Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1914-12-03
ALMA HIGH SCHOOL.
German Department.


At present the study of German has
a place in high school far different
from what it had 10 or 20 years ago.
At that time there were no definite
methods of teaching, no clear cut aims
and consequently no real values. 1t
lacked scientific basis. Today, how
ever, this modern language is looked
upon as something vital, something
necessary for real success in life.
A two-year course is offered in high
school at present. The first year is
given up largely to a thorough study
of grammar and easy reading. partic-
ular stress being placed on correct
pronunciation. After the student has
has acquired the ability to use the
German script, translation Of English
sentences into German is begun, thus
the student is given an opportunity to
apply his grammar and to learn to
think in German. In class, every SEN
tence is put on the board, discussed
and corrected. Each student has a
notebook containing all sentences in
the corrected form.
Since German is an infected Ian
guage, good share Of the time is de-
voted to declensions of nouns, pro-
nouns and adjectives as well as to
conjugation of verbs. The vocabulary
is large and the word order is diff
cult. For that reason the student is
given a large number of practical
idioms for the purpose of clearing up
grammatical difficulties as well as for
the purpose of building up his vocab-
ulary. Before the close of the first
year, a number of short stories and
easy poems are read. Conversation is
also introduced at this time to inspire
the student and to stimulate his inter
est in this field.
The second year course is conducted
almost entirely in German. 1t con-
sists Of large amount of varied read
ing such as "Marchen und Erzahlun-
gen." "ImVaterland," "Germelehau-
sen," "Immensee," 'Der Zerbrochene
Krug," "LArrabbiata," "Die Hoch-
zeitereise," and the like. Nearly every
lesson is followed by a careful Ger
man Interpretation thus giving the pu-
pill a chance to react and to develop
what is known as "Sprachgefuhl"
for the language itself. In connection
with this work, each student is re-
quired to bring newspaper article or
a similar item of interest TO class four
times a week and express it in Ger
man. This, together with brief Ger
man talks given to the class, tends to
bring a German atmosphere into the
class room.
The aim in studying this modern
language is to be able TO speak it,
| This aim, however, cannot be com
pletely attained in a two-year course
where the student is given only three
hundred and fifty hours of actual class
work to say nothing of the overcrowd-
ed classes. But if the student follows
up this work in college or university,
he will soon realize that his time has
been well invested and the ability to
understand and to express his thoughts
and ideas in this language will even
tually come to him.
The study of German has practical
values. If the student is interested in
engineering, medicine, teaching, inter
national law and similar professions,
he must know German. The business
man with the knowledge of foreign
language can approach more people
than the person who speaks on Ian
guage only. The Germans are scien-
tific people. Any invention or discev-
cry on their part is published in Ger
man before it is published in any other
language. The bread and butter value
reveals itself in travelling, here as well
as abroad.
No doubt, the student derives a cul-
tural value in studying German litera-
ture. He has an opportunity to famil-
iarize himself with the ideas and ideals
of the poet so that he may interpret
the real values of life more intellec-
tually. For this reason he can APP
proach the world with tested ideals
He has a sound hold on the duties of
! 1ifa