method of learning languages is by practice4 ,that is the way one's native language is acquired4 ,the pupil becomes acquainted with the elements and absorbs them1 as it were1 into his soul in their entirety before he is consciously able to separate and account for the single parts and their special relations2 he forms whole complete sentences without knowing which is the subject and which the object2 he gradually finds out that he has to give each part of the sentence its correct endings without knowing anything about tense or case4444 ,the logical consequence of this1 then1 is that as a rule one cannot begin with grammar in teaching languages to a child of ten or twelve4 ,his first years at school ought to give him merely materials2 he ought to collect experiences 7that is a child's greatest delight71 but not speculate over them40 ,it is now half a century ago since ,n4 ,m4 ,petersen uttered these golden words1 and still the old grammar-instruction lives and flourishes with its rigmaroles and rules and exceptions1 that intensely stupid custom1 the teaching of grammar to children1 as ,herbert ,spencer calls it4 ,only few of the boys in our schools who have studied ,german for several years1 are able to connect for instance um with the proper case without hesitation2 but there are certainly still fewer who cannot run through durch fr gegen ohne um and wider like parrots4 ,but strangely enough this ever present phenomenon does not yet seem to have led to a general acknowledgment of the fact that these grammatical rigmaroles as a rule are scarcely worth as much as the counting-out rigmaroles of the children3 eeny meeny miny mo4#ai ,and1 of course1 paradigms which are learned by rote also belong to the category of rigmaroles4 8,paradigms ought by all means to be given1 but should never be learned by heart in rigmarole-fashion40 7,n4 ,m4 ,petersen47 ,thoughtlessness and stupidity thrive excellently on this continual repetition of words as words1 that is words without any mutual association1 without connection in sentences4 ,just think of the many thousands of boys and girls who time and again recite3 mourir1 mourant1 mort1 je meurs1 je mourus1 and then ask how many of them1 yes even of their teachers1 ever happen to think that the last form in reality is impossible 7at all events in conversations in this life74#bj ,the percentage is scarcely very large4 ,and when conscientious philologists like ,ayer and ,sachs give imperative forms like nais1 naissons1 naissez--be born6 let us be born66 be ye born666 it cannot be denied that we are tempted to use the exclamation3 8die gelehrten1 die verkehrten60 ,of course it is not our aim to get rid of such forms as je mourus2#ba what is wrong is the system4 ,i condemn vivre1 vivant1 vcu1 je vis1 je vcus just as strongly as mourir1 etc41 even if none of these forms is really meaningless4 ,and the reason why ,i reject this method of teaching languages is because it does not and cannot bring us to our desired goal4 ,the chief absurdity1 the one which it is our business to quarrel with1 is that use of disconnected words for grammatical purposes1 which flourishes in all our text-books4 ,it has often amused me to examine grown-up persons 7non-philologists7 in what they could remember of the instruction they had received in school in foreign languages4 ,it seems to be extremely common that they have not the slightest idea as to what case for instance a preposition governs1 but the rigmarole in which it occurs they generally know by heart4 ,they also know ever so many scraps like der buchstabe1 der friede1 der funke 444 or das amt1 das ass1 das bad1 das bild1 das blatt 444 but why they have learned these things1 and what they were supposed to be good for1 to these questions there is generally no answer forthcoming4 ,so those rigmaroles are really of no practical use whatever4 ,now1 of course1 rigmaroles could easily be so arranged--though no one seems to have put it into practice--as to contain an indication of the object in grouping together just those words1 for instance by saying durch das zimmer1 fr1 gegen 444 or durch fr 444 um wider mich1 or das amt1 die mter1 das ass 444 or das amt1 mter1 bder1 bilder4444 ,but even in this improved form it seems to me that grammatical rigmaroles are of little value just because they accustom the pupils to learn and say things by rote without thinking2 they are remnants of the old-fashioned would-be pedagogy where a teacher in any subject was satisfied if the pupil only 8knew his lesson10 that is1 could recite the words of the book1 and where no one ever thought about understanding or other such-like modern inventions4 ,the expressions 8living0 and 8dead0 are so often used about languages and words1 but those who use them do not always take the trouble to consider in what sense these expressions really have any meaning4 ,a language only lives1 and can only live1 in a person's mind1 and that it lives there means that its component parts are for him associated with certain ideas1 which are recalled when he hears the words1 and which in turn summon up the corresponding words when he wants to express them1 or when he simply wants to make them clear for himself4 ,but ideas do not and cannot exist except in combinations2 an absolutely isolated thought is the same as nothing4 ,it is the same with words2 if they are taken out of their natural surroundings1 they suffer atrophy and at last cease to perform the usual function of words1 namely to produce ideas4 ,so isolated words1 such as are given in rigmaroles and paradigms1 are only ghosts or corpses of words4 ,try to run through the words 8jewel1 stone1 cabbage1 knee1 owl1 toys1 louse10 and see if a single complete picture has been produced in your mind--but you are no better off when you say the ,french rigmarole bijou1 caillou1 chou1 genou1 hibou1 joujou1 pou4 ,that1 as well as amo1 amas1 amat1 amamus1 amatis1 amant and all the others1 must by virtue of the fundamental psychical law of the life of language become merely empty jingle and nothing else4 ,now we see the psychological reason why sensible persons can write such sentences in their books as je mourus or the entirely parallel 8,wir sind nicht hier40 ,when the mind is occupied with a word as a grammatical phenomenon1 the word's normal power of calling forth ideas is of course lessened in a considerable degree4 ,furthermore the isolation of words for grammatical purposes may even lead us to make positive mistakes4 ,the pupils are first carefully taught in the grammar that 8nobody0 in ,french is ne personne and 8never0 ne jamais1#bb and later on it is corrected as a serious mistake when they write ne personne parlait or il ne jamais parle1 mistakes which would never have occurred if the pupils had not been allowed to learn the false formulation4 ,in modern ,french 8nobody0 is personne and 8never0 jamais1 just as 8not0 is pas1 etc4 ,ne only exists in connection with a verb1 and ought never to be seen or learned by the pupils except in its natural surroundings2 out of connection it is no more a word than un 7in unfriendly1 ungracious1 etc474 ,the rule for its employment can be thus stated in short1 that it is placed in front of the verb1 always1 if the sentence is wholly negative1 also often if it is only half negative 7by which ,i mean the well-known cases after empcher1 craindre1 comparatives1 etc41 where ne is well on the way to slip out of the living ,french language1 and where we now1 after the last ministerial decrees1 may allow ourselves a little laxity in teaching these points74#bc ,likewise it is only injurious to teach the children that 8,i0 is je1 8thou0 tu--a matter of fact it is moi1 toi1 while of course 8,i go1 thou goest10 is je vais1 tu vas2 what usage has joined together1 let no grammar put asunder4 ,but words1 when in their natural connections1 show their vitality in other ways besides in summing up the correct ideas2 they have another power1 which they also lose when they are isolated1 namely the power of breeding new connections in the image of the old ones4 ,if ,i have often reproduced a certain type of word-formation or sentence-construction1 then this becomes a part of my mental mechanism in such a way that ,i unconsciously make something new 7coin a new word1 construct a new sentence7 after the same pattern1 after the 8analogy0 of what ,i know1 whenever ,i need it1 just as the ,english boy who has often heard superlatives like hardest1 cleanest1 highest1 etc41 does not need any rule to be able to construct forms like purest1 ugliest1 dirtiest1 of his own accord1 and who1 at the moment when he says them1 would not be able even by means of the most scrupulous analysis to decide if he has heard the form often before and is merely reproducing it1 or if he himself is creating it without having previously heard it--and1 if the latter is the case1 if he is creating something which others also have created1 or if it is the very first time that the word is used in the language--this is what takes place every minute wherever human languages are spoken4#bd ,an ,englishman has so often heard 7and repeated7 sentences like 8give the man your hand10 8,i gave the boy a whipping10 8he gave his sister an apple10 that he unconsciously forms his sentences according to a scheme where the indirect object always precedes the direct object1 and which even without this grammatical terminology and without any rule would lead him quite naturally to say1 for instance1 8,will you give your father the money80 ,a ,frenchman would just as instinctively say1 8,veux-tu donner cet argent ton pre80 because in all the sentences which he has experienced he has heard the 8dative0 expressed by after the direct object4 ,but since this takes place by virtue of inviolable psychical laws1 it applies not only to the mother-tongue1 but also to the foreign languages which we learn later4 ,we simply cannot avoid thus unconsciously forming types or patterns to go by1 in using a foreign language1 as soon as the conditions for these typical formations are at hand4 ,if1 on learning ,english1 a ,dane has frequently heard 7read7 and 7especially7 used combinations like up here1 in here1 in there1 out there1 then he will quite naturally say down there when he wants to express this thought2 it is not at all necessary for him previously to have learned a rule to the effect that 8here and there in connection with other adverbs of place stand last40 ,as a matter of fact1 when we speak or write a foreign language1 we employ a number of such rules which we have never seen formulated1 and1 what is more1 also rules which have never at any time been consciously formulated by any grammarian4 ,the reason why we cannot attain the same confidence in all departments of the foreign language that we feel in our native language is of course partly because the conditions are not so favourable1 and partly because our mother-tongue acts as a hindrance on account of the tendency it has to intrude on all occasions and mislead us to construct sentences after its pattern4 ,but the conditions become the more favourable for this unconscious mental activity in our pupils the more we know how to make each sentence in the foreign language have its full effect upon them and become their possession1 and the more we can keep the mother-tongue in the background4 ,and although we can never bring it about that our pupils come across the forms in the foreign language even approximately as often as that child does who is learning his native language1 yet we can to a large extent make amends for this by bringing a better system into our teaching1 so that the acquiring of the language will not depend so much upon chance as is the case when babies learn to talk1 just as it is also an advantage that our pupils are older and more developed1 and that we can get some help from the written and printed language4 ,many of the transposition exercises mentioned in the last section are essentially grammatical1 but we can easily hit upon still more exercises by which we may in a systematic way encourage the natural tendency toward type- and series-formations4 ,to conjugate a verb all the way through by itself is the sheerest drudgery1 but the exercise immediately becomes both more interesting and more beneficial when it is a whole sentence that is to be tackled4 ,for instance1 the teacher can write on the blackboard a sentence like 8,je donne un sou ,alfred0 and get the pupils to conjugate it through all the persons4 ,in the beginning he might also write down all the forms of the verb1 one under the other2 they are not to be committed to memory1 but merely furnish a scheme1 which the pupils are to fill out by inserting the correct pronouns before1 and un sou ,alfred after the verb4 ,then the next step is to let the pupils use other words instead of un sou and ,alfred1 so that pupil ,a says1 for instance1 ,je donne un centime ,paul4 ,b3 tu donnes un franc ,jean4 ,c3 il donne un livre papa4 ,d3 nous donnons des poires l'picier1 etc4 ,then in reality the task which the boys have before them is to hit upon new words to insert 7they must make sense672 consequently it becomes a kind of game in which the vocabulary is reviewed like the one mentioned above 7p4 #ii71 but at the same time the forms of the verb are practised4 ,if a pupil should happen to say1 for instance1 ils donnent deux cerises le matre1 the teacher must only say the sentence himself with the correct au and make him repeat it in this form without scolding him1--yes1 even without stopping to give a long explanation of why it should be au and not le in this case4 ,this kind of exercise can of course be varied in different ways2 such a sentence as mon pre me donne de l'argent is written down1 and the pupils are told to inflect it in all the persons1 which of course only involves an alteration of mon and me2 or the sentence is to be reconstructed with other tenses1 etc4 ,more complicated sentences1 too1 may be conjugated all the way through1 either without changing anything but the pronouns and the forms of the verbs1 as for instance1 ,je suis all me promener avec mon pre2 ,das habe ich ihm gestern versprochen1 und ich werde es ihm morgen geben--or in such a way that other things are changed too3 je m'appelle 444 where the pupil is to insert real names 7his own1 a comrade's 444 in case it is vous1 the teacher's72 ,ich habe meinen vater um etwas brot gebeten4 ,du hast deinen vater um etwas geld gebeten4 ,er hat seinen vater um ein stck papier gebeten4 ,sie hat ihren vater um einen kuchen gebeten1 etc4 ,of course one can also assign written exercises of a similar kind1 as for instance3 construct five sentences like ,le pre de ,jean est all la maison de sa sur1 using different words in each sentence in place of those here italicized1 etc41 etc42 but it were best if these sentences were suggested by1 or in some way associated with1 sentences in the text-book4 ,now some people will say that this is only another way of employing those grammatical isolated sentences which ,i have declaimed against--and they are right in so far as ,i admit that the more the exercises are made to resemble the old-fashioned ones1 the poorer they are for the purpose1 and if they are employed to too great an extent they may easily degenerate into tiresome mechanical routine-work4 ,but if used to moderation they will only be beneficial1 and then1 besides1 they differ from the single sentences of the old method in being associated with a text which has been read1 so they are not thus quite isolated from a sensible connection2 they also differ because translation is not used and is not needed 7except when the teacher at long intervals has to make sure that pupil ,a has understood a sentence given by pupil ,c1 who has used an unusual word72 they differ because1 translation being omitted1 the whole exercise can proceed at a rapid pace2 they differ because the sentences are constructed by the pupils themselves1 who are thus compelled all the time to pay attention both to their form and contents2 and finally they differ because1 as a result of all this1 they are more interesting and amusing to the pupils4 ,furthermore such exercises incite the pupils to want to say something of their own accord1 and thus they get a desire to extend their knowledge2 they will frequently ask what this or that word which they need in a sentence is in ,french or ,german--and in that case the teacher must always answer1 but then he must always require1 too1 that they learn the word which has been given them 7to prevent them from getting into the habit of asking superficially and carelessly just 8for the fun of it074 ,finally the pupils will thus be brought to appreciate the benefit of learning grammar2 their grammatical knowledge is not sheer theory for them1 but is continually converted into effective power and thus becomes easier to remember1 for there is no doubt that ,goethe is right when he says3 8,still all that we can remember of our studies in the end is only what we have been able to find practical use for40 ,of course1 the sentences constructed