CHAPTER XIV GERMAN GRAMMAR ONE of the most striking differences which exists between English and German education is the much greater attention which is paid in Germany to the native tongue. In the primary schools of Berlin, eight hours a week in the lowest class, in which the scholars are six and seven years old, are compulsorily given to their own language, and six hours a week are thus given even in the first class, where the pupils are thirteen and fourteen years of age. And in the secondary modern schools of the same town six hours in the lower classes, where the children are ten and eleven years of age, and three hours in the top classes, where the scholars are fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen years old, are compulsorily allotted to German. Probably the most efficient cause of this is the pride of the German in his national literature and his belief in a well-understood common language as a great bond of national union. Our English primary teachers complain of the debased accent which, in many great towns, has to be overcome. The German primary teacher complains not only of accent but of dialects, and my suggestion that the time might be reduced was invariably met by the protest, that in no shorter time could the scholars be taught to speak German. "Nicht Deutsch" was an objection frequently raised by teachers in my hearing when badly-phrased answers were given, and that, not simply in language lessons, but in all lessons. There is continual insistence on correct speech, and this means much in a highly inflected and positional language like German. The little children must answer always in complete sentences, and, indeed, in some schools, such answers were insisted on throughout. Several head teachers thought that the principle was rather overworked, and I thought so too; but it is, at least, an evidence of great care for the language. Mir for mich, and den for dem, often brought rebukes which inaccuracy of meaning failed to call forth. Leipsic.-Primary Schools In some schools in Germany, the children are allowed to have Grammar books, but not in Leipsic. The teacher must make up his own illustrative sentences or take them from the reading book. The following scheme is immediately based upon the Lehrplan. 1. In the second school year, when the children are seven and eight years of age, they begin grammar by picking out nouns, adjectives, and verbs. They also deal with number. 2. In the third school year, when they are eight and nine years old, little sentences are given which are divided into subject and predicate. The subject must be a noun or a pronoun; the predicate must be a verb, or a verb with an adjective or noun as complement. Nouns and pronouns are dealt with as to gender and person. Adjectives are compared. The simpler tenses are dealt with, e.g. Present tense, ich gehe. Perfect tense, ich bin gegangen. Future tense, ich werde gehen. 3. In the fourth school year simple sentences are more fully dealt with. Nouns and pronouns are declined, number words are dealt with, and voice is added to the treatment of verbs. 4. In the fifth school year simple sentences are more fully treated-the adverbial extension is introduced, with adverbs and prepositions. Additional tenses are taken in the parsing of verbs, e.g. Imperfect, ich ging. Pluperfect, ich war gegangen. Future perfect, ich werde gegangen sein. The variations of the declination of nouns, articles, and adjectives are now dealt with. Interrogative and relative pronouns are added. Pronouns are fully declined. 5. In the sixth school year, when the children are eleven and twelve years old, the previous work is recapitulated; complex sentences are treated; the conditional mood is dealt with, and also the sub junctive; the difference between direct and indirect narration is shown, and conjunctions are introduced. 6. In the seventh school year there is recapitulation, with more difficult complex sentences and elliptical sentences; and the moods of verbs are fully treated. 7. In the eighth and final school year the work is recapitulated again, and compound sentences are introduced. The grammatical difficulties of German writing and spelling receive special attention. Grammar receives a more important place in the German primary school curriculum than in ours. Our own school code makes grammar compulsory in so far as it relates to the correct use of language. The extreme vagueness of such a conception results in a variety of treatment which offers no very tangible result. I heard some excellent grammar lessons given, but, as with us, it is not a subject which teachers are, as a rule, fond of teaching. A very unusual power of analysis of thought and of logical treatment is needed to make grammatical teaching really excellent, and the possession of such power is probably not very widely spread in any country. Perhaps the most noteworthy points from the standpoint of method are: 1. The treatment of nouns and verbs before the treatment of subject and predicate. This I believe to be correct, and have argued for such a beginning on theoretical grounds. 2. The treatment of analysis and parsing side by side, progress in one being regulated by progress in the other. Conditional and subjunctive moods, for example, are not really intelligible, except in connection with complex sentences, though the treatment of indicative and imperative moods may be fitly introduced in simple sentences. Hamburg. Primary School. Class V. Third School Year. Fifty-seven girls present, of eight, nine, and ten years of age, the bulk being nine. Teacher. Which words do we write with capital letters ? Pupil. We write nouns with capital letters. Teacher. What are nouns ? Pupil. Nouns are the names of persons, animals, and things. Teacher. Give examples. Now give examples of masculine nouns only; now of feminine nouns; now of neuter nouns. Decline "ball" in the singular and plural. This was done correctly; the article being prefixed and the cases referred to as First case, Third case, Teacher. Place the words which you have just heard in sentences. This was done, one sentence being given in which a preposition governed the third case. The question, K |