P REFA C E .

TH E of spe a king a nd understa nding re a ding a nd writing

a rt ,

a forei n l a n u a e
g g g is a subj ect which comm end s it self to
,
i

most young people P erh a ps I a m not wrong in estim a ting

.

th a t there is sc a rcely a m an eng a g ed in commerc e who ha s

not a t one time or a nother most e a rnestly coveted the a bility
to spea k with foreig ners in their own l a ng ua g e A p a rt .

a lto g ether from the commerci a l v al ue of such a power for a ,

power it certa inly is there is a strong f a scin a tion a bout the

,

subject a nd it is a f a scin a tion which never va ni shes there is

,
'

a sense of novelty in
g iving expression to our own fam ili a r
thoug ht s in words a nd phra ses th a t a re forei g n a nd new to
us ; a nd to the young especi a lly there i s a ch a rm in the -

distin ction of being a ble to express himself in a forei g n

tong ue he feels h ea d a nd shoulders a bove his fellows a nd
,

proud of his knowled g e I n ordina ry studi e s a schola r who

.

g a ins a certi fi c a te m a y be more clever th a n his fellow students \

who do not g a i n a certi fic a te or it m a y be th a t he i s only
,

more lucky a nd in a ny c a se the diff erence i n the a mount of

,

knowledg e possessed by a sch ol a r who g a ins a prize an d by one

who does not m a y not be very g rea t But in the c a se of one who
, .

ha s m a stered a forei g n tong ue a s soon a s he opens his mouth

.
,

the superiority of hi s a tt a inments i s procl a imed a nd t hose who

-

h a ve not the like kno wled g e feel very sm a ll before him .

H onour a nd distinction a re more chea ply b o ug ht or a tt a ined

to by a kno w ledg e of foreig n l a ng u a ges th a n by a ny other
'

wa y .

A nother ch a rm in the use of a foreig n l a ng u a g e i s th a t it

e n a bles us to expr e ss our thou g hts a nd emotions in words , _

which express more fully th a n our own a di ff erent sense or

a word a imer
"
dep th of mea ning For ex a mple the French l an g ua g e has
.

to like or to love
”
No w a n En glishm a n
sees a lot of di ff erence between liking a n object a nd l oving
,

"
.

a n d so does a Frenchm an but he ha s to be conte nt t o let the

,

ordin a ry word a imer suffice to express his me a ning unless , ,

indeed he chooses to a dd a dj ective s or rush off into poetic a l

'

,
,
,

l a ng u a g e to express his love a s a Frenchm a n i s very likely to

,
 4

do But when a Frenchm a n lea rns Eng lish wh a t a glo w of

.

s a tisfa ction he must feel when he find s in Eng lish two word s
'

in exch a nge for his one word a imer so th a t he ma y sa y ,

”

.
I like my cofi e e a nd I love my home .

Th ese ex a mples could be multipli ed in compa ring a ny

,

l a ng ua g e with a noth er The s oul of m a n is a s i t were p ent

.
, ,

up within him by the la ng ua g e which he sp ea ks g ive him

the p ower t o use a nother l a ng u a g e a nd it i s like g iving him
fresh outlets for the expression of his so ul Hi s soul beco mes .

bi gg er and bigg er with every la ng uag e a cquired a nd i s not ,

’
this ad ding cha rm up o n cha rm to o ne s existence ? This
sense of soul growth a nd the beli ef tha t the soul never dies
, ,

but g oe s on g rowing a nd g row ing into all eternity is the chi ef ,

ch a rm an d sup port of existe nce .

Therefore i n setting before the read er the v a rious systems

,

in vogu e for tea c hing a nd le a rning forei g n l ang ua g es an d

‘

pointing out the best I a m g uidi ng him into a subje ct whi ch

,

should enrich a nd enn oble his life Ma y it be so is the desire

.

of the a uth or
-

W IL L IA M PUL MA N .

SALE ne ar MA NCH E S TE R
, .

" A nyone
desiring co rrespondence with the A uthor must
enclose some sort of remittan ce a s obviously hundreds of
letters cannot be a nswered without expens e
, ,

" ,
HOW TO LEAR N A FOR EIGN LANGUAGE .

D URI N G m an y yea rs the uttera nces of public men ha ve

e mph a sized the incre a sing import a nce of a knowl ed g e of
forei g n l a ng u a g es a nd the mel a ncholy ch a rg e th a t Eng lishmen
,

a re b e hind the Ge rm a ns in their lin uistic a tt a inments is

g
repe a te d with na usea ting frequency S uch reproofs a re .

certa inl y rousing if we needed rousing but th a t is the very

, ,

l a st thing we need No na tion in the world is more wide

-

"
.

a w a ke a nd a live to its interests tha n the British n a tion ;

therefore the reitera ted st a tements of publi c men o n this

worn threa d b a re subject is more likely to o ff end the
,
“ ”
-

i ntelli ent secti o n of the community th a n to do a n

g y a ctu al
g ood ; but there is a f a shion in speeche s a s in every
thing else yet this subj ec t would be a voided if it were
,

incumbent on every one who found fa ult to sug g est a rea l

remedy .

A s m a tters st an d the youth of the country a re driven like

,

sheep into the rooms of the professors of l a ng u a g es only to

. ,

be fle ece d of their m o ney No country in the world spends

.

so much m oney for the purp o se of receiving in return a

prac tical knowledg e of forei g n l an g u ag es a s we do a nd ,

a bout the uselessness of the result there ca n be no di ff erence

of Opinion The public uttera nces I ha ve a lrea dy re ferred to

.

a re una nimous in writing us up a na tion of fa ilures in

ling ui stry .

Now if a m a n p a rts with his money in expe ct a tion of

receiving something in return a nd doe s not receive th a t ,

something it looks very like fra ud Fra ud i s a n u gly word

,
.
,

a nd we must be very c a reful not t o a pply it t o the te a ch e rs of

la ng u a g es a s a cl a ss W e h a ve however some seriou s ch a rg es

.
, ,

to m a ke a g a inst them bec a use we sa y boldly tha t if the

,

money an d time spent ha s not brou ght the result a imed a t ,

then the bl a me must rest up o n the tea chers an d if some a re ,

inclined to pity the m ra ther th a n bl am e them it can only be ,

on the score of i g nora nce ; a nd if te a chers who receive p a y

a n d m a ke promises a re i g noran t then the pity must perforce ,

g ive pl a ce to bl a me
—
.

L e t a ny middle a g e d person ex a mine his l a rg e a ccumul a tion

of French bo oks an d he will see th a t ne ar ly every one of them
,

a ssumes th a t a l l its p red ecessors h a ve fa iled in their object ,

 ’

a nd th a t fa ct is taken a s the excuse for b ring i ng out a nother

book with a new feature which it i s promised will surely
,

ena ble th e le arner to ma ster the lang u a g e in twelve months ,

six months or three months a cc ordi ng to the boldness or

, ,

dishonesty of the a uthor in ma king promises One common .

a nd very s eductive promise being a forei g n l a ng u a g e in

three months without a m a ster one ad verti ser ac tu a l ly
h a ving the a ud a city to promise t o tea ch a l a ng u a g e in three
months THROU G H THE P O S T a nd I h a ve seen a dvert i se ments
,

he a ded “ French in a week whilst students a re working ,

”

a w a y a t a l a n u a e for ye a rs a nd ye a r s with out a chieving

g g
success the publi c are buying these bOOks with the a ttra e
,

tive but fra ud ulent promises like a m a n with a n incura ble

,

dise a se trying one a dverti se d remed y af te r a nother filling . ,

the pockets of the a dvertisers a nd thus ena bling them to ,

.

keep up the busine ss of c a tching the money of the simple

one s who can ill a fford to p a y for wh a t is next to u seless t o
,

Twenty ye a rs or more ag o a p a rent p a ying for his boy to

,

be t a ug ht French a t sc hool thought th a t when his son left

school he would be a ble t o tal k in French but such a n ide a ,

ha s now been exploded a nd in ord e r t o keep their conscience

,

cle a r a nd sta nd ri ght with the p a rents of the s chol a rs , the

,

ma n a g ers a nd tea ch er s a t most schools sa y boldly th a t they

do not a ima t t e a ching a pup il to TAL K in a forei g n l a ng u a g e ,

they only te a ch him the g ra mm a r a nd such knowled g e of a

l a ngu a g e a s will en a ble the pupil to write a nswers to questions
set in the exa min a ti ons Thus students can p a ss successfully
.

a n e x a min a tion in French an d b ring o fi honour s a nd yet not

, ,

b e a ble to understan d or ca rry on the simplest conversa tion

in th a t l ang uag e a nd whilst this i s the result a ime d a t by the
School a uthorities it is not pos sible for an enli ghtened tea cher
,

to a im a t a ny oth e r result H e must do wh a t he is p a id to

'

do how ever gl a d he would be to a dopt a nother course There

, .

fore don t let us bl am e the poor te a chers for wh a t they

,
’

c a nnot help ra ther let us point out t o th e p a rents th a t they

,

should tell a ll school m a n a g ers th a t no ex a mi na tion w o uld be

e rmitte d whi ch did not pl a ce the collo qui a l knowl ed g e first
p .

Now reg a rding al l l a ng u a g e te a chers in one cl a ss let us ,

show wherein they h a ve fa iled an d why they h a ve chosen the

g ra mm a r a nd book kng wl e dg e of a l a ng u ag e to the exclusion .

of the colloqui a l They h a ve done so beca use of the con

.

venie nce f or by so doi n

, g they can te a ch a l a ngua g e a s they
teach any other subject viz by book a nd by eye It i s so
, .
, .

e a sy a nd so convenient for a te a cher to re a d a lesson out o f a

 7

text book a nd a fte r the lesson to g ive the book to the pupil
,

a nd te ll him to rea d a n d write so m a ny ex e rcise s a nd by so , _

doing the work a nd responsibility i s thrown upon the pupil ,

which would be rig ht enoug h if the process had the merit of

bring ing the pupil up to the knowledg e he re quires i e the ,
f
. .
,

p ower to converse in a foreig n l a ng u ag e But such a process .

never d oe s lead a pupi l to such a g o a l

_
let us once for a ll na il
the li e up to the post .

Even in these modern ti mes the re a re m a ny who believe in '

ta king a forei g n book a nd tran sla ting it wo rd by Word with _

the a id of a diction a ry as a fri end sa id to me

, the oftener ,

you refer to the diction a ry the better , S uch people d o not .

”

know th a t a flying recogniti on of word s by the eyes does not

.

ena ble one to understa nd th a t word when spoken n or en a ble ,

one to spea k it H owever a course of re ad ing a nd tra ns

.
,

la ting a nd g ra mm a r i s the usu a l course prescribed for the

, ,

a cquisition of a forei n l a n u a g e a nd it is upon this process

g g ,

tha t we h a ve to pile our condemn a tion This i s the course .

which ha s broug ht a bout the poor result s which a re every

where deplored A nother g re a t ca use of f a ilure i s the fa ct
.

th a t a fter the student ha s t a ken the pr escribed course of

rea ding tra n sl a ting a nd g ra mm a r the te a chers c a nnot d o
, , ,

a nythin g more for him unless he would g o throu g h a nother

course of the sa me kind or perh a ps on a hi g her sc a le into the

, ,

remotest technic a lities of g ra mm a r or int o the Curiosities of

,

Old French a nd a ll thi s t o g ive the pupil a sense of profound

knowl ed g e whilst he is still un a ble to t a lk in the l a ng u a g e .

W e ll a nd wh a t i s the help or the a dvice g iven to a student

,

who ha s g ot thus fa r an d i s still determined to a cquire the

colloqui a l knowledg e ? H e is g enera lly told to g o a bro ad just ,

a s thou g h he m i ght b e a ble to bre a the in a kno wl ed g e o f how

‘

to spe a k the l a ng ua g e with the a ir he t a kes into his lung s ,

forg etting th a t some people live in a forei g n country for ye a rs

without a cquiring the l a ngu a g e H owever if he do e s g o
.
,

a bro a d his determina ti on to le a rn will sp ea king g enera lly

, , ,

ena ble him to lea rn to spe a k the l a ng u a g e but if he i s a ,

ke en observer he will note th a t in a cquiring the l a n g u ag e

a bro a d he does not resume his studi es a t the point where he

left o ff in En gl a nd but he st a rts a n entirely new proce ss

, ,

which process in the s a me with one who ha s previously

le a rned the g ra mm a r of the l a ng u a g e a t school a s with one ,

who ha s never le a rned the g r a mm a r a t a ll a nd a s both succeed ,

e qu a lly w e ll the one who ha s spent time a nd money t o g o

,

throu gh the gr a mm a tic a l course m a y well a sk hi m self why

he shou l d h a ve s a cri fi ced two such u se ful com modi t i e s if a s ,
 8

he truly finds he ha s no a dv a ntag e other th a n tha t posses sed

,

by the uneduc a ted lea rner of a living l a ng u a g e in the country

where it is spoken In proportion a s he a p pli es himself to
.
"

a cqui ring the l a n g u ag e in the wa y th a t a ll persons who a cquire

it in the foreig n c ountry do a cquire it so does he dep a rt -

from the book a nd eye method tha t proved futile a t home ,

a nd when he returns home with the forei g n l a ng u ag e on the

tip of his t ong ue he will te ll you a s hundreds will tell you , ,

th a t if you w a nt to a cquire a forei g n l a ng uag e you must g o

to the coun try where tha t l ang uag e i s spok en a nd if we who
ca nnot g o a bro a d would r ea lly a nd liter a l l y understa nd his
ad vice we mi g ht send a w a y from our shores the thous a nds of
incompetent tea chers who now ta ke our money without g iving
us a ny a dequa te return .

If we c a nnot g o a b ro a d but a re ye t determined t o le a rn t o

sp ea k a forei g n l a ng u a g e wh a t sh a ll we d o ? S h a ll we not
,

a void the fi rst p a rt of our friend s experience of g ram m a r

’
,

rea ding a nd tra nsl a ting an d sh a ll we not t ry t o imita te the

, ,

process whereby he so quickly lea rned to sp ea k when a bro a d ?

'

B ub whil st we a re a t home it is obvious we ca nnot h a ve our

friend s a dva nta g e of the foreig n environment but if we ca n?
’
,

not h a ve a ll the ad van ta g es which he ha d th a t i s no re a son

,

why we should not h a ve s o me of the a dva ntag es L e t us .

a n al yse the proc ess which so quickly put him into p o sse ssion

o f the l an g u a g e a nd let us see wh a t p a rt of it we can follow

,

a t home .

On a rriving for the fi rst time in France we will a ssume th a t

our Engli shm a n hea rs Frenchm en ta lking an d does not
un dersta nd one word th a t th ey sa y or even thoug h m a ny of , .

th e words mi ght be kn own to him a s dicti onary a cqu a inta nces ,

yet he would not rec og nise them in conversa ti on if he did

not kn ow wh a t the people were tal king a bout But suppos e .

our fri end on coming down to bre a kfa st i s g reeted by his

,

French fri ends in the Fre nch l a ng u a g e he will without

, , ,

knowing a word of French know wh a t they a re ta lking

a bout th a t i s to sa y he ha s A N I D E A IN m s mm"
,

, , wh a t they
a re s a ying or should sa y He ca nn ot b e fa r wrong beca use
.
,
“
a ll the world over it is custo m a ry to sa y
”
g ood morning
h a ve you slept well 1 wha t a bea utiful morning or simila r ”

rem a rks so the fi rst step i s A N mm in the mm"o n THE

,

L E A RNE R .

The second step i s the forei g n sounds in the e a rs of the

le a rner .

The third step i s a ssoci a ting c erta in phra ses which he

he a rs a s belong ing to cert a in id ea s in his mind , a ny mi s
 "
understa nding of phra ses being rectified by the inevit a ble
repetition most of the ordin ar y circumsta n c e s a n d expressions
,

of life b eing repea ted 1 n much the sa me form d a y by d a y .

An d fourthly he af ter h a ving correctly a ssoci a ted ide a s

,

a nd the l a n u a e expressin
g g g those ide a s a nd h a ving ha d his ,

e a rs well filled with the oft repea ted sounds proc ee ds to use ,

them in speech ex a ctly a s he ha s hea rd them used by others

, .

A fter h a ving a cquire d a ll the ordin a ry eve ry da y voc a b -

ul a ry in this m a nner he m a y proceed to re a d French books

,

a nd he will underst a nd them bec a use he ha s a lready he a r d

a l l the ordin a ry words in every d a y use -

.

Thi s then is the process in lea rning a l a ng u ag e in th1

, ,

country where it is spoken H ow e a sy a nd di fferent it is to .

the process here A sk a te a cher to te a ch you French expl a i n

ing to him th a t y ou kno w a ll a bout the g r a m
.
,

m a r a nd
exercises etc a nd s a ve yourself th a t process a nd he will sa y
, .
, , ,

L e t us try a little convers a tion H e w ill proc ee d t o a sk

”
.

you a question which you don t und erst a nd he will expl a in ’

then he will a sk you to a n swe r him in French if you c a nn ot

he will expl a in an d when you a re tired of his expl a na tions he
,

will open a book a nd a sk you to re a d some Fre nch exercis es

t o him a nd he will correct your pronunci a tion or remember
, ,

ing th a t it is h a rder a nd more pro fit a ble to tr a nsl a te from

Eng lish i nto French he will turn to Eng lish exercises a nd
,

request you to tra nsl a te fro m Eng lish into French which is -

a fine proc e ss for showin g the a b s urdity of trying t o m a ke

one l a ng u a g e run p a ral lel with a nother a nd ends in proving ,

how t edious it is to think in two l a ng ua g es a t once A nd y ou .

soon find th a t if you CA N C O NVE R S E you m a y p rofit by the

'

tea cher s convers a ti o n but if yo u c a nnot converse the te a cher

’
,

c a nnot show you how to a nd so sooner or l a ter you a re t old

, , ,

to g o a broa d if you w a nt to spe a k Thi s reminds me of a .

l ad y tea cher I once knew who wa s a dvertising to tea ch a nyone

to rea d write or spe a k French or Germ a n in three months
, , ,

a nd yet ha d to send her own d a u g ht er to G erm a ny to le ar n

G erm a n .

Now my a dvice to a ll is forsa ke al l method s a nd a l l

, ,

te a chers which a re not in ex a ct a ccord with the method

followed so a dva nta g eously in the c a se of the student who “
.

lea rn s a l a ng u a g e a bro ad .

Thi s mea ns tha t you must

. l — Reject a ll those method s whi ch t e a ch witho ut a
m a ster .

. 2 — You must a void a ll t e a chers who do not pronou nce

wel l .
 10

3 You must refuse the old methods cond emned herein

-

4 —Never rea d French t o a Frenchm a n t o h a ve your

. .
,

mista kes corrected , but c a use him to re ad to you,

so tha t when yo u spea k or re a d it will b e without
mista k e .

And insist upon being t a ug ht on the pl a n h e rein a dvoc a ted .

1 —M ent a l picture or idea

2 —S ounds in the e a r
. .

3 —Ton g ue tra inin g

. .

4 — Use of the l a ng u a g e
.

5 —
. .

. Re ad ing .

.6 — Writing .

T ra n sl a tion— never in a l ea rner’s course

G ra mm a r— when you wa nt to know the why a nd
.

wherefore of the cons tructi on a bout the sa me time ,

a s when you w a nt to pull your clock t o pi eces to

‘

see how it works .

There a re one or two g ood or al methods a dvertised a nd

t a ught in a ll the princip a l centres here a nd in A meric a You
m a y know them by comp a ring th e m with the method I here
a dvoc a te but they a re a s nothing comp a red with the immense
,

a rmy of tea chers who a re g ettin

g their living by t ea ching on
the old m ethod s unintention a lly but i g nora ntly robbing us of
,

our money g iving us a stone when we p a y for brea d I w a nt

, .

everyone who read s this essa y— a nd those who re a d it should "

a sk their f riends to re a d it —I w a nt a ll to ris e up a g a inst the

continu a nce of the old methods L e t them fors a ke every .

tea cher who i s not c a p a ble of a nd willing to tea ch by the onl y

one method which i s of use n a mely the one pursu ed when a
, ,

forei gn l a ng u a g e i s a c quired in the fo reig n country It me a ns .

more work for the tea chers but they had better g ive some ,

thing for p a ym ent ra ther th a n receive p a yment for nothing

a s hitherto
’

A ll te a chers ma y e a sily tea ch on the pl a n indi ca ted a nd a ll ,

students would certa inly on such a method lea rn t o sp ea k

, ,

the l a ng u a g e stud ied a s surely a s they le a rned their o wn

,

n a tive tongue .