by the pupils in the course of any one of the exercises recommended in this book may contain mistakes1 and the most serious mistakes must be corrected1 yet with as little particularity as possible1 if they have nothing to do with the phenomenon which is being or just has been carefully considered and practised1 and with as few theoretical reasons as possible4 ,many exercises can be so arranged that it is scarcely possible for the pupils to make any mistake1 and this without becoming less valuable2 on the contrary1 they will often be the best1 for every sentence which a pupil constructs or says correctly confirms good habits of language4 ,but no matter how much one may favour the theory that 8,prevention is better than cure10 it is not well to be too anxious to prevent mistakes4 ,one of the ablest advocates of the reform in ,germany1 ,wendt1 says3 8,it is of more importance for the pupil to talk at all than to talk correctly10 and although ,i know what criticism ,i have to expect from unsympathetic opponents about my encouraging superficiality and not caring a bit about correctness1 yet ,i cannot deny myself the pleasure of quoting with approbation a ,slavic proverb1 ,tko zeli dobro govoriti mora natucati 7whoever wants to speak well must murder the language71 which ,schuchardt has chosen as a motto for his stimulating work about mixed languages1#be and which he interprets3 8,wer aus irgend einem grunde sich scheut eine fremde sprache zu misshandeln1 der werd sie nie beherrschen40 ,in order to reassure people who cannot help feeling anxious1 ,i shall add here three statements from the report of the ninth ,german 8,neuphilologentag0 7#aija74 ,klinghardt 7p4 #ajj7 confesses that he has been converted to the reform1 because1 in spite of years of vigorous efforts1 he had not succeeded by means of the translation method#bf in training the majority of his pupils to grammatical correctness4 ,headmasters of schools where the old method was employed had also told him that there were still serious grammatical mistakes of form in the written exercises which were handed in at the final examinations4 ,but1 after he had given up the translation procedure1 all of his pupils1 even the backward ones1 had attained to grammatical correctness4 ,wendt 7p4 #aja7 emphatically denied that anything could be gained in grammatical sureness by translation exercises4 ,and ,walter 7p4 #ajb7 repudiated the accusation which is always on the tongue of many of the opponents of reform1 that the reformers entirely do away with grammar1 by referring to many of these very gentlemen1 who1 on visiting his school1 had expressed surprise at the grammatical sureness displayed by his pupils4 ,and since ,i now seem to be in the mood for quotations1 ,i can also refer to ,goethe's words3 8,thus ,i had learned ,latin1 just like ,german1 ,french1 ,english1 only through practice1 without rule and without system4 ,anyone who knows what the state of school instruction was at that time will not find it strange that ,i neglected the grammar as well as the rhetoric2 everything seemed to come naturally to me4 ,i retained the words1 their formations and transformations in my ear and in my mind1 and ,i employed the language with ease for writing and talking40#bg ,in giving the pupil ,english sentences to translate into the foreign language1 we are only artificially creating difficulties4 ,if it is difficult for the pupil to translate into his mother-tongue where at least confirmed habit ought to prevent him from falling into the worst pitfalls1 then it must be much more difficult1 indeed impossible1 to translate into a foreign language where he is not yet quite at home4 ,we ourselves lead the pupil to make mistakes1 and then we have to do all we can to prevent his confronting us with a too overwhelming number of them4 ,to this end we limit each exercise to illustrating one1 or two1 or three1 paragraphs in the grammar2 we make theoretical rules to serve as a guide in translating1 without always remembering how difficult it is to make practical use of such rules2 we bracket the words which are not to be translated2 we try to be helpful by placing alongside of1 or underneath1 the correct ,english1 some very strange ,english indeed1 which1 however1 has the advantage that it can be translated literally1 etc41 etc4 ,and the result of all this exertion8 ,well1 it is a well known fact that they are not always things of beauty that we meet with in the ,french exercises which are handed in after many years of toil1 according to this method4 ,experience is sure to teach us that this is not the means to our end4 ,joh4 ,storm is right when he says 7,franske talevelser1 ,preface73 8,the worst and most unfruitful torment in the school instruction of the present time is the excessive use of written exercises in foreign languages40 ,as a bright contrast to this 8constructive0 method of procedure1 we have the 8imitative0 method1 which may be so called partly because it is an imitation of the way in which a child learns his native language1 partly because it depends upon that invaluable faculty1 the natural imitative instinct of the pupils1 to give them the proper linguistic feeling1 if it only has ample opportunity to come into play4 ,as a motto for this method1 we might perhaps say3 ,away with lists and rules4 ,practise what is right again and again6 ,,footnotes3 #ai ,the only thing in the grammar which it might be reasonable to learn by rote is the numerals4 #bj ,the story goes that a ,swedish dialectologist who was on a tour to investigate how extensively the strong form dog 7died7 was in use1 asked a peasant3 do you people here say 8jag dog0 or 8jag dde08 ,the peasant was not a grammarian2 he answered sensibly3 well1 when we are dead we generally do not say anything4 #ba ,kr4 ,nyrop informs me that he has found 8,mais je mourus hier0 in ,mairet1 ,la ,silvanire1 v4 #b1 #age1 and ,i myself have come across it in a short story by ,zola about the sensations felt by a person who has been buried alive after his apparent death--but that does not make the form more 8living40 #bb ,the dots which are given in the printed book between the two words disappear in oral recitation2 so they play no part in the minds of the pupils4 #bc ,the former 8redundant0 words are now the most important ones1 indeed in reality the only important ones1 since ,pas du tout etc41 where there is no verb1 is fully recognized1 and sentences like ,je veux pas are becoming more and more common in colloquial language4 #bd ,cf4 my remarks on 8schaffende und erhaltende analogiebildung10 in ,techmer's ,internat4 ,zeitschr4 f4 allgem4 ,sprachwissensch41 iii4 7#ahhg71 p4 #aia ff4 #be ,slawo-deutsches und ,slawo-italienisches1 ,graz1 #ahhe4 #bf i4e4 ,translations from the mother-tongue1 beginning with single sentences of the usual kind4 #bg ,aus meinem leben1 ,,ii4 vi4 ,goethes werke1 ,cotta'sche bibl4 d4 weltlitteratur1 #bj4 #bah4 ,,ix 8,but our pupils must not only know their foreign languages unconsciously and mechanically2 they must not only learn how to express themselves1 but they must also know why40 ,when ,i think of the instruction in grammar that has been usual hitherto1 ,i am tempted to say as if in echo1 8,why80 ,in a school in ,copenhagen1 the story goes that a certain teacher after having asked about the gender of the ,french substantive mort and then 8,why80 got the answer1 8,because it comes from ,latin mors1 which is feminine02 he was not satisfied with that1 however1 but made the correction3 8,no1 it is because it is an exception40 ,when we feel scandalized at this teacher's stupidity1 we ought conscientiously to ask ourselves if many of the answers given to the question 8,why80 in grammar teaching are in reality much more valuable than this one2 the object in most cases is merely to classify the sentences or words under certain given rubrics and to give their names and the respective rules which have been committed to memory1 something which can in large part be done with very little real grammatical understanding of the language in question4 ,the usual superstition that theoretical instruction in grammar is the best way to teach pupils how to express themselves grammatically is of a piece with the severity with which grammatical mistakes are criticized in comparison with the mildness with which mistakes of vocabulary1 etc41 are treated4 ,that grammatical propositions are abstractions1 which are often difficult even for experts to understand1 and which must therefore be far beyond the horizon of our pupils1 we see from the way in which most philologists1 on coming across a rule which is the least bit involved1 immediately have to resort to the examples to see what the point is2 we also see it from the difficulty which grammarians often find in expressing their rules in such a way as to be really clear4 ,therefore there is even among persons who have to any extent studied languages theoretically 7and perhaps most among them7 a great tendency to avoid as much as possible the traditional1 grammatical1 theoretical method when they want to take up a new language2 this feeling has been clearly expressed by the renowned ,romance scholar ,h4 ,schuchardt4#bh ,it is true1 as has been said1 that one really cannot begin to learn the grammar of a language until one knows the language itself4 ,in contrast to our school-days1 when in all subjects a ready-made system was pounded into us1 and it was only through the system that we caught sight of some of the facts upon which it was built1 so that we indulged in only extremely little of anything like independent observation or classification of observations1 in contrast to all this1 another method of procedure is coming to the front in all teaching1 a method which starts out from the things which the child itself can see in its surroundings1 a method which trains the child to observe1 to classify its observations1 to draw its own conclusions1 so that finally1 when the time is ripe1 the scientific system will raise itself1 as it were1 in a natural way on the foundation of the observations made4 ,the golden rule is3 8,never tell the children anything that they can find out for themselves40 ,theoretical grammar ought not to be taken up too early1 and when it is taken up it is not well to do it in such a way that the pupil is given ready-made paradigms and rules4 ,after the manner of ,spencer's 8,inventional ,geometry10 where the pupil is all the way through led to find out the propositions and proofs for himself1 we ought to get an ,inventional ,grammar4 ,when a selection in the reader has been read1 the pupils may be asked to go through it again 7read it aloud71 and pay special attention1 for instance1 to the personal pronouns2 every time one occurs1 it is to be written down on the blackboard2 there the forms are finally classified 7by the pupils67 according to the natural associations between them1 and thus the paradigms are constructed quite naturally2 then1 if desired1 the pupils can copy them down in special note-books for future reference4 ,for instance1 if the ,french possessive pronoun is found in the two forms son and sa1 in the combinations sa main1 son gant1 son pe1 son ennemi1 sa figure1 sa blessure1 son opinion1 the object of the pupils must be to discover the principle of usage4 ,it will not be found difficult to formulate a rule in these cases2 but1 if necessary1 the teacher can help the pupils not a little by means of the emphasis with which he reads the sentences in which the forms are found4 ,then the rule once formulated may be tested on other forms to see if the same principle of usage should happen to apply there too1 etc4 ,of course the teacher must decide beforehand#bi what points of grammar a certain text is especially fitted to illustrate in this manner4 ,yet it is not necessary for all the forms which it is desired to group together to occur in the piece which is being examined2 if there are any empty spaces in the paradigms1 the pupils will of their own accord desire to get them filled out1 and they will thus have an opportunity to learn something new4 ,it will also frequently happen that the missing forms are already familiar to the pupils from previous reading2 in that case1 if the pupils themselves do not happen to think of them1 the teacher can easily give them a clue by saying the beginning of the sentence in which they occur4#cj ,it follows as a matter of course that only the most elementary things can be so examined in a text of one or two pages that grammatical rules or a tolerably adequate paradigm can be formulated4 ,in dealing with beginners the teacher must not be too ambitious to get1 for instance1 all the forms of a verb collected in that manner1 at all events not all at once2 it is not necessary2 one tense at a time is quite sufficient4 ,and of course one must not be such a slave of traditional grammatical systems1 that one necessarily must go all the way through one class of words before beginning another1 etc4 ,there is no reason why these bits of system should not be taken up quite unsystematically1 one day a little about pronouns1 another day the present tense of verbs1 a third day the comparison of adjectives1 etc41 all according to what comes natural1 or what the texts give occasion for4#ca ,and it will not matter if some time is allowed to pass between these exercises4 ,one of the abominations of the old method of instruction was that the teacher1 as a ,swedish author has expressed it1 considered it his duty on all occasions to feel the grammatical pulse of the pupils4 ,a teacher in ,english can1 at a rather early stage1 set to work in this way to examine and formulate the use of ,english do as an auxiliary verb4 ,a rather long piece which has been read is assigned to the pupils in parts1 so that ,a and ,b get the first page1 ,c and ,d the next1 etc41 and they are to find and note down all the cases which occur4 ,then the cases found are gone through in the class in such a way that the teacher first requires all those sentences to be read aloud where do occurs and there is no negation4 ,after some sentences have been read1 he may ask what they have in common2 if no one answers1 more sentences may be taken until someone discovers that all the sentences are interrogative1 and then this discovery may be tested in the following sentences4 ,thereupon the negative sentences which were before omitted are gone through4 ,is it then necessary to have do in all questions1 and in all negative sentences8 ,well1 go through the same pages again for next time and note down all the cases of interrogative and negative sentences where do does not occur4 ,then in the next lesson we shall finally be able to formulate the rules4 ,this takes longer than to learn the rule in a grammar4 ,yes1 but then we may also be certain that it will be far better understood and remembered1 to say nothing of the pleasure it always gives to discover something oneself2 it has all of it been a little preliminary practice in scientific methods of research and drawing of conclusions4 ,and then--what ,i always return to--the whole exercise has also been a review of a number of sentences1 and there is not much danger that the pupils will forget the words1 turns of expression and grammatical relations which they have become intimate with in this manner4 ,even if we do not attain to any results that can stand comparison with the rules in our text-books1 yet such lessons in grammatical observation and systematization are none the less valuable4 ,for instance1 the last three or four days' ,german lesson may be gone through with special attention given to the gender4 ,one pupil reads aloud2 every time he comes to a substantive1 he mentions one of his class-mates 7or the teacher motions to one of them71 who is to give the gender1#cb as well as the reasons for his inference 7the form of the article in in der kirche1 the termination of the adjective in ein schnes mdchen1 etc472 one of the boys stands at the blackboard1 which is divided into three columns1 and writes down each word in the right column1 after its gender is determined4 ,when the form or the context does not show the gender1 the teacher asks if the word is familiar from previous passages1 and if the gender could be seen there2 otherwise the teacher will have to say what gender it is4 ,at last 7toward the end of the lesson1 or when the blackboard is full71 all the words are repeated together with the article2 then1 if it seems fit1 the teacher may examine one or another pupil1 letting him stand with his back to the blackboard4 ,if there are1 for instance1 two or three words ending in ung or schaft or some other absolutely certain ending1 the pupils may be asked to recall other words with the same ending1 and then formulate the rule for themselves4 ,a few hours employed in this manner will surely bear much more fruit than if all the long rules for gender with their exceptions and exceptions to exceptions were committed to memory2 the attention is roused and the powers of observation are sharpened1 so that the pupils will also in the