The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-22
CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS.
The Pupils Of The Public Schools TO
Have a Ten Days Rest.

cusSed at the Normal ClaSs-Prof. a.
Muzzareli Addresses the Glass on the
Subject OF Teaching Modern Ian
guages-He Will Give the Public
School Teachers Lessons in French
Free of Charge.
! The public schools closed yesterday for
/ the holidays. They will reopen Jan. l.
/ The greater part of the week was taken
/ up with examinations prepared by the SUI
/ perintendent Supt. Baker has introduced
an innovation in the examinations
There will be three examinations dur
ing the year hereafter instead of two as
| formerly. The first examination is held
| in December, the second in March, and
the third in June. Instead Of crediting
the pupils with the percentage obtained
| upon the final examination the average
of the percentage obtained in the three
examinations will be taken, and this will
determine the pupils percentage for the
year. This will require careful attention
to their studies on the part of the pupils
all throughout the year, and viii prevent
them from attempting TO merely pass the
examination at the end of the year.
The teachers obtained the orders for
their December salaries from the superin-
tendent yesterday afternoon. This may
have been one reason why the normal
class in the afternoon was so well attend
ed. Supt. Baker called upon all the princi-
pals for reports as to the results of the
examination, the progress made since the
beginning of the term, and the attend
| ance. owing to the fact that the exami-
| nations were only concluded yesterday,
| and the principals had not had an oppor-
tunity OF reviewing the work they were
m a lie al nv afgfv~ r.rsf-
| upon the results. The general expression
| was that good work had been done in the
schools. and though not as good in many
| instances as the principals would have
| desired, still it was up to the usual stan
GARD OF The work accomplished during the
first three months of the year. The at
| tendance was reported good at all the
grammar schools except the Masse where
! 1t has fallen off considerably of late on
account of the scarlet fever scare Prin-
| cipal Train of the high school reported
that a number of his pupils had left be-
fore the close of the term to spend the
holidays in the country, and that when
| the examinations were begun there was a
| wonderful increase In the number of pu-
pills on the sick list. He asked what was
10 be done with pupils who failed to stand
| the examination, as they could not be
promoted without having passed the ex-
| aminations. Supt. Baker replied that all
! pupils must stand the examination, and
| that those who failed to do so this week
must do so on their return in January.
Prof. Antoine Muzzarelli was introduced
| already announced in the Morning
| News he has offered to teach
the public school teachers the French Ian
| guage free of charge Prof. Muzzareli's
| appearance before the class was for the
| purpose of stating his offer to the teachers
| and explaining his method of teaching.
| The Usefulness of Modern Languages
! and the Way to Teach Them" was the
subject of Prof Muzzarelli's address,
| Wnlch proved poth interesting and enter
| tanning. In opening his remarks he said
| the knowledge of the foreign languages
| was supremely useful, especially to per-
| sons OF intelligence and refinement The
! knowledge of French is especially desira-
Bile, as it has been for two or three CEN
turtles the language of society the world
! over, and Is now the universally accepted
language or diplomacy. Prof. Muzzarelli
| took strong grounds against the old meth
DDS of teaching foreign languages by
| books, leaving the pupil as MIGRANT of
| the real language after months of study
| as he was before he began. He gave an
amusing instance of how languages are
taught in the schools from his own expert
ence when after being engaged to teach
| rrench IN certain New York school
ne was called upon to teach all the other
| modern and dead languages as well, with
some OF which he had no experience what
ever. OF the many teachers whom he has
! taught in his summer school he said
not one in one hundred knew how TO pro
! nounce a single French sentence correct
~, and yet they had been teaching if in
their own schools. "
Ignoring the rudiment of the lam
| guage, said Prof. Muzzarelli, they com
pei their pupils to waste the most precious
DRY, parrot-like, hundreds of very in.
| slpld grammatical rules and ex
e efi ions: TT thousands of verbs in
al thelf tense and moods, making them
parse, conjugate and perhaps translate
literally from French into English s]cb
interested sentences as the following. TAX
en- from we'll known American French
grammar; The Italian shoemaker has
! purchased an Egyptian antelope' or 'tbe
req cow of the. generals wife had one
~ nuya
impressive ideas, such literary gems. fail
| TO Undue the youthful and suscentihie ~,
Iellect with noble and inspiring senti-
menus IN this way students are made
/ 70 study French, German, Greek or Latin
STRIVING only to turn these languages into
t theT own Yernaeular, when it is Just
the reverse which should be done WbSt
they say Is not at all the speech of the
people whose language they try 10 sneak
put eneir own mother-tongue dressed out
IN Loreigh words. In such case failure
and confusion are of course the assured
! result, ana anyone who has Observed
! IL teels like hiding from shame No v,o,,
/ der that pupils after having studied tbrao
or TOUR years in what John Stuart Mill
ana spencer call 'wretched Wav' arc
/ utterly unable not only to converse nm
! entity but even to ask for the most go
mon necessities of life, although thew NAV
possess thousands of foreign woris-bmt
then, those unconnected words are NJ
/ more language than the letters con7n0si11e
them 1t is very important not to oVa,s9
Iook or ignore this fundamental law Of
vey no definite conception It is in The
sentence alone logically connected and
complete It Is by the aid of the context
Of terms which surround it, that the in
RADIANT with meaning. illumined with in,
tteiIlsence In regard to pronucia-
mastery of a foreign toneIie
depends largely upon the adopfion
| OF the tones of native speakers and &c
say say, IN my treatise of French pronuncia-
tion you may pronounce correctly eter,,
word separately, but if you do not eit,ss
the NATIONAL swing to your voice. tbe
erect Will be unsatisfactory to NATIVE
ears, and you will be as much a FOREIGNER
10 Frenchmen as If you failed in the mo
| huncIation of the vowels and consonanfs
| of the language. Is
! Prot MuzzareIi gave some examines Of
| ms method of teaching which interes+ed
his audiences at once and convinced he
teachers that they would all find If ' aT
easy matter to learn French under his d.
rectlon; he Is the originator of the system
/ or teaching French which is now in i,se IL
al the large colleges and language
schools. He is also the author of sevsTsi
| works upon the proper method of teacbins
/ the French language. He will send tbs
! winter here ma