H a ving sta te d thus pointedly my own view s I ca n im a g ine ,

tha t the interested re a der will h a ve a rising in hi s mind m a ny

a nd v a riou s questions or doubts I sha ll never forg et the . .

reply I g ot from a S wiss friend when I a sked him if the S wis s ,

who a re noted ling uists ha d a ny improved methods for

, _

tea ching a nd le a rning l a n g u a g es H e replied No they .

, ,

believed in getting up a t five o clock in the morning a nd ’

,

working h a rd a t the gr am m a r a nd he a dded if the Engli sh ”

, ,
 11

were not too l a zy they would do the s a me a nd thus would ,

e a sily m a ster a ny l a ngu a g e But he wa s wrong ; however

.

bene fici al the h a rd study of g ra mm a r mig ht be the S wiss ,

would never become ling uists by the g ram m a r course a lone .

Their success a rises m a inly fro m the fa ct th a t a ll cla sses

reg a rd the knowledg e of fo rei g n l a ng u a g es a s a bsolutely
essenti al an d so instea d of the study of l a ng u a g es being
, ,

t a ken up a s a mere p a stime or hob by a s it is here wh a t i s

done a t school i s not worth re c ogni sing I T I s TH E UN IVE R SA L
,

" ,
"
S TUDY A ND CON S I DE RA TI ON so much so tha t wherever people
,

a re t o ether a s in fa ctories w a rehouses a nd clubs they use

g , , , ,

a for e i g n l a ng u a g e for the s a ke of pra ctice It i s this .

continu a l a nd g ene ral use of forei g n la n g uag es which m a ke

them fa mili a r a nd it is to thi s h a bit tha t the S wiss must
,

a ttribute their su ccess a n d n ot t o the study of theory

,

g ra mm a r in vi g oro us do se s a t five o clock in the morning

’
.

There i s a g rea t de al of prejudice surrounding this subject

in the minds o f m a ny people I once ha d a n a rgument with .

a fri end who took the g ra mm a r side a nd I took the or a l

side . H e a dmitted th a t 9 0 per cent of the students in
“
.

l a ng u a g e cl a sse s d o not a chieve a ny succes s in a ctu a lly spe a k

‘

ing the l a ng u a g e studied a nd yet he had t he a ud a city t o

‘

a rg u e for three or four hours in fa v o ur of the method which

produced such fa ilures W h a t ca n be s a id to such ch a mpions

.

of a ba d c a use ? It is h a rd to know wh a t to sa y t o them .

P ossibly inde ed most likely I h a ve am ong st my rea ders some

, ,

who before they will g ive up the old ide a s a bout te a ching
,

l a ng u ag es must h a ve a very forcible d emonstra tion of t he

,

fal l a cy of the old style a s thoug h a nything ca n p ossibly be

,

s aid th a t will c a rry more force th a n referring them to t he ba d

results shown in l a ngu ag e tuiti on in g enera l H ow m a ny .

hundreds j oin the el e menta ry cl a sse s a nd how m a ny units

g o up to the convers a tion cl a sses ?
It u se d to be very fa shi o n a ble a t schoo ls for the m a sters
'

to recomm end the study of L a tin a s being a g ood stepping

stone t o a knowledg e of F rench a nd it wa s true enough if
you re quired only a s much a n d of the s a me kind o f kno
, w
led g e of French a s you were s a ti sfi ed with i n L a tin but th a t ,

never g a ve you the power to t a lk in French a nd it wa s ,

a dv a nce d merely a s a subterfu e b ec a use the m a ster himself

g
could not Spe a k French ; a nd a llow me to rem a rk here th a t
a nyone who ca n re a d a n d ha s the a dva nt ag e of a g e a nd
superior intelli g ence ca n l e a d a pupil a long the p a g es of a
'

text book from step to step but he c a nnot imp a rt to a pupil

,

more knowl e dg e th a n he hims elf p o sse sses Therefore it i s .

,
 ,
12

thr owi ng money a w a y to spend it on a tea c he r of Fre nch who

c a nnot himsel f spe a k French a nd in these d a ys of multiplicity ,

of subj ec ts when the po o r te a chers are expecte d to know

,

eve rything this observa tion a pplies e qu al ly W ell to them ;

,

no tea cher ca n te a ch a subject fully a nd t o a successful end

who ha s not himself a rrived a t th a t exp ert knowledg e of the
subj ect wh a t ever it m a y be Thi s considera tion al one should
,
‘

be enoug h to displa ce hundred s of te ac hers who by their

pretence of t e a ching a re preventing the pupils concluding .

their studies successfully .

L et us now recount some of the eff orts th a t h a ve been m a de

to fin d a successful method f or the t ea ching of foreig n
l a ng u a g es A t al l times there ha ve b een g ra mm a rs a ppe a ring
.

in profusion monum ents of persevera nce a nd g oo d for theory

, ,

re a ching the clim a x of excellence in th a t splendid book of

reference Gra m ma ire d es G r a mm a ires
, .

I think A lfred H a vet who in 1 85 9 wa s described a s French

‘

m as ter a t the Gl a sg ow A thenaeum must h a ve been a wonder ,

fully clever a nd persevering te a cher I h a ve a work by him .

d a ted 1 85 9 cal led

FRENCH IN O NE , VO L UME .

CO MPL ETE FRENCH CL A S S B O O K ,

on

GRAMMA TI CAL A ND ID I O MA TI CAL F RE NCH MA N UAL ;

courxm mc

I — A pra ctical French R ea der

.

II —A Fre nch a nd English Dictionar y

.

. of all the words in the

Re a der .

III —Copious voc a bul a rie s of words in d a ily use

IV —A complete a ccidence a nd synt a x exhibitin a continu a l
.
.

g
.
,

comp a rison between the English a nd the French

l a ng ua g es .

V — French lesson s illustra tive of a ll the idioms

VI —A bunda nt e xercises upon a ll the rules
.
.

VII —French convers a tion upon all topic s

.
.

VIII —Extr a cts from En lish a uthors to be tra nsl a ted int o
.

g
French .

I h a ve tra nscribed the title p a g e a t leng th in order to show

the rea der wha t a comprehensive work it is To turn over .

the pag es is to fill one with wonder a t th e monument of

'

persevera nce a nd sol l d h a rd work turning to a we a nd a m a ze ,

 13

ment the thoug ht of trying t o cra m such a m a ss of know

at

ledg e i nto the he a d of a ny po or victim who merely w a nted to

a cquire the power to express in a forei g n l a n u a e wh a t he
g g
could so e a sily express in his o wn I n view of the sheer .

impossibility of a ssimil a ting such a va st w ork a s H a ve t s ’

,

one can e a sily underst a nd the fa ilures of the p a st .

A nother time honoured a nd celebra ted method is th a t of

-

Oll endorfi s a nnounced to ena ble a student to read w rite

’
, , ,

a nd spe a k a l a n u a e in six months This method di ff ers

g g .

fro m m a ny others a nd is the very opposite to H a vet s

-

,
’
,

ina smuch a s it conta ins no deta ils of g ra mm a r It pres en ts .

the a ppe a ra nce of simplicity itself ea ch lesso n consisting of ,

a colum n of En lish with its forei n e uiv al ents opposite a s

g g, q ,

models or ex a mples followed by a bout three exercises in

Eng lish of simil a r sentences to those shown in the ex a mples
to be tra nsla ted into t he forei g n l a ng ua g e a ccording to the
m odel columns ; th o us a nds upon thous ands of plodding
students ha ve l a b o ured a t these ex e rcises a nd stoo d corrected
for al l their blunders only to g ive up when h a lf wa y through
,
-

the book or the few who h a ve g one throug h to the end ha ve

,

found t o their c o st th a t tediously tra nsla ting from Eng lish

into the forei g n tong ue w o rd by word does not ena ble one to
, ,

spea k the l a ng u a g e O ne very a stounding theory th a t

.

Ollendorff held wa s tha t it wa s g ood to surprise a pupil with

a new word a nd not tell him its si ni fi c a tion until he ha d
g
fi rst discovere d his i g nor a nce of it T his i s the very opposite
.

course to tha t a dvoca ted by a ll enli ghtened te a chers F irst .

tea ch a thing a nd then a sk for it .

The a ttra ctiveness of O lle nd orif s exercises lies in the fa ct ’

tha t they a re composed of such useful looking sentences They -

.

a ppe a r to be the current phr a ses o f every d a

y life W hy -
.
,

then must Oll endorff s method be written down a mong st the

,
’

fa ilures We will g ive two rea sons a nd lea ve the others

. .

l — Bec a use there is no n a tura l c onne ction between his

.

sentences ;no sequence .

2 —Bec a use the mere tra nsl a tion of Eng lish into
.

French is not l e a rning French the contempl a tion o f ,

the Fre nch stops a s soon a s you h a ve written it

'

a nd a re s a tisfi ed th a t it express e s the Eng li sh

Sentence a nd such a mere gl a nce does not suffi ce to
,

m a ke you m a ster of the French neither to ena ble ,

you to spea k it nor to understa nd it if spoken .

S hould a nyone b e determined to g ive Oll endorfi a tri a l I ,

would suggest the following pro cess

 la

1 .
—Put
key t ha t i s the book of t he ex ercises in
the ,
'

Fren ch into the h a nds of the te ac her

2 —L et the tea cher pronounce clearly a sentence in
, .

'

French h a ving fi rst g iven the —

,

, Engli sh mea ning .

3 When the pupil ha s g ot fa mili a r with the so unds

.
-

let him repea t the sentence u ntil he ca n sa y it

fluently;
4 — Ha ving a rrived a t the end of the exercise let the
.
,

te a cher go b a c k to the b eg i nning a g a i n a nd repea t ,

a se ntence a t a time requesting the pupil to g ive ,

him the me a ning in Eng lish

5 —Then the te a cher to beg in the exercise a g a in g iving
.

'

.
,

the sentences in Eng lish a nd receiving th e French

e quival ent from the pupil a nd until thi s c a n be “

done properly the next exercise must not be

a ttempte d

6 —L et the p upil rea d the Fren ch exercise j ust lea rned

.

.
,

an d then copy the French writin

g for pr ac tice .

S uch a use of O ll en do rfi s work would be much slower th a n

’

merely writing out the exercises but it would be sure a nd I , ,

think such a m a stery of the exercises mi ght bri ng success ,

but the miscella neous jumble a nd va in repetition a s exists in

the sentences collected or thrown tog ether in the exercis es
would be somewha t n a usea ting a nd I fe a r would prevent ,

success How ever I do not kno w a ny other wa y whereby

.
,

Oll endorff s method ma y be use d successfully One ma y see

’
.

from Ollendorff s introduction to his work tha t he intend ed

’

the use of c und a nd fluent

knowledg e The following
is from 0 11 on :
THE S E A C OMPA S S .

How i s t he wind Ja ck 1 a sked the ca pta i n of a ship

,
”
,

ad res sing the steersm a n N o rth— e a st by north sir wa s the

. r
-

,
”

insta nta neous a nswer of the t a r A jocul a r monk who wa s a .

,

p a sseng er drew ne ar the sa ilor

, My son s a id he t o him .
”
, ,

I he a rd thee swe a r like a demon during the storm D o st .

thou know thy pra yers a s well a s thy sea comp a ss ? No -

”
,
”

replied Ja ck for I ca n tell yo u fa ther tha t I know my sea

"
, , ,
”
comp a ss a g re a t dea l better th an even you know your pr a yers .

”
Thou a rt jok ing son ui t e in e a rnest fa ther ” Up o n
, .
, .

this our t ar bega n thus : No rth no rth west by north nort h ,

- -

north west and so on till he ha d g o ne round a nd got to the

-

, ,
“ “ ” ’
north a g a in Now fa ther s a id Ja ck
.
, ti s your turn , , .
”

The monk recited his p a ter noste r in a very re a dy m a nner .

 15

Tha t is clever observed the son of Neptune , tis mine ,

now T hen he went on North north e a st by north north

.
”
,
- - - -

l
’

north e a st -
till he ha d come to the word a g ain
, W ell .
,

"
”
fa ther s aid he with a g rin
, g ive us your pra yer b a ck
,
.

,
“

” “
w a rds B a ckw a rds I c a n t boy ; I ha ve never le a rnt it
.
’
,

but in one wa y it is not necess a ry Then ob served the

, .
”
,
”

“
triumpha n t s a ilo r I know my se a comp a ss better tha n you
,
-

know your pra yers for I can tell it in a thous a nd w a ys , .

”

Ja ck ha s just told us how a l a ng u a g e oug ht t o be le a rnt

a nd known .

In 1 864 P rend erg ast broug ht out a book ca lled The

,

M a stery of L a ng u a g es a n d th a t word m a ster

y ha s a g ood ,
”

ring a bout it P renderg a st sa w tha t construing or tra ns

.

l a ting from one sentence to a nother wa s but gl a ncing a nd ,

”

so he a dvo ca t e d a firmer gr a sp of the forei g n sentences a nd

'

r
,

he very well described it a s m a stery The work of 1 86 4 .

”

wa s a l luded to by the a uthor in some correspondence to me

a bout 1 880 a s ob sol ete so we will now p a ss it over in fa vour ,

of his l a ter work c a lled the H a n d boo k to the M a stery

S eries I would commend it to the cons ider a tion of a ll who
.

wi sh to know wh a t g ra mm a r c a n do a nd wh a t it ca n not do
tow a rds en a bling a student to spe a k a f o reig n l a ngu a g e .

P renderg a st defined ling uistry a s not a deep study of

l a ng u ag es but the pow er of sp ea king them idiom a ti c al ly
, ,

fl uently a nd rea dily a nd to th a t end he published m a nu a ls

, ,

in French
'

Germ a n S p a nish L a tin a n d H ebrew e a ch

, , , , , .

m a nu al h a ving the Eng lish on one p a g e a nd the forei g n o n the

opposite p a g e a single phra se p residing over a bout six
,

complete sentences of va ri a tions The presiding or model .

phras e constituted a lesson a nd the First course of the pro ,

cess for beg inners includes the m a stery of the fi fteen lea ding
texts a nd the m ost diffi cul t one out of e a ch g roup of six
,

va ri a tions One of the couplets should a lso be m a stered

. .

A fter every three of the le a ding sentenc es beg inners sho uld ,

t a ke from three to six sitt ing s of ten minutes e a ch every d a y ,

but they would never g ive more tha n ten minutes to a sitting
when m a stering new lessons The study o f t he va ri a tions .
,
,
”
however, m a y b e c a rried on without restriction as to time .

The co uplet s referred to m a y be illustra ted by the seven

on the next p ag e which a re c a p a ble of yielding ,

va ri a tions by interch an g ing from on e line to the o ther ; a nd .

the use of the couplets is e xpl a ined by Prenderg a st a s

follows
S peak ing prop erly so c a lled m a y be s a id to beg in with
, ,

the utter an ce of sentences of n o t less th a n three words e a ch ;

 18

sitting by hea ring or re ad ing a fresh a ll th a t ha s been p re

io usly le a rnt .The d a ily ac quisitions a re sound a nd re a l ,

a nd the frequent repetitions secure them from bein g forg otten .

Those repetitions however a re not wea risome bec a use the

, , ,

lessons a re l e a rnt perfectly a nd the process beco mes a p lea sur

,

a ble one . The pupil does not encount er a ny new words

except tho se in the short lesson of the da y a nd his a ttention ,

is not distra cted nor his intellec t confused nor his memory
, ,

encumbered with words devoid of sig ni fi c a nt coherence By .

refreshing his memory a t the beg inning of e a ch l ess on he is ,

secured from those incorrect rehe a rsal s whi ch interfere with

the ac cura cy of the impressions left upon the memory L ong .

sitt ing s are ina ppropri a te a n d unnecessa ry beca use the ,

rea soning powers a re not actively e ng ag ed ;bec a use the O pera

tion i s performed al m ost exclusively by the memory ; a nd
bec a use short concentra ted e ff orts produce much gre a ter
,

results th a n prol ong ed a pplic a tion The ex a ction of extreme

.

fluency in the d a ily rehear sal of a series of l e ssons ma y be _

very dist asteful a nd the doctrine th a t the memory is so feeble

,

th a t very few persons ca n m a ster ten words a da y will ,

prob a bly be repelled with indig n a tion The necessity for .

determining how m a ny words c an b e m a stered from d a y to

d a y in a g iven number of minutes ha s been g enera lly i g nore d ,

but this i s a subject of the utmost import an ce to every

individu al When forei g n words a re lea rnt without a ny con
.

sidera tion for their retention by the memory a nd when no ,

comp a rison is instituted between the a cquisitive a nd the

rete ntive power the l a tter is eno rmously overra ted a nd this
, ,

i s the univers al c a use of dis a ppoi ntm ent a nd fa ilure When .

the memory is once overch a rg ed a l l pro gress of the b eg inner

,

is obstructed but this f a ct is g eneral ly overloo k ed

, The .

c olloqui al power i s the fitte st prep a r a tion for the study of a

l ang uag e a nd it m a y be a cquire d a t home a s exp ed itiously

,

a n d eff ectu a lly a s by g oing a bro a d A mong st the t ra dition s

.

of our schools the le arning of rea dy m a de sentences a nd the

,
-

employment of tra nsl a tions of cla ssi ca l works a re scouted

,
,

a n d the two most eff ective methods of de a lin g with or al a nd

written l a ng ua ge a re very g eneral ly rej ec ted a s if they

involved some mora l turpitude A nother peculi a rity of thi s
.

syst em i s th a t wherea s the Eng lish a nd Fre nch l a ng ua g es

,

a re both spelt in a very an om al ous unc o uth m a nner a nd , ,

tota lly at va ri a nce with ea ch other in respect to the m anne r

in which they sym bolise sounds a nd where a s the pronunci a
,

tion into n a ti on a nd a ccentu a ti o n of the two p eoples a re

, ,

widely di fferent b eginners a re forbidden to see or he a r the

,
 1 9

spelling of sente nces until they h a ve m a stered th em In the .

process of n a ture there is no spelling a nd it i s much more ,

e a sy to imita te sounds when the mind 1 8 not enga g ed 1 n f utile

a ttempts to reconcile them with incon ruous spellin s The
g g .

form al study of technical g ra mm a r is prohibited to the le a rner

during his initi a tion bec a use it is unna tura l useless a nd
, , ,

obstructive ; but a pra ctica l substa nti al knowledg e of the

,

constructions a n d of the infl e ctions i s inform a lly imbibed .

The principle of working from the known t o the unknown is

g enera lly followed in a very ill c o nsidered illog ica l m a nner by
-

g iving sentences which m a y be literal ly tra nsl a ted into

the forei gn l a ng ua g e ;but in thi s scheme a forei g n sentence
is used a s the b a sis a nd when it has bec ome perfec tly known
, , ,

t hroug h the medium of M a stery the dep a rture from the ,

kno wn to the unkn own commences The b eg inne r is deb a rred

.

from a t tempting to compose either ora lly or in writing in

, ,

a forei g n l a n u a e until some of its peculi a r forms of con

g g ,

struction h a ve become fixed in his memo ry L a stly the l a w .

,

of numbers ha s bee n cal led in to prove th a t a n incredible

number of l ong sentences m a y b e fra me d by mea ns of a
sma ll stock of words a rra ng ed in selected sentence s by ,

m a stering which the beg inner m a y obt a in a fluent comm a n d

of l a ngu a g e There i s g rea t ec onomy of time a nd l a bour —the
.
"

energ ies a re not misdirected— a nd there is no w a ste of p ower .