future take note of the gender of new words1 when there is anything to indicate it1 especially since it is necessary for them to know the gender of the words which they need in the conversation and transposition exercises already described in this book4 ,difficult1 especially syntactical1 phenomena which do not occur very frequently1 cannot be treated exactly in this way1 but some of them may be taken up in an analogical manner4 ,during the going over of a large section of the ,french reader1 the attention may1 for instance1 be directed to the subjunctive1 so that each subjunctive form is either written down in a notebook or marked in the margin of the reader2 after one or two weeks or so1 all these sentences may be collected and arranged in large groups4 ,during the next week1 similar cases are frequently met with1 and the pupil is given an opportunity to recall his recent observations1 and perhaps supplement them by newly discovered varieties of subjunctive clauses1 etc4 ,but it must be continually borne in mind that much of what is found in grammars is really of no value except to the philological specialist1 and should never be learned by schoolboys4 ,a systematical grammar is not superfluous except in the first stage4 ,later on its examples may be used to supplement those collected in the course of the reading2 the teacher can1 for instance1 read them aloud1 make sure that they are understood1 and use them to help the pupils to find out the rule4 ,then1 when the pupils have formulated the rule as well as they can1 it may be read as rendered in the grammar4 ,to go through the grammar from one end to the other1 a section at a time1 ought not to be undertaken until most of the phenomena have been treated in connexion with the reading2 it will then be both easier and more interesting than if taken up earlier2 its chief use will then be to fill out and confirm what has already been learned4#cc ,if grammar is taught in this way1 the pupils will not get that feeling which they now so frequently have1 that they are just learning a series of arbitrarily prescribed instructions as to how they are to avoid making mistakes and getting 8poor marks0 in their written exercises2 they are more apt to conceive of it as something to be compared to the laws of nature1 those general comprehensive observations of what takes place under certain conditions2 for grammar is made up of observations of the manner in which the natives express themselves4 ,the pupils no longer say to themselves3 8,we must have the subjunctive in purpose clauses for it stands in #bce10 but 8we find the subjunctive in all purpose clauses40 ,the teacher's chief task is to give the pupils insight into the construction of the foreign language1 into its peculiarities and the chief points in which it deviates from other languages4 ,as a rule1 text-books dwell too much on details1 and often neglect very important features1 such as for instance the great freedom allowed in ,english in the use of substantives as verbs and vice-vers1 the different part played by order of words in the different languages1 the cause and effect relationship between a fixed order of words and paucity of case-endings1 etc4 ,the usual arrangement of grammatical material is not as shrewd as it might be4 ,the sharp division between accidence and syntax as we find it in most of our text-books is1 from a scientific point of view1 untenable and impracticable#cd2 from a pedagogical point of view it is unfortunate1 because it separates form and function1 which ought to be learned together1 just as well as a word's exterior 7its sounds and spelling71 and its meaning are learned together4#ce ,and within each of these two parts of the grammar1 the usual order of procedure depends upon a meaningless order of precedence between the classes of words1 whereby the adverbs are placed about as far as possible from the adjectives1 though if there are any two classes of words which ought to belong together1 they are these two1 which have comparison in common4 ,in the case of the verbs1 those things are often grouped together which belong together lexically but not grammatically4#cf ,the translation-method is injurious here too1 because it veils contours which ought to be sharp4 ,for instance1 the pupils will not get the proper conception of gender and its relation to expressions for sex1 if er referring to der hut and sie referring to die bank1 and likewise il referring to le chapeau1 and elle referring to la chaise1 are all translated by the ,english it1 while the same pronouns1 when used about persons1 are translated by he and she4 ,comparisons between the languages which the pupils know1 for the purpose of showing their differences of economy in the use of linguistic means of expression1 will only be a natural outcome of this systematized occupation with the theory of the language1 and may often become very interesting1 especially for advanced students4 7,comparisons between the reflexive pronouns in the different languages2 du ihr ,sie sie--toi vous vous ils elles eux--you you you they--il y a1 es giebt1 there is1 etc474 ,the teacher may call attention to the inconsistency of the languages2 what is distinctly expressed in one case is in another case not designated by any outward sign 7haus huser2 huschen huschen--house houses2 sheep sheep--cheval chevaux2 vers vers--yes in reality also maison1 maisons1 etc42 mich mir1 dich dir1 sich sich2 der mann1 die frau1 das weib2 ein guter mann1 eine gute frau1 ein gutes weib2 der gute mann1 die gute frau1 das gute weib2 die mnner1 die frauen1 die weiber2 die guten m41 f41 w41 etc474 ,in ,french and ,english1 there is ample occasion to point out how differently the grammatical relations present themselves in sound and on paper 7singular and plural alike in bon bons1 beau beaux1 hideux hideux1 further amer amre1 clair claire1 rvolutionnaire rvolutionnaire church churches1 judge judges sin sinned1 fine fined say said1 lay laid1 etc474 ,that this may be a good way to make a beginning in comparative philology scarcely needs further proof2 many things belonging to this field of study can be understood by our advanced pupils1 and ought to belong to a good general education4 ,everyone who has received a little more than the most ordinary school education ought to understand what is meant by the relationship and development of languages2 he ought to be acquainted with such linguistic phenomena as the loss of sounds1 assimilation1 analogical formations1 differentiations1 etc42 he ought to have noticed examples of these phenomena1 both in his mother tongue and in the foreign languages which he has learned1 just as he ought to realize how these processes continually influence the whole construction of the languages1 and1 in the course of time1 have produced such great differences as those he sees between ,german and ,english1 or between ,latin and ,french2 a valuable point of departure would be to take up the fate of ,french loan-words in ,english with the frequent retention of the old ,french sounds 7ch in chase1 j in journal1 n in cousin cousine1 s in beast1 feast1 etc474 ,but however interesting and valuable these things are1 it is scarcely advisable to devote too much time to them as long as the living languages have so few hours at their disposal4 ,how much or how little of this sort of thing the teacher takes up will also1 to a great extent1 depend upon whether the class on the whole is ripe for it1 and if the pupils show sufficient interest and desire to ask questions2 very much philology ought not to be forced upon them4 ,exercises in systematization need not be limited to the field of grammar2 the lexical side of the language may also be taken up in a similar manner1 even if to a less extent4 ,several methods of reviewing vocabulary have been mentioned above1 but there are still more ways2 for instance the teacher may give the pupil a certain subject 7the human body1 war1 a railway journey7 about which he is to collect all the words and expressions which he can remember--or which occurred in the last narrative read--and he may also arrange them in various subdivisions4 ,this can best be done in the form of a written exercise4 ,the pupils may also be set to separate a complex event or series of actions1 etc41 into its single component parts4 ,for instance1 they may describe the process of getting dressed in all its details1 or the way to school in the morning4 ,the more detailed the pupils can make their descriptions1 the better2 they thus get use for a number not only of substantives but especially of verbs in their natural connection1 which they see before them in their 8mind's eye0--but ,i scarcely think that ,gouin's ideas#cg ought to be used for more than such occasional series4 ,advanced students may also be instructed in a systematic collecting of the most important synonyms4 ,each one should have a special note-book for the purpose1 where a whole page is given to each group of synonyms which the teacher wants them to treat2 on this page they write down all those sentences where they come across the word in question4 ,now and then the teacher and the class together may examine all the sentences which have been collected and try to establish the difference between the synonyms on the basis of the examples found4 ,of especial value are of course those sentences where several synonyms occur directly after each other 7,how much of history we have in the story of ,arthur is doubtful4 ,what is not very thrilling as story may be of profound interest as history4 ,half a loaf is better than no bread4 ,a nice little loaf of brown bread74 ,it will also be of interest occasionally to draw up comparative tabular lists from different languages as for instance-- mensch man homme mann man homme mann husband mari to which remarks may be added about the use of human being and individu when indication of sex is to be avoided4 ,furthermore-- weib woman femme weib1 frau wife femme frau lady dame frau ,mrs4 madame dame lady dame baum tree arbre holz wood bois wald wood1 forest bois1 fort ,such tables will do more than long explanations to illustrate the differences between the languages1 and to show how often words are ambiguous and vague in meaning4 ,it is evident1 however1 that many of the subtle and fanciful indications of shades of meaning found in the dictionaries of synonyms are entirely beyond the grasp of ordinary pupils4 ,dr4 ,walter1 in ,frankfurt1 has still another way of furthering his pupils' familiarity with the resources of the foreign language2 he dictates some of the sentences from what has been read1 and lets the pupils themselves find as many different ways as possible of expressing the same thought4 ,i shall reprint one of the sentences from his book1 together with the pupils' variants 7marked with letters72 they were written down in the course of #be minutes3 8ohne vorausgegangene besprechung0 7in the second year of instruction1 with1 so far as ,i know1 six hours a week72 as will be seen1 the variations are rather considerable4 ,the advantage of the ,english ships lay not in bulk1 but in construction4 a4 ,the ,english were overwhelming1 not by the size of the ships1 but their power lay in the construction of the ships4 b4 ,in construction1 not in bulk1 lay the advantage of the ,english ships4 c4 ,the ,english ships were superior to the ,spanish not in bulk1 but in construction4 d4 ,the advantage of the ,english fleet 7squadron7 consisted not in bulk1 but in construction4 e4 ,the advantage of the ,english was the light construction of their ships4 f4 ,the ,english had not large ships1 but they were better constructed4 g4 ,the power of the vessels of the ,english was not caused by the extent1 but by the construction of the ships4 h4 ,the ,english men-of-war could do very much against the enemy1 because they were well constructed1 and not too large4 i4 ,the ,english vessels were not large1 but well constructed4 k4 ,the advantage of the ,english men-of-war did not consist in size1 but in construction4 l4 ,the advantage of the ,english men-of-war was to be found in their construction4 ,i have myself1 in teaching advanced pupils1 in a similar way1 let them re-write a half a page or so of a historical work4 ,it has always interested them1 and the comparison of the results1 which often presented the most varied expressions for the same thought1 was always very instructive4 ,parallel with the reading of a grammar as a supplement to1 and a summary of all the grammatical knowledge which has been gained in the ways suggested1 it might seem to be a good plan to go through a systematical collection of the lexical material--of course not an ordinary dictionary1 since the alphabetical arrangement is about as unsystematical as possible1 but a sensibly arranged vocabulary1 something in the line of ,roget's ,thesaurus4 ,but it ought1 at any rate1 to be much smaller1 and only include words and expressions which are actually necessary2 even then1 however1 the unavoidable dryness of such a book1 and the absence of connection between the single words1 would make it unfit for use in teaching1 even if it were not to be employed in imparting new material1 but only to recall words which have already been learned4 ,it would be better worth while for pupils1 who have reached a somewhat advanced stage1 to go through a little systematic collection of phrases1 especially of such turns of expression as play a great part in ordinary daily intercourse1 but which are seldom met with in literature4 ,franke's ,phrases de tous les jours is the best specimen ,i know of--but ,i have it from the very best source that this little book was never intended as a text-book for beginners4 ,,footnotes3 #bh ,obwohl ich mich seit geraumer zeit mit der theorie der sprachen beschftige1 hege ich noch heutzutage eine abneigung gegen die systematischen sprachlehren4--,auf anlass des volapks4 ,berlin1 #ahhh1 p4 #ch4 #bi ,if the text-book itself does not recommend certain exercises for each piece4 #cj ,on the whole teachers who read connected pieces with their pupils in the thorough manner which ,i have suggested1 will be surprised at the strong powers of association produced by successiveness2 one word always recalls the whole context in which it has been learned4 ,in one of the exercises given by ,walter1 pupil ,a mentions one of the words which the class has had and then the name of pupil ,b1 who is thereupon expected to give the whole sentence in which the word occurs4 ,of course this can be done now and then by way of recreation2 as a rule it is not necessary4 ,this new method of always learning and remembering the words in their natural context may be compared to the newest methods in natural history teaching1 according to which the pupils must see the animals and plants as they are at home in their natural surroundings1 acted upon by them and in turn acting upon them4 #ca ,each phenomenon which is taken up should1 however1 be treated to the end with as much thoroughness as is possible at that standpoint4 ,grammar ought not to be taken up during the lesson merely as a matter of secondary importance1 subordinated to other exercises1 whose object is to help the pupils to understand the text1 or to develop their practical skill in the language4 ,if the teacher does not want to devote a whole hour to the grammar1 he can at least draw a sharp line between these exercises in theory and the other exercises4 ,one thing at a time1 and that done well6 #cb ,or when a period is reached1 he may give all the substantives which he has found one at a time--the rest as above4 ,the advantage of this is that the connexion is kept intact4 #cc ,dr4 ,sweet tries to throw ridicule on my suggestion as to inventional grammar 7,the ,practical ,study of ,languages1 #ahii1 p4 #aae-aaf72 he seems to forget the distinction between independent grammatical research and teaching in schools2 and when he speaks about the boys having to sort 8a hundredweight or so of slips10 ,i think his exaggeration needs no further refutation than the above statements1 which are nothing but an amplification of what ,i wrote in #ahhf4 ,fortunately1 on p4 #aag1 ,dr4 ,sweet recommends practically the same course as is outlined here1 only carried out to a less extent4 #cd ,the ,french superlative is a purely syntactical1 the comparative1 a mixed phenomenon4 #ce ,i have treated accidence and syntax together in my own little ,english grammar 7,kortfattet engelsk grammatik for tale- og skriftsproget1 ,copenhagen1 #ast edition #ahhe1 #dth ed4 #aijc74 #cf ,with reference to grammatical systematization1 ,i may refer to my preliminary remarks in ,progress in ,language 7,london1 ,sonnenschein #hid71 p4 #ach ff4 #cg ,i am tempted here to enlarge upon ,gouin's method of teaching languages1 but ,i have neither the space1 nor exactly the desire1 to do so since ,i have never seen it carried out in practice4 ,i can refer to ,r4 ,kron's 7certainly too enthusiastic7 description 7,die neueren sprachen1 ,,iii1 also published separately71 and to ,brekke's 7for me absolutely convincing7 criticism3 