The next illustrative sentence was : "Knechte unterstützen ihn." "Labourers assist him." Teacher. Give the passive form. What person is ihn ? What person is mir? There was confusion here between the person speaking and the person spoken of, a distinction which English boys also find very difficult to grasp, though to educated adults it seems so simple. Next, ich habe gehört was taken as text; and the teacher asked for person, number, and tense; for the indicative present, the imperative, and the subjunctive present; for the moods in the passive construction. The answers were rapid, unhesitating, and accurate. Then du singst was given, and person, number, tense, mood, and voice were asked for. Finally ich bin gegangen was given, and requests were made for the conjugation in the plural. There was some unexpected hesitation here; but, on the whole, this lesson, with its rapid oral parsing, and the more difficult exercises in which the required form was asked for, when mood, voice, tense, person, and number were stated, struck me as admirable, and gave one reason for the success of the Germans in studying foreign languages, starting, as they do, with such an excellent grammatical equipment in their own. L CHAPTER XV FOREIGN LANGUAGES 1.-FRENCH Leipsic. Higher Primary School. Class IV. Thirty children were present, ten and eleven years of age. This class began French at Easter; it was now September. Four hours a week had been given to the subject. The lesson followed the book, which was chosen by the municipal school authority, and of which each child had a copy. Each lesson in the book contained : 1. A short vocabulary. 2. Grammar. 3. Exercise to be written and spoken. 4. Conversation. The teacher stated that he taught on the new method, commencing by short spoken and written sentences, naming and placing the objects in the schoolroom. The vocabulary of about a dozen of the earliest lessons consisted of names for parts of a room, the desks, seats, blackboards, clothes, and parts of the body; but grammar was introduced from the first lesson, so that one of the essential elements of the new system, viz., the postponement and the inductive elaboration of grammar, was absent. The class had reached the Seventh Lesson, which dealt with ordinals and sentences containing them. Teacher. What is "first" ?-Le premier. Now give the feminine.-La première. The children answered individually and then collectively, the teacher strongly emphasising the French pronunciation. What is "second," masculine ?-Second. What is "fourth" ?-Quatrième. What is "nine" ?-Neuf. What is "ninth "-Neuvième. The lesson was conducted in German; genders were insisted on throughout, and I was surprised at the regret and shame with which the children stood convicted of an error. Then the sentences in the book were read, at first simultaneously after the teacher, and then individually. Example. Mon amie Eugénie a neuf ans. Children individually stood up and orally translated the French exercise into German. both rapid and accurate. This was Each child had a little note book in which difficult words and typical sentences were written. These they learn by rote at home. Sight and sound, said the teacher, must be united. Then, without the book, came a series of questions on the exercise Wie heisst "Wir haben"? (Translate "we have.") Only eight out of thirty with hands up. Then Wie heisst "élève"? Answer: Schüler. Now give the feminine.-Schülerin. Now the feminine plural.-Schülerinnen. Then, Wie heisst "ella a"? This verbal equivalent again seemed to give difficulty. A conversation section concluded the lesson-the class first repeating what had already been dealt with in a previous lesson. Teacher. Qui est sur le banc ? Pupil. Charles est sur le banc. Teacher. Où est le maître ? Qui a l'éponge? Pupil. Le maître a l'éponge. Teacher. Pour qui est la chaise ? Pupil. La chaise est pour le maître ou pour la maîtresse. Teacher. Qui est malade? Does malade agree? (Predicative adjectives in German do not.) Teacher. Would it in German ? "Wherever it is possible," said the teacher, "I show the objects; for example, when I say Qui a le canif, I show one." This is part of the new method of language teaching. The conversations were in French only, but the German explanations were given if any difficulty arose. A series of rapid questions and answers followed as to the pens, paper, blackboard, and their positions. It is to be noted that the conversations are not really conversations, and the opponents of this system say they merely involve the parrot repetition of the teacher's own words. It seemed to me that the pronunciation was much better than that of English children of the same age. The teacher, who knew English, thought that French sounds were easier for German children than for English children. However this may be, there is no doubt that the practice of oral, as well as written exercises, from the very first, has much to do both with better pronunciation and increased speed. Frankfort.-Higher Primary or Middle School. Class I. About twenty boys present, average age, fourteen years. These boys had taken French for five hours a week for five years. At my request the teacher gave orally some German sentences of considerable difficulty, and the pupils at once wrote the French translation. I append the sentences and their French equivalents as given by him: 1. Warum sind Sie mir böse? Ich bin Ihnen nicht böse. Pourquoi m'en voulez-vous ? Je ne vous en veux pas. |