”

“
The combin a ti o n of solidity with brilli an cy in the ea rly
c a reer of our most distinguished litera ry men ha s long bee n ,

held to a fi o rd a n undeni a ble proof tha t the method by which

they lea rned L a tin a nd Greek must b e the m os t eff ective for
the a tta inment of modern l a ng u a g es This is a fl a g ra nt .

f a ll acy but unfortun a tely the comprehensive na ture of the

,

cl a ssica l p rog ra mme ha s rendered it very diffi cult to di scove r '

wh a t ca uses ha ve led to the fa ilure of the m a jority of those

who a re tra ined in our best schools The closest scrutiny .

on the p art of its a dversa ries ha s been un a ble to detect a ny

fla w in the process a nd al thoug h t he results show th a t
,
"
success is not the rule but the exception the system is ,

defended by a host of the a blest m en in the country a nd is ,

therefore held to be a model But there is evidently some

.

thing w a nting a nd j d ging d gam eri it must b e som ething

, ,
u
/
,

extremely simple beca use children h a ve no difi cul ty i n

,

lea rning to spe a k forei g n tong ues however complic a ted m a y

,

be their structure It must be so mething minute for it ha s

.
,

esca ped the criti ca l eye of experi enced a nd a ccomplished

te a c hers It must al so be so mething which a t first si ght
.
‘

, ,
 20

is unpromising bec a use even thoug h it ma y ha ve been

, ,

a cc identall y tried it ha s b e en nowhere a d opted It must be

, .

something to the p rinciple of which the tra dition s of the

g ra m ma r system a s now a dministered must be hostile other
-

, , ,

wise Ma stery would ha ve developed itsel f in individu al

insta nce s The Ma stery system fulfi ls al l these conditions
.
,

but yet it i s qui te in unison with al l th a t is prog ressive in

other systems It is only opposed to wh a t i s a nti prog r es sive
.
-

bewild ering a nd illusory The mere lea rning of sentences

, .
,

without va ri a tions of a ny kind is of no use On the contra ry , .

,

it i s necess a ry to pra ctice the va ri a tions to such a n exte nt

th a t perfect f a cility a nd fre edom sh a l l be g rad ua lly a cquired
in using the words in a va riety of combina tions The pre .

va iling pra ctice i s foun ded upon the idea th a t in orde r to

remember senten ces we must dism e mber them Thus the .

sequences of words a re lost a n d the memory i s load ed with ,

unconnected words But when the beg inner lea rns complete
.

sentences a s models there i s an esta bli shed co nnection

, ,

a mon st a ll the words in his memory a nd the u nwonted

g ,

exercise of reproducing them in their proper combina tions

c a lls forth a hi gh deg ree of menta l a ctivity P a ssive .

receptivity which consists in the d a ily ocul a r recog nition of

,

words ye a r a fter ye a r is ineff ectual a nd the exercise of the

, , ,

memory in rec al ling disunited words i s of little or no val ue ,

bec a use they do not constitute l an g u a g e There i s a g re a t .

tendency to despise e a sy l essons a nd to a spire t o the executi on ,

of d iflicult ta sks ; to reg a rd rec a pitula tions as nothing more

than unintelle ctu a l drudg ery a nd to be sa tisfied with the ,

power of tra nsl a ti on into the cl a ssi cal l a ng u ag es with a ,

ta rdy delib era tion which i s quite a t va ri a nce with the

,

rea diness and the cleverness so much exto lled an d prized

in every other bra nch of the sy ste m There i s no re a son why .

ora l composition should not be conducte d with the quickness

a nd the fluency which a re so much v a lued in other exercises

But the s implicity of this m

.

ethod the cumul a tive repetition s , ,

the provi sion for insuring the a ccura te recollecti on of every

syll a ble an d the minut eness which pre s cribes th a t long
,

sentences sh a ll be cut down int o extremely short lessons , a nd

th a t not more th a n one word a t a time sh al l b e i nterch a ng ed ,

a re not in a ccorda nce with the hurrv a nd t he riv a l ry which

preva il in our schools .

”

The following i s wh a t Prenderg a st c a lled the

M s srna '
K EY FO R AL L L ANG U AG E S .

devised for w inding up a nd s etting in motion the talking

 2I

m a chinery by quickening the wits a nd ro using the memory

,

to vig orous a ction so as to ena ble a nyone to cha tter a ny

,

forei g n l an g ua g e fluently a nd idiom a tica lly from the outset .

A lso for curing the dumbness c a used by studying technic al .

g ra m m a r a n d thus i nund a ting the mem o ry with unconnected

,

words whilst omitting the o ne most esse nti a l duty of m a ster

,

ing fo rei g n ph ra ses one by one a nd d a ily reciting them a l l , .

Thus m a y lea rners d e velop the requisite energy a nd cre a te

:

in themselves the h a bit of re c al ling a ll the forei g n phra ses

insta nt a neously a t si ght of their English versions w ritten
,
,

on strips a nd well shuffled A t first b etter success will be .

g a ined by working very ra pidly for ten minut es thrice a d a y

a nd still better for five minutes six times a d a y a t lon g

interva ls th a n by l a bouring for a whole hour without inter

,

mission Before opening a g ra m ma r beg in by m astering a

.
,

p a g eful of forei g n sentences of 2 5 or 30 words ea ch both freely ,

a nd liter al ly tran sl a ted into En glish M a ster three phr a ses of .

a b out four words e a ch i n three d a ys by re a ding ea ch o f them ,

al oud ve ry r a pidly an d welding it into one long word Do it .

for ten mea sured minute s keeping the eye s fixed upon the ,
"

forei g n words Then wri t e the free English but not the
. .
,

fore ig n words on three strips of p a per S huffl e them an d g o on

, .
,

tr an sl a ting them until you can do it so fa st a s to utter twenty

phra se s in fi ft een seconds Then t a ke the fo urth phra se .
,
‘
rea d it al oud very ra pidly for three me a sured minutes
’
.

Hold its Eng lish strip in the h a nd a n d g o on tra nsl a ting it ,

very ra pidly immedia te ly a fter e a ch of the fi rst three for

’

, ,

seven minutes more Tre a t every new cla use simil a rly
.
,

a lw a ys working until you ca n m a ke a tot al of tw e nty

uttera nc es or more in a qua rter of a minute by tran sl a ting ,

the shuffl ed strips a rr an g ed in columns Never time your .

r a pidity of utte ra nce until the very end of e a ch lesson .

Repe at the long m a ste red sentences every da y with extreme

fluency a t si g ht of their Eng lish versions ta ken d odg ingl y
,
’
,

but al w a ys r ea d the whole of them al oud beforeh an d to ,

ensure perf ect a ccura cy N ever m a ster m ore th a n one

.
’

phra se a t a time nor ta ke up a new one until a fter a n interv al

,

of two hours a nd then only on c o ndition tha t the required

,

velocity ha s been a tta ined Wh en once g a ined it c a n ea sily

.
,

be kept up a nd every person must succeed who will con

,

descend t o m a ster only one phra s e of six or seven syll a bles

every da y a nd will do nothing more Thus you m a y le a rn
,
.

to ch a tter i n one month a nd t o use a l a ng u a g e freely in t hree

,

months by m a stering 300 words a s a n initi a tion using a

, ,

T a ble of Infle ct ion s to diversify the nouns a nd ve rbs a fter

 22

wards Very numerous re petitio ns a re esse nti a l a nd the

.
,

f a st er they a re c arried on the b etter for if slowly a nd ,

delib era tely performed they a re worthless Thi s method , .

holds g ood for self culture a t a ny a g e or a ny st ag e of

-

”
profi ciency .

P re nderg a st s works m a de a dee p impres sion on m e a nd

’
,

a s I ha d the honour of corresp o nden c e with him a nd furn ish

ing him with a few p oints which he embodied in the l a ter
.

editions of his m a nu al s the feeling is a person al one In , .

the end the corresp ondence cea sed bec a use P renderga st would
l

insist tha t hi s method wa s one for I NI T IA T I ON onl y wherea s I ,

could not be s a ti sfi ed with a ny method which did not g o on

with the student a s far a s he mig ht w a nt to g o I m a y say I ha ve .

spent over twenty ye a rs try ing to devel op P renderg a st s ’

theo ri es i nto a more developed system th a n he a i med a t .

Tha t Prenderg a st s sy stem ha s not become g enera lly used m a y

’

be due to several re a sons In the l a ter ye a rs of Mr P ren . .

d erg a st s life he wa s a ffli cted with blindness a n d he never wa s

’
,

eng a g ed in tea ching therefore there wa s no one to m a ke

,

pr a ctic al demonst ra tion of the method a s a profe ssio na l

te ac her mi ght h a ve d one ;a nd worst of al l the method running ,

counter to the schol a stic or cl a ssic a l methods received no

fa vour in the schools a nd if a student took a f an cy to t he
,

method he could never find a tea cher who could or would help
him on Prenderg a st s method a nd no m a tter wha t the method
’
,

m a y b e solita ry study of a l a ng u a g e i s usele ss

. Nevertheless .
,
’
I h a ve a g rea t liking for P renderg a st s method there is such ,

a cha rm a bout it L et a nyo n e rea d his H a n d bo ok to the

.

M a stery S eries an d then looking a t t he d a te a sk thems elves

, , ,

whether h e is not re a lly the F a ther of al l the newest idea s

’
connected with the tea ching of l a ng u a g es If P renderg a st s .

method i s out of d a te now it i s o nly bec a use it ha s no a ble

exp o nent to demonstra te its p ower a nd I sa y now if on
,

, ,

looking round a n d m a king a cqu a inta nce with a ll the present

da y systems of tea chin g l a ng u a g es one i s not s a tisfied let ,

him study Prenderg a st s works a nd if he ha s the g enius of ’

,

a reformer he will find ther

,
ein a ll the m a teri a ls wherewith
t o work a reform a tion in l a n g u ag e te a chin g a nd build up a
system t o benefit himself an d t he world but it ne eds a strong
a nd a ble m a n to do it .

In compiling his m a nu a ls P renderg a st em p loyed a French

m a n for the French a nd a G erm a n for the Germ a n m a nu a ls
, ,

a nd so on E a ch did the work a s he wa s directed ;this led

.

’
others to compile books for P renderg a st s a pprova l A French .

ma n n a med C o igno u perce ived t h a t P renderg a st s m a nu a ls ’

.
 23

mi g ht be g ood for ad ults but not so g ood for children , ,

so he published a nice little book for children on P render a st s
’
g
method but with cert ain a dva nt a g es in
, g ra mm a ti ca l
a rr a ng ement working wonders with not m a ny more th a n
,

300 words C oig nou dying put a n end to his g ood work
. I .

val ue his book but do not know tha t it i s used a nywhere

, .

Then a Germ a n na med Rosentha ll visited Prenderg a st to

, ,

offer him hi s idea s on the subject but P renderg a st would ,

not modify his ide a s to suit Rosenth a ll the result being th a t ,

Rosenthal l c ompiled a book of hi s own on Prenderg a st s ’

meth od at la Rosenth a ll ca lled the M eisterscha f t s S ystem a nd

,
’
,

it consisted o f long sentences a s in P re nderg a st s method ’

,

divided into phra ses e a ch section being followed by va ri a tions

, ,

a ll bein
g chosen from the l a ng u a g e of every da y life with a
-

view to the g rea test utility the pronunci a ti o n being indic a ted
.

very well indeed by phonetics between e a ch cha pter of

pra ctic al sente nces There wa s a ch a pter of gra mm a tic al
.

rem a rks which Rosentha ll had not the coura g e to omit a nd ,

yet he a dded to his prefa ce pupils who wish t o study for ,

colloqui al purposes only nee d not study the g ra mm a tica l

rem a rks They will be found useful however in schools
.
, , ,

a nd should be studied a fter a ll the sentences h a ve been

m a stered .
”

A pp a rently thin g s th a t a re not necess a ry for pr a ctica l

every d a y life m a y suit sch oo ls ; th a t a ccounts for so much
-

time being spent in schools with such little result to show

for it.

I n 1 87 6 Rosenth a ll wa s te a ching in Berli n a t the A ca demy

,

for forei g n l a n g u a g es Before the close of 1 877 t he rolls of

.

the A ca demy showed 9 84 students who ha d e a ch within the

sp a ce of twelve months re a ched a deg ree of fluency in one or
more forei g n l a ng u a g e s a nd ha d left the A c a demy Of th e se .

students more th a n 800 were business men in every bra nch

of commerce a nd of a ll a g es from 1 7 to 50
,
.

Thus the system of Prenderg a st modi fied by Dr Rosenth a ll , .

,

ha d a most successful course in Berlin but al a s thi s success , ,

ful exponent of P renderga st a l so died a nd a ft e r th a t there ,

sprun g up a n e w system c a lled the Berlitz method which I

tra ce b a ck throu g h Rosenth a ll to the credit of P renderg as t ,

bec a use it wa s P renderg a st who so eff ectu a lly sep a ra ted

techni cal g ra mm a r from the tea ching of forei g n l a ngu ag es ,

a nd showed how it wa s possible t o te a ch on c the r lines .

The a uthor of the Berlitz method st a tes tha t The Berlitz

method is a n imit a ti on of the na tura l process by which a
child le a rns its mother tongue In it tra nsl a tion a s a me a ns .
,
 2l

of a cquiring a foreign l a ng ua g e i s entirely a b a ndoned From .

the very fi rst lesson the student he a rs only the l a ng ua g e he

is studying The re a sons for this mode of introducing the
.

new tong ue a re a s follows

1 — I n a ll tra nsl a tion methods most of the time i s t a ken
.
,

up by expl a n a tions in the student s mother tong ue while but ’

,

few words during the lesson a re spoken in the l a ng ua g e to be

le a rned It is evident th a t such a procedure is contra ry to
.

common sense .

2 — H e who is seeking to ac quire a forei g n l an g u a g e by

.

mean s of tra nsl a tion neither g ets hold of its spirit nor does
, ,

he b ecome a c customed to think in it On the contra ry he .

,

ha s a tendency to b as e al l he s a ys on wh a t he would sa y in his

mother t ong ue a nd he c a nnot prevent his vern a cul a r from
,

a ssimil a tin g the forei g n idiom thereby rendering the l a tter ,

unintellig ible or a t le a st incorrect , , .

3 — A knowled g e of a forei g n tong ue a cquired by me a ns

.

of tra nsl a tion i s necessa rily defective a nd incomplete ; for

,

there is by no m ea n s for every word of the one l an g uag e the

ex a ct equiva lent in the other Every l a ng u ag e ha s its .

peculi a rities its idiom a tic expressions a nd turns which ca n

, ,

not possibly be rendered by tran sl a tion Furtherm ore the .

,

idea s conveyed by a n expres si on in one l a ng u a g e a re frequently ,

not the s a me a s thos e conv eyed by the s a me words in the

other Thi s undeni a ble fa ct a lone suffi ces to show cle a rly
.

th a t every l a ng u a g e must be lea rned from out of itself This .

i s a lso confirmed by the well known experience of a tra veller -

in a foreig n country H e le a rns with littl e trouble a nd in a

.

comp a ra tively short time to spe a k fluently the foreign

l ang u a g e whilst the student a t school i n spite of his wea ri
, ,

some work with g ra mm a r a nd tra nsl a ti on exercises va inly ,

strives for ye a rs to obta in the s a me result .

The instructi on by the Berlitz method i s to the student

wh a t the sojourn in a forei g n l a nd i s t o a tra veller He he a rs .

a nd spe a ks only the l a n g u a g e he wishes to le a rn a s if he were ,

in a forei g n country H e ha s however the a dvan ta g e th a t

-
.
, ,

the l a n g u a g e ha s been methodically a nd system a tic a lly

a rr a n g ed for him .

I n order to m a ke himself understood the tea cher in the ,

Berlitz method resorts a t first to object lessons The .

expressions of the forei gn l a ng ua g e a re ta u ght in direct o

a ssoci a tion with perception the student thus fo rm s the h a bit

,

o f usin
g the forei g n to ngue spont a ne ously a nd ea sily as he ,

does his mother tong ue a nd not in the round a bout wa y of,

tra nsl a tion The di ffi culties of g ra mm a r which frequently

.
 26

studie d his Eng li sh g ram m a r a nd written Engli sh exerci ses for

e ver a nd he would never ha ve spoken L et E ng lishm e n .

studying French g ra mm ar a nd writing French exerci ses note

this a nd s a ve them selves from a sim il a r f a te But one d a y
, .

I told him it wa s quite tim 9 he beg a n to ta lk the l a ng u ag e

of the country he wa s residing in, a nd af ter g iving him a
lecture a s to the uselessness o f the theo ry of g ra mm a r I g a ve
him a lesson on the Berlitz method the eff ect wa s m a rvellous .

H e ha d a bout six lessons o nl y a nd then he suddenly bec a me

,

independent of me a nd my B erli tz method lessons a nd we ,

never fi nished the book a t a ll W hy ? Beca use he ha d been

.

quick enough to perceive when rec eiving the Berlitz lessons

the pl a n or method of the Berlitz system a nd he b eg a n to use ,

the sa me pl a n o r system in every da y life H e forsook hi s -

.

book s a nd his exercises a nd pursued his stud ies ea g erly by

c a tching up a nd imita ting an d using the phra ses which he
he a rd used by pe o ple in the house a nd in this m a nn er he ,

a equire d the sm al l stock of every d a

y phra ses so r a pidly th a t
-

within a month he wa s spea king English to the exclusi on of

French and thoug h he wa s under a n obli g a ti on to spe a k
,
“

French in my presence for my benefit nothing would induce ,

him to do so from the time th a t he ha d those few Eng lish

,

lessons until the end of ne a rly a ye a r when he went b a ck to ,

L a belle Fran ce we coul d not persua de him t o converse in

”
,

French .

If you could as k him for hi s version of the story he would

tell you tha t it wa s his study of the g ra mm a r a nd of the
exercises in a n ex cellent book he ha d whi ch g a ve long lists ,

of the n a mes of thing s in g enera l pl a nts a nim al s etc in , , , .

,

fa ct more th a n I a s a n Eng lishm a n know my self or would ,

ca re to lea rn o ff th a t ena bled him t o spe a k but he would be

, ,

wron g in a ttributing his success to such thing s beca use if

'

from them sprun g hi s success why did it not co me when he

,

studied them in Fr a nce or a t l a test when he bre a thed the

,

Engli sh a ir ? No it wa s only when he put them a side a n d

, ,

to ok a sm al l course of Berlitz a nd then a long a pplic a tion of

,

the Berlitz method to the phr a ses of every d a y life th a t he -

sta rted on a ra pid a cquisition al most like a bsorption of the

spoken l a ngu a g e .

If you look into the Berlitz H an dboo k you will find th a t

al most the only indic a tion of g r a mm a r is the exercises devoted

to pra ctice of the tenses p a st present future etc these

, , , , .
,

b eing the only essenti a l a nd pra ctic a l p a rt of g ra mm a r ; a ll

the other details of g ra mm a r ar e of cours e in a ny p a g eful
, ,

of lang uag e but they lie dorm a nt You sw a llow them a s you
,
.
 27

do plum pudding without looking a t the various ingredients

, .

Wha t a lot could be written a nd lea rned a bout the ing redient s
of a plum pudding but th a nks to common sense m an y
.
, ,

thous a nds h a ve enjoyed the pudding without being required

to know a nyt hing a bout the ing redients S o if you ta ke a .

l a ngu a g e by the method Berlitz you sw a llow the pudding ,

a nd g et the benefit without bein

g bothered a bout technica l
‘

g ra mm a r .

The only thing th a t ca n be s a id derog a to ry to the Berlitz

method i s th a t it ha s no very spec ia l ad van tag e to offer a fter
the pupil has g ot beyond the ea rly sta g es a lthoug h it must not ,

be forg otton tha t thus fa r a pupil i s a ble to converse well in

common l a ng u a g e A l l the ad va nta g es of the Berlitz method
.

belong to the first sta g es where it m a kes use of the sig ht of

,

objects a nd of the im a gin a tion to imp a rt a k nowledg e of the

,

forei gn l a ng ua g e without an y use a t al l of the mother tong ue .