8,indberetning om en stipendierejse til ,england for at studere ,gouins metode for undervisning i sprog0 7,quousque ,tandem ,no4 ,norske univ4 og skoleannaler1 #ahid74 ,x ,here1 last but not least1 comes the treatment of the pronunciation1 which for several reasons ,i have not taken up first1 although the questions which are here to be discussed necessarily play a part already from the very first lesson in a foreign language4 ,i have now for many years advocated the use of phonetics--yes1 even of phonetical transcription1 in the teaching of foreign languages1 and have to a large extent put my theories into practice both in dealing with children of all ages and with grown persons4 ,new things always frighten people2 they think with terror that here the pupils are to be burdened with an entirely new and difficult science and with a new kind of writing2 we had trouble enough with the old kind1 they say1 and now we are to be bothered with this new alphabet with its barbarous letters6 ,every educator must see how objectionable it is2 now we have learned languages for so many years without such modern inventions1 and the old way ought to be good enough for us still4 ,that is about the run of the objections raised4 ,this the answer3 ,phonetics is a science1 to be sure1 and1 like all other sciences1 it is not without its difficult and mooted points4 ,yet the fact that large volumes can be written about botany does not frighten us from teaching our children some botany4 ,in mathematics there are many things which are beyond the comprehension of ordinary school-children1 but yet they have to learn some mathematics4 ,phonetics is not a new study that we want to add to the school curriculum2 we only want to take as much of the science as will really be a positive help in learning something which has to be learned anyway4 ,we must remember what science is1 and what part it plays4 ,of course in our days every science collects more and more material and requires more and more specialization1 so that parts of it become quite inaccessible for all persons except the specialists themselves2 but the whole idea of science is that it shall be unified knowledge 7,spencer71 a summing up of all the numerous details of reality under large1 comprehensive points of view1 the establishing of great1 general laws1 which apply to all single cases4 ,that is also why science can be termed 8konomie des denkens10 and that is why science can suggest means of facilitating thought and the acquirement of knowledge4 ,we want to have some phonetics introduced into our schools1 because theory has convinced us1 and experiment has proved to us1 that by means of this science we can1 with decidedly greater certainty1 and in an essentially easier way1 give an absolutely better pronunciation in a much shorter space of time than would be possible without phonetics4 ,and as for that hobgoblin called phonetical transcription--well1 it is no 8new alphabet10 not even as new as the ,gothic 7,german7 letters are1 and much less so than the ,greek alphabet1 with which the pupils are burdened 7without their being of the slightest use#ch71 to say nothing of the new names for the letters4 ,in learning ,greek the pupils have to operate with thirty odd new symbols2 in our phonetical transcription for school use1 we do not need more than from five to eight new symbols for each language2 otherwise it consists of the ordinary letters1 and every letter in it retains one of its familiar values1 which is used consistently everywhere1 the new symbols being mostly modifications of the known letters2 reminds us of s1 of z1 and of e1 of n4 ,the whole thing is no worse than that4 ,if you refer to your experience in opposition to these new ways of teaching1 you only invite the answer3 ,yes1 your experience shows how a poor pronunciation may be learned6 ,why must we learn how to pronounce the foreign languages at all8 ,well1 in the first place1 it must be because there is the possibility that we may meet natives some time later4 ,otherwise we might1 perhaps1 be satisfied with reading the foreign words according to ,english principles of pronunciation1 ,french pain like ,english 8pain10 ,werther as 8worth her10 etc4 ,i have known old parsons who have taught themselves ,english so as to be able to read novels1 and who read ,english with ,danish vowels1 pronounced the k in knight1 etc4 ,for a superficial 8getting the gist0 of shilling shockers and penny dreadfuls1 this is sufficient perhaps1 but ,i maintain that for a penetrating1 delicate comprehension of real works of literature this manner of reading is not enough4 ,language cannot be separated from sound1 and that is the sum of the matter2 only he who hears the foreign language within himself in exactly or approximately the same way as a native hears it can really appreciate and enjoy not only poetry1 where phonetic effects must needs always play an important part1 but also all the higher forms of prose4 ,then there is the mnemonic benefit of a correct pronunciation4 ,it helps the pupil to keep foreign languages distinct from each other2 for instance1 he will never be misled to think that jeune means 8pretty0 on account of its resemblance to schn1 and he will not be apt to confuse ,french joli1 journe1 nouvelle with ,english jolly1 journey1 novel4 ,in the second place1 ,madvig is right--and this applies to the living languages too--when he writes3 8,finally there is scarcely any doubt that progress in the dead languages would become more rapid if1 so far as possible1 for instance1 through reading and pronouncing distinctly and through memorizing new expressions1 the language came not only through the eye1 but more through the ear than it does in most places now40 ,our pronunciation according to the old school is extremely poor1 indeed1 much more frightful than most people imagine4 ,it has among others these two disadvantages1 that we do not understand the natives1 and that we are not understood by them4 ,the very first lesson in a foreign language ought to be devoted to initiating the pupils into the world of sounds2 if the class has already had such an elementary course in sounds1 either in connection with the study of their mother tongue 7something we ought to come to in the course of time at any rate71 or in connection with another foreign language1 it can of course be made briefer2 it is scarcely safe to omit it entirely4 ,the conversation may be formed as simply as the following one1 where all scientific terms are avoided2 not even the word 8organ0 is necessary4 7,of course the answers will not always be as prompt and decided as here1 and much will need to be repeated several times with different pupils47 ,teacher3 ,john1 can you say papa8 ,papa4--,how do you go about it8 ,say it once more4--,papa4 ,first1 ,i open my mouth1 and then ,i open it once again4--,yes1 and in the meantime you must1 of course1 have closed it4 ,look at me1 all of you1 and see if ,i too go about it in that way--,papa4 ,what did ,i do1 ,william8--,first you opened your mouth1 then closed it1 then opened it again4--,what did ,i close it with8--,with the lips4--,now1 when ,i say op1 ap1 ep1 what do ,i do8--,close the lips every time1 and then open them again4--,then ,i do that every time ,i say p4 ,robert1 can you find any other sounds where ,i also close my lips8 ,no4--,try the word mama4--,yes1 in m4--,now1 say baby and bib4--,also in b4--,good2 then we have three sounds now where the lips are closed1 p1 b1 m4 ,let us write them in a row on the blackboard4 ,is it necessary to close the lips in all sounds8--,no4--,what is your name8--,john ,gordon ,hunter4--,all of you look at him while he says it4 ,john ,gordon ,hunter4--,did he close his lips at all8 ,no4--,then all the sounds which are in the whole of his name must be said with other parts of the mouth than the lips4 ,what else have we that we use to speak with8--,the tongue4--,now1 when we say n1 for instance1 ,john1 ,anna1 what do we do8--,close with the tongue behind the teeth4--,what part of the tongue8--,the point4--,now try t in atta4--,there we also close with the point of the tongue behind the teeth4 ,and d in adda4--,likewise4--,then we use the point of the tongue for t1 d1 n4 ,let us write them down under p1 b1 m4 ,now k in akka8--,look into my mouth4 ,what do ,i do8--,you close with the tongue farther back in the mouth4--,yes1 we call that the back of the tongue4 ,howard1 look into ,edward's mouth while he says akka4 ,now g in agga 7the sound g1 of course1 not the name di of the letter74 ,then we can write them down in a third row4 p1 b1 m were what kind of sounds8--,lip-sounds4--,and t1 d1 n1 were what kind8 ,point-of-the-tongue sounds4--,and the third row8--,back-of-the-tongue sounds4--,yes1 we might also say simply point-sounds and back-sounds4 ,here some one will ask3 ,why are there not three there8--,yes1 there are three sounds there too1 but we have no letter for the third4 ,say tinker1 and then tin-kettle4 ,is there no difference8 ,yes1 in tin-kettle we have a pure n1 but not in tinker2 here we have another sound before k4--,now try finger4--,there we have the same before g4--,and in singer8--,the same without a real g4--,look into my mouth when ,i say 7s7inger without s4 ,we can make a letter for this new sound by writing an n1 with the last stroke lengthened below the line and slightly curled1 as in g3 4--,james1 come up here and write down the four words as they sound1 making use of the new letter4--7,he writes first tin-kettle74--,no1 do you hear more than one t8 and can you hear any e after l8--,no4--,what then8 tinketl4 7,it is not worth while at this stage to require greater phonetical exactness than tinketl1 tiker1 figer1 sier1 passing over the fact that the final er in the words does not really sound like e r74 ,you see1 if you were a ,frenchman trying to learn ,english1 you would not know that n in tin-kettle and in the other words were different sounds1 and that the e was silent1 and you would pronounce the words incorrectly2 but if the one were written tinketl and the other tiker1 it would be much easier for you to learn how to pronounce them4 ,and then take fringe2 it looks as if it were simply finger with the r in another place1 and yet it is quite a different sound1 so we see that the two letters ng may stand for three entirely different sounds4 ,we also write knight1 and say 8nait02 we write busy and say 8bizi40 ,can you find any other words which we spell differently from the way in which we pronounce them8 ,various examples are found and analyzed4 ,when we write the words exactly as they sound1 we call it phonetical transcription4 ,now1 in the beginning1 we shall write all ,french words phonetically1 so that you can more easily learn how to pronounce them4 ,but you saw in the case of tinker that we occasionally need a new symbol in this transcription1 which we do not use otherwise4 ,you will learn a few more of them in the course of time4444 ,then we have seen that in order to say different sounds1 we can use the lips and the point of the tongue and the back of the tongue4 ,is there nothing else that we need to speak with8--,the nose8 ,yes1 that is all right in a way1 but--can you move your nose8 ,look at my nose2 do ,i move it when ,i speak8--,no4--,but is it not possible to use it without moving it8 ,now1 see if ,i use my nose when ,i say a very long drawn out4#ci ,now1 ,i suddenly hold my nose with two fingers1 and press the nostrils together4 ,does that make the sound different8--,no4--,but now ,i say m in the same way m and pinch the nostrils together in the same way4 ,did anything happen8--,yes1 there was no sound4--,now you can try it yourselves4 ,first you1 ,george2 say a1 and then the boy next to you can suddenly pinch your nose together with two fingers4 ,and then say m1 and let ,fred pinch your nose again4 ,can you say m while your nostrils are closed8--,no1 at any rate the sound soon disappears4 ,all of you try it2 say a just as long as ,i do1 and pinch the nose together several times with your fingers whenever you see me do it2 and now likewise with m4 ,that is because the air has to escape through the nose in order that the sound m may be made4 ,it is the soft palate that you use in order to open the inner entrance to the nose1 so that the air can escape through the nostrils4 ,you can feel the palate behind the teeth1 there it is hard2 but if you pass your fingers farther back1 you will soon feel that it becomes soft and flexible4 ,see how it can go up and down in my mouth4 ,look in the mirror#dj1 and see how your own palate is4 ,first try breathing in and out silently1 and then say a2 then you will see how your soft palate suddenly jumps up2 that is because it has to close the entrance to the nose1 so that no air can get out that way4 ,but when you say m it remains hanging down1 so that the air can come out through the nose1 the passage through the mouth being closed by the lips4 ,at this point1 you might make a rough sketch on the blackboard1 showing a cross-section through the mouth1 with the soft palate in the two positions4 ,in producing n and 1 you have the same position of the soft palate as in the case of m4 ,try to pinch the nose together4 ,now we have seen how we use the nose and the mouth when we speak1 but are they the only things that are necessary in speaking8 ,if the pupils cannot think of 8voice0 of their own accord1 the teacher may put them on the track by saying3 when someone speaks 7or sings7 very well1 we say that he has a good444--,voice4--,where is the voice8--,in the vocal chords4--,and where are they8--,in ,adam's apple4--,here it might be a good thing not to despise the anecdote about the apple which stuck in ,adam's throat4 ,now we also call that the larynx4 ,in there1 there are two vocal chords stretched parallel to each other1 and when they vibrate a tone is produced1 and that is what we call voice4 ,it is just as when a string of a violin is brought into vibration and gives forth a tone2 or a bell or a wine-glass1 which is made to quiver violently4 ,now do we always use the voice when we speak8 ,you do not know2 well1 then we can experiment4 ,whisper a sentence4 ,did ,i use my voice then8--,no4--,now try first to say an a quite loudly and forcibly 7or sing it71 and take firm hold of ,adam's apple with your thumb and forefinger2 then you will feel it quiver4 ,have you never tried to touch a piano with your finger tips while someone was playing on it8 ,then you will have felt the same kind of delicate1 rapid1 quivering movements as you feel on touching the larynx while the voice is in activity4 ,in both cases you can feel those movements with your fingers which you hear with your ear as a tone4 ,but now whisper an a and feel your larynx2 do you feel anything8--,no1 there are no vibrations4--,and try to say s by no means the name of the letter1 es1 but the hissing sound itself4 ,is there voice in that8 ,do you feel any vibration8--,no4--,then s is a voiceless sound1 but a is a voiced sound4 ,now1 try m not em6 ,is it voiced8 and n8 ,notice that you can sing the voiced sounds test several of them1 but not the voiceless sounds4#da ,that f is voiceless1 and that v 7with strong buzzing67 is voiced1 is easily discovered4 ,in the same way1 we have for every voiceless sound a corresponding voiced sound4 ,say s1 and now produce the corresponding voiced sound with the buzzing element4 ,they are the sounds we have in so and zoo1 seal and zebra4 ,we have also a third corresponding pair and 2 is the sound in shilling1 shall1 etc42 is the sound in measure1 pleasure1 etc4 ,then we may write down3 f s voiceless v z voiced4 ,now pronounce each sound in chorus as ,i point to the letter1 and continue drawing it out until ,i take the chalk away from the letter4#db ,thereupon the pupils may be tested singly1 the teacher skipping from one sound to the other4 ,exercises may also be given with the consonants between two vowels3 afffa1 avvva1 asssa1 azzza2 afa1 ava1 asa1 aza4 ,now the pupils have already had a little course in elementary phonetics2 it interests them and contains nothing that they cannot understand1 and nothing that is not useful for them4 ,nor does it ever really frighten the children2 but the very thought of it has actually frightened a number of older teachers1 who apparently live in holy terror of trespassing beyond the lines laid out for them in their childhood1 and who unfailingly think that everything new must be just as useless1 dry and pedantical as most of what they learned in their own schooldays1 so they are not inclined to have the bother of making themselves familiar with anything new4#dc ,in the ,danish original of this book1 ,i reprinted as a curiosity a description of the activity of the organs of speech in the production of speech-sounds1 which a boy #ad years old1 who had never been told anything about the formation of sounds1 had written all by himself1 without the least instruction or help of any kind 7which can easily be seen1 among other things1 from the fact that he sticks to and analyzes the names of the letters72 it shows that this