I-NRLF
SB
GIFT OF MICHAEL REESE
The Teaching
of
Modern Foreign Languages.
EonDon: C. J. CLAY AND SONS,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AVE MARIA LANE.
263, ARGYLE STREET.
F. A. BROCKHAUS. gorfe: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Bomirng: E. SEYMOUR HALE.
The Teaching
of
Modern Foreign Languages
m our
Secondary Schools
BY
KARL BREUL
LITT.D. (CAMBRIDGE), PH.D. (BERLIN)
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LECTURER IN GERMAN
CA1
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1899
[All Rights reserved.'}
(VIC
First Edition, 1898. Second Edition, 1899.
PREFACE.
THE paper on ' the teaching of modern foreign languages ' was first read, in the Lent Term of 1895, to the students of the ' Cambridge Training College for Women Teachers ' and was twice repeated, with but a few alterations, in subsequent years. It was also read, by the request of the Syndicate, to the students attending the Cambridge University Extension Courses in August 1896.
The lectures were originally intended to form an Intro- duction to some criticism lessons of modern language lessons given by the students of the Training College, and the principles set forth in the lectures were at once practically applied in the detailed criticism of the lessons heard. The lectures were intended to be above all suggestive and stimu- lating, but no attempt could be made to discuss in full the views either of the old school of language teachers and examiners who are hostile to any reform or of some modern extremists.
A few slight alterations were introduced and some references to recent literature on the subject added when the lectures were revised for the Press, but, apart from these exceptions, they are substantially printed as they were first written in the Christmas Vacation of 1894.
A paper ' on the training of teachers of modern foreign languages,' read in April 1894 to the College of Preceptors
95628
vi Preface.
(printed in the Educational Times, May 1894, and reprinted by Professor Victor's special request in Die Neueren Sprachen n. 424 sqq., 585 sqq.), supplements in several respects the views set forth in these lectures and may be read in connection with them.
The essay describing the contents of a well-equipped ' reference library of a school teacher of German ' is a revised and enlarged reprint from the Modern Language Quarterly n. It was thought that many teachers would like to have it as a useful appendix to the first paper.
The author is anxious to tender his heartiest thanks to Dr Henry Jackson of Trinity College, Professor G. C. Moore Smith, M.A., of the Firth College, Sheffield, and the Rev. W. A. Cox, M.A., of St John's College, who kindly read through the lectures and contributed some valuable suggestions.
The author is convinced that many important changes are needed in our present system of Modern Language teaching and examining ; he believes that many teachers share this conviction and are ready to consider new problems in con- nection with their teaching and to take part in the necessary re-modelling of the system. It is hoped that to such teachers the present pamphlet will be acceptable. The outlook seems promising. Modern Languages are at last beginning to re- ceive in this country the attention to which the subject is entitled not only by its practical usefulness but still more by its intrinsic value as an important element in a truly liberal education.
K. B.
ENGLEMERE, CAMBRIDGE,
October, 1898.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
THE fact that the first edition of the present little book was sold out in the course of a few months is a most encouraging sign of the rapidly growing interest of teachers and students in the problems connected with modern language teaching. There was neither time nor need to introduce any important changes into the new edition, but the whole book has been very carefully revised and the lists of books and pamphlets on modern language teaching have been considerably enlarged. This was chiefly due to the fact that several excel- lent contributions to important questions of method had quite recently been published. Among those who kindly contributed a number of valuable suggestions for the revision of the book the author wishes to mention, with due gratitude, the names of W. G. Lipscomb and of Walter Rippmann.
It is hoped that the Extract from the latest Ordnung der Prufung fur das Lehramt an hoheren Schulen in Preussen vom 12. September 1898, given in the Appendix, will be not un- welcome to many readers of the present work.
K. B.
ENGLEMERE, CAMBRIDGE, Easter, i
CONTENTS.
PAGE
I. THE TEACHING OF MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN
OUR SECONDARY SCHOOLS 1-64
a. General part ......... i — 43
b. Special part : The Teaching of German . . . . 44 — 58
c. Bibliographical Appendix ...... 59 — 64
II. THE REFERENCE LIBRARY OF A SCHOOL TEACHER OF
GERMAN 65—84
APPENDIX . . . 85 — 90
INDEX ' „ 91—94
THE TEACHING
OF MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN OUR SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
THE subject which I propose to discuss to-night can certainly not be likened to a smooth and flower-strewn path leading down hill. If it is not exactly beset with thorns, it may yet appear to outsiders to be stony, dull, and probably devoid of those beautiful vistas which those who unweariedly climb the upward path have a reasonable hope of beholding in the end. Moreover my lectures must of necessity be somewhat technical, and the limited time at my disposal strictly forbids me to enter some of the by-paths from the main road which often afford no small amount of amusement beside material for very serious reflection. One of these digressions would be a short sketch of the early days of Modern Language teaching, a discussion of the old quaint 'babees bookes' or 'bookes of Curtesy' which sometimes combined teaching of Modern Languages with teaching of good manners1. (Another digression would be a discussion of the results frequently obtained by the present system of Modern Language teaching in our Secondary Schools. It has been my lot for more than twelve years to make from time to time a careful study of that very remarkable and ever increasing part of educational literature which is
1 See my edition of the fifteenth century poem "The Boke of Curtesy" in Kolbing's Englis'che Studien, IX. (1885), 51 sqq.