In fa ct a foreig ner not knowin g the mother tongue of the

,

p upils i s quite c a p a ble of te a ching successfully on the Berlit z

,

method Inde ed if he knows not the mother tong ue of the

.
,

pupils he i s obli g ed to a vo id its use a nd thus there is a

, ,

g u a ra ntee th a t the method will b e strictly a d hered to .

A lth oug h I point out a we a kness in the Berlitz method yet

I do not sa y th a t it inva lid a tes the system beca use I believe ,

in use the method i s not a llowed t o suff er but expla n a tions ,

of difi erent p a ss ag es a re g iven by me a ns of e a sier a nd well

'

kno wn phra ses just a s a n Eng lishm a n mi g ht expl a in to

,

an other En g lishm a n not so well informed th a t to furbish is

to m a ke bri ght .

Thoug h the method in the a dva n ced sta g es ma y l a ck th a t

prominent distinctivenes s tha t belong s t o the ea rlier sta g es ,

it must yet be conced ed th a t it is the beg inning s of a study

where the g rea t di ffi culties li e a nd it is there tha t the ,

B erlitz method renders its help most e ff ectu a lly I ca n

'

he a rtily commend the method to my re a ders .

In reviewing meth od s we must not overlook the H am il

t onia n which tre a ted a n interesting book with a litera l tra ns
,

l a tion b etween the lines ; which ha d to be studied by com

p arison with the forei g n a nd then the l a tter lea rned o ff by
he a rt One h a lf of a book thu s tre a ted a nd le a rned off wa s
.

supposed to be suffi cient to en a ble the le a rner to rea d a nd

le a rn the second h a lf of the book without the a id of a tra ns
l a tion The le a rning o ff by he a rt shows th a t the a uthor
.

recog nis ed with P renderg a st th a t something more thorough

th a n the mere reco g nition of l a ngu a g e is nece ss a ry one ha s ,

r a ther to le a rn m a ster an d thoroughl y a ssimil a te the

, ,
 28

l a ng ua g e The superiority of the inter line a r tr a nsla tion

.
-

over the process of referring to a dictiona ry i s well shown 1 n

the following words t a ken from Prenderg a st s H a ndbook to ’

the M a stery series :

W hen it becomes necess a ry to study a foreig n l a ng u a g e
in regula r form a nd without a ssist a nce the le a rner will find ,

it h a rd to contend a g a inst the existing tra ditions in fa vour

of the dictiona ry The use of tra nsl a tions i s univers a lly
.

denounced but the proper m a nner of a pplying them ha s never

,

been ta ken into considera tion A d iction a ry is quite unsuited .

for b eg inners bec a use the root s of words a re unknown to

,

them a nd they a re in most insta nces inc a p a ble of determining

,

which of the severa l mean ing s g iven t o a word is a ppropri a te

to the sentence with which they a re de al ing a nd if they m a ke ,

a wrong selection it mi sle ad s th em t o a most pernicious

extent There is a ls o a;g re a t de a l of time w a sted in turning
.

over the le a ves a nd the a ttention is distra cted by the sig ht

,

of other words a nd the intrusion of other ide as

, O n the .

other h a nd tra nsl a ti o ns not only g ive the ri g ht me a ning for

,

the individu a l word s but a ls o for the whol e sentence a nd

, ,

if suffi ciently literal for every cl a use which does not cont a in
,

esp e ci al idiom If the le a rner i s suppos ed to be c a p a ble of

.

working out fifty lines in a n hour with the a id of the

diction a ry let the s a me number of lines a nd the s a me time
,

be a ssi g ned to him whe n he uses a tra nsl a ti on a nd let him

"
,

ca refully re a d the al lotted p a ss ag e over a n d over ag a in ,

dili g ently comp a ring it with every cl a use of the tra nsl a tion ,

a nd m a rkin g a ny one which he does not comprehend in ,

order th a t the tea cher m a y expl a i n it The tra nsl a tion of .

e a ch sentence should be looked a t first W hen he a ppro a che s .

the forei g n sentence or cl a use he should c a rry the me a n i ng ,

o f it with him If a t the close of the sitting he c a nnot tra ns

.
, ,

l a te the whole p a ssa g e with much g rea ter fluency th an he

ever before displ a yed the s a me work should be repe a t ed on
,

the s a me pl a n on the following da y a nd a shorter p as s a g e ,

should be g iven on the succeeding da y On every occ a sion .

a ll the precedin g lessons should b e tr a nsl a te d by him for if ,

the requisite fluency be a tta ined there will be time en o ug h ,

for this in a ddition to e a ch new lesson a nd the p a ss a g es ,

fi rst le a rnt will so o n become so f a mili ar th a t a t si g ht of the

forei g n book he will be a ble to rea d it off into Eng lish with
g re a t f a cility It will b e found a fter a month s tri a l th a t a
.
’

considera ble exercise of judg ment will be c a lled fort h by

this exercise a nd th a t the lea rner will become h a bitu a ted to
,
 29

the foreig n phra ses more thoroug hly tha n if he ha d st udi ed

”
in the ordin a ry m a nn er .

The H a miltoni an system is not now in g ener a l use bec a us e ,

however g ood its idea m a y be o ne m a y a pply the s a m e ,

principle to a collection of every d a y phra ses of more use -

th a n the diction of an ordin a ry book of n a rra tive .

W illi a m C obbet t s French g r a mm a r published in 1 82 9 is

’
,

now somewh a t of a curiosity It i s described a s P la in .

I n stru ction f or the L ea rn in g of F ren ch in a S eries of

L etters a nd ea ch ch a pter or letter is a ddressed simil a rly to
,

the fi rst
To Mr Rich a rd Cobbett
. .

L E TTE R I .

My de a r little son .

Reg a rding the work one sees cle arly th a t W illi a m C obb ett
ha d well m a stered the French g r a mm a r for himself a nd
-

writing lea rn ed letters on the subj ect to his so n would still

further impress them on the writer s mi nd but I feel sorry ’
,

for the son who ha d to re ad m a rk le a rn an d inw a rdly , , ,

dig est such dry a s—dust det a ils a nd certa inly by their me a ns
-

al one he could never h a ve le a rned to spe a k French .

O ne of the princip a l re as ons why so m an y promises h a ve

been broken a nd pupils d i s a ppointed when following the
numerous new methods desi g ned for their use is th a t the ,

a uthors of the so c a lled methods h a ve not g iven to t he world

-

the a ctua l method whereby they them se lves le a rned to spe a k

a forei g n l a n g u ag e but h a ve only o ff ered wh a t they thou g ht
,

mi g ht en a ble a student to spea k a l a ng u ag e a nd somehow a s ,

they proceeded to m a ke a b oo k of it they grew cert a in ,

enough to m a ke positive pro mises a bout it like a m a n who ,

s a id al l you h a ve to do to m a ke a motor bicycle is to g et

a c a nister, fill it with conden sed a ir fix it on the m a chine , ,

a nd the m a chine will run A splendid ide a for m a king

”
.

one excitedly enthusi a stic a bout it The ad va nt a g es a re .

obviously so g re a t but the delusion ends when you try to do

,

it
. S o it is with m a ny of the new systems for le a rn ing -

l a ng u ag es in a week thre e months etc

, , .

one g re a t fa ult of the so ca lled g ra mm a tical methods is

-

tha t they ca use you to a cquire a knowled g e of rules t e chni ,

ca l it ie s a nd words which a ccumul a te uselessly in the mind

, ,

without a nd reg a rd to how they m a y be utilized They exist .

a s the component p a rts of a sentence re a dy to be put to g e ther

in a ny wa y th a t you wish , but it is just this putting tog ether
of sentenc e s th a t is the stumbling block an d which bri ng s ,
 30 .

only ridicule on those who a ttempt it however Well they ma y ,

kno w the rules .

Oral methods g ive you the correct sentences en bl oc for a l l

the common circumsta nces of life with p ower to a lter the ,

persons a nd the tenses a nd when such a re uttered the spe a ker

,

is understood a nd meets with no ridicule bec a u se he uses the

,

current speech of the re a lm .

There h a ve been m a ny books published on the pl a n of

Fra nz Thimm s F r ench S elf ta u g ht which is described a s a
’
-

new a nd orig in a l system a rr a ng ed on the simplest principles

,

for universa l self tuition cont a inin g a ll words g enera lly in

-

use e a sy a nd colloqui a l phra ses a nd di a log ues tra vel t a lk

, , ,

etc with the complete English pronunci a tion of every word

.
, ,

w a shing lists t a ble of coins etc

, F or pr a ctic a l use by , .

students tra vellers sportsm e n a n d cyclists a n d for those

, , , ,

who w a nt a little book cont a ining a voc a bul a ry of the most

useful words a nd phra ses such books m a y be useful but they , ,

a re not methods for instruction .

Mr W illi am Rod g er of Gl a s g ow I must not omit to

.
, ,

mention a s one of the best known followers of P renderg a st .

Hi s experiences a re rel a ted a s follows .

A fter recounting th a t h a ving l a boured from seven to twenty

yea rs of a g e to m as ter L a tin a n d G reek a nd tha t too un der , ,

the g uid a nce of disting uished professors he a rrived a t ma n ,

hood with no pra ctic a l knowledg e of e ither of these l a ng u a g es ,

nor could a ny m a n he met spe a k L a tin with him H e reflected

"
.

th a t our forefa thers centuries a g o could c onverse in L a tin

, ,

without di ffi culty th a t ueen Eliz a beth herself could t a lk in

L a tin a nd th a t she did not lea rn it from g r a mm a r but by
, ,

the ora l system H e discovered th a t it wa s only in the l a st

.

g enera ti on th a t wh a t he term ed the g r a mm a r f a d

”
wa s
introduced a nd th a t previous to th a t time young people were
,

ta ug ht to spe a k the l a ng u ag es they a cquired H e therefore

"
.

determ ined to study l a ng ua g es on these lines a nd he de scribes ,

his experiences in the fo llowing words see L eed s M ercury ,

7th Febru a ry ,

I fi rst devoted my a ttention to the French l a ng u a g e a nd ,

resolved to eschew books entirely My previous cl a ssic

“

educ a tion had b een di ff used over such a va st extent of

territory th a t I never bec a me fully a cqua inted with any of it ,

a n d I therefore determined further to restri ct my study in ,

the fi rst inst a nce to one little si mple sentence till I knew it
, ,

thoroughly a nd to proceed in th a t wa y I ha d studied French

, .

in the ordina ry wa y for four ye a rs previously but prac tic a lly ,

knew nothing a bout it The sentenc e I chose wa s Je suis .

 {SI

votre p ere your fa ther — an d I l a boured i ncess antly

I am
till I thought m a de th a t sente nce a nd its pronunci a tion
I ha d
my own I wa s then in L iverpool a nd meeting a well known
.
,
-

French resident o ne d a y I determ ined to experiment upo , ,

him I therefore stood in front of him a nd c a lmy s a id

.
, ,

Je su is uo tr e p ére a nd needless to sa y threw the worthy

f
’
, ,

old g entlem a n into a sta te of hug e excitement I did not w a it .

the result for I hurried on g ra ti fied to know th a t I co uld

,

spe a k French a nd be understood by a Frenchm a n H e wa s

-
, .
,

however a ll educa ted m a n a nd I therefore m a de a further

, ,

experiment up on the c a pta in a nd crew of a French b a rque

tha t wa s the n lying in the P rince s Dock S ta nding on the ’
.

qua y nea r the vessel I imp a rted to them in their own , ,

l a ng u a g e the interesting inform a tio n th a t I wa s their m a le

,

p a rent a nd bla nk a m a z e ment on their p a rt succe eded by

, ,

upro a rious l a ug hter a ssured me tha t I could t a lk in French

, ,

a nd be understood by uneduc a ted a s well a s ed uc a ted French , ,

men A fter persevering in the s a me wa y for three months

.
,

I could spe a k the l a ng u a g e with fluency a nd g oing to Fra nce ,

very shortly a fterw a rds I wa s a ble to m a ke my self understood ,

without a ny trouble a nd even to lecture to French people ,

in their own tong ue Before tha t time however I g a ve my .

, ,
’
first lecture in Eng l a nd o n H o w to L ea rn a L a n g u a g e Th a t ,
.

wa s thirty six ye a rs a g o -
I must conf ess th a t the people .

l a ug hed a t me a nd w ould not w a it to he a r me The chair

, .

m a n a di sting uish ed divine told me a t the close I wa s

, ,

fund a ment al ly wrong I his wa s my vote of tha n ks H e .

r‘
.

s a id Yo ung m a n you must commence by l a ying a fo und a

, ,

ti on firm a nd secure in g ra mm a r a nd then build upon th a t

, , ,

founda tion the superstructure of spee ch I a sked him if th a t .

’

wa s the wa y in which he lea rned Englis h R a ther st a gg ered .

,

he replied th a t it wa s not but th a t Engli sh wa s his mother ,

’
tong ue a nd not a forei g n l a ng ua g e
,
But doct o r I retorted .
‘
, , ,

wa s not Eng lish a forei g n l a ng u a g e to you when you beg a n

‘

it 1 He p a used a g a in reflecte d a nd s a id l a ug hing You a re

’
, , , ,

too m a ny for me ;come to bre a kf a st t o— morro w morning a nd ,

I went to brea kfa st an d

’
we will discuss the whole subject .
,

we discussed th a t but the subj ec t of le a rning l a ngu a g es wa s

,

never even a lluded to I never knew why S ince th a t time . .

,

I h a ve a va iled myself of every opportunity of lecturing on

the subject an d of l a te ye a rs h a ve done so t o the exclusion of
,

everyth in g el se For fourteen ye a rs I ha d a successful

.

linguistic instituti o n in Dundee but the thou ght struck me ,

one da y th a t I wa s g rowing old— I a m on the sh ad y sid e of

fif ty— a nd tha t if I did not t a ke some ac tive me a sures to
 32

"
prop a ga te my method it would die with me 1 g a ve up my
business in Dundee which ha d beco me a lucr a ti ve one t ook
a more centr a l residence in Hillhea d Gl a s g ow a nd commenced ,
.

,
" ,

a tour round the En lish spea king world I h a ve a s you see

g
-
.
, ,

g ot a s far a s L eeds h a ving lectured in a l most every town in

,

S cotla nd a nd the north of Eng l a nd a nd h a ving esta blished ,

eighty six societies or clubs for the prop ag a tion of t he ora l

-

method of le a rning l a ng uag es Wh a t i s my pra ctice in

.

forming club s ? When I visit a city a nd expound my method , ,

I al most inv a ri a bly find a d esire spring up to a dopt it But

"
.

I do not c ome to tresp a ss upon the prese rves of other tea chers .

uite the reverse I come to stir up communiti es to a se nse

.

of the importa nce of lea rning foreig n l a ng u a g es a nd to show ,

them th a t it i s a bsolutely essenti a l tha t some ch a ng e should

ta ke pl ac e in the method a dopted in our schools and co lleg es ,

if w e a re to hold our own in the ra ce for commerci a l

suprem ac y with Germ a ny a nd other c o untri e s In m a ny ca s e s .

requisiti ons a re sent to me to persona ll y co nduct the cl a sses

for a sh ort time in order to show how the ora l system i s
,

pra ctic a lly worked My lectures a re nea rly a lw a ys free but

.
,

for conducting cl a sses I h a ve to be p a id a nd well p a id a s my , ,

outl a y in ca rrying on this reform is very g re a t I usu a lly .

a ttend on c e a week for a bout two month s a nd a t the end of ,

th a t time I find th a t members of the a ssoci a tion can them

selves c arry it on without an y further a ssista nce from me

"
.

Th ey then form themselves into a regul arly org a nised body

"
.

They elect a pre sident vic e presidents a council usu al ly of

, ,

twelve a working committe e of three a se creta ry a nd a

, , ,

corresponding secreta ry a nd then I le a ve them to ca rry on

,

the work Wha t is my obj ect ? I desire th a t every boy a nd

.
.

g irl in every school throu g hout the country should be t a ug ht

from childhood to spea k Eng lish French a nd Germ a n with , ,

equ a l facility Do I think this i s pra ctic a ble ? I a m cert a in

.

it i s I ca n te ac h a thous a nd children tog ether in a month

.

or two to understa nd me on a ll simple t 0 p ics in a ny foreig n ,

la ng u a g e I know W hen I fi rst went to Newca stle and

.

S und e rl a nd six months ag o my system ha d sc a rcely b ee n

, ,

he a rd of in eith er of those towns Now a l a rg e number of .

te a chers decl a re th a t they tea ch by the ora l system The .

s a me ha s been the ca se in Gl a sg ow a nd other pl a ces Wh ere .

did I first beg in this work— a t A berdeen 1 Yes I encountered ’

.

violent opposition there a t fi rst I wa s denounced from week .

to week in the n ewsp a pers a s a qu a ck One of the comic -

.

p a pers rem a rked concerning my e ff orts Wa lk up l adi es a nd ,

g entlem en The perform a n ce i s a bout to begin

. French .
 34

c oncern with me wha tever unless they like They must do , .

without me eventu a l ly beca use e ven if I co m e for a little ,

while to show how t he thing is done th a t is a ll my a im ,

.

S in ce I first lectured here however Mr R eid a nd myself h a ve , , .

received hundred s of letters from people in Yorkshire, L

shire a nd L eicestershire a sking for inform a tion a nd it is
, , ,

pretty evid ent tha t steps will be ta ken to fo rm a n as soci a tion

here al so Will this interfere with the work of lo cal
.

tea chers 1 It will ; but it will interfere for their g ood It

’
.

will b e the me a ns of stirri ng up the community t o a sens e of

the i mportan ce of foreig n l a ng u a g es a nd wh ere there has ,

been one pupil in the p a st there will be ten here a ft e r ; o nl y

they will desire to lea rn by the oral system On wha t lines .

do these L ingui stic A ssoci a ti ons pro cee d ? Well fi rst of all , ,

members usu a lly p a y a subscripti on of five shilling s per

a nnum to the f unds of their a sso cia tion In a few months .

a f t er the commencement of the l e s sons they h a ve a c qui red

some degree of fluency in spea kin g the l a ng u a g e they a re
studying a nd they divide into clubs or sections for the
,

rea d ing of the cl as sics of the l ang u ag e meeti ng a t eac h ,

other’s houses They meet once a qua rte r in a body t o report

.

prog ress a nd the secretary communica tes with me a bout any

,

di ffi culti es th a t a rise In some houses a n hour a da y g eneral ly

.
,

the t ea hour i s set a p a rt for conversing exclusively in French

,

or Germ a n a nd this contributes immensely to the succ ess of

”

the cl as ses Members are g enera lly a ble to use a l a ngua g e

. .

for pra ctic al ly all ordina ry t0 p ics in three mo nths but I don t ,
’

wish to l ead p e ople t o expect too m uch If wi thin a year a .

man ca n use a fore ig n l a ng ua g e he oug ht to b e ve ry well ,

’
s a ti sfi ed I f he ca n t do it in one yea r he won t do it in
.
’
,
”
tw en y .

When I found Mr R og er a t L iverp ool s ome ye ars ag o I.