dreaded phonetical science is not so terribly far beyond the horizon of ordinary children after all4 ,the children always 8follow0 the teacher so well in these phonetical exercises that it is rather necessary to put a damper on their eagerness to try to produce the sounds than to spur them on4 ,or1 in other words1 the teacher has but to organize their natural impulse to imitate the sounds by saying to them1 when they begin to whistle and hum3 8,you may say the sounds yourselves directly1 just wait a moment10 and thereupon1 after the explanation has been given1 by allowing them ample opportunity to pronounce the sounds1 both in chorus and singly4 ,then1 both during recess and at home1 they will revel to their hearts' content in the new sounds1 and the whole new and amusing world that has been opened to them4 ,after the introductory course which ,i have just sketched1#dd ,i immediately begin with texts in the foreign language4 ,if the teacher will at this point read one or two pages aloud rapidly 7or give a little talk7 in as characteristically a ,french or ,german manner as possible1 this is a very good way to give the pupils a preliminary notion of the foreignness of the new language4 ,this impression may be further emphasized by means of a little trick which ,i may recommend4 ,the teacher practises an ,english sentence pronounced as a ,frenchman 7or ,german respectively7 would pronounce it1 with ,french vowels1 ,french accent1 etc4 ,he may refer to this sentence now and then in speaking of the single sounds1 and it will serve to warn the students against the kind of mistakes that they themselves are to avoid4 ,then ,i take up the new sounds in the more accidental order in which they occur in the selection for reading2 ,i repeat every word1 together with its meaning1 write it down on the blackboard in phonetical transcription1 and explain every symbol as it occurs1 at the same time articulating the corresponding sound isolated 7this is of great importance6 also the consonants alone without any vowel1 either before or after71 and drawing it out very long4#de ,in not a few cases1 the pupils will be able to imitate the sound with sufficient exactness1 when it has been produced isolated2 at all events1 they do it far better than when they only hear it among other sounds4 ,but in many other cases their imitation is not successful1 or1 at least1 it is not sure enough to be quite satisfactory2 then it is necessary to resort to phonetics for help1 on the basis of the introductory course4 ,of course1 it is not easy for a ,dane to give detailed directions for phonetical instruction1 as it is to be conducted when an ,english teacher is teaching ,english children ,french or ,german4 ,therefore1 the following section is necessarily shorter than the corresponding section in the ,danish original1 where ,i could treat the subject exhaustively on the basis of my personal experience1 as to how good results are to be obtained4 ,but some few remarks may perhaps serve to point out the right way1 and any teacher who has thoroughly mastered the first principles of phonetics theoretically1 and especially practically1 will himself be able to supplement my suggestions4 ,in the very first ,french or ,german sentence in the reader will probably be found one of the sounds y 7,fr4 sur1 ,ger4 ber71 or 7,fr4 veut1 ,ger4 hhe74 ,it is best for these two sounds to be practised together1 and1 in the beginning1 in their long form4 ,as experience shows1 it is not sufficient for the teacher merely to say these sounds2 they generally cause ,english people much trouble1 and all imitations based on the diphthong in ,eng4 few1 etc41 ought to be strictly discountenanced from the very first lesson4 ,that it is not impossible to learn the correct sounds was brought home to me in a striking manner a few years ago4 ,these sounds are also found in ,danish2 an ,english lady who had been in ,denmark for some years had not been able1 in spite of unceasing efforts1 to learn them by imitation4 ,then ,i made a bet that ,i could teach her them in less than ten minutes1 and ,i won the bet through five minutes' theoretical explanation of rounded and unrounded vowels1 and two minutes' practical exercises4 ,the directions were about as follows3 say u 7or uw7 in too very loudly1 and hold it as long as you can without taking breath4 ,once more3 observe in the hand-mirror the position of the lips4 ,then say tea ti1 tij in the same way2 draw the vowel out until you can hold it no longer2 continue all the time to observe the position of the lips in the mirror4 ,now u again2 then i4 ,the lips are rounded for some vowels1 slit-shaped for others4 ,try to pout them rather more than you do usually4 ,pronounce u a couple of times with the lips as rounded and close to each other as possible1 and concentrate your attention on the lips4 ,then say i a couple of times1 paying attention to the position of the tongue2 you will feel that the sides of the tongue touch the roof of the mouth or the teeth4 ,now look in the mirror2 say i again1 and now suddenly1 taking care to keep the tongue in the same position1 let your lips take the rounded1 pouted position they had before4 ,it may be that the pupil is still unable to produce any y1 because1 despite the teacher's warning1 he involuntarily shifts his tongue-position back again to the familiar u position4 ,in that case1 however1 the teacher must not be discouraged1 but pass on to the second part of the experiment1 which is surer1 and which might therefore have been taken first3 place your lips in this pouted u position1 without producing any sound1 look in the mirror1 and be very careful that the position of the lips remains unchanged1 and then try to say i4 ,if the tongue is placed in the correct i-position1 the result cannot be anything but an y4 ,this sound is retained and repeated until the pupil is perfectly sure of both the articulation and acoustic effect4 ,then the sound may be taken up4 ,it may be produced with y as a starting-point1 the lower jaw being lowered so that both the underlip and the tongue follow it1 while the teacher takes care to stop the downward movement in the right place4 ,the result may be controlled by starting with e and rounding the lips1 that is1 by going through a process corresponding to the transition from i to y4 ,one of the most unbecoming mistakes which ,englishmen make in their pronunciation of foreign languages is their diphthongizing of long vowels1 since long vowels1#df in ordinary ,english1 are pronounced with an upward glide1 so that the jaw and the tongue are raised higher in the last part of the vowels in see1 two1 hay1 know1 for instance1 than in the first part4 ,in vulgar ,london pronunciation1 this ,english peculiarity is carried further1 the beginning of the sound being lowered1 at all events in the last two sounds mentioned1 so that lace sounds like lice1 and pay like pie4 ,but even if the best pronunciation does not go to this extreme1 yet the glide is there1 and this glide is for the native ,frenchman or ,german one of the most striking faults in the ,englishman's pronunciation of the respective languages1 so the ,englishman had best be on his guard in this particular4 ,if the teacher1 after a little theoretical explanation1 says the ,english ei and the ,german e alternately a number of times1 even the dullest pupils cannot help but get their ears trained to detect this difference1 but long and patient training is certainly necessary1 both with the class in chorus and with the pupils singly1 before this deeply rooted tendency to diphthongize can be checked4 ,another difficulty is met with in the short 7narrow7 vowels4 ,french t must be pronounced with two short closed e's2 ,englishmen have a tendency to pronounce two long or half-long glide-sounds1 which begin with a greater distance between the jaws than they ought to1 and close with a smaller distance between the jaws than the genuine ,french sounds have4 ,anyone who has become accustomed to the undiphthongized long e1 however1 can use this as a starting-point for learning the correct short sound1 the best way being the frequent repetition of ttt ,likewise the short sounds in fini1 dodo1 froufrou1 etc4 ,nor do the ,french nasal vowels occur in ,english2 in phonetical transcription1 they are indicated by means of over the vowel-symbol1 for instance in son1 etc4 ,here the teacher must immediately make every effort to check the tendency to say as in ,eng4 long1 and my experience with ,danish pupils has been that it is not sufficient for this purpose merely to let the pupils repeat the sound after me4 ,it is necessary to make it perfectly clear to them wherein the difference consists4 ,first the teacher draws out his and establishes 7by means of questions7 that it is only one sound1 the same from first to last4 ,then one of the pupils is to try to draw out the sound 1 and it thus becomes clear that it is only the last of the two sounds that is prolonged4 ,on the basis of what has been previously learned 7p4 #adi71 the teacher shows the difference of effect caused in closing the nostrils with the fingers1 and explains that it is due to the fact that in we have first a sound where the air escapes only through the mouth1 then another sound where the air only passes out through the nose2 but in 1 both passages are open at the same time4 ,if a pencil is laid in the mouth so that it rests on the tongue 7tolerably far back71 it will remain lying quietly when is pronounced1 but not in the case of 4 ,in connection with 1 the pupils may practise the sound in tant1 or1 more correctly1 1 the sound in teint and the rounded sound in 1 un4 ,the sound in tuer te1 lui li is easily learned with sufficient exactness as a y which is quickly passed over so that the main stress is allowed to fall on the following sound1 the relation between w and u being brought in by way of comparison4 ,with respect to the consonants1 care must be taken to pronounce t1 d1 n in such a way that the point of the tongue touches the upper teeth2 it must1 at all events1 not be held as far back as in ,english2 the same applies to l1 where this difference is still more important2 the hollow sound of the ,english l is also to be avoided by keeping the whole tongue more flat and not hollowing it out like a spoon4 ,the voiceless sounds r and l in fntr fentre and tabl table can easily be deduced from what has been learned about the voice 7p4 #aej-aea72 it is necessary to guard against making r into the vowel found at the end of ,english words like mister1 etc4 ,the pupils will easily understand that with the correct unvoiced pronunciation1 these sounds are apt to disappear in rapid speech4 ,finally we take up the sound in kpa campagne2 it is explained as lying between nj and 2 it is best pronounced with the point of the tongue resting in the lower part of the mouth behind the lower teeth1 but in using the word 8best0 ,i intend to hint that it is not strictly necessary to require this method of formation2 there are also ,frenchmen who 7at all events before a vowel7 pronounce it like ,english nj in onion4 ,with respect to p1 t1 k1 it is well known that in ,french they have not the aspiration that they have in ,english2 since the difference is not so great1 however1 the ,english sounds may perhaps be used unchanged in the beginning4 ,then if one of the pupils notices the difference1 which he perhaps will express by saying that the teacher pronounces b when there stands p in the book1 or possibly by merely trying to imitate the teacher's sound by means of his own ,english b1 his attention may be called to the little breath which there always is between the opening of the ,english p and the vowel itself2 this is not found in ,french1 where the vowel after p1 t1 k comes exactly at the same moment as the opening takes place 7either by the lips or the tongue71 and therefore they sound to us like b1 d1 g 7capitaine as if it were gabidn74 ,try a p without a vowel after it1 first with a strong breath 7somewhat like when you pooh-pooh something1 but without any voice71 then without any breath like a man puffing at his pipe 7about the same sound as when soap bubbles burst72 and then try to place a vowel after it#dg2 it must come immediately1 just as quickly as the movements of a soldier after the drill-master's command4 ,then t and k may be taken up in the same manner4 ,the ,french division into syllables 7il a i la1 chaque colier a ke k lje1 etc47 is best learned by pure imitation1 likewise the distribution of stress 7accent72 by reciting or reading connectedly to the pupils and by always requiring them to say the whole sentence together without any pause1 the teacher can counteract their tendency to pronounce each word separately in that monotone which is intolerable4 ,thus il a t ici is said all together in one with the vowels gliding over into each other1 a sounding somewhat similar to ai in lie1 and i to ei in lay4 ,german sounds are somewhat easier for ,englishmen than ,french sounds1 but yet there are several points to be noticed4 ,in the case of some sounds1 any skilled teacher will be able to follow the suggestions given for ,french1 mutatis mutandis2 in the case of others1 like the two ch- sounds1 he must in an analogous manner adapt his theoretical knowledge in phonetics to the practical needs of teaching4 ,some people have found it inconsistent that ,i have no partiality for didactic theorizing in questions of grammar1 but myself employ theoretical explanations in questions of phonetics4 ,the explanation is not far to seek4 ,theoretical grammar1 as it is generally studied1 is more abstract1 it is difficult1 it is very comprehensive1 and still it does not lead to the desired goal1 which is grammatical correctness2 the theory of sound which we want introduced is more concrete and it is easy1 it is more limited1 and it actually leads to the desired goal1 which is a good pronunciation4 ,this last assertion is proved by the experiences of numerous teachers in various lands4 ,of late years1 it has become more and more usual in schools to use a sound-chart in connection with the instruction in languages4 ,on this chart1 all the sounds of the language which is being studied are arranged in systematic order1 and are indicated with such large letters that they can be seen by the whole class2 various finesses are often used1 as for instance to give the voiced and voiceless sounds different colours4#dh ,i myself have not used this contrivance1 but ,i have heard from several foreign teachers1 and now from a couple of ,danish teachers too1 that they are very well satisfied with it4 ,the teacher points to a letter and gets either the whole class or one of the pupils to say the corresponding sound2 or the teacher may let ,a mention some sound or other1 and ,b1 who is standing at the blackboard1 shows that he has caught it by repeating it and at the same time pointing at the symbol2 or if ,c makes a mistake in the pronunciation of a word which he is reading 7or saying7 ,d is to point1 first to the symbol for the wrong sound1 and then to the right one1 etc4 ,in this way1 much writing on the blackboard1 which would otherwise be necessary1 is saved2 and besides1 it may be of great benefit for the pupils always to have all the sounds in a connected system before their eyes 7even if the teacher of course never intends to examine them in the whole phonetical system of the language as such74 ,the elements of phonetical transcription are learned1 as we have seen1 together with the corresponding sounds themselves4 ,now what is the use of the phonetical transcription itself8 ,it seems to be commonly supposed that its votaries claim by its help to have 8given the pupils a better comprehension of the single sounds and to have taught them more easily to produce them20 its opponents attack this assertion and strike it down with true ,quixotic zeal without stopping to think that it has never been set up by the advocates of phonetical transcription at all4 ,these advocates themselves know as well as anyone what is but natural1 namely1 that a boy does not of his own accord pronounce a ,french nasal correctly merely because he has been shown the symbol 4 ,the pronunciation of the single sounds must be learned in other ways1 as has been shown above1 and for that purpose alone1 all writing could very well be entirely dispensed with without resulting in any essential change in the character of the instruction4 ,when1 however1 we use phonetical transcription already at the first stage1 it is partly on account of the excellent help which it will afford later for quite a different purpose1 which ,i shall come to immediately1 partly because it really is of some help in the teaching of the sound-formation proper4 ,it saves the teacher a great deal of repetition1 since instead of always saying the sound himself1 he can point to the symbol and get one of the clever pupils to say it for the others2 it makes the pupils see more clearly how many different sounds there are for them to pay attention to 7while in exclusively oral instruction1 perhaps one pupil