B. I
2 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
known to the scholastic world by the high-sounding name of ' examination papers.' From these papers and the answers to them one may gather some ideas as to the aims and results of Modern Language teaching — here I refer especially to the teaching of German and French — in our Secondary Schools, and if I were to tabulate my experiences, the results would in some cases be very curious. In what way do you think must a girl have been taught, in what spirit must she have read that great masterpiece of Goethe, his lofty play 'Iphigenie,' when in answer to my question 'Why do we take an interest in the character of Iphigenia?' she candidly writes ' Because Iphigenia is the heroine of the play which we had to get up for this examination7? But I must abstain from telling anecdotes which are none the less interesting for the fact that they are absolutely true.
Again, I can only allude in passing to the history of the ' reform-movement7 in the teaching of foreign tongues, the leading ideas of which were set forth lucidly and forcibly by Professor Wilhelm Victor (now of Marburg) in his famous pamphlet: ' Quousque tandem! Der Sprachunterricht muss umkehren' This revolutionary little treatise was written in this country in 1882. Since that date very many books and papers have been written pro and contra, most of them advocating a more or less radical reform of the old system of teaching in the spirit of the so-called ' direct,' 'analytic' or 'imitative' method. The 'new method7 or 'Neuere Richtung' has of late made rapid strides in Germany, and its main principles are being gradually, and deservedly, adopted by a small band of energetic Modern Language teachers in this country. I cannot under- take to discuss here even the best books and pamphlets on new methods of Modern Language teaching. They will be enumerated at the end of these lectures, and students and teachers should make it a point to read the principal ones.
These lectures are especially intended to be suggestive, and, in my own small way, I hope to fire your enthusiasm.
in our Secondary Schools.
Instead of discussing many different modem methods(l shall venture to lay before you my own opinions and experiences together with my reasons for holding the former.) I propose to throw out some hints on all the more important points of Modern Language teaching in schools, and shall take my instances mainly, but not exclusively, from German.
I suppose I may take it for granted that you are all more or less well acquainted with the general methods of teaching, and have some notions as to what can be reasonably expected from school children. I can therefore restrict my observations to the more technical part of the Modern Language teaching in Secondary Schools and the various questions intimately connected with it.
Some years ago there was a great deal of. controversy as to the educational value of Modern Languages 2^— fortunately that time is now definitely passed. ( People are becoming more and more anxious that Modern languages should be taught, and should be taught efficiently and with much better results than heretofore. I firmly believe that there is a great chance for Modern Language teachers in the immediate future, that great opportunities will before long be given, and that all we have to do at schools and universities is to prepare ourselves most carefully so as to be ready when the time comes.) It should not be said of us ' Aber der grosse Moment findet ein kleines Geschlecht.'
The question arises :l How should the necessary improve- ment in the teaching of modern foreign languages be effected? I think it can be brought about if the following four conditions be fulfilled :^
\(i) More time should be allotted to the study of Modern
1 See now Miss Mary Brebner's pamphlet * The Method of Teaching Modern Languages in Germany' (London, 1898), Chapter v.
2 See, among others, C. Colbeck, 'On the Teaching of Modern Lan- guages in Theory and Practice,' Lecture I. Cambridge, 1887, and Fr. Storr, 'The Teaching of Modern Languages' (1897), p. 274.
I 2
4 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
Languages at School. This is of paramount importance. Our leading public schools should set the example.
(2) This time should be used much more systematically, with special reference to the educational needs of the pupils, and not merely with regard to the requirements of certain
"examinations. A great deal of harm is done to Modern Language teaching throughout the country by the conflicting regulations of our host of examinations — even though many of them have done a great deal of good in their time and may
, still have much to recommend them — and by the fact that nearly all of them are conducted exclusively by means of printed papers and without any oral test. This seems to me a fatal mistake. The modern tongues should not be treated like the classical dead languages, a viva voce test should as far as possible be insisted on, in spite of the many practical difficulties in conducting the examinations of which I am of course well aware. The written examinations of beginners should be discouraged.^
(3) From the very beginning none but duly qualified teachers should be entrusted with the teaching of Modern Languages. As to the qualifications which I believe to be absolutely indispensable I shall in the course of these lectures briefly give you my views. For details I should like to refer you to my lecture given in 1894 before the College of Preceptors "On the training of teachers of Modern foreign Languages" (Educational Times, May, 1894). I have since been told that the qualifications desired in that paper were too high for human capacity to attain, that they represented the ideal rather than the feasible. My answer is that I know from experience that in many cases the ideal has been reached, that I believe that in another twenty-five years it will be realised much more completely, that the training of a Modern Language teacher does not end with his having taken his University degree1, and finally that it is a mistake to put one's ideal too