,

thought I had discovered the perfect method I ha ve been

trying t o find since 2 5 ye a rs but when I found tha t he wa s ,

using P renderg ast s M a nua l for his text book I w a nted to

’
,

know whether he ha d perfected or devel oped P re nderg a s t s ’

method in an y wa y a nd the reply I got from him was tha t he

,

did not consider Prenderg a st s Ma nu al complete or pe rfect ’

,

but th a t it wa s the only one a va il a ble a nd so he m a de use of ,

it I could not help feel ing a wfully sorry th a t M r R odg er

. .

had not st opped a t home a nd mad e a syste m a tic a nd thoroug h

method before he had sta rted out to t ra vel to d istan t pl a ces
di sturbing the te a cher s tea ching there a ccording to the ir

Mr R odge r h a vin g undertake n

. a tra vell ing tour he co uld
 35

not sta y long in an y one pla ce a nd so it ha ppened tha t he ,

sta yed whilst the excitement of novelty l a ste d a nd in a short ,

time he took his dep a rture lea ving his cl a ss to be c a rried on

by the members a s they mi ght be a ble but I fea r in most ,

c a ses they were led to reflect in the words of P renderg a st

himself The mere le a rning of sentences witho ut va ri a tion
, P

of a ny kind i s of no use On the contra ry it is necess a ry to

.
,

pra ctice the v a ri a tions to such a n extent tha t perfect fac ility
an d freedom sha ll be g r a du al ly a cquired in using words in a
va riety of combina ti ons A nd it i s just a t this st a g e th a t the
”
.

help of a tea cher is most needed a nd yet it wa s a t th i s stag e ,

tha t Rodg er g eneral ly took his dep a rture so there ca n be ,

little wonder th a t the cl a sses were soon broken up a nd

dispersed like sheep without a shepherd

" "
.

A ll honour to Rodg er for hi s desire to be a ling uistic phil a n

t hrO p ist a lthough he ch a rg ed hi g h enoug h but he wa s not ,

clever enoug h to m a ke a system tha t would survi ve h1 s

depa rture .

But now to come to the most interesting pa rt of my work

I must introduce t o my rea ders a n a ccount of the method
which ha s during the l a st six yea rs worked such wonderful
, ,

results in Eng la nd a nd A meric a a nd which beca use of its ,

intrinsic val ue fa r outshines a l l other methods a nd by re a son ,

’
of its following the n a tura l order of the expression of m an s
life i s destined to be the method tha t will survive a ll other
,

methods and live a s fa r into the futur e a s will the need of

lea rning l a ngu a g es .

The honour of its discovery belong s to a Frenchm an the ,

l a te Monsieur Fran cois G ouin P rob a bly we in Eng l an d .

"
would never h a ve he a rd of tlie G ouin method ha d not a n
’

Eng li shm a n M r H ow a rd S w a n received from a friend in

, .
,

1 889 a copy of G onin s work published in 1 880 ca ll e d ’

, , ,

L A rt d E nseig n er et d E tu cl icr l cs L a ng u es with the rem a rk

’ ’ ’
f '
,

I do not know whether the system ha s been ca rri ed into

pra ctice but the book is a n a ttemp t to reconstruct the child s
,
’

menta l life an d is a lm ost a s inte resting a s a novel a s ind ee d

,
”
,

he found it so much so th a t he did not rest until he ha d

, ,

with the a ssi sta nce of M Victor B é tis a n a rdent disciple of

.

M G ouin tra n sl a ted the work into Eng lish a nd it wa s

.
, ,

published in 1 89 2 under the titl e The A rt of Tea ching a nd ‘

S tud ying L a ng u a g es a nd a copy should be po ssessed by a ll

,

wishing to know a bout thi s w o nderful syste m from its

incepti on It i s p a rt i cul a rly interesting b e ca use therein
.

Gouin ha s the courag e to sa y free ly the di ffi culties he

encounte red a nd it wa s m a inly o wing to those di ffi cul ties
,
 36

tha t he ever tried to de vise a system to reli eve others of the

like diflicult ies .

Goui n re counts how he a dopte d tea ching a s a profession ,

a nd a s a n instan ce of his s uccess he sa ys th a t a stud e nt who

'

ha d never before lea rnt a ny L a tin wa s t a ken in h a nd by him

one O ctober a nd in the following O ctober he pa ssed the
,
'

ex a mina tion a t the he a d of the secti on .

The professors a t the University believing th a t Gouin ,

possessed certa in philoso phic a l a ptitudes eng a g ed him to ,

cross the R hine a nd g o to listen if not to the grea t m a ste rs ,

of the Germ an school Heg el an d S chelli ng a t lea st to the

, ,

l a st echoes of their voices a nd the d o ctrines of their succe sso rs .

H e sta rted with j oy but sca rc ely knew the Germ a n cha ra cters
, ,

but a t the energ eti c a g e a t which he then wa s he expected a t ,

the end of a few weeks t o be a ble to spea k Germ an a t a ny ,

ra te a s well a s the children of the pla ce But such was not

, .

to be for he fell a t the outset into a m ost extraordina ry a nd

,
‘

fa ta l blunder a blunder so unusua l tha t one can scarce ly

, .

think it p ossible a nd it would not h a ve b een possibl e to a n

,

unprejudiced mind but G oui n being a lea rned professor he

knew no other th an the cla ssical wa y of le arning a l a ng ua g e ,

a nd he disd a ined to try to le a rn a l a n u a e like a n a tive

g g
child Would lea rn it He thoug ht it too mea n a p ro cess to
.

pick up the phra ses he he a rd around him and likely to be ,

too p a ltry in the result like my young French friend whose

,

experi ence of the Berlitz method I h a ve rec ounted he ,

w a nted to study a c cord ing to the cl a ssi cal mode an d thus it ,

wa s th a t he p rocured book a fter book an d shut him self up ,

in his room w ith them a ccomplishing a n am ount of h a rd ,

work whi ch simply stag g ers one to think of but with such ,

little result tha t al though he inj ured hi s sig ht by excess ive

work a nd wa s ordered by hi s doctor to rem a in blind for a
,
'

month he ha d a ctu a lly to return to Fran ce without being

,

a ble to spea k Germ a n The m ost i g noran t a nd a rtle ss

.

Frenchm a n could h a ve done better ; in fa ct in the s am e ,

leng th of time he mig ht h a ve lea rned al l the Germ a n he

would ever h a ve w a nted but a s we s a id before Gouin followed
,
l

the cl a ssic al method a nd he mi ght j ust a s well ha ve b een

,

in Fran ce .

Wh a t did he do ? First of a ll he s a ys I armed myself ,

with a g ra mm a r and a d iction a ry I a pplied myself re s olutely .

to the study of the g ra mm a r I di vided it into seven or.

eight port ions a nd I devoured it I as simil a ted it in a week:

, .

D ec lensions strong wea k and mixed ;conj ug a tions, reg ul a r

, , ,

a nd i rreg ul ar ; a dve rb s prefix es a nd p rep o sition s, synta x

, ,
 37

a nd m et hod al l p a ssed under my eye upon my t ong ue a nd

into my memo ry—a ll with the excepti on of the ta ble of
, , ,

irreg ula r verbs Thi s wa s divid e d into two p a rts a nd impos ed

.

a s a ta sk for the two followin

g d a ys I n my previous studies .

I ha d g ive n more tha n a yea r t o le a rn the L a tin g ra mm a r ;

in t en d a ys I ha d m a stered the g ra mm a r of the G erm a n
l a ng u ag e This victo ry swelled my coura g e a nd I h a stened
.
,

"
forthwith to the A c ad emy in order to mea sure the extent of
this first step a nd to re al ise the power a cquired But a l a s .

in va in did I stra in my e a rs ; in va in my eye strove to inte r

pret the slig htest movements o f the lips of the professor in
va in I p a ss ed from the fi rst cl a ss t o a second ; not a word ,

not a single word would penetra te to my underst an di ng .

Na y more th a n thi s I d id not even disting ui sh a sing le one

, ,

of the g ra mm a tic al forms so newly studied I did not .

recog nise even a sin g l e one of the i rregul a r verb s just fre shly
lea rnt thoug h they must ce rta inly h a ve fal len in crowds
,

from the lips of the sp ea ker .

”

Af ter thi s f a ilure he next procured a fte r a diffi cul t sea rch , ,

a book of Roots 800 or 9 00 a rra n g ed in a lph a betic al order

, .

He set himself to lear n them off an d in four d a ys the bo ok had ,

p a ssed i nt o his mem ory so he g a ve himself an other four

,

d a ys to l o ok throug h a nd furth er dig est the gr a mm a r a dding ,

the 2 4 8 irregul a r verbs t o the 800 or so roots This time he .

thoug ht he re a lly possessed the found a ti on of the lan g u ag e

a s well a s the l a ws a nd the sec ret of its forms reg ul a r a nd
, ,

irregul a r but a nother visit to the A c ad emy to hea r a lecture

,

showed him th a t he wa s still un a bl e t o understa nd the spoken

l a ng u a g e Af ter this he condescended to sit in a h a irdresser s
.
’

shop for m a ny hours a d a y for several weeks but th a t course ,_

seemed to b ring nothing but we a riness an d disgust so he ,

proceeded to t ry re a ding a nd tran sl a ting with the help of a

dicti ona ry until i n the end he had to a dmit fa ilure a n d
conclude i n Goui n e words Tra nsl a tion i s not merely a slow
,
’
,

a nd p a inf ul p rocess but it le ad s to nothing a nd ca n le a d to

,

nothing S uppose th a t I h a ve tra nsl a ted a n entire volume

.

there is every evidence th a t I should n ot be in a sta te either

to spea k or understan d speech or even to re a d a second
”
volume .

Beg inning to find th a t he rea lly did not know ho w to le a rn

a l a ng u a g e Gouin a sked the booksellers to tell him how p e ople
,

who ha d le a rned Germ a n ha d a chieved th a t end a nd they ,

imm edi a tely off ered him Oll en dorff s bo ok a nd a s G ouin s a ys ’

,

b a d e him p a y especi a l a ttention to these words fifty—

,

edition .
“
The wh ole world then studied hi s book
”
fourt h
There
,

"
 38

wa s no d oubt of it it wa s certa inl y here tha t a ll the

'

fore ig ners who sp oke German ha d le a rnt tha t la ng ua g e I .

bought the celebra ted method re ad the prefa ce a ttentively

, ,

a nd then medita ted a nd pondered for some time o ver thi s

‘ ’
promi se Germ a n in ninety lessons
, .

Three months ad ded to the long wee ks s a crificed to my

unf ruitful tri a ls repre sented a period which exceed ed co n
sid era bly the time I had jud e d nec es s a ry for a fi rst initi a tion
g
into the ordin a ry l a ngu a g e an d from thi s would result a n
,

a nnoyin
g del a y which would der a ng e a ll my pl a ns for study ,

a t the Berlin University I therefore put t he quest i on to

.

myself if I coul d not by stubborn efi orts a c compli sh in six

, , ,

weeks the work which a n ordin a ry student wo uld ac hieve in

three months ? It wa s a thing th a t mi ght be tried I divided .

my d a y into three p a rts a nd in e ach I pl a ced a lesso n o f

,
‘

O ll endorfi It is unnecess a ry to sa y more th a n tha t suc ces s

.

recompensed my ze a l a nd ea ch da y sa w me a t the end of my

,

triple ta sk I should like to retra ce here for the benefit b o th

.
,

of te ac hers a nd of students the imp ressions which I felt in

,

p a ssing a bruptly from the cl a ssi c methods t o these new

meth od s which mi ght be a ptly termed extra schol a stic ’

l —In stea d of isol a ted words a n a bstra ct a s log a rithms

-

, .

.
, , ,

such a s the ro ots a nd i rreg ul a r verbs connected tog ether by ,

the purely fortuitous circumst an c e of the simil a rity of their

initi al lette rs O ll endorfi produced words read y set in their
,

p hra ses the mea ning of which wa s consequently definitely

,

fixed a nd which ha d f or connection if not log ic a l rel a tionship

, . ,

a t a ny r a te those of the immedi a te w an ts o f life an d of every

da y us a ge .

H a ve you a knife ? Yes I h a ve a knife , .

’

H a ve you a ny shoe s ? Yes I h a ve some shoes ’

2 —The g ra mm a r
, .

. inste a d of being pre sented a s a n

,

undig est ed m a ss of a bstr ac tion s o f theories more or less ,

obscure of rules a nd excepti ons reg ul a ting d p riom a n d

'

from the hei g hts of a spec i al book m a tters unknown to the

pupil wa s hidden bene a th the kindly form of counsel g iven
,

as the necessity for it a rose p assin g immedi a tely int o ,

pra ctice embodying itself in a ctu a l fac ts a nd in h a bitu al

,

locutions to which one ha d rec ourse a hundred times a d a y .

.3 ;I t wa s no long er by the fi g ur a tive liter a ry l an gu ag e of

-

cl a ssic al a uthors th a t the pupil wa s forced to be g in It wa s .

t he expression of the life of every d a y the expressi on of the .

most ordin a ry ph enom en a th a t Ollend o rff present ed t o us ,

or pretended to p resent t o us a nd this in d oses h a ving the

,

a ppea r a nc e of being re g ul a ted a cc rd ing to t he m ea sure of a

 39

parti al effort of the mind This lingui st g a ve the a ctu al .

objec tive wo rld for the found a ti on of hi s ed i fi ce the world of ,

fac ts not of pure idea lities a nd a bstra ctions W ith him we

, .

commenced no long er a t the topmost summit a s we ha d done ,

a t colle g e when lea rnin

g Greek an d L a tin where met a phoric a l ,

l a ng ua g e wa s the kind a lmost exclusively cultiv a ted a nd wa s ,

in rea lity the onl y l a ng u a g e held in h onour

4 — The sa me word re a ppea red indefi nitely sprung up o n one
.

.
,

a bruptly incoherently a prop os of no thing a nd subduing by

, ,

its very frequency both the eye a nd the e a r This w a nt of .

order this desultoriness a ppea red to me to conform perfectly

, ,

with the ordinary method of life Oll e nd orff s method wa s .

’

decidedly b a sed upon N a ture ; it wa s certa inly a n a tura l

method A s such it could not f a il to lea d to the point a t
.

which the child W hose infal lible method Ollendorff seemed

,
.

to h a ve 00 pi ed so quickly a nd e a sily a rrives

, .

These numerous a dva nta g es a mply a ccounted to me for

the fa vour which the new method enj oyed a nd the vog ue ,

which had ra is ed it to twenty editions a y e a r A fter the a rid .

proceeding s of the cl a ssica l methods a nd the i ntellectu a l ,

fa ti gue which results fro m these Oll end o rff s book spre a d ,
’

before those who still ha d the coura g e to study l a ng u a g es

like a delicious o as i s where re a l a nd living being s were once
, ,

more encountered instea d of the sempiterna l a nd odiously

,
.

a bstra ct ph an t a s ms of the cl a ssic al s o litudes .

I found one thing only to object t o in the book a nd this ,

wa s its sm a llness My repe a ted checks ha d rendered me

.

distrustful Its wei g ht seemed to me a t fi rst g l an ce too

.
, ,

li g ht to equ al th a t of a complete idiom a tic system ; its

.

volume a ppea red to me too restricted to con ta in the whole

m a teri a l of a hum a n la ng u a g e But the promise of the a uthor .

was form al a nd form a lly inscribed in the prefa ce to the

,

re a der This promi se ha d been repea ted republished fifty

.
, ,

four times in fifty four editions H ad I the ri g ht to doubt

-
.

a sta tement wh ose truthfulness no on e until th a t time ha d

publicly contested ?
S o I boldly entered my new skiff m a king reg ul a rly my , ,

three knots a da y A fter a n uninterrupted effort a strug g le

.
,

without qu a rter for a whole fortni g ht I ha d conquered a nd , ,

completely conquered the h a lf of the book thorou g hly , ,

le a rning o ff e a ch exe rcise repe a ting it copying it out t a king , , ,

e a ch lesson a s a subject el a bora ting it trea ting it in a ll , ,

im a g in a ble w a ys .

During this time I severely denied myself a ll a ttempts a t

conversa tion with the fa mily a t whose house I wa s sta ying .
 40

To be a ble to construct a s well a s to understa nd a sentence ,

I considered it wa s necess a ry fi rst to be in possession of a ll

its elements A sing le unknown term suffi ced to render it
.

either impossible or incomprehensible I did not desire to .

expose myself to a f a ilure which mig ht a ff ect or diminish my -

coura g e I did not feel myself yet suffi ciently a ssured to

.

d a re to chal leng e the doubt .

“
A fter the forty fifth lesson I wa s seized with a g rea t
-

tempt a tion to a ttend one of the A ca demy cl a sses but the ,

fea r of a fresh de fe a t which mig ht p a ral yse al l my forces

, ,

restra ined me W hen I h a ve finished I s a id to my self I

.
,
’
,

will no long er deny myself thi s plea sure Yet a nother week .
,

a nd then a nother P a tience till then a n d cour a g e

’
. .
,

The third week pa ssed a nd the fourth I ha d m as tered .

the whole of O llendorfi Did I know G erm a n ? P erh a ps .

,

but indeed I wa s h a rdly sure of it From the third week .

doubts ha d beg un to a ss a il me which I repulsed a s sugg e s , :

tions of the Evil One The ne a rer I a ppro a ch ed to the end

the fa ster they a ros e —numero us importuna te
.

of the book , , ,

pointing out thousa nds of forms th o us a nds of words for , ,

g otten or wilfully omitted by the a uthor They bec a me truly .

terrible when a t the fo ot of one of the l a st p a g es I c a me upon ,

a note where the m a ster t a kin g e a ch of his disciples ,

a s it ,

were to one side a cknowledg ed in confidence th a t the work

, ,

wa s but roug hed out a nd invite d him to invent an d construct

,

by himself simil a r exercises to those g iven a ssuring him th a t ,

he would shortly be a ble to compo se them .

Up to this point I ha d implicitly believed in the words

of the m a ster To beli eve in him a ny further wa s clea rly
.

impossible I c a ndidly a vowed myself incompetent for wh a t

.

he termed the completion of the undert a king which wa s in ,

rea lity th a t of tea ching my self a l a ng u ag e I did not know .

Without g oing to the A c a demy for the proof or the demon

st ra t ion of the f ac t I understood th a t I ha d been once more
,

deceived .

“
T a lking wa s a s a m a tter of f a ct equ a lly diffi cult or
, , ,

perh a ps I should sa y equa lly impossible a s a month a go , ,

’
a nd the convers a tions in the h a irdresser s shop did not see m
to be l e ss impenetra ble th an a t the d a te of my a rriv al I wa s .

a t a loss especi a lly a t every point for the verbs an d these ,

the most common a nd ess e nti a l H a ving represented .

throug hout the book nothing but written word s h a ving never ,

in rea lity tra nsl a ted a ny of the perceptions or concept i ons

proper to myself when I wished to express these a l l the
,
,

words le a rnt by he a rt immedi a tely took fli ght a nd I found ,

 42

student the knowledg e a nd u sa g e of the l ang uag e studied “

the a uthor in order to supply the deficiences of his work

, ,

wa s obliged to h a ve reco urse to the comp ositi on of a n

indefinite series of di a log ue s the mes a nd exercises i n the
, ,

s a me style a s the a ttempts of Ollendorfi a nd Robertson .

Even supposing g ood luck had a t the time pl a c ed in my

ha nds this new instrument inconte sta bly more perf ect th a n
,

the pre ceding ones should I h a ve b e en a ble to m a ke better

,

use of it th a n the a uthor himself ? Evidently not I h a ve .

,

therefore little to regret in not h a ving earlier become

,

a cqu a inted with the S

y stema tic Vo ca bu l a ry
”
.

Af ter these repe a ted fa ilures Gouin moved from H a m burg

a n d went to Berlin where he found himse l f much sou ht a fte r
, g
for the sa ke of his French convers a tion so much so th a t it ,

pre vented a ny e ff ort on his own behal f in Germ an conver

s a tion ;but a s soon a s he forb ad e conversa tion in Fre nch a nd
compelled the Germ a ns to liste n to hi s eff orts to sp ea k
Germ a n they a ll forsook him a nd fled— which solitude g a ve
him a n O pportunity to think whether there wa s not a fter a ll
still a nother course open to him whereby he mig ht overcome
a ll his diffi culties a nd he found
, there still rem a ined one
l a st method but one so stra ng e so extr a ordina ry
so unusu a l— I mi ght sa y so heroi c —th a t I h a rdly d a red
, ,

propose it to myself Thi s supreme me a ns was nothing el se

.
”

tha n to lea rn o ff the whole diction a ry My ea r I to ld .

,
”

myself is not sufi ciently fa mili a rised fi rst with the termin a
, ,

tions th e n with the body of the words — th a t p a rt from which

,

the ide a oug ht to shine a nd spring forth insta nta neo usly .