will be inclined to hear and as one sound1 another pupil1 and as one sound72 finally1 the homogeneousness of the symbols will help the pupils more easily to comprehend the nature of the sounds themselves2 when they have learned to pronounce 1 they will get the run of all the other nasal vowels more quickly when they see the same flourish over them all2 the double parallelism in the four symbols s z will aid them in learning the corresponding relations between the sounds themselves4 ,however1 in order to understand the greatest and the proper value of phonetical transcription1 it is necessary to have well in mind the fact that there are two essentially different kinds of mistakes in pronunciation-- ,a4 ,mistakes in the formation of the sounds1 and ,b4 ,mistakes in the employment of the sounds4 ,we have mistakes belonging to ,class ,a1 for instance1 when ,englishmen use the ng combination in place of the ,french nasals1 or when they diphthongize the ,french long1 pure vowels1 when they pronounce or k instead of ,german ch1 or z or s for ,german z ts1 1 as in cur1 instead of r in ,french cur1 when they pronounce ,french d like the ,english due1 etc4 ,mistakes belonging to ,class ,b arise if you pronounce ,french gent like gant1 peut like put1 or vice vers eut like 1 ,german frass or fuss with a short1 or nass or nuss with a long vowel1 bischen with 1 etc4 ,both kinds of mistakes may occur in the same word1 as when ,mnchen is pronounced minkn or mjukn instead of mynen4 ,the mistakes belonging to class ,a are not due to the orthography2 those mistakes we can also make in languages whose spelling corresponds to the pronunciation2 they are largely due to our native habits of articulation1 and they are to be counteracted by means of the phonetical training which has been described above4 ,if the foreign sounds have once been well learned in the introductory course1 this kind of mistakes can only occur through carelessness or through the lack of continued practice4 ,mistakes in the employment of the sounds 7class ,b7 however1 are as a rule due to disagreement between the pronunciation and the orthography of each language2 they are not caused by our native habits of articulation1 and even those that have learned all the foreign sounds perfectly 7indeed even the natives themselves7 are liable to make them in every new word which they see written1 but have never heard4 ,it is this last kind of mistake that phonetical transcription helps us to avoid1 it protects us against the mistakes which the different national orthographies actually seduce us to make4 ,phonetical transcription is necessary in the teaching of all languages1 but of course1 it may deviate from the ordinary orthography in greater or less degree in the different languages4 ,in ,finnish and ,spanish1 the orthography is so nearly phonetical that only relatively few changes are necessary in order to indicate the pronunciation2 in ,italian1 almost all that is needed is to indicate if e and o are open or closed1 if s and z are voiced z1 dz or voiceless s1 ts1 and which single consonants are to be pronounced double 7long74 ,in ,german1 the orthography is already much more capricious1 but in languages like ,french1 ,danish1 and ,english1 the number of conflicting rules with all their exceptions is so great that the phonetical transcription necessarily has quite a different appearance from the traditional spelling4 ,max ,mller once said that the ,english orthography is a national misfortune1 and ,vitor has improved upon this observation by declaring that it is an international misfortune1 since it is not only ,englishmen but also all educated persons in other lands who have to be bothered with it4 ,now1 by means of phonetical transcription the words of the foreign language are presented to us in a kind of normal or ideal orthography1 where every letter always signifies the same sound1 and every sound is always indicated in the same manner4 ,some persons urge the objection against the use of phonetical transcription that it can never be made so perfect that it can show all the shades of intonation1 etc41 in the spoken language1 so that it cannot take the place of a teacher's oral instruction4 ,but we have never maintained that it could2 aside from private study without a teacher1 which must needs always be more or less imperfect1 we have always emphasized the exceedingly great importance of the teacher pronouncing the words for the pupils1 and we have not recommended phonetical transcription as something to replace1 but as something to support1 the teacher's oral instruction in pronunciation4 ,even if it misses some of the very finest shades1 it may still be of benefit1 just as a table of logarithms can be very useful even if the numbers are not carried out farther than to the fourth decimal place4 ,other opponents again have exactly the reverse objection to make1 that our system of sound-symbols is too delicately detailed for school use4 ,even if many people only say this because they confuse the phonetical transcription which is used in scientific works with the far simpler transcription which we want to introduce for school use1 and which is by no means beyond the powers of comprehension of an ordinary pupil1 still we have an answer right at hand4 ,we are aiming at 7and attaining7 greater exactness than our predecessors cared for1 but this is very necessary too1 for the old school pronunciation was too unintelligible to the native4 ,besides1 our system is constructed on such simple principles1 that we attain to a higher degree of exactness with less trouble than you do with far more difficult means4 ,when mathematicians began to designate the value of in decimal form 7#cadaf7 instead of the fractional form #bb_/g1 they not only attained greater exactness but also greater ease in using the quantity in long calculations1 since the decimal is easier to handle than the fraction4 ,our phonetical transcription may pride itself on exactly corresponding advantages4 ,it has already been tried in many old readers 7to say nothing of the dictionaries7 to counteract the injurious influence of the orthography on the pronunciation by means of different systems of designating the pronunciation1 such as numbers over the vowels1 strokes denoting length and curves denoting shortness1 italicizing of the s's which ought to be voiced1 or in other places italicizing of the silent letters1 dots and flourishes above and under the letters4 ,all such systems1 just because they try to deviate as little as possible from the orthography1 necessarily adopt a number of its caprices and thus become too complicated to be of any real benefit to the pupils4 ,but the phoneticians1 by starting out from rational principles1 have succeeded in creating systems of phonetical transcription which really meet all reasonable demands in the way of exactness and simplicity4#di ,that they really are simple and easy to learn has been proved to me more than once in striking ways2 in several schools where my books are used but where the teacher has been afraid of the phonetical transcription1 the children have resorted to it of their own accord1 when they came to a word that they did not know how to pronounce2 several parents have also told me that they have familiarized themselves with the phonetical transcription in the books which their children used and they did not find it at all difficult4 ,perhaps it is worth while here to consider the four ways in which it is possible to communicate the material of a foreign language to pupils4 ,either 7#a7 the teacher may not let them use any writing at all1 but give them everything orally2 or 7#b7 he may give them the orthography alone2 or 7#c7 he may give them orthography and phonetical transcription together2 or finally 7#d7 he may give them phonetical transcription alone4 7#a7 ,the first way obviously has the advantage that there is no sound-symbol whatever to confuse the clear apprehension of the pupils2 it resembles the manner in which a child learns its mother tongue4 ,it will also be the more in place the more the instruction can be brought to resemble the way in which a child first acquires language1 that is1 where there is only one pupil1 or at least very few2 where the pupil 7pupils7 is 7are7 not very old1 and especially not yet quite familiar with the secrets of writing2 where the teacher is a native2 and above all1 where there is ample time4 ,for we must not shut our eyes to the fact that this exclusively oral instruction in languages takes exceedingly much time2 much repetition is necessary1 and the teacher has to have great patience4 ,in schools it is only possible to have purely oral instruction as a short preliminary course of a couple of months at the most1 before passing over to the use of writing in some form or other4 ,walter1 who has tried both1 is emphatically of the opinion that in class instruction phonetical transcription is much to be preferred to purely oral instruction1 because the latter wastes an enormous amount of time1 and the teacher cannot feel nearly so sure that the whole class is able to follow4 7#b7 ,the pupils are immediately allowed to see the traditional orthography1 and the teacher gives them the pronunciation orally4 ,the eternal repetition and the painful small corrections which this method craves make the lessons bothersome for both the teacher and the pupils1 who almost always become slovenly out of sheer discouragement over the prodigious task before them4 ,of course there are some rules for the relations between orthography and pronunciation1 but unfortunately there are so few without exceptions that certainty cannot be attained by their means4 7#c7 ,the pupils are taught the traditional spelling from the very beginning1 but at the same time they are given an antidote in the shape of phonetical transcription1 either in the form that every new word is phonetically transcribed in the glossary1 or that 7in addition7 the reading selections themselves are transcribed4 ,to be sure the advantages of phonetical transcription are made use of by this method2 several teachers have expressed their satisfaction at the results thus obtained1 and ,i have no doubt that they are better than when phonetical transcription is dispensed with4 ,however1 ,i am convinced that by this method it is difficult sometimes to prevent the less intelligent pupils from confusing the two systems of spelling1 so that they neither learn the pronunciation nor the orthography very well4 7#d7 ,therefore ,i have always 7like the majority of the advocates of phonetical transcription7 preferred to let beginners be employed only with phonetical transcription for some time1 so that they may become quite familiar not only with the system of sound-symbols1 but also with a good deal of the material of the language before they pass on to seeing the words in their orthographical shape too4 ,the principle to be followed here is that of not allowing the difficulties to pile up1 but overcoming them one by one4 ,when the pupils know the symbols after the first few lessons1 it causes them no difficulty whatever to read the texts2 these themselves 7together with the meaning of the words1 the grammatical forms1 etc47 are therefore far more easy to learn than if the caprices of the orthography had to be mastered at the same time4 ,for this method1 connected texts in phonetical transcription are of course necessary1 but such texts are also to be recommended to those who follow method ,no4 #c1 since there are many points of pronunciation which cannot come up at all in the transcriptions of the single words in the glossary1 such points as appear only in combinations of words1 in connected discourse4 ,there is1 for instance1 ,french in le1 de1 demande1 devenir1 quatre1 etc41 etc41 which is sometimes pronounced and sometimes omitted1 according to the number of consonants coming immediately before or after the 3 devenir advnir1 pour devenir purdvnir1 etc42 there is the varying treatment of the ,english r2 there are double forms due to the influence of sentence-stress1 such as kn and kn 7 can71 and many other phenomena of that kind1 which it is really necessary to pay attention to1 since no sentence can be pronounced naturally without consideration for these points1 and since we cannot understand the natives without being familiar with them#ej--;for we cannot require the ,french to make their language stiff and do violence to all their natural habits of speech to suit us4 ,only by using connected texts in phonetical transcription can the teacher require the pupils from the very beginning to read the foreign language connectedly1 intelligently1 and with some expression4 ,in conversations on the subject1 ,i have so often had to answer the question as to whether ,i also want the pupils to learn to write phonetical transcription1 that ,i must devote a few lines to that question here too4 ,of course they must write phonetical transcription1 but learn it--well1 that is scarcely necessary1 for it will not entail the least bit of extra work or trouble for them4 ,they learn the symbols1 and when they know them they can write any word whatever in phonetical transcription1 if they only know how to pronounce it2 this is a thing which follows of its own accord from the very nature of phonetical transcription4 ,dictation1 in which the pupils are to write in phonetical transcription what the teacher says to them1 presupposes only a correct apprehension of the sounds1 and is a very good test as to whether they have heard accurately 7cf4 p4 #ie74 ,how long is a teacher to continue to use exclusively phonetical transcription8 ,that is one of the most difficult questions1 and ,i cannot venture to give a decided answer4 ,the answer will surely always depend partly upon the age and maturity of the pupils and upon how much time can be spent upon the language on the whole4 ,i myself have even dared to go so far that in teaching a class in ,english1 when ,i only had two hours a week for two years before the final examination1 ,i spent the whole of the first year on phonetical transcription 7,sweet's ,elementarbuch71 and ,i did not regret it4 ,in ,french in the lower classes1 ,i once at least used phonetical transcription more than a year1 and the only difficulty arose when some boys came in in the course of the year from other schools4 ,at other times1 again1 ,i have made the course in phonetical transcription shorter1 and on the whole ,i have experimented in various ways without coming to any certain result--except this3 continue with phonetical transcription as long as possible4 ,for there is relatively so much more of the language itself learned in this way1 that ,i have not the slightest doubt that the pupil who1 with the same number of lessons a week1 and at the same age1 has read phonetical transcription for two years and orthography for half a year knows more of the language 7not only of the pronunciation67 than the pupil who has used phonetical transcription for half a year and thereupon orthography for two and a half years 7in all half a year more than the first boy74 ,and then the phonetical transcription itself is such a fine means of training the pupils to minute exactness1 because they really have to be constantly on the lookout in order to read neither more nor less than each symbol indicates2 therefore ,i attach great educational significance to phonetical transcription4 ,but of course we have to begin to learn the orthography some time2 and ,i suppose it is this transition more than anything else that has frightened people away from using phonetical transcription1 because they imagine that it must be extremely difficult4 ,but now all those who have dared to try phonetical transcription unanimously declare that they were surprised at the ease with which the transition took place2 there was no trouble worth mentioning either for the teacher or the pupils2 and they were surprised at the accuracy in orthography displayed by pupils who had been taught in this way4 ,the psychological reason for this is probably to be found in the sharper perception which these pupils necessarily get of the difference between sound and writing1 together with the fact that they are not compelled like the others to learn many things at a time 7spelling1 pronunciation1 meaning1 inflection71 but the orthography is separated out as something which is to be learned by itself about words with whose pronunciation and meaning they have already become quite familiar4 ,the best way of making the transition seems to be in going over some of the selections which have already been read and learned4 ,first1 the teacher says a few words about orthography in general1 basing his remarks on ,english spelling2 he may call attention to the silent letters in night1 know1 the ambiguity of the vowels in home1 honest1 etc4 ,then a ,french piece the pupils know already is shown to them in orthographical dress2 it is gone through word by word in such a way that the pupils themselves may be guided to find out the most important relations between the letters and