Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-12-09
STUDY OF THE CLASSICS
Vermont Section of New Eng
land Association Hold Meeting.
Art OF Translating and the Problems
of Teaching the Art discussed by
Instructors in Colleges
and Schools.

The 10th annual meeting of the Yer
Of New England was held at the Univer-
sity of Vermont on Saturday. December 4,
1915. There was an attendance of about
so. including 35 teachers representing Is
schools and colleges. An informal lunch
con was served to the visiting teachers by
the classical department Of tho university
at the home Of Professor and Mrs. Bas-
eett.
The president Of the section. Professor
w. s. Burrage of Middlebury College, was
the presiding officer at the morning ses-
son. which was devoted to n discussion
OF the art Of translating the classics and
the problems of teaching this art. Profess
sor Frederick Topper Of the University Of
Vermont introduced the subject by an il
Eliminating exposition of the various
types OF translations, and the ideals and
shortcomings of some OF the great trans
lators of Latin and Greek authors. The
perfect translation reproduces the authors
ideas exactly, initiates his style and man
ner and has all the ease OF an original
composition. To become a good transla-
tor one must not only make the meaning
Of the author his own but must pass
over to the authors ways of thought AMI
adopt his point of view.
The next speaker, Principal ]. Harold
Fuller of Hardwick high school. discussed
the difficulties Of teaching school boys and
girls how to translate we'll. The problem
is complicated by the necessity Of insist
ing on the knowledge Of the meanings
Of the words and the structure of the for
eign language. The translation of n Latin
passage into English should not Re allow
ed until it is certain that the pupil under
stands both the meanings and the syntac-
teal relations. When Latin il taught in
the grammar school grades with emphasis
on w~ord-values, more attention can he
given to a finished translation in the later
years Of the high school.
Miss Lucy a. Barbour of Bishop
Hopkins Hall paid special attention to
the translation OF Vergil. Ignorance of
syntax, insufficience of preparation and
mental slackness are three enemies of
good translation in the school. while the
acquaintance with good metrical render
ings Of Vergil makes the pupils appreciate
the qualities Of a good translation and
spurs them on to initiate this.
Professor Raymond H.. White of Mid
dlebury College presented some Of the
advantages and disadvantages of transla-
ton in teaching the classics, by contrast
ing the claims of the direct method
which would do away with translation
and the traditional method in which the
polished translation Is one of tho inal
tests. His conclusion was that. in the
teaching Of Latin. translation is less an
art than a tool, which should be used
with care.
Professor Marbury r. Ogle Of the Uni
versity of Vermont emphasized the i'm
%portance Of observing and understanding
the order Of the words in the ancient
languages. which in this respect differ
strikingly from English. The Latin
word-order must be made to appear to
the pupil as 1t is, both reasonable and
expressive. The speaker gave many illus
trations Of striking word-order which was
due to the influence Of logic or emotion
The discussion of the morning was
brought to a close by Professor Arthur
B.. Myrick Of the University of Vermont,
who gave some suggestions from the field
of romance languages. especially French,
with many illustrations. The pupil must
be taught that words which have nearly
the same form in two languages often
differ considerably in meaning; hat the
foreign point of view must constantly be
sought. and that then the ideas must he
rendered in terms on ones daily OK
perience.
At the afternoon session Principal
Henry IL. Jackson of Barre high school,
chairman of the executive committee. was
the presiding officer. The chief speaker.
Professor William s.. Burrage of Middle
bury College. gave an original rendering
OF The Plutus' OF ~Aristophanes in up
to-date' English, which incidentally
proved a practical illustration of many
of the theories of good translation which
had been prominent in the morning ses-
sion. a general discussion of the papers
Of the meeting followed. In summing up,
Professor A1yron II. Sanford of Middle
bury College described four ways in
which the beginner may arrive at his
translation: the ''picture-puzzie method. IS
in which an attempt is made to find a place
for every word in the sentences; the
"buildlng-up' method-the thought being
constructed around the subject and
predicate; the group" method, in which
clusters of words are taken together. and,
finally, the periodic" method. by which
the mind grasps the meaning of the
sentence as a whole in the order of the
words. The last method is the final test
of ones ability to read a foreign language
understandingly.
The following officers were elected for
the ensuing year: President, Professor :.
L. Bassett. University Of Vermont:
executive committee, Principal a. :,
Hartman, Middlebury high school, Prin-
Cipal ]. H.. Fuller, Hardwick high school,
| and Principal ]. c, Walker. Nergennes
high school; secretary and treasurer,
Professor r. II. White, Middlebury Col
lege. The next meeting will be held at