Now a resolute a nd persevering study of the dictiona ry

.

would evidently produce this double result In fa ct the .

,

s a me termin a tion a s well a s the s a me root word strikin g

,
-

thous a nds a nd thousan ds of times upon the eye the e a r a nd , ,

the mind— the inner sense of this termina tion an d this root
the ide a hidden in these two elements of the l an gu a g e —woul d
,

end by shining forth with the sound itself a nd by being ,

substituted so to spe a k for it Therefore if I could a ssimi

, , .
,

l a te the whole diction a ry with the , words it conta ins ,

there wa s every evi dence th a t every term b eing no long er a

,

sound but a n idea I should be a ble to follow a nd underst an d

,

every convers a tion rea d every book a nd by re a son of this

, , ,

double exercise a rrive in a very short sp a ce of time a t being

,

a ble to spe a k fluently mysel f

diction a ry a dded my thou g hts
”
,
But to le a rn off the.

wha t a n extra va g a nce, "

W a s ever such an ide a entert a in ed before ? It was a bsurd
on the fa ce of it a nd quite unreal iz a ble There m ust be some
,
.
 43

other mea ns of arriving a t the s a me result The child lea rns .

no diction a ries by hea rt and even supposing such a despera te

me a ns should en a ble me to succee d it wa s certa inl y not a ,

method I could rec ommend to a nyone else If none other .

exi sted no one would of a surety ever undert a ke to l e a rn

, , ,
”
G erm a n S uch were the reflections a nd objections by which
.

I myself comb a ted this stra ng e idea .

“
A fter a time the hum an mind becomes fa mili a rised with
situa tions a nd resolutions which a t fi rst a ppea red impossible
a n d utterly repu n a nt S eekin g a fresh wa y a nd fin ding
g .

none I fell b a ck na tura lly on my dictiona ry a nd returned

, ,

in spite of myself t o my l a test notion .

“ ”
It is quite true I reflected th a t the child le a rns to
, ,

spea k without opening the dicti ona ry ; but it i s a lso true

tha t it find s itself in conditions fa r other th a n tho se in which
I a m pl a ced — c onditions extremely fa v o ur a ble in which I ,

c a nnot hope a g a in to pl a ce myself a nd which I a m powerless ,

a rti fi ci a lly to re est a blish Besides the child ha s before it a n

-
.
,

indefinite time such a s I h a ve not now a t my disposa l The

, .

hours glide a w a y slo wly for the chil d but for me da y devours ,

da y month courses a fter month

, Cost wh a t it m a y I must .

g o forw a rd I a m forc ed to turn like A lex a nder to an y

.
, ,

remedy however violent only let the eff ect be prompt

, , .

My will beg a n t o w a ver Fro m da y to d a y the thoug ht .

of the diction a ry g a ined g round My re a son even a llowed .

itself to be subdued a n d g ra du a lly p a ssed over to the enemy

, .

The fi nishing stroke wa s g iven by a sudden consider a tion ,

a nd a n a rg ument which seemed to me fi n a l I thou g ht : I s .

not le a rning the diction a ry in re al ity the work which is

impo sed when they study the cl a s si c a l tongues ? W ould it not
be simply c a rrying out a t a stroke by a continued a H ercule a n ,

effort wh a t we a re supposed to ac complish a t colleg e little

, ,

by little in the sp a ce of nine y e a rs th a t is to sa y by nine

, , ,

times 360 p a rti a l e ff ort s Z Is n ot the p upil obli g ed to cull the

'
.

words of a l a ng ua g e one by one during nine or ten ye a rs , ,

from the diction a ry ?

If he ha s been m a de to seek dili g ently for them inste a d .

of h a ving them o ff ered directly to him so th a t he could

serve himself with them from h a nd to h a nd this is a pp a rently ,

bec a use the rese a rch itself i s held to be a dv a nta g eous a n d

profit a ble for him Indeed thus to hold a n expression in his
.
,
.

mem ory durin g the time required by its resea rch its deter ,

min a tion its org a ni s a tion a nd its a pplic a tion to a g iven

, ,

t hought i s not a l l th is to submit it to a kind of incub a tio n

.

th oroug hly suit a ble for the purp os e of opening out a nd

fixing this e xpression in the mind ?
 44

I t ook ag a in the p a th towa rd the cl a ssi ca l teac hing, a nd

af te r ha ving m a de t he a meml e honoura bl e, I entere d a g a i n
into g rac e I exal ted , I glorified its principles a nd its
.

funda menta l proces s Desp a ir had b roug ht a bout between

.
,

routine and my mind a full a nd c omp lete reconcili a tion a nd

, ,

without a sking myself the q uesti on whether the nine times

3 6 0 eff orts were al w a ys crowne d with succe ss I excla imed .

"
There is but one wi sdom i n the world th a t in which I ha ve
been bro ught up —the wisdom of the university
,

I will
study the di cti o na ry a s they do a t colleg e a s the University ,

requires But I will study it with a vig our which will

.

c ert a inly g a in me t he pl a udits of the m a sters who h a ve sun

g
me the p ra i se s of the Gre ek roots The fre quency of .

re pe t ition a repetition occas ioned by d a ily needs will supply

, , ,
“
a nd more th an supply the incub a tion occ a si oned by the
’
const an t use of the voc a bul a ry .

Thereupon I to ok up my dictibna ry I wei ghed it a g ain .

a nd ag a in in my h a nds I c oun te d its p a g es a nd the number

.
,

of words in a p a g e then I did a sum in multiplica tion

, .

"
’
Three hundred p a g es I s a id to myself a nd thirty thous a nd
, ,

words If this ca n be lea rnt o ff if the ta sk be fe a sible it

’
, ,

must be a ccompli shed wi thin a month for no one need fla tter ,

himself th a t he could reta in for very long without pr a ctice

a m a ss like this le a rnt und e r these conditi o ns The new .

m a tter will soon h a ve co vered up a nd oblitera ted wh a t ha d

g one b efore Besides there is the question of fa ti g ue Thirty
.
, .

d a ys of superhum a n work i s a ta sk which a m an of my a e g

a nd constitution c a n undert a ke a t a pin ch but ther e is no use ,

in a busing one s st reng th for n othing a nd an eff o rt such a s

’
,

this could not b e indefinitely prolong ed .

S o thr e e hundred p a g es in thirty d a ys this i s te n p a g es

Ca n I do it ? a nd if I m a n a g e it t o—
,

a da y .
d a y could I do it ,

to morrow a nd the next d a y ten d a ys following twenty d a ys

-

, , ,

following ? L et us try .

’
The next d a y a t six o clock in the morning I opened my
, ,

dicti on a ry a nd a t noon I had a ccomplished my first t ask It

,
.

wa s a good a ug ury but I did not yet d a re to judg e of the

,

fin a l result To prevent every c a use of d i scoura gem ent to

. ,

a void eve ry a nnoyin g interruption from without I thou g ht it ,

prudent to resort to me a sures under whose prote ct i on I had

been a bl e t o study fi rst my roo ts a nd then the lessons of
'

Oll endorfi I put myself a nd decl a red mys elf in qua r an tine
. , , ,

a nd p rohibited every w a lk a nd ev e ry di a l og ue which wa s not

a n a bsolu te nec essity I pl a ce d my recompens e a t the end of

.
 45

the month the most lovely of a ll recompenses : a lesson in

,

"
p hilo sophy a t l a st understood a t the University
se cond d a y a fresh fig ht a nd a t noon victory an d in the
,
’
,
The
"
a fte rnoon I had time to look over yesterd a y s fi eld of b a ttle .

The ei ghth d a y I a chi eved my eig hth trium ph Three more .

such efi ort s a nd the Germ a n l a ng ua g e will be t a med .

The seco nd W eek s strugg le pl ac ed the second qu a rter of

’

the di ctiona ry in my power Fifteen thousa nd word s were in

.

my memory To turn b a ck wa s impossible My courag e was

. .

exa lted ;my confi dence in the coming success wa s a bsolute ;

my ha ppiness wa s complete .

S hould I for a moment brea k my qu a r a ntine an d go to

he a r a less on j us t one lesson a t the University ? I bra vely
, ,

resisted the tempta tion an d persevered in my first resolve

, ,

desiring a bsolute ly to keep whole a nd entire the surprise

which wa s to co me a t the end of the month .

The third week g a ve me the third qua rte r of the

diction a ry ;the thirtieth da y I turned p a g e 31 4 the l a st an d , ,

more triumph a nt th a n C aes r I xcl imed

a e a V i
,
ci l
”
Tha t ,

sa me evening I went to seek my crown a t the University

'

a crown surely well merite d .

To comprehend wh a t now h a ppened to me it is necessa ry

to ha ve studied profoundly a s I ha ve since been a ble to do
, ,

the question of l a ng u a g e ;to ha ve determined a ccura tely the

conditions in which m a nkind i nf a nt or a dul t must be plac ed
, ,

tha t they ma y be a ble to lea rn an y l a n gu ag e no m a tter ,

whioh
I understood not a word—mot a single word "
"
I sh al l be
refused credenc e by him who keeping hi s fa ith in the cl a ssi ca l

"
,

meth od s has studied only G reek an d L a tin I will not sa y

,

lea rnt a nd in whom fa ith in the dicti ona ry i s an chored by

,

a pra cti ce of ten tw enty or thirty yea r s

, , .

He will never b elieve tha t knowing thoroughl y the ,

elements of a la ng ua g e from the fi rst to the la st I should ,

not know thoroughl y the la ng u ag e itsel f at a ny ra te ,

suffi ci ently to understan d it sp oken o r writte n He will ra ther .

prefer to d eny th a t I wa s red ly in p o ssession of the gra mm ar

a nd the voc a bul a ry .

He al so will not less refu se me belief who ha ving studied ,

a livin
g l ang ua g e did not thr ou g h force of circumsta nces or
,

by his own determina tion confine himself exclusively to the

,

cl a ssi cal process a nd who m a king nou g ht of the infl exible

,

logic which ca used me to p ush the prec epts of the colleg e to

their l a st extremities ha d the g ood sense to yield himself
,
 46

idly to the free a nd ea sy course of thing s a nd lea rnt like the ,

’
little chi ld le arns l a ug hing an d pl a ying ‘
.

He will not believe th a t a bo o k written expressly to be a n

a id to the study of l a ng u a g es mi g ht prove a n obst acle to the
study of these l ang ua g es I certa inly would not ha ve .

believed it myself if I ha d not g one throug h the whole

e xperi en ce ;an d n e verthele s s I repe a t I did not understa nd
a word—not a sing l e word
,

a nd I p ermi t no one to doubt

the sincerity of this sta te ment Not a word—not one .

’
sing le word .

F eeling un a ble to bring my mind to ac knowl edg e such a

result a s this I returned the next d a y the da y a fter t ha t
, , ,

every da y to listen to the profes so rs whom I j udg ed to be the

,

most clea r a nd interesting those who see med to be most ,

.

pop ul a r with the schol a rs But their lectures rem a ined for .

me just a s imp enetra ble a s strang e a s they ha d been when , ,

first I had liste ned a t H a mburg If I could not hear perh a ps . ,

a t lea st I c oul d re a d I looked up my G oe the a nd S chill er

. \

a g a in but the tri a l wa s not very much more successful th a n

it had bee n a t Ha mburg af ter the study of the roots It took .

me h a lf a da y t o decipher two or three p a g es a nd then I wa s

_
- -
,

not a bsolutely sure of h a ving found the re a l mean ing of a ll

the sentences .

It wa s a fter this hug e effort an d exh a usting fa ilure th a t the

brea k down of N a ture ca me c a using enfo rced blindness for a
month a nd the return home a fte r a sta y in Germ a ny of ten
,

m onth s without being a ble to spe a k or understand Germ a n .

It wa s d uring the holid a y which Goui n took on his return

to Fra nce t h a t he had a n op portunity to ob se rve the g rowth
of l a n g ua g e in the mind of his littl e nephew nea rly
3 years
‘
'

of a g e for the de li g htful ac co unt whi ch Gouin g ive s of the

,
’
little child s ling uisti c prog ress from the time when a t 2 } he
could not t a lk until the time when Goui n a rr ,i ved a nd had
continu a l a nd increa sing d e mon stra tion of the child s use of
’

l ang uag e I mu st re fer the re a der to The A rt of Tea ching

a nd S huh /ing L a ng ua g es It must sufi ce to sa y here th a t
on visiting a mill—a w a ter m ill —Gouin p erce ived th a t the
.

child took notice of the thing s done before him a nd on ,

returning home he wa s a ble to reca ll these a ctions in the ,

s a me sequence or order of time in whi ch he ha d perceived

, ,

them a nd th a t this se nse of sequence wa s the me an s of

, _

keeping the m a ss of new fa cts perce ived for the first time a t ,

the mill in log i cal order so th a t the chil d wa s a ble to recoun t

, ,

wh a t he had se en .

P erce iving this key to la n g u a g e pos ses sed by the littl e

 47

chi ld it al l fla shed upon Gouin how wrong he ha d bee n in his

,

own studies a nd how simple an d n a tural wa s the method

,

of N a ture employed by the child whi ch method wa s merely ,

a fixin
g in the mind of the A CTI ON S or va s e s in sc ena rios of
rum or N A TURAL ORDE R .

To m a ke thi s pl a i n let my rea ders try a simple experiment

in Eng li sh desi g ned to show wh a t the m emory can do when
a ided a s NA TURE a ids a little child in a cquirin g the use of

l a ngu a g e Re a d the following to a cl a ss of little children :

.

I OPE N Mr Da sx .

w a lk tow a rds I w a lk to w a rds my desk .

g et I g et to my desk .

stop at I stop a t my desk .

ta ke I ta ke my key .

put I put the key into the keyhole .

turn I turn the key in the lock .

The key turns in the lock .

The key unlocks the desk .

I lift the lid of the desk .

I open the desk .

I open the d esk quite W ide .

I put the lid b ac k .

The desk is open .

R e a d this throug h onl y once a nd you will find th a t in

“

exch a ng e for your utteran ce of the verb s in the m a rg in a ny

child will g ive you the ful l a nd complete sentence without
hesita ti on By this process a n English child ca n lea rn ofl
'

book a fter boo k a nd thus m a ster t he d eta iled expressions of

,

a ll the incidents of life quicker than by a n

y other proce ss .

For exa mple let a nyone who does not know ho w to pl a y

,

g olf tu rn up to the section devoted to g olf i n the S cenes o f

E ng hsh Lif e a nd he will in a few minutes le ar n not only
,

al l a bout
g olf but more of his o wn l an g ua g e than he knew
'

before a nd in prop ortion a s he sees how qui ckly he 0

,

a ssi mil a te Eng lish by me an s o f this method so will he be ,

a ble to rea lize wh a t a ra pid condu ctor the method is of a

fore ig n la ng ua g e Books of E ng li sh les sons on this pl an ca n

.

be bought em bra cin g such a wide r a ng e of sub j ec ts a s

,

Dre ssing a nd Toilet .

Mea l s .

Housework a nd Ma k ing Dresses

, .
 48

The Brea kfa st .

Domestic A ni ma ls an d Birds .

N a tura l History .

Children s Gam es ’
.

Tra des .

The Country .

S p orts an d Ga mes .

Tra velling .

The S ea .

With ea ch of these subjects worked out in deta il reserv ing ,

a line to every sing le a ction or verb a s i n the ex a m ple I ,

open my desk I t ca n rea dily be im ag ined th a t af te r the

.
”

a ssimil a tion of such a course a child will know how to expr e ss

himself in a ny circumsta nce of ordin a ry life .

Now t o return t o our subject of Forei gn L a ng ua g es I will

g ive a n ex a mple in French First of a ll here i s the Engli sh
.

versi on
I OPE N T D ocs .

I w al k tow a rds the door .

I dra w ne a r to the doo r .

I dra w nea rer

_
.

I a rrive a t the door .

I stop a t the door .

I stretch out my a rm .

I ta ke hold of the knob .

I turn the knob .

I c p en the door .

pull I pull the doo r .

yields The door yi elds .

turns The d o or turns on its hing es .

turns The door turns more .

opens The door opens quite wide .

let g o I let g o the ha ndle .

To g ive thi s lesson by the Gouin method you a line

a t a time a ctin
, g the a ctions a nd m a ke the pupils see or ,

im a g ine the scene H a ving don e th a t you repea t the verbs

.
,

in the m a rg in one a t a time requesting the pupils to g ive you

the sentences belong ing to ea ch verb a s you did or ca n do
with little b a bi e s a lmost in te a ching English to Eng lish
children Thi s done you m a y be sure the scene is well in
.
,

the minds of the pup ils Now I must g ive you the French .

version followed by the instru ctions

 50

A nd these thrown in a s it were between the e fi ort s of

a re , ,

tea ching a nd repea ting the obj ec tive l a ng ua g e T he y a re .

,

a s it were pl a yed by the pupils a n d teac her one a g a inst

,

a no t her a nd like th a t they a re indelibly impressed on the

,

memory .

I h a ve for fun g iven a lesson in French to p eo p l e who ha d

, , l

no knowledg e a t a ll of the l a ng ua g e a nd ye a rs a fter they ha ve ,

known it a nd could not forg et it

, .

It i s Na ture s own method a nd it wa s Fra ncoi s G ouin who

’
,

discovered it a nd employed it for tea ching l a ng ua g es It .

ena bled him to overc o me a ll his diffi culties in lea rning Germ a n ,

a nd he live d to be profess or of G erm a n in Fra n ce a nd ,

received a certi fi c a te from t he French Minister of Public

I nstruction for his rem a rka ble success in tea ching G erm a n ,

by this method a nd a lso by its a id G o ui n himself le a rn ed

,

severa l l a ngu a g es a nd could le a rn a ny l a ngu a g e in four

,

months .

W hen M essrs S w a n a nd B é tis ha d completed the tr an s

.

l a tion of G o ni n s two works T he A rt of T ea ching a n d

’
, _

S tu d yin g L a ng u a g es a nd A F irst L esso n in F ren ch they , ,

proce eded to st a rt schools a nd cl a sses in a ll the princip a l

centres in Engl a nd a nd A merica Th a t i s a bout seve n yea rs .

a o
g . They h a ve met with g rea t success a nd a re sprea d
ing the use of the method by me a ns of te a cher s cl a sses in a
’

wa y th a t will ensure its su ccess a nd perm a nency more th a n

a nythin
g else could do .

The method g a ined ra pid notoriety a nd g ood repute from

the f a ct tha t M e ssrs S wa n a n d B é tis undertook to te a ch M r
'

. .

S te a d s children t o do a fter six m o nths lessons of two hours

’ ’
,

a d a y of five d a ys a week the followin g ,

1 — To g ive in French the n a mes of objects shown to them

, ,

or point out objects whose n a mes a re g iven in the foreig n

,

tong ue .

2 — To describe in French the g e stures which a re m ad e

.

before them or m a ke the g estures which they a re told to do

,

in French

" "
.

.3 —To express in French the surrounding circumsta nces of

a ny f a ct of life tha t is to repea t a series in French .

.4 —TO repe a t in French 3 sto ry which they h a ve just

" .

he a rd in French .

.5 — To recount person al fa cts which h a ve occurred to them

a t a ny moment of their lives .

.6 — To rea d a n a rticle from a French newsp a per or a p a ge ,

from a n ordin a ry novel a nd repea t it i n Fren ch , .

7 —To g ive in French the expl an a tions nec ess a ry to m a ke

, ,
 51

themselves understood if t hey l ac k the prop er word in ,

French .

.8 — To a sk in French suffi cient expl a n a tion t o understa nd

, ,

the mea ning of a French word which they do not recog ni se .

.9 — TO consult a French diction a ry a s used i n Fr a nce , ,

when they meet with a ny French word which they do not

understa nd
1 0 — T O repea t immedi a tely in French a f a ct rec ounted in
.

English by one of the persons present or ta ken from a news ,

p a per o r a n Eng lish book .

1 1 — TO recount in French wh a t they would do in Fr a n ce

.
, ,

under a ny g iven circumsta nce

12 —
.