their sound-values4 ,here they for the first time have something to do with the accents and the cedilla1 whose name they learn4#ea ,in the following lessons the comparison between spelling and sound is conducted in the same manner as indicated above for grammatical observations2 sometimes starting from a certain sound1 the students may point out all the words in which it occurs on a page or so2 sometimes starting from the orthography1 they may note and classify all the phonetical values of a certain letter4 ,a few lessons will be sufficient for these preliminaries4 ,ought the teacher to require the pupils to learn the orthography from the very beginning1 that is1 ought he to examine them in spelling or let them write dictation8 ,no--that is not generally the practice according to the non-phonetical method either4 ,first let them become accustomed to seeing the spelling1 and in the exercises just suggested let them copy out of the book2 later on they may be required to learn how to spell the words in the first line of every lesson1 and in the course of a few months the pupils will be just as much at home in their ,french and ,german orthography as any pedant could require--and much more at home than they generally are now after a long time4#eb ,phonetical transcription ought by no means to be given up on beginning with the orthography3 it is too good an aid to be dispensed with at this point4 ,not only ought whole pieces to be read1 occasionally at least1 in phonetical transcription1 but it ought to be used in connection with all new words 7thus especially in the glossary7 in order to prevent all guesswork4 ,thereby is also obtained another important result at a later stage1 namely1 the teacher may be just as strict in requiring the pronunciation to be learned as the meaning1 whereas without phonetical transcription he cannot expect the pronunciation to be prepared at home4 ,by steadily keeping up their practice in transposing phonetical transcription into practical pronunciation the pupils have something of value for their whole life1 for1 when they no longer have a teacher to ask about the pronunciation of a new word1 they can obtain information about it themselves4 ,that which was only a few years ago a possibility reserved for the distant future1 namely1 that all ,french and ,english dictionaries should give the pronunciation according to rational principles1 is now1 as we know1 well under way to become a reality at any time4#ec ,the use of phonetics and phonetical transcription in the teaching of modern languages must be considered as one of the most important advances in modern pedagogy1 because it ensures both considerable facilitation and an exceedingly large gain in exactness4 ,but these means must be employed immediately from the very beginning2 just as easy as it is to get a good pronunciation in this way1 just as difficult is it to root out the bad habits which may become inveterate during a very short period of instruction according to a wrong or antiquated method4 ,timotheus1 an old well-known music-teacher1 used to demand double payment of all those pupils who had taken instruction with other teachers before they came to him2 the reason that he gave was that he had much more trouble in teaching these pupils than those who had not already acquired bad habits for him to break them of4 ,go ye and do likewise1 ye teachers of languages6 ,i shall add a few words on the use of the phonograph4 ,the apparatus has been very much perfected of late years and renders beautifully most vowels and all the general features of stress1 intonation1 etc4 ,but the rendering of most consonants is still far from perfect2 you cannot always tell whether you hear a p or an f1 etc41 and it is impossible to rely on a phonographic record for minute shades of s-sounds and the like4 ,it is clear1 too1 that even if the apparatus were nearer the ideal than it is now1 it could not replace the teacher4 ,but in the hands of an able teacher ,i have no doubt that it will prove a valuable help3 it is patient and will repeat the same sentences scores of times1 if required1 without tiring or changing a single sound or intonation2 you may also have different records of the same short piece as pronounced by one man from ,berlin1 another man from ,hanover1 a third from ,munich1 and a fourth from ,vienna1 which may be very useful for comparisons1 even if1 as a matter of course1 in your ordinary teaching you stick to one particular standard of pronunciation--and in various other ways phonographic records may be used to stimulate the pupils4 ,but everything they hear in this way should at the same time be presented to them in phonetic writing--either in their readers or on the blackboard4 ,perhaps1 at some future day1 the 8telegraphone0 invented by my countryman ,v4 ,poulsen will supplant ,edison's phonograph in this as well as in other respects4 ,,footnotes3 #ch ,greek could just as well be read with ,latin letters1 for they are almost as much like the letters which ,demosthenes used as the late black-letters are which we print as ,greek4 #ci ,a dot after the letter and above the line is the best indication of length4 a is here taken phonetically1 the vowel in arm4 #dj ,a hand-mirror is a useful thing to have in these preliminary phonetical exercises4 ,in several places1 the teacher requires each pupil to bring his own along4 #da ,here also the experiment in hearing the voice distinctly by holding the hands flat against the ears4 #db ,i have often also conducted the exercise in such a way that the class had to voice the sound when ,i raised my hand1 and unvoice it when ,i lowered my hand2 thus ,i have made them articulate fffvvvffvvvff1 ssszzsss1 etc41 without any pauses4 #dc ,that ,i am not exaggerating 7as people certainly will suspect in about ten years from now71 ,i could easily prove by means of a long series of opinions from pedagogical meetings1 articles in pedagogical periodicals1 newspaper reviews1 etc4 #dd ,i have sometimes made the introduction longer1 sometimes shorter than here indicated2 some teachers make it more complete1 so that they get a whole system of sounds tabulated before they pass on to the reading4 #de ,but stopped consonants1 like p1 t1 k1 are exceptions to these instructions to isolate the sounds--every phonetician knows the reason why4 ,they should be uttered with a vowel before and one after1 e4g4 ata4 #df ,with the exception of the vowels a in alms1 in war1 and in sir4 #dg ,this method of procedure follows in the main the suggestions of ,klinghardt4 #dh ,if the teacher does not care to prepare such charts himself1 he can use ,vitor's ,lauttafeln4 #di ,besides1 the different systems of modern phoneticians all resemble each other very much--far more than did the earlier arbitrary methods of designating the pronunciation 7for instance1 ,walker's1 ,flgel's1 ,toussaint-,langenscheidt's1 ,tanger's1 etc474 ,any one who has learned ,sweet's phonetical transcription can easily read ,passy's or my own1 and vice vers2 the differences are hardly worth speaking of4 #ej ,i remember a lady's dismay when a ,frenchman used the combination stane in a sentence2 she could not understand the sentence until ,i repeated it1 inserting stane4 8,o well10 she rejoined1 8if he had only said stane2 we always said it that way in school40 7,cette anne47 #ea ,the use of the ,french or ,german names of the letters of the alphabet when words are being spelled in ,english is merely affectation1 and deserves only a shrug of the shoulders1 especially since1 as a rule1 it is not consistently carried through1 but is applied only to some few letters1 y being called igrk or ypsilon1 ch1 sea or tseha1 according to circumstances1 and this in the midst of other letters which are allowed to retain their ,english names with diphthongs and everything4 ,it is quite a different thing when the teaching is wholly conducted in the foreign language2 then it is necessary to practise the foreign names of the letters1 but then it must be carried through consistently4 #eb ,wer jemals in der schule die lautschrift als hilfsmittel zur erzielung einer besseren aussprache benutzt hat1 der weiss1 welcher nutzen aus ihr entspringt2 der weiss aber auch1 dass der schaden1 welchen sie bezglich der orthographie anrichten kann1 sich nur auf wenige wochen erstreckt und usserst gering ist1 jedenfalls viel geringer als der schaden1 welchen eine schlechte aussprache in der orthographie anrichtet4 ,h4 ,p4 ,junker1 ,die neueren sprachen1 v4 #ii4 #ec ,see especially ,murray1 ,bradley1 and ,craigie's ,new ,english ,dictionary1 ,a4 ,schrer's edition of ,grieb's ,englisch-deutsches wrterbuch1 and ,rangel-,nielsen's ,fransk-danske ordbog4 ,i am myself transcribing the ,english words in ,brynildsen's ,engelsk-dansk-norske ordbog1 two-thirds of which have already appeared4 ,edgren's ,french ,dictionary should perhaps also be mentioned1 but ,i have never seen it myself4 ,,xi ,like most works on pedagogy1 this one too has been mostly concerned with the teaching of beginners4 ,but now and then there has been a word about the instruction of advanced pupils1 and now ,i shall add a few more suggestions about it4 ,it is best to continue on the same lines as during the first years1 only making those changes which circumstances necessarily demand4 ,the pupils must read--read more and more1 read better and better books1 books whose contents are of a nature to hold their attention and to give them as much all round information and development as possible--accordingly1 as has been previously suggested1 not solely works of literature4 ,that sort of reading is especially good which gives the pupils some insight into the foreign nation's peculiarity in the widest sense of the word1 and best of all is that reading which is apt to make the pupils love what is best in the foreign people4 ,tennyson is right when he says1 8,it is the authors1 more than the diplomats1 who make nations love one another02#ed and teachers of modern languages should ever remember that it is their mission to make their countrymen know and understand foreign nations4 ,by making their pupils read good literature as well as by capacitating the younger generations of different countries for intelligent intercourse with one another1 language-teachers all over the world may ultimately prove more efficacious in establishing good permanent relations between the nations than ,peace ,congresses at the ,hague4 ,some reading must be taken thoroughly1 some may be cursory2 it is perhaps best to have several gradations4 ,whereas in the beginning it is necessary to chew well in order to get all the linguistic nourishment out of the reading1 later on it may of course be taken in larger and larger bites4 ,already rather early in the course of instruction1 those pieces may be more lightly passed over whose contents are scarcely fit to be taken too seriously or which contain words which it is not absolutely necessary to remember4 ,the teacher may simply let the pupils read such pieces aloud1 explaining every word which they do not understand1 but without basing any questions on them1 and without requiring them to be studied for the next time4 ,later on1 in the midst of more serious work1 a month or two may be taken for reading a light novel through in the same easy manner4 ,the pupils may also have private reading to do at home in addition to what they read in school4 ,the teacher that ,i had in ,french and ,english in the upper classes in ,frederiksborg ,school 7,h4 ,mathiesen7 had an excellent way of making us desire of our own accord to read novels in the language studied2 each one of us was ambitious to give in the longest list of volumes read when the teacher called for the lists at the first lesson in every month1 and even if we of course read very rapidly and never looked up any words1 yet we learned a good deal1 and ,i consider the habit of reading which ,i thus acquired to be one of the most valuable acquisitions that ,i got during my last years in school4 ,in order to test whether we really had read the books as stated1 our teacher sometimes talked to us about their contents1 but he talked in ,danish1 sometimes he only made us open the books at random and translate a little piece4 ,it is no doubt better to organize this practice1 as it is now done in some parts of ,germany1 where the whole class reads the same book at home and must have read a certain amount by a certain day 7after a fortnight's or a month's interval74 ,then they must be able to give an account of the contents in the foreign language1 must also ask each other questions about the book1 and may even occasionally be required to write down the contents as a written exercise2 after the teacher has looked through these accounts1 the pupils may deliver them orally and more freely1 and this will give occasion for further conversation--all in the foreign language4 ,most important1 however1 is the reading which is done thoroughly1 so thoroughly that the pupils completely master both contents and language1 and which therefore in both these respects ought to be as good as possible4 ,in exercises with questions and answers1 the contents naturally play an important part1 and even if the pupils feel it is one aim1 and a very important one1 to acquire skill in the language1 yet this aim is not always directly kept in view as such2 neither does a child talk in order to practise using its mother-tongue1 but in order to get some information and in order to communicate itself to others--and thereby it learns the language4 ,this feeling of reality becomes more and more prominent as the pupils become more advanced2 in the conversations1 the pupils show directly1 that they understand the contents1 indirectly that they understand the language4 ,the pupils must talk--about what they have read1 and that the talks are not mere farces with conventional 8parleur0 phrases1 as our opponents would like to make out1 ,i hope that ,i have shown sufficiently well4#ee ,when a certain teacher wrote somewhere that all the conversation that there is time for consists of the following five questions1 which are asked of the monitor 7and only of him7 at the beginning of every lesson3 8,who is the monitor8 ,what date is it to-day8 ,what day of the week is it8 ,who is absent8 ,what have you prepared for to-day801 and that he owes it to the truth to confess that it is only the minority of the pupils who at the end of the year are able to answer these questions correctly without hesitation1 then this deplorable result is primarily due to the fewness of the questions2 he who only gets the tip of his finger dipped in the water three times in twenty weeks will never learn how to swim4 ,it is secondarily due to the fact that the questions are stereotyped and have no connection with what the class is reading4 ,furthermore this same teacher says that he generally cannot spend more than a few minutes of each lesson on these 8elementary exercises10 since the reading1 translation and grammar requires the rest of the time1 in the middle classes1 indeed1 all the time1 so that at this stage there is no time at all for any conversation4 ,but if the talks are used for interpreting the text1 two big birds are killed with one stone1 and then it will soon be seen that skill in speaking increases like wealth2 if you have only reached a certain point1 the rest comes of its own accord2 the accumulated capital multiplies surprisingly fast and willingly4 ,the pupils must write--original papers in the foreign language1 not translations--that is1 the form of language used must be as little as possible suggested by ,english turns of expression4 ,but the subject must be concrete and limited4 ,the chief danger that there may be in such original written exercises1 namely that the pupils avoid all the difficulties and only use a slender supply of expressions1 which they feel sure of1 this danger is greater the vaguer or more comprehensive the subject is4 ,for instance1 it is best not to give broad literary subjects1 such as 8,die romantische schule10 etc4 ,a more limited subject is far better1 both as an exercise and as a test2 for instance1 an account of a little anecdote or of the newspaper report of some event1 which the teacher has read to the class2 a description of what is to be seen on a picture1 a renarration of some episode in the novel or in the historical selection which is being read in class1 possibly in the form of a letter2#ef a summing up of everything relating to one of the characters in the text read2 a review of the line of thought in 7a section of7 some essay which has been read2 a paraphrase of some poem4 ,still more limited are such exercises in which a certain number of questions have to be answered1 or such exercises in the use of synonymous words and expressions as have been described on p4 #aci4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but can such a method of instruction as has here been described really be carried out under existing circumstances8 ,are there not obstacles to be encountered on every hand8 ,yes2 unfortunately there are