The morning call., 1892-09-11

sisiing on conscientious employment OF all
the words acquired.
By constant repetition of this method
great facility is soon gained in fluent and
correct expression. A certain number OF
the sentences which have been perfectly
acquired by the tongue and ear may be
written after there is assurance on the part
of the teacher that all the words are thor
oughly understood as TO their photography
and slgnitieatioD.
From this to reading print is but another
step in the systematic scale OF those pur-
suing the study of a language, as nature,
history and science indicate all languages
ought to be acquired.
ABOUT GRAMMAR.
Grammar is the philosophy OF language;
that is, a classification of the rules accord
Ing TO which language evolves IRON simple
monosyliabic elements to more complicated
infections ana indefn iteness, and is more
or less artificial science.
At all events language must be learned
primarily in its totally as spoken, living
vehicle for the transmission of ideas, and
not as collection Of rules applying to the
various parts OF speech.
The study Of language in all its complex
ity and breadth is one of the most interest
ing TO which the human mind can devote
itself. Language is the direct product and
criterion by which TO measure the intel
lectual status Of people, the besuti-
full richness and fowery decorative
ness of the Oriental tongues, as dis
played in the sacred books OF the Budd-
hists or The begemmed and sparkling poems
of the Persians and Arabs; the power and
force of the languages from the Teut onlc
root eliminating in Shakespeare. Goethe
or Burns; the mellfiuous and musical Ian
guages of the Latin and Romance bran ehes
enriehing the world OF poetry by Moliere
CeTvantes and Dante.
SIGNIFICANCE OF SPEECH.
D., a. l.. fe kv,ra
indeed il being but the outward clothing of
his Utmost thought What pleases any ear
like unto the speech OF the highly cultivated.
thoughtful and observing mind? "What
care | for words? Yet words do well when
he that speaks them pleases those that
hear !. e., when be says them well.
What influence is greater than that OF the
spoken word? Men may come and men
may 60, bnt the word of man, the outward
expression of his Utmost thought, will last
as long as the human race.
Next to the study OF man himself comes
that of mans speech, and happy he who
can by facility and readiness therein set
himself in the closest rapport with the
greatest number of his fellOw-men, and
speech is the means by which to attain this
end. Yet speech must OF course develop
alongside Of the thinking which makes
| speech valuable
REFoRMERs IN TEACHING.
One of the latest reformers in the teach
| ing of language, NJ Comm. but by no means
| a pioneer. simply one among many, does
not sufficiently emphasize the fact that
| there is distinct difference between being
taught foreign language and learning it
| as children learn il from one another. Nor
| is ii correct TO state that any language can
| be learned in given time.
The child, while a child, only acquires
partial and imperfect knowledge of the
mother tongue, but il does learn it in the
oh v.or- aud fhn general
| that the adult student must try to follow.
But to master any language in all its in
| diYdual and essential characteristics will
ever be q matter of time, varying in dura-
ton according to the linguistic ability Of
| the student and the amount OF time ne de-
votes to its study from day TO day.
The writer has taught English, German,
| French and Italian according TO this his
toric or scientific method for many years,
and the success with children has been
simply astonishing
FACULTIES OF CHILDREN.
As a rule little children delight in the
learning of language. Their powers of
imitation are all alive, and they love to
acquire orally as well as visibly. They
catch with perfect ease grammatical in
| Elections, provided they hear them distinctly
| uttered.
They likewise display great eagerness In
regard to the history of the people whose
| language they are being taught. In short,
| language taught on scientific rather than on
| the old-fashioned li1es-frst thing gram
mar, second thing grammar and third thing
! grammar, until finally the mind of the
student ends by regarding a foreign lam
guage as just 2 collection of rules, with
| great number OF exceptions, and all invented
| for the express purpose Of pulling him
| tends 10 develop every faculty Of the mind,
| while at the same time sharpening the
sense of hearing as well as of seeing.
It is earnestly to be desired that all teach
| ers, whether homo instructors or university
professors, should cOliaboTate in this neces-
| sary reform in methods OF instruction in
Language, whether classic or modern. Too
much OF valuable human nerve force and
| of almost equally valuable time have been
wasted in the futile efforts of years TO ac-
| Quire language by means of learning the
| grammar instead of by natures plans and
| the methods of science.
A DEMONSTRATION LESSON.
Teacher-Gnten Tag.
| Pupils repeat Gaten Tag until said quite
easily by each Of them, either singly or in
| concert. Teacher then takes a book or
| other object from the table, holds the same
| in the hands saying: Das ist Elm Buch-re-
| peated as before by the pupils. Teacher
! proceeds-Was habe eh in meiner HandP
And here the pupils must be informed
that you have In German is Isle haben."
| They then reply: Sic haben elm Buch in der
| Hand. The book is then passed to pupil
| Teacher asks-Wer hat das Buch jetZt? ex-
| planning that ''jetzt" means now"
Then must follow questions exercising
pupils on the words acquired. Vie heiszt
| jetzt auf Elglisch? VIE heisZt now auf
| Deutseh? Vie heisZt Hand auf Engisch?
| Vie heiszt sic haben auf Englsch? Vie
heisZt you have auf Deutsch?
In this manner the vowel combinations
Ell, au, Ell and lie have been exercised; the
| gutteral ch has also been pronounced. The
| cons0nant combinations TIT, SIT aud sch
| have also been acquired
The material here given is quite sufficien t
| for lesson Of an hour. which is ample in
/ length for beginners. For little children
| half an hour is sufficient to begin with.
In this one lesson five or six nouns have
| been learned; the third person singular OF
| the present of the verb heisZen, ito be
| called; also the first person singular and
| the second person plural of the verb haben,
| "to have" The sentences used must be
repeated singly by each pupil in the class,
also By all in concert.
Distinctness In pronouneing the vowels
must be at once insisted upon, also care
| full division OF the words into syllables while
| pronouncing them.
| This plan experience proves to be excel
| lent for the cultivation of clear and ac-
| curate pronunciation. Nothing need be
| said with regard to grammar-abSolutely
| pothiBg-should the pupils be children. II
persons acquainted with the analysis of
| language, the sentence. "Guten Tag," may
| be explained as the contraction OF Itch
wunsche linen einen guten Tag"
After this plan has been pursued for a
| couple of weeks then one or two of the
| sentences spoken may be written. One
| quarter of an hour may be given to writing,
| while three-quarters must be regularly de-
| voted to speaking. Sentences containing
| difficult vowel ana consonant sounds should
| be exercised from time TO time, for the pur-
/ pose of drilling the tongue and the other
| vocal organs. For instance. IN German, les
zwitscherten zwei Zwergel auf zwei Zwei-
| gen."
| In French, "Ton the t-a-t-il ote Ia toux ?"
In short, every sort of device and every
method useful for vocal gymnastics must
be res0rted to, always keeping in mind the
thorough training Of the ear in hearing
| pronunciation, and OF the vocal organs by
Il hon 70. l.