TO expl a in a n d reco unt in French a seri es of pictures .

witho ut titles .

l 3 — To improvise immedi a tely in French the end of a

.
, ,

story of which they h a ve been t o ld the beg inning

1 4 —To sum up thi s sto ry in a few words
.

l 5 — TO recount in French the sa me sto ry twice over in

.

.
, ,

di ff erent terms .

1 6 — To c a lcul a te in French
. .

17 To expla in in French wha t a re the ide a s which spring

-

up in their mind when hea ring a word or a phr a se .

1 8 — To expl a in in French the re as on of the forms of

" "
.
, ,

conjug a tion employed by a French a uthor in a ny extra ct

newsp a per or book
1 9 — To a ct a s interpreter
.

2 0 — To repea t in French a co nvers a ti on held by persons

.

.
, ,

present a t the ex a min a tion or a nswer in French questions , , ,

a ddres se d t o them in th a t l a n ua e
g g .

2 1 — To understa nd complete ly a lesso n in sci ence or

.

litera ture g ivenin French .

22 — Themselves to tea ch a French se ri es to others

. .

2 3 — To expl a in a g r amm a tica l t a ble

. .

2 4 — To write a n ordin a ry letter not tec hnical

.
, .

They succeed ed so well th a t the ex a mina tion wa s a n

g success a nd the promi se s of M essrs S w a n a nd
'

a stonishin , .

B etis were more tha n ful filled The fi rst fulfilled promise s .

which I h a ve ever he a rd of in conn ec tion with this subject

‘
,

a nd the rew a rd wa s duly re a ped in the r a pid success a n d

spre a d of the method Experience soon showed to M essrs . .

S wan a nd B é tis tha t it would be well to construct new series

a ccording t o the En g lish mode of life a n d expression a nd the ,

princip a l b o oks published by them a re :

First fac ts a nd sentences in French .

”
The Fac ts of L ife .
 52

Cla s s R oom Conversa tions .

S cenes of E nglish L ife

”
.

Whi ch l a tter in a ddition to its ordin a ry use ha s been found

, ,

of most excellent service for tea ching the dea f to speak a nd

understa nd .

In looking over these works in even the most c ur sory

m a nner one cann ot but be struck with the a l l sufiiciency
'

a nd comprehe nsivenes s of the method a s conta in ed in them

’

The Centra l S chool of Foreig n To ng u es Howard Ho use , ,

A run del S treet S tran d where a re the hea dqu a rte rs of M essrs
, , .

S w a n a nd B é tis ha s a noble W ork to perform in spread ing the

knowledg e of f oreig n l a ng ua g es a ccording to thi s most
scienti fic a nd na tura l method .

One could fervently wish tha t the method might be

esta blished on na tiona l or municip al lines a nd p l ac ed within ,

the rea ch of all to the displa c ing of a ll the old a nd cra zy

,

methods which h a ve chea ted i n the p a st a nd a re chea ting in

the present the h a rd working student of the fruit of his
,
-

Bra nches a re spring ing up in m a ny pl aces but m a ny la rg e ,

centres a re still without a G ouin method school Fee ling as I .

do th a t no other method compa re s with the Gouin method -

a nd th a t it i s worthy of t he g rea test eff orts we ca n m a ke

to sprea d it I should like to a ppeal to those phil a nthropists
,

who a re looking out for a me an s to benefi t the na tion enrich ,

the n a tiona l life a nd h a nd down their own na me s with honour

,

to posterity to con sider wha t they ca n do to endow thi s

,
’

method a s a mea ns of popul arising a nd m a king chea p a nd

succ essful the learning of foreig n l an g u ag es doing for ,

ling uistry wh a t tonic solf a has done a nd i s doing for sing i ng .

I It would help considera bly if a tra velli ng l ecture r were

a ppointed to visit a ll the to wns a n d g ive lectures expl aining

the fal la cy of the old methods a nd the g rea t success of the

new meth ods .

A s a sort of summin g up of the Goui n method an d a s

showing wh a t a g oo d work i s being done in Birmingha m I ,

will quote a t leng th the prospectus of the Gouin school in

'

tha t city

FAUL T S or Boox ME THODS .

l .
—They work
‘

inst N a ture using the wrong sense

a ga , ,

forg etting th a t the proper ch a nnel to a cquire a l a ng u ag e i s

the ear not the eye ; th a t modern l an gu a g es sh ould not be
,

t a ught like dead la n g u a g es but oug ht to be lea rnt by the

,

ear, the im a g in a tion a nd the tong u e S tud ent s li k e

, .
,
 53

Monsieur Gouin , before disco vering his method , h a ve the ir

memory in their eye a nd not in their e a r Their eyes a re
, .

tra ined an d over tra ined whilst their ea rs rem ain a bsolutely
,

untra ined
2 — Inste ad o f developing the im a g in a tion they i g n o re it
.

.
,

a nd sto p its g rowt h

3 —They g ive words a nd sentences h a ph a z ar d without

.

.
,

a ny connection wh a tever whilst the order we follow i s th a t

,

of succession in time With disconnected sentences students

.

c a nnot possibly im a g ine ; not im ag ining they do not think ;

not thinkin g they d o not reta in an ything in their minds ;
a nd not ret a inin g a nything they do no t le a rn

4 — They deprive their students of the most v a lu a ble a nd

.

na tural a uxili a ries : the tone of voice the expression of the ,

f a ce the g estures of the spea ker a nd the im a g in a tion

, , .

5 — They forg et th a t the a l l import a nt word the soul of

.
-

the sentence is the verb not the noun They do not te a ch

, .

verbs properly a nd na tura lly a nd with their dry g ra mm a r, , ,

they discoura g e the most dilig ent pupils .

6 — They completely f a il to t ea ch conve rs a tion a s they

.
,

c a nn ot te a ch the idiom s properly forg etting tha t the g re a t ,

bul k of ordin ary l a ng u ag e i s a lmost exclusively composed of

idiom a tic expressions inca p a ble of being tra nsl a ted w o rd for
,

word without being wholly incomprehensibl e or utterly

,

a bsurd

7 —
.

Their pupils c an not understa nd the l a ng u a g e a s spoken

by na tives ; they ca nn o t spea k it even a fter m a ny ye a rs of
study Hence the knowl ed g e they imp a rt i s quite useless to
.

the tourist or to the business m a n

8 — With their endless lists of verbs nouns rules an d
.

.
, , ,

"
exceptions they m a ke the lessons te dious a nd tiring whilst
, ,

they mi ght so ea sily be interest ing For them g ra mm a r is

'

"
,

e veryt hin
g ; students h a ve to lea rn rules a nd to a nswer

native "
qu estions which would puzzle a lea rned Frenchm an or a ny
W ith their system a student m a y know not onl y
.

a ll the rules a nd the ex c eptions

,

bu t al s o the exceptions to ,

these ex ce ptions a nd ye t fa il to a pply th a t knowled g e

,

pra ctic a lly H e knows the curiosities the pec uli a rities of the
.
,

l a ng uag e but he does n ot know the l a ngu a g e A ll hi s know

, .

ledg e f a il s him just when he w a nts it Thi s proc ess is ex a ctly .

the reverse of th a t by which we a cquired our own l a ng u a g e ,

a nd i s therefore unna tura l Would it not be better a nd

, , .

more ra tiona l to a pply the rules fi rst and expl a in th e m a fter

w a rd s ?
.9 — B y const a ntly u sing the eye a n d l ea ving the e a r a nd
 54

the tong ue untra ined, t h ey are b ound t o tea ch a bad pro

nuncia t ion, a nd
yet how ea sy it i s to a cquire a perfect
pronunci a ti o n when properly t a ught l
'

1 0 —B y constan tly tra nsl a ting word for word, students

.

neve r g et the h a bit of thinking in the new lan g u ag e ; an d

ho w ca n one lea rn a l a ng ua g e without thinking in th a t
la ng uage ? without me ntioning the frequent a bsurdities of a
litera l tra nsl a ti on Wha t we should aim a t i s not to tra n s
.

l a te but to tal k This is much simpler much shorter a nd

, .
, ,

a lone useful

1 1 —With su ch a fa ulty syst e m no wonder their suc cessful

.

.
,

students a re h a rdly in the prop ortion of one t o twenty a nd ,

th a t they w a ste to n o purpose a n enormous a mount of

, ,

prec ious time .

Book methods a re therefore m a nifestly a fa ilure , , .

D oes the Gouin Ora l Method g ive b etter results ?

S HORT E"
P O S IT I ON A ND A DVAN T A GE S or Ti m G OUIN O RAL
MET HOD .

The Gouin method of which the two lead ing fea tures a re ,

the pronun ci a tion a nd the idioms .

l — A dopts a nd system a tises the proc es s of N a ture by

.

Tr aining the im ag in a tion a nd the e a r .

Training the tong ue by rep ea t ing .

Tra ining the eye by rea d ing .

Definitely fixing the kn owled g e by writing .

It i s both na tural an d psychologi ca l It re sts upon the .

fa culty of seeing in the mind a nd grea tly develop s im ag ina ,

tion a nd memory by the co n stan t use of m e ntal pictures

‘

,
’
which m a ke an indelible impressi on on the pupil s mind
2 —It dea ls with idea s a nd a ctions in their log i ca l
.

succession in time or of ca use an d eff ect P upils do not ,

.

le a rn h a ph a z a rd disconnected an d unm ea ning words a nd

sentences a s they do in the old e xercises A ll our sentences
,
.

a re well connec ted They form interesting l e ss ons ea ch one

.
,

3 —
co mplete in itse lf .

Conversa ti ona l sentences a re thoroug hly lea rnt from

.

the very first l esson a nd they a re those con se cra te d by ,

us a g e the very idiom a ti c expressions referring to every da y

,
” -

life To lea rn either to rea d or to spea k a ny l a ngua g e wh a t

.

ever there i s o nly one wa y o nl y one rea lly P RA CTI C AL usA ns

, , ,

i e to sp ea k it
. .
, .
 55

4.
—W e a sk
our pupils not to work but simply to observe ,

the a cti ons t o im ag ine the scenes describ ed whilst the teac her
, ,

utters a nd repea ts slo wly di stinctly a nd a s m a ny times a s , ,

necess a ry the forei g n sounds illustra ting th o se s a me a ction s

,

a nd scenes W e combine forei g n sounds a n d a ctions or menta l

.

pictures a nd not Engli sh words a nd forei gn w o rds Thi s is

, . .

a nother essenti a l fea ture of the G ouin method a nd one of the ,

principles of the system i s tha t the pupil must not see the
word printed until he ha s he a rd it severa l times a nd ca n
repea t it correc tly

""
.

5 —
. For us the a ll importa nt word i n a sentence is the
,
-

verb a ction a n d not the noun W e entirely dep end on .

a ctions not on mere words

, .

6 — Th a t is why we a ct our tuiti on

. W e suit the a ction to .

the word a n d the word to the a ction W e live the l a ngu a g e

, .
,

a nd we m ak e our students live it with us a nd this i s the ,

triumph of the G ouin method Consequently the less ons a re .

m a de interesting to the students who thoroug hly enjoy them ,

a nd for whom they become little enterta inments a nd recre a

tions ra ther th a n work .

The method n e cessit a tes very little home work inde ed .

The G ouin method a ssoci a ting tog ether a s it does words

, ,

with a ctions or obj ects to form ment a l pictures o ur students ,

a re t a ught from the beg innin g to think in the n ew l a n g u a g e ,

a nd thi s i s a n essenti a l point If the menta l picture is not .

there students will lea rn either very slo wly or not a t a ll

, .

Th a t i s the rea son why we insi st so much on it .

7 — E a ch l a n g u a g e dea ls with concrete a nd with a bstra ct

fa cts an d ide a s which form a s it w e re two di ff erent
, , ,

l a ng u a g es : the obj ec tive l a ng u a g e and the subjective

l a ng u a g e .

Now we te ac h the obj ective l a ngu a g e by mea ns of a ctions

, ,

objects or a ctu a l pictures by the eye a nd the e a r W e tea ch

, , .

the subjective l a n g u a g e by mea ns of menta l pictures c a refully ,

dra wn by the t ea cher by menta l evoc a ti on by a cting upon, ,

the im a g in a tion intelli g ence a n d the feeling s of our students

"
.
, ,

Our method is therefore n a tur a l log ica l a nd psycholo g ica l

"
, , .

8 — B y the G ouin method stud ents forg et a lto g ether for

.

the time their Eng lish bec a use we a ppe a l so much to their ,

im a g ina tion for experien ce shows us th a t if we a llowed them

to tran sl a t e litera lly— to thi nk in English , to com p a re a nd
,

n a lyse to r a ise objec ti o ns— they w o uld nev e r le a rn a ny

a ,

thing . Th a t is why we repe a t a g a in a nd a g a in to our

stud e nts : T a ke c a re of the sound s a nd id ea s the word s will ,
”
t a ke ca re of t hemselves If they were to depend on the .
 56

words they would never succ eed We never teac h i sol a ted
, .

words but complete sentenc es

, .

9 — The simpli city of the system commend s itself n a t ura lly

.

t o young a nd old It re quires no unusu a l a bility nor does it

.
,

we a ry the student .

l o — B y the Gouin method pupils le a rn te n times a s much

.

in a g iven number of hours h ence a considera ble s a ving of

time
11 —
.

Very soon lesso ns a nd expl a n a tions a re give n in the

.

l a ng uag e studi ed a nd a fte r three months the te ac her c a n

, , ,
’
g ive a less o n of two hours dura ti on without using a single
Eng li sh word .

12 — The pro of tha t the Gouin Ora l System i s the best

.

for ex a mina tions a s well a s for prac tic a l purposes is tha t in

, , ,

a ll public e x am in a tions th o se sc hools which do best in French ,

c omposition a re a lso those where the te aching is entire ly

g iven in French .

This fa ct sp ea ks for itself a nd completely refutes a deeply ,

rooted prejudi ce viz : th a t oral methods a re of no use fo r

, .

ex a min a tion purposes O n the contrary our Goui n method .

,

g ives to c a ndid a tes a n infal lible g uide 11 a pra ctice The , , .

rea son for this is th a t notwithsta nding wh a t ma y be s a id to ,

the contra ry we do te a ch gram m a r but not the ordina ry

, ,

g ra mm a tic a l drud ge ry We te a ch g ra mm a r in a n a tura l .

,

wa y by pr a ctice without w a iting until the lan g u ag e 1 s known

" "
, , .

We expl a in ea ch di fficulty or peculi a rity a s it occ urs so th a t ,

students like L e B ou rg eo is G entilhomme of M oli e re sp ea k ,

g r a mm a tical ly without bein g a w a re th a t th ey h a ve lea rnt

,

g ra mm a r at a ll With the B OOK METHOD S it i s a consta nt

.
,

a nd dre ar y stru ggle with endless rules of g r am m a r whi ch ,

somehow a lw a ys es ca pe when you think you h a ve m a stered

,

them L et the students spea k fi rst a nd the rules of g ramm a r

.

will become very easy ; th ey will dra w them themselve s ,

n a tura lly instinctively without a ny trouble Th a t i s why

, , .

our method i s so popul a r when known ; it serve s both the

purpose of writing a nd of convers a tion .

_
1 3 — To sum up the a dva nt ag es of the Gouin method we
.
,

m a y sa y th a t we a v a il ourselves of every possible a id by mea ns

of obj ects them selves or their ment a l pi ctures ; by a ction , ,

i m a g ina tion intona tion g esture logi cal sequence an d by a

, , , ,

consta nt repetition of the words used by n a tives The .

method is n a tur a l logical a nd psycholog i ca l interesting a nd

, ,

very e a sy it te a ches idiom a tic l a ng u ag e a nd expressions is

, ,

a d a pte d to a ll pu rposes suits a ll a ges en a bles students to , ,

-
 58

Je veux ch a nter 4 .
’
J cn a i vu 5 .

I l e st p a rti 5 .

J y p a ssera i
’
dem a in 6 .

Ja v a is a L ondres 7 .

Elle cha nts bien 8 .

On thi s pl an I ca lled the first h al f of a ny of the a bo ve

ex a mples a prefix a nd the l a tter half an a dix an d there being ,

ei ght cl a sses of a ffixes I too k ei ght exercise boo ks one to , ,

e a ch cl a s s an d put in ea ch a ll the a ffi x es I could find Of one

,

cl a ss ruling o ff a column to the ri g ht h an d side of the p ag e

, ,

e a ch a fiix h a ving a line to itself an d preced ed on the s a me ,

line by the prefix H a ving thus cl a ssified al l the a ffix es it wa s

.

found th a t al l or ne a rly a ll the prefixe s could be inte rch an g ed

, ,

from line t o line in side its own book without viol a ting an y
rule of g ra mm a r and increa sing the scope or use of ea ch
,

prefi x to a n enorm ous extent I n fa ct g ivi ng so a mple a n

’

.
,

opportunity to use and va ry the sentences a s to positively

bewilder the solit a ry stud ent but with help woul d form a ,

lively exercise .

In order not to be misunderstood let me expl a i n th a t the

a fiix e s of the No 1 cl a s s would c o nta in al l nouns with their
.
,

a rticle s etc , a s a m livre u n e p lu me mon l ivre cc livre, cette

.
, , , ,

p l u m e etc etc
,
.
, .

The p refiixes would b e of an y an d every kind found to

precede a noun a s J a i D oma in J a ura i J a i besoin d c e t c ’
,
’
,
’
, .

But I must expl ain th a t I cl a ssi fi ed the prefixes a s follows

keeping a folio or two for ea ch cl a ss of prefixes .

PR E FI" No 1 CL A S S or A rm
. . .

1 Prep a rez vos leco ns.

2 J 0 veux lui dem a nder un v erre de via .

’
3 Jc lui a i dem a ndé un verr e d e a u .

4 A J a ime lo cidre
’
.

4 13 D o nvient cc p a quet .

40 Ja no lui do nnera i p a s votre a dresse .

4D Ne p rep arez vous p a s -

votre l econ .

5A J a i
'
me s ga nts .

53 A ve z vous -
mon ch a p ea u .

5 c 1 1 n a p as lo co dra
'
.

5 D N a va z vous p a s mon livre

’
-
.

6 A C est
’
mo n ohap ea u .

6 13 0 11 est leburea u .

’
6 0 Notre da me n est p a s nne des pl us belle s é glises
de Pa ris .
 59

’
6D Notre d a me n est elle p a s -
une des plus belles é glises
de Pa ri s .

7 M i scella neous
quel a s, ch ape au .

a nd so on with the se ven cl a sses of prefi xes through each

,

book of a fiix es .

I copied a lwa ys from a printe d boo k cutting up the ,

sentences into phra ses ending in one of my cl a sses of a fi xe s

so th a t I could never m a ke an y gra mm a ti ca l mist a kes In .

f a ct my method of procedure revea led to me the grainma r

inna te in the book a s it must h a ve reve al ed itse lf to the fi rst
gra mm a ri a n seeking to compile a g ra mm a r before one wa s
in existe nce .

I an al ysed severa l volumes in thi s wa y a nd ea ch ta sk ,

confirmed my notion of the cl a ssi fic a ti on of the a fi xe s a s

here enumera ted .

But a fter a ll thi s l a bour I al w a ys ha d a dis a ppointment ,

for working al one a s I did I had not a f a voura ble opp ortunity
, ,

to ring the ch a ng es by inte rcha ng ing line with line It is .

g ood in l ea rning a l a n
’
g u ag e to repea t a loud to one s self but ,

it never sounds the s a me a s from a nother voice A nother .

voice is helpful a nd encour a ging besides g iving the ca rs th a t

full pra ctice which is a bsolutely nec ess a ry .

A n other ca use of dis a ppointment wa s th a t my exercise s

"
idea ha s been a lw a ys to g ive exa mples of a g ra mm a tica l rule
’
"
had the s a me f a ul t th a t al l g r a mm a r s a nd a ll exercise books
h a ve ha d excepting Gonin s the fa ult of promiscuity The , .

For ex am ple the following senten ces illu stra te the ch a ng es

,

of the p a st p art iciple .