things which stand in the way and make a good deal of trouble1 but luckily they do not make it quite impossible for the new system to be used4 ,as hindrances may be mentioned the shortness of the time1 the apportionment of the time1 the examinations1 the teachers4 ,the time which is now set apart for modern languages is too brief4 ,therefore all teachers of modern languages ought to unite1 and1 together with all the parents who are dissatisfied with the arrangements in our grammar schools 7and they are not few71 they ought to agitate for the removal of that burden which weighs heavily on the school and which prevents the growing generation from getting an education which can meet the urgent demands of our times1 ,i mean1 the school must be delivered from the classical languages2 then there will be air and space for all that is now shoved into the background1 among other things the modern foreign languages4#eg ,but--even in the scanty time which is now at disposal1 there is much that can be done differently and better than hitherto1 and the more the teachers in modern languages show this1 and the more they can keep out of the old jogtrot way1 the more will their subject be respected1 and the more willingness will there be to extend the time when future reforms demand it4 ,the apportionment of the time is poor4 ,when will people finally realize that everything cannot be learned at once8 ,many subjects1 and with so few hours a week for each that the pupils forget what they have learned from one lesson to the next--that is a frightful waste of time4 ,no1 learn a few things or one thing at a time1 learn everything well and learn it to the end before passing on to the next4#eh ,and especially with respect to languages1 there can be no doubt that it is best to take them up one after the other1 not side by side2 to every language that is taken up should be devoted many hours a week1 and as a rule two years ought to be allowed to pass before commencing a new language2 then the first is so firmly rooted in the minds of the pupils that merely a very few lessons a week will be sufficient for keeping it up and extending it1#ei and then the two languages do not injure each other nearly as much as if they were studied side by side before the pupils have mastered either one of them4 ,as to the question at what age the children ought to begin to learn foreign languages1 ,i dare not express any decided opinion2 ,i think ,i should be afraid to begin too early rather than too late2 first let the mother tongue have time enough to take a firm and lasting hold of the child's mind before other languages are admitted4 ,the worst canker in our school-system#fj is the examinations4 ,everything is arranged with a view to examinations2 the parents1 the children1 and unfortunately also a number of the teachers care for nothing but the results attained in the examinations2 the daily instruction is left to shift for itself1 but the authorities will take ample care to guard against the least bit of negligence which might be shown by the examiners4 ,examinations compel the teachers to lay undue stress on cramming4 8,cram may be defined as the accumulation of undigested facts and second-hand theories to be reproduced on paper1 handed in to the examiner1 and then forgotten for ever4 ,a crammed examinee differs from a crammed ,strasburg goose in not assimilating his nutriment1 and this would be a real advantage were it not that the process leaves him with a nauseated appetite1 enfeebled reasoning powers1 though abnormally enlarged memory1 and a general distaste for disinterested study40#fa ,examinations cause the mental and physical ruin of many more young men than we can afford4 ,as a test of what a young man is worth in life1 an examination is without any value whatever2 as a test of how much really valuable knowledge he has1 it is not worth much2 and even as a test of how much he knows of what happens to be asked him on such an occasion1 an examination is not nearly as reliable as people like to imagine4#fb ,and then examinations tend in so many ways to impede instruction which would otherwise be really profitable4 ,the question 8will that be required for the examination80 is always1 either consciously or unconsciously1 present in the schoolroom2 it smothers the teacher's enthusiasm for communicating to his pupils what interests himself most2 and it discourages the pupils' natural thirst for knowledge for its own sake4 ,just before the examinations1 the whole school is seized with its yearly attack of its chronic examination-catarrh4 ,in all departments1 it is considered necessary to recapitulate for examinations2 for a couple of months1 the pupils are transformed into mental ruminants2 they receive no new mental sustenance whatever1 but have to be satisfied with going through the whole year's work once or twice more at as rapid a pace as possible4 ,the matter which they have been given does not become more savoury on being served again2 all the juice and strength1 all that makes it tempting is lost1 and nothing remains but what is toughest and dryest4 ,but even if there is much fault to be found with the system of examinations1 yet it is not necessary to reform that before we can begin to improve the instruction4 ,the examination requirements are not so great that we cannot meet them even if we do not from the very beginning plan all our instruction exactly with them in view4 ,although the chief stress in the examination may be laid on the translation and not on speaking1 yet that is no reason why the latter should be entirely dispensed with4 ,if by a receptive command of a foreign language is meant the ability to understand it1 and by a productive command1 the power to express oneself in the language1 then ,i am fully convinced that anyone who merely concerns himself with the receptive side of it injures himself and acquires far less ability to understand it than if he had from the very beginning also aimed at a productive command of the language4 ,therefore our all round exercises will give our pupils at least just as much receptive knowledge of the language as is attained by the pupils of others2 and even if it is rather provoking for a teacher who has taken a good deal of trouble to teach his pupils to speak to see that this counts for little or nothing at the examination1 he can comfort himself with a good conscience at any rate--beside the pleasure which he and his pupils have had in their daily work together4 ,nor ought any consideration for examinations to prevent anyone from the best kind of recapitulation1 which is1 not to wait until the approach of examinations1 when much that has been read is forgotten1 so that the teacher has to be on the lookout all the time to make sure that the pupils understand everything1 but to take it up while the matter is still fresh in the memory1 so that it is not necessary to sound the pupils on every little point4 ,every chapter ought to be revised when it is finished1 and every section or book ought to be gone over as a whole4 ,then the thoughts which were formerly occupied with details may be turned to the connected whole1 and since the work can be conducted in the form of almost uninterrupted intelligent reading aloud1 the pupils will be enabled to get approximately the same impression and the same enjoyment out of the matter read as a native gets4#fc ,if the reading has thus been gone over a section at a time at each natural break1 it will be seen at the examination that these short revisions distributed throughout the year are more advantageous than a long1 tedious recapitulation just before the examination1 and besides the pupils have been kept fresh by reading something new up to the very end4 ,as the last possible impediment in the way of the reform method1 ,i mentioned the teachers4 ,those times are now past when it was considered sufficient for a teacher of modern languages to have taken a degree in law or theology--to have studied ,tacitus and ,plato1 and then by way of amusement to have read by himself a few volumes of ,revue des deux mondes or some novels by ,cherbuliez and ,freytag4 ,but even the younger generation of teachers who are better prepared will very often find that it is not so very easy to give good instruction in modern languages4 ,it is a shame how little is done to give high-school teachers opportunities for further improvement2 they ought to have abundant access to courses in advanced work1 but especially to many and liberal travelling scholarships1 so that no conscientious teacher in foreign languages need do without a tolerably long stay among the people whose language he 7she7 teaches4 ,poor pay and long hours1 too1 naturally lead to a teacher's looking merely to examination results4 ,but still ,i continue to hope that more and more teachers will avoid the old rut1 and they will surely find that it pays to get out of it1 even if1 especially in the beginning1 they have to expend more time and energy on their teaching1 and on their preparation for every lesson1 in order to meet the greater demands of the new methods4 ,in ,germany and the ,scandinavian countries1 exceedingly great efforts are being made to reform the instruction in languages2 in ,norway1 much of what has been recommended in this book has even been adopted in the official school-plans issued in #ahig2fd and fortunately the movement is also on the way to becoming strong in ,england4 ,if this book by a foreigner can contribute ever so little to the encouragement and support of ,english language-teachers in their zealous and able efforts to introduce newer and better methods1 then ,i am glad to have been enabled in this manner to pay off a little of the debt that ,i owe to ,england and to many ,englishmen4 ,in closing let me try to sum up4 ,the old-fashioned disconnected sentences proved to be a failure for many reasons1 and one reason was because there was nothing else to do with them but to translate them4 ,they could arouse no interest2 they could not even be read aloud intelligently2 they could not be remembered in that definite form which they happened to have1 so they could not be used as patterns for the construction of other sentences2 therefore the rules of the grammar1 which was committed to memory1 came to play such an important part4 ,it all became monotonous and lifeless4 ,our method tries to employ many means which mutually support each other4 ,the pronunciation is not learned merely by the teacher's saying the word and the pupils repeating it1 or by the pupil's guessing at it through the orthography and the teacher's correcting him4 ,the latter plan we reject entirely2 the former1 however1 we use even to a larger extent than before1 and we adopt in addition to it a rational description and indication of sounds4 ,the improved pronunciation thus acquired also helps in a high degree in the acquiring of the other 7signification7 side of the language4 ,where formerly there was no other way of communicating the meaning of words but through translation1 we have in addition thereto direct and indirect observation1 explanations in the foreign language1 etc4 ,where the pupils formerly had to commit to memory paradigms1 rigmaroles and rules1 which all had to be taken on faith1 we let them investigate for themselves and thus get an insight into the construction of the language4 ,and whereas formerly the only exercises were translation from the mother tongue into the foreign language1 we now have a whole scale of varying exercises1 namely3 direct reproduction 7repetition of the teacher's words2 answers to questions which are based directly upon the words of the book7--modified reproduction 7repetition of sentences with changes of tense1 person1 etc42 answers to freer questions2 asking of questions7--free reproduction 7renarration7 and finally--free production 7letters1 etc474 ,and since there is a sensible meaning in all that is read or said or done1 the interest is awakened and held1 and the instruction becomes not only varied1 but what especially beseems living languages1 it becomes in the deepest and best sense of the word really living4 ,,footnotes3 #ed ,alfred ,lord ,tennyson3 a ,memoir by his ,son4 7,tauchnitz ed41 ,,iv4 p4 #hd74 #ee ,those who have their doubts may also read the accounts given by natives who have visited ,german schools where the instruction was conducted according to the reformed system1 and who have had long talks with the pupils1 in ,walter1 ,englisch nach dem ,frankfurter reformplan1 pp4 #aeb-afe1 and ,miss ,brebner1 ,the ,method of ,teaching1 etc4 #ef ,the letter-form is on the whole that form of composition which most persons have most use for1 and which therefore ought to be practised most frequently4 ,the international students' letter-exchange1 which has just been started a few years ago1 will be of great benefit--for those who happen to get good correspondents and who themselves are not afraid of taking a little trouble4 #eg ,but of course the mother-tongue too2 the study of nature1 plants1 animals1 the human race2 drawing and manual work1 out-door life4 #eh ,an eloquent recommendation of this principle is to be found in v4 ,pfeil's previously mentioned work 8,eins10 but the same thought is also gaining ground elsewhere4 #ei ,lessons which may be devoted not only to the language itself1 but also to the acquisition of useful information in other departments as well2 why not learn the geography and history of ,france in ,french during the ,french lessons1 etc4 #fj ,i am here speaking of the ,danish school-system1 but ,i have a suspicion that this canker is not unknown in other countries4 #fa ,a4 ,h4 ,sayce1 ,fortnightly ,review1 ,june #ahge4 #fb ,a certificate from the school would be quite sufficient1 if the instruction was under good control during the year4 #fc ,it has been previously suggested that various exercises in linguistic observation and classification may be given in connection with the revision1 and that by means of such exercises the revision may be masked1 as it were1 and thus receive some of the fresh interest that attaches to something new4 #fd ,similarly now in ,france4 ,,select ,,list ,,of ,,books4 ,m4 ,,br,,al1 ,de l'enseignement des langues vivantes4 ,paris #ahic4 ,m4 ,,brebner1 ,the ,method of ,teaching ,modern ,languages in ,germany4 ,london #ahih4 ,k4 ,,breul1 ,the ,teaching of ,modern ,foreign ,languages4 ,cambridge #ahih4 ,h4 ,,breymann1 ,die neusprachliche ,reform-litteratur4 ,leipz4 #ahie4 ,f4 ,,franke1 ,die praktische ,spracherlernung auf ,grund der ,psychologie und der ,physiologie der ,sprache4 #c4 ,aufl4 ,leipzig #ahif4 ,,otto ,,jespersen1 ,fransk ,begynderbog4 #c4 ,udg4 ,copenhagen #aija4 ---- ,kortfattet engelsk ,grammatik4 #d4 ,udg4 ,copenh4 #aijc4 ---- ,the ,england and ,america ,reader4 ,copenh4 #aijc4 ---- ,fonetik4 ,copenhagen #ahig-ii4 ---- ,lehrbuch der ,phonetik4 ,leipzig #aijd4 ,o4 ,,jespersen and ,,chr4 ,,sarauw1 ,engelsk ,begynderbog1 ,i4 and ,,ii4 #c4 ,udg4 ,copenhagen #aijb1 #aijc4 ,h4 ,,klinghardt1 ,ein ,jahr ,erfahrungen mit der neuen ,methode4 ,marb4 #ahhh4 ---- ,drei weitere ,jahre ,erfahrungen4 ,marb4 #ahib4 ,p4 ,,passy1 ,la mthode directe dans l'enseignement des langues vivantes4 ,paris #ahii4 ,k4 ,,quiehl1 ,franzsische ,aussprache und ,sprachfertigkeit4 #c4 ,aufl4 ,marburg #ahii4 ,j4 ,,storm1 ,om en forbedret ,undervisning i levende ,sprog4 ,norske universitets- og skoleannaler ,,ii4 ,h4 ,,sweet1 ,the ,practical ,study of ,languages4 ,london #ahii4 ,w4 ,,vi,,tor1 ,der ,sprachunterricht muss umkehren4 #b4 ,aufl4 ,heilbronn #ahhf4 ,m4 ,,walter1 ,englisch nach dem ,frankfurter ,reformplan4 ,marburg #aijj4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,widgery1 ,the ,teaching of ,languages in ,school4 #b4 ed4 ,london #aijc4 ,butler ,tanner1 ,the ,selwood ,printing ,works1 ,frome1 and ,london4 ,transcriber's ,note ,the following apparent errors have been corrected3 p4 #ai go1 changed to go10 p4 #bh chose changed to choose p4 #dh translalation changed to translation p4 #eb he is changed to #8he is p4 #ge saver changed to savez p4 #gf vout changed to vont p4 #hh 8,eins1 ,beitrge zur erziehung im hause changed to 8,eins1 ,beitrge zur erziehung im hause p4 #ii rule-of three changed to rule-of-three p4 #aja pat changed to pt p4 #aaj follow changed to following p4 #aaj conciously changed to consciously p4 #aaa now now changed to now p4 #add thingis changed to thing is p4 #adg mouth changed to mouth4 p4 #aeh changed to p4 #aeh questions changed to questions7 p4 #afj suggestions o changed to suggestions of p4 #afg with with changed to with p4 #agj 7#c74 changed to 7#c7 p4 #aga le de changed to le1 de p4 #agd thep upils changed to the pupils p4 #aid ,sprachfertigkeit changed to ,sprachfertigkeit4 p4 #aid ,sprog changed to ,sprog4 ,spelling and punctuation have otherwise been kept as printed4 ,the following are used inconsistently in the text3 classmates and class-mates everyday and every-day mother tongue and mother-tongue notebook and note-book retell and re-tell schoolbooks and school-books schooldays and school-days schoolroom and school-room