The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1895-02-08
METHODS OF PRIMARY BEADING.
X.
The DOnai Phonetic, Continued.
BY William noetlinu.

| S'P'~' uPou WHICH all rational teach
Ing must rest ; not only that of read.
ing, but of all other branches. 1t was
also an introduction to the method
whic. this article will, as far as neces
sary, explain.
| "The Rational Primer begins with
the short ooecelS, namely, a as in
man, 6 as in bet, ! as in hit, as in
not, 70 as in MT. The reason for
commencing thus is, that more than
three-fourths Of all English syllables
have these short vowelsounds, or
slight notifications of them. The
Primer which exhibits almost all the
root and stem words of the language
that are in common use, shows that
more than one-half of these words
contain the short vowels only, and
the remainder contain long vowels.
The Second Reader shows that near.
ly three.fourths OF the derivatives Eve
call them branch cords and adopted
foreign words, shorten the originally
long radical vowels, while most fornsa
tioe sylId6IeS and afIres leave short
vowels.
" By using only these short vowels
with the consonants, tales can be
written, and the pupils can oe advanc-
ed within one or two months far
enough to read them. The mechani
cal difficulties in combining elementary
sounds being so soon overcome, and
the interest of the pupils in reading
greatly enhanced, they are now fully
prepared for the difficulties offered by
the long vowels and for learning pro.
nunclation and orthography according
to rules. To render yet more easy
this first progress of the learners,
capital letters are not introduced be-
fore the XII, Lesson. The dificu ties
which some Of the consonants present,
such as ch, which has a threefold
sound, q, which has twofold sound,
besides being silent in the combina-
tions gh and gn, the ] silent before K
and M, b silent after M, &C., are so
gradually introduced as to be easily
overcome. The pupils are further
more prepared for the first rules Of
pronunciation which are now to ap
pear by their attention being, from
the first outset, directed to the fact
that M, n, /, D, s, z, sh, &c, following %
or prolong somewhat the sound Of
those vowels; and that b, d, q, fol
lowing any vowel, do the same. + :.
SIN Lesson V. they meet with the
first exceptional words, which, like all
exceptions not following the rule
(analogy,) must be singly impressed
upon memory. These are f;tH, bull,
put, push, bush, push, which intro
duce a second sound.
SIN Lesson TX. they are given to
understand that the sound of in or,
tor, nor. form, storm, horn, and a
dozen more words in which is fol-
lowed by r, Is caused by that r, and is
but slightly different from the first
o sound; while the sound of 0 in
son, done, come, and dozen more
words, is marked as akin to the 10.
sound.
"In Lesson X. the u.sound, in all
words in which er, ir, ear, aoar, is
radical, is introduced and explained
by the following the vowel.
"In Lesson XI. the Italian and
half-ltalian a, as in bar, car, and
rare, bare, care, are introduced and
explained by the r, following, which
must slightly modify any vowel.
SIN Lesson XII, they are made
acquainted with broad a, as in all,
tatt, and its shorter variety. as in aoas,
rad, and what sounds must proceed
or follow in order to produce this
modification of a. All this without
any rule 1.-The mere facts are stated.
"Of every acord, the sound and
image Of which are impressed upon
memory, the meaning Is at the same
time impressed By means of short
sentences, some OF which are given in
the primer, while the rest are formed
by the teacher, or as soon as it can
be done, by the pupil himself. These
are, then, the first lessons IN etyDso-
lOgy. Object Lessons and some Of
these root and branch aoords are TO
illustrate still further their meaning,
and to enliven the pupils interest In
his studies.
"Object Lessons can be made
fruitful in many respects, but especi-
ally toward facilitating the oral use Of
correct and appropriate language.
The sentences and words learned in
each lesson are to be Immediately
reproduced in writing on the slate
and in reading them from the slate.
IL may be here once TOR all stated
that a strict examination of these
scritings By tie teacher as to their
perfect correctness and good pen
manship, as to iegi6ility and beauty
mot in printed but in ioritten