Jc suis venu .

Oil on so mmes nous re stés -

.

C ette note e st ell e p a yée - -

.

Elles ne sont p a s a llées .

An d in thus cl a s si fyin g senten ces according to g ra mm a ti ca l

rules a g ram m a r sy stem ha s been a tta ined to but the pl a n
, ,

upon which a grocer a rra n g es his stores on his shelves is not

the order in which the cust omers a rr a ng e them for consump
tion .

The mental a crob a tics required t o p a ss from the subj ect of

one line to the subj e ct o f a nother line in the four ex a mp les .

iven bove is conducive to the a c quirement of

'

g a n o t
,

phra seology useful for conversa tion but le a ds only t o th a t ,

de sultory viewing of the constructio n of the l a ng u a ge which

'

is a fa r diff erent thing to a ssimil a ting the l a ng u a g e itself .

Showin g a nd expl a inin g curiositi es of l a ng u a g e is the chief

 60

occup a tion of incompe tent te ach e rs Wha t tea cher of the .

pi a no w ould d a re tea ch the mec ha nism an d tuning of the

pi a no t o a pupil who desired to le a rn to pl a y the instrument ?
N0 they tea ch him to pl a y fi rst a nd a fte r th a t t he pupil
, ,

c a res very little for the mechan i sm of the instrument Ex a ctly .

the sa me con sidera ti o ns a pply to the subj ect of lea rning a

l a ng u ag e .

I a t l a st g ot on the ri ght trac k when I found th a t wh a t

wa s wa nted wa s continuous na rra tive or I might sa y series ,

of sentences in proper sequen c e of time or n a tural order ,

something the mind could dwell up o n without interruption ,

a nd thi s ca n be found in a ny ordin a ry b o ok outside l a ng u ag e

“
text b ooks but better still in Gonin s seri es a nd a s a
,
’
,

student of a forei g n l a ng ua g e w a nts to a cquire the l an g u a g e

o f convers a tion r a ther th a n of n a rr a tive he sh o uld a void ,

ord ina ry na rr a tive books a nd select books speci a lly a rr a ng ed

,

for his b enefit I know of onl y one set of books suita ble a nd
. ,

they a re to be obt a ined a t the Centra l S chool of Forei g n

Tong ues A rundel S treet S tra nd L ondon
, ,
They a re by , . .

Howa rd S w a n a nd Vict or B etis

First F a cts a nd S ente nces in French .

”
The Fa cts of L ife in French .

S cenes of Eng lish L ife in Engli sh ,

.

Cla ss Ro om C onvers a tions in French etc etc , ,

.
,
.

I h a ve al re a dy comm ended the use of these bo oks on the

Gouin or psycholo g ica l method of tea ching an d h a ve nothing ,

but pra ise for th a t m ethod a s pra ctised a t the Centra l S chool
of F orei g n Tong ues .

But ta king up the na rra tive of my own eff orts t o m a ke a

method I w a nt to expl a in to the rea der how I wa s a t l a st
a ble to conclude my e fforts s a tisf ac torily m a king a method ,

which I h a ve c al led the

" "
D A ND S ME THOD
. .

D omina nt and S ubdominan t .

For al l who h a ve studied French in the ordin a ry w a ys a nd

c a nnot spea k I ca n h ea rtily recommend my D a nd S meth od
, . .

a s a winder up of the lin g uistic clock

-
w a rra nted to go a s ,

w ell in a forei g n l an g ua g e a s in the mother tong ue .

Now for the formul a T a ke a ny book of n a rra tive or b ette r

.
,

still a book of the Central S chool sa y the F irst F a cts a nd ,

S en ten ces in F ren ch which is a rra ng ed in series

,
i g nore the
method the book was a rrang ed for a nd proceed to divide the ,
 61

sentences into domina nts a nd subdomin a nts The following .

is the first lesson as it stan ds in the boo k

Fm sr FA CT S A ND S um m ons m F RE NCH
f
.

J 0 uvre mon pupitre

’
.

e m a p p roche de mon pupitre

’
.

2 —J e me pl a ce devan t mon pupitre

3 —Je mets l a m a in d a ns m a poche
. .

4 — E t is prends m a clef
.

. .

5 —J introduis l a clef d a ns le trou de l a serrure

’

6 —Je tourne l a clef

.
.

7 —L a clef f a it m a rcher l a serrure

.

. .

8
. L a clef ouvre l a pupitre
-
.

9 — Je lcve la co uvercle de mon pupitre

. .

1 0 —J ouvre tout a fa it mon p upi tre

’
- -
. .

1 1 —E t j e 1 51 011 9 16 couvercle
12 —
. .

_
. L a pup itre est ouvert .

The following i s wha t I copied into my exercise book a s

the domina nt phra ses
’
J ouvre
1 —Je m a p p roche
.

2 —Je me pl a ce
. .

3—
. .

Je mets
. .

4 — E t je prends
. .

5 —J introduis
’
. .

tourne .

7 — L a clef fait m a rcher .

8 —L a clef o uvre
.

. .

9 — Je l eve
. .

1 0 — J ouvre
’
. .

1 1 —E t j e l ache
.

1 2 —L e pupitre est
. .

Al l the a bove I ca ll D omin an ts .

Comp a re these with the ori g ina l exercise a nd observe th a t

the phra ses not shown in the exercise of D omina nts a re the
S ubd omina nts .

In ta king a lesson the pupil first hea rs the entire ex ercise

in free Eng li sh then in French until he knows its mea ning
, ,

a s soon a s it touches his ea r s a nd then le a rns to pronoun ce ,

it perfectly and fin al ly to read it a fter whi ch he co pies out

, ,

the Dominan t s a nd then re ad s off the entire exercise a t si g ht

of the Domin ants o nl y the tea cher correcting a ny fa ults , .

This is a d evice for setting the fa culty of sp ee ch in motion ‘

in ex a ct imita ti o n of the p roces s of Na ture A child he a rs .

someone sa y
 62

Give m e my ha t .

By instinct his littl e mind divides the sentence into two

p arts :
S ubdomin a nt
my ha t,
a nd he a fterw a rds pla ys on the Domina nt with a v a riety of
S ubdomin a nts
Give me my ha t ,

m y to y s ,

my books etc etc , .

, .
,

a nd so it i s with the adult le a rn er he must fix the Domina nts

in his mind an d pla y the S ubdomina nts out of his hea d
a a inst them
g
,

.
,

" "
S uppose the pupil contents himself with re a ding or repe a t
ing by hea rt the entire exercise th a t will be a p a rrot ,

exercise which is condemned so m uch ; it will not b ri ng into

pla y a t a ll the ling uistic f ac ulty but if he is promp ted with,

the D ominan ts only a nd bring s o ut of his own mind the

,

S ubdomin an ts it i s pra cticing the re a l art of ling ui stry

, He .

ha s pro of th a t he knows the Domina nts an d feels their power ,

a nd me an ing if he i s a ble to a tta ch to them the proper

S ubdominan ts Remember the a cquiring of re a dy m a de

.
,
-

sentences is of no use but the l ea rning of sentences in two

,

pa rts Domina nts an d S ubdomina nts j ointed so th a t they c an

, ,

be interch ang ed freely i s in ex a ct a ccord an ce with the na tura l

,

method .

M a n himself i s a Domin an t a nd it is wha t he g ets for S ub

,

domin a nts which forms his entire life ;so it i s with sentences .

L ook a g a in a t p a rt of my Domin a nt Exercise :

J e m a pproche
’
.

Je me pl a ce .

Jc mets .

E t je prends .

The f a culty of a tta ching proper S ubd o min a nts to such a s

these i s the f a culty of ling uistry and is tota lly d ifi e rent to ,

the p a rroting of read y m a de sentences

”
Think o f the
-
.
_

infi nite uses these few Domina nts c a n be m a de to serve by

a tta chi n to them the th o us a nds of possible a nd a ppropri a t e
g
S ubdominan ts .

Fro m the time th a t a lea rn er can pl a y D om in a nts an d

S ubdomin a nts a g a inst ea c h other he is re a lly spea king the
l a ng u a g e .

It m a y be observed th a t the l e ng th of the Domin an t is

 63

determ ined on reac hing a verb This i s the g eneral rule .

,

but not the onl y one for ex a mple ,

" u e st —
’
D omin a nt
cc que les enf a nts mettent qu a nd ils
“
The Domina nts must be complete h a n dles so to spe a k
S ubdomin a nt
sortent ,

,
,
.

for the m a nipula ting of va rious S ubdominan ts The S ub .

domina nts being g en er a lly phra ses o f nouns pl a ces times , , ,

m a nner conditi on qua lity an d sometim e s Infi n itive s a nd

, , ,

other f o rms of ve rb s ; the brea k betw ee n Domina nt a nd

S ubdomina nt to be m a de where it w ill not sep a ra te words
bound tog ether by an y rule of n m a r The g ra mm a tica l .

construction must not be interfered with a nd nee d not be ,

known by the lea rner .

For the benefit of re a ders who do not know French I here ,

ive an exercise in En glish ta ke n from S cen es o f E ng lish

g
L if e but divided on my own D a nd S method into Domin a nts
,
. .

a nd S ubdomin a nts .

D OMI NA NT S S UB DO M I NA NT S
I Open my desk .

I wa lk tow a rd s my desk .

I g et t o my desk .

I stop a t my desk .

I t a ke my key .

I put the key into the keyhole .

I turn the key in the lock .

The key turns the lock ;

The key unlocks the desk .

I lift the lid of the desk .

I open the desk wider an d wider .

I open the lid quite wide .

I put b a ck the lid .

The desk is open .

Now let the read er rea d over the Do min a nts an d then
reflect th a t in them he is a cquiring the a ctu a l l a ng u a g e .

L et him proceed a step further a nd repea t the s a me Domin a nts

a s referrin
g to yesterd a y a s I opened I w a lked I g ot I
stopped etc a nd th e n a s referring t o t o—
, , , ,

, .
, morrow I sh al l ,

open I sh al l wa lk I sh a ll g e t I sh a ll stop e t c 5 a nd b esides

, , , , .

a ll this he c a n ch an e in his own l an g u a e the persons a nd

g g ,

ha ving done th a t he will h a ve d o ne a l l tha t he will ever wa nt

to do with these D omin a nts a nd the val ue of the exe rcise lie s
'

" ,

in the fa ct th a t it i s not a mere schol a stic exercise but a n ,

exercise which everybody does n a tura lly from the time of their
infan cy an d the le a rner of a foreig n la ng u a g e al s o will a fte r
,
.

a little prac ti ce do the exercise q uite a s n a tur al ly a nd e a sily

,
.
 64

As to the S ubdomin a nts,

they a re even ea sier to a ssim
l a te A g a in I sa y reflect on the va st po ssibiliti es of these
.

few Do mina nts if they a re fed a s it were with the thous a n ds , ,

of S ubd o min a nts th a t ca n a ppropri a te ly be brought to their

service .

On this pl a n a boo k m a y soon be a ssimil a ted an d the

.
,

question of technic a l g ra mm a r does not intrude itself a t a ll .

W hilst the pupil i s a cquiring a l an g u a g e in thi s pra ctica l

m a nner he sw a llows the g ra mma r embodied in the Domina nts
a nd S ubdomin a nts with perfect compl a ce ncy the pr a ct ic a l use ,

of the l a ng ua g e pla cing him a b ove the level of mere t echni

ca l it ie s.

The m a in thing is a lw a ys t o m a ke the ch a ng es of tense

etc under the direction of a pa insta king tea cher a nd in the
.
,

c a se of a forei g n l a ng u a g e a tea cher i s nec es s a ry not in the

"
"
,
,

a bstrac t but a lw a ys in the series pro perly set in the ”

context a s p a rt of a vivid picture one p a rt in the mind a nd ,

the other in the speech .

A pupil a nd tea cher m a y thus pl a y a t Domin an ts a nd

S ubdomin a nts va rying the tenses a s they g o a long sometimes
, ,

the pupil ta king the D o mina nt a nd the tea cher the S ub

domina nt a nd vice versa until a book ca n be run throug h
,

viva ra ce a t express speed without recourse to w riting the ,

m a te ri a l coming more ra pidly to h an d th a n a ny co nversa tion

could be extemporized thus removing the d iffi culties which
,

h a ve hithert o m a de it a lm o st im p o ssibl e for a tea cher to move

"
'

the to ng ue of his pupil Thus a lea rner will be a ble to use

.
.

the l a ng ua g e a s freely a s a n a tive .

I ma y a dd th a t under the directio n of a competent te a cher

the contents of a newsp a per m a y be divided into Domin a nts
.

a nd S ubdomin a nts an d in the c a s e of a n ad v a nced p upil

,

ve ry ra pid pra ctic e can be m ad e but less ad va n ced pup ils ,

shoul d in preference to a newsp a per selec t subj e ct m a tter

, ,

a rr a n g e d spec i a lly for them a s in the public a tions referred

,

to o f the Centr al S chool of Forei g n Tongues so a s t o le a rn ,

a t fi rst the element a ry a nd mos t u seful p a rts of the l a n g u ag e

which a re embod ied in such books in ea sy g ra d a ti o n .

The following ex a mple from F irst F a cts a nd S en ten ces in

F ren ch is g iven t o show th a t sente nces m a y be divided into
Domina nt an d S ubdomina nt phra se s not a cco rding to a ny ,

ha rd a nd fa st rule but more according to the individua l

,

fa n cy a lw a ys m a king Domi nan ts tha t will sugg est the

,

S ubd o min a nts a nd a voiding those which h a ve no sug g estive

,

ness so tha t the S ubdomina nts a re a ctua l complements to

,

the Dominants thoug h prefera bly ind epend ent in a g ra m

,

ma t ica l se nse .
 66

thous a nd and one thing s which L a mere f a ct a nd such can

-

, ,

a l l a ppropri a tely be h ooked on a s S ubdomin ants Then I .

,

sa y it i s evident th a t the divisi on ha s b een m a de in the rig ht

p a rt of the sentence and thoug h in s ome sentences diff erent

,

persons would m a ke the division in di ff erent pl a ces yet e a ch ,

would p a ss a s corre ct if the result of a g ood interch a ng e a ble

S ubdomin a nt is a chi eved with a n equa lly g ood interch a ng e
,

a ble Domin a nt ; the sole object bein

g to g ive the te a cher a
p a rt a nd the pupil a p a rt The recog nition of one p a rt a nd.

the use of the other p a rt being an intelli g ent combina tion of

”

the Domin a nt a nd S ubdomin a nt summing up a nd completing ,

in the world of speech wh a t is so a ptly described in two words

of the whole a ctivity of life ,

D E MA ND A ND S U PP L Y .

A fter a rriving a t so cle a r a view of the n a tur a l division of

sentences into wh a t I h a ve ca lled D omin a nt a nd S ubdomin a nt
p a rts I sh a ll never a g a in w a ste time in le a rn ing verbs or
p hra ses in the a bstra ct or in g ra mm a tica l list s committe d
, ,

to memory to be u sed som e d a y which g enera lly me an s never

,
, .

A l l speech comes from a na lo g y or comp a ri son with a ctu a l

pictures in the mind If a m a n ha d been shut up in a mill
.

a ll his life a nd knew nothin

, g but wea ving when he c a me ,

out of the mill he would liken a ll the a ctions new to him to

the we a ving process f a mili a r to him H e w ould express the .

unfa mili a r by the fa m ili a r ; this being s o the m o ral i s ,

obvi ous a nd irresistible T o ena ble a pers on to express a ll the

.

ph a ses of life you must supply him with al l the pictures of

—
life menta l pictures a nd word pictures
"
“
A ll the world s a .
’
.

”
sta g e s a ys one yes a nd the world of words is a world of
, , ,

picture s a nd ca n only b e a ssimil a ted by the mind of m a n in

,

complete ment al pictures not in a bstra ct units or even ,

a bstr a ct phr a ses or sentences the numb e r of pictures b eing ,

option a l ; the fewer the pi ctures t he fewer the cha nnels for
expressing th o ug hts W hether a m an ha s few or m a ny
.

pictures he m a kes use of wh a t he ha s t o express his thoug hts ,

a nd never g oes in sea rch of unpict ure d or disconnected

phr a ses but pictures pictures a ll i s pictured word pi ctures in
, , , ,

the mind .

Underst a nd the pl a n here described i s my Domina nt a nd

S ubdomin a nt method a nd a lthoug h for choi c e I r eco mm end
,

the use of the books of the Centra l S chool of Foreig n Tongues ,

t he D a nd S method ha s no rel a tion wh a tever with the

. .

Gouin psycholog ic al method .

GOUIN THOD .

f rench German Italian Spanish

, , ,

Izorwegian,
'

'
-

B indsste
-

m 13min, Greek;
,

ya to S p h g u a ge
‘

A R d l R o a d e a k . L a n .

Thou
s a n ds of P up il s ha ve p a s se d thro ug h the S chool s

s ucce ss f ul ly .

GL AS S A ND PR IVATE LES S O NS ”
.

-
Ad op ted by t he E ven ing C o nt inua tio n S c ho o ls
o f t he L o nd on S chdo l B oa rd .

A ll M o d e rn L a ng ua g e s Ta u
ght by t ho roug hl y Ca p a bl e
a nd qua l ifie d Na t ive Te a c he rs ; L a t in a nd
G re e k by U niVe rsit yi M e n .

DR AMA n o O R A L M E TH O D , W I TH O U T D R U D G E R Y .

For Te r ms , P r osp e ct us, & c a p p ly to

‘

.
,

Centra l School of ForeignTongues Ltd

HOWAR D HOUS E AR UNDEL ST STR AND , .
, ,

L O ND O N , _
ma c
 G o uin S e rie s M e t hod .

The following Publ ica t io ns of t he C E NTR A L S C H OO L

a re supp lied on R ece ip t of t he P ubl is he d Price a nd Posta g e

" io "
l

i Ta
"i T i "
i S d i
A rt of Teach ng a nd tu y ng L a ng uag es E ngl sh Si r nsla t n xth Edition
i
A F rst L esson in French E ng l sh ra nsl a t on 0. 000 000

First Fa cts a nd entences in Frehch

S
Cl ass R oom Conversa tions In French Tea cher s "
" di i "
'

G l ass R oom C onversa ti ons Cla ss E t on No I , . . . p a p er I 0. 000

11 . u n o

" "
III :
g. n o

The Fa ct s of L ife . Pa rt 1 T ea che

. rs E di tion . c l oth

n,. n u n o“ n o

" "
I II 0
. . fl 0 0. n o

Pa rt I I . T
dition cl oth
ea che1 s E ,

R a p id B in
ders for filing the sep ara t e sect ions of the Cla ss Editions . Net
p ostage. 4d
" "
.

S i
ymbol c Gramma r Cha rts French No I . . , L arg e

C ard

" "
"
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The Systema tic Tea ching of L a ng ua ges on the S eries Method . exp l a na t ory

p a mp hl et. p rice 6d.

Or ma y b e p ro c u re d t h ro u g h a ny B oo k s e l le r.

P U B L IS HE D B E
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PH I L I P, S ON a NE PH E W . S out h C a st le S treet , L ive rp ool .

 T TA C H E D are t wo C o up ons, o ne ma rke d
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the na me a nd a dd ess
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p resent a ti o n a t a B e rlit z S c h o o l or G o uin S c h o o l ,

wh erever th ey ma y e x is t the wid e wo rld o ve r, the

be a re r .
will be given a T ria l fie sso n , free of

c h a rg e .

I n th o se to wns wh ere a G o ui n S ch o o l do es

not ex i st , fill up the C o up o n W i th na me a nd a ddress ,

se nd it to the C E NT RA L S ex1 0 0 1
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To ucua s L I MI TE D ,
H o wa rd H o u se , A r unde l S tree t.

S tra nd , a nd a sk fo r r
a r a ng e me nt s to be ma de to

g ive l e ssons in the to wn—o iiering yoursel f and

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fri e nds to j o in the l

c a ss , a nd suffi c ie nt numbers

will r
e nsu e a c a ss l be in g fo rmed .