1 See Educ. Times, I.e. p. 230.
in our Secondary Schools. 5
low. He who forms an educational or any other ideal must pitch it high ; time will show if he was right or if his demands were excessive. I confidently leave you to judge for yourselves. (4) There should be a more general agreement as to the chief points of method to be adopted and the books to be read in school. To this fourth point I wish to deyote special attention in these lectures. It is the one which at this very moment is engrossing the attention of Modern Language teachers in this country1 and abroad.
Methods.
(jThere are many different methods of teaching Modern Languages in the field — all claim to be the one true method, — all have zealous adherents, and I need hardly tell you that all promise wonderful results — most of them in a remarkably short time too. Still it seems to me, and my experience as a teacher and examiner confirms my impression — that 'the true method,' ' the royal road,7 has not as yet been discovered.
It has not been discovered either in England or abroad. I certainly do not flatter myself that I have discovered it. We are clearly just now in a time of transition and experiment, and I think we are in a fair way towards agreeing on a number of essential points. Many practical and experienced teachers in this country as well as abroad are at present actively working in this field ; much that is good has of late been said and written on the subject, — and much, as it seems to me, that is quite worthless, unscientific and impracticable; a universal agreement on all the principal points of method has, however, not up to the present been arrived at. Much more interchange of ideas and experience is required. The chief work is being done in Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, France and America
1 See the discussions in the Journal of Education and in the Modern Quarterly of Language and Literature. Cp. the Bibliographical Appendix, PP- 57-58.
6 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
—England, in spite of a few noteworthy exceptions, has un- fortunately so far lagged behind.
Before going into details I should like to caution intending teachers on one or two points :
(1) Do not be too confident with regard to certain new methods, especially do not believe too easily in certain in- fallible ones which promise to teach many wonderful things in a very short time. They are mostly very one-sided, no doubt very good with regard to one particular point, but, to the neglect of all else, they carry one really good idea much too far. They are as a rule more or less mechanical, of but little scientific, literary or educational value ; they afford a certain routine, but do not at all form and educate the minds of the pupils. They merely aim at drilling the pupil in the use of a number of commonplace phrases and small everyday chit-chat. But the acquisition of the practical, though limited, command of a modern tongue by means of some series of words and phrases, the knowledge possessed by head-waiters, couriers and interpreters, although it is no doubt sometimes useful, cannot be the aim of Modern Language teaching in our higher schools. A language which has so subtle and elaborate a syntax I as French, or a language which is so deeply saturated with poeJtry as German, cannot and ought not to be studied by older boys and girls by mere imitation, after the unconscious fashion of an infant !
(2) Again, method itself, even the best method, however important it is, is not everything. A very great deal of the success depends on the natural gjifts, the previous training, the energy and the experience of the individual teacher. It is well known that the best Modern Language scholar does not always obtain the best results as a teacher. Consequently the Modern Language teacher must not -only be a well-trained scholar, but in addition something of an artist and of a mari of the world. He must have the power of speech, an easy mastery of the foreign idiom, and the gift of drawing out his
in our Secondary Schools.
I
pupils and of making them speak, one and all, the shy ones no less than the others, at every lesson. He must have, — more I think than any other master, — the great gift of readily imparting his knowledge, of really interesting his pupils in using the foreign idiom and in studying foreign life and thought, and of enabling them not only to speak but to think in the foreign language. I fully agree with Dr Miinch who at the general meeting of German Modern Language teachers held at Hamburg in 1896 insisted that "a teacher should have a certain amount of natural eloquence, quickness of perception, and appreciation of foreign character, as well as an interest in all that concerns modern life."
[Whatever the method adopted may be, each master will I moaify it in accordance with his own individuality and the/ requirements of different sets of pupils. He will continually i modify and improve his ways of teaching in the light of his extending study and increasing experience.\
Nevertheless, although the possession of a certain, even a very good, method is not all that is wanted by a young zealous teacher in order* to be successful, it would not be right to undervaluev its* importance. On the contrary, it is most im- portant for us to make up our minds as to what seem to be the most satisfactory principles to be generally adopted in Modern Language teaching.
Happily on a few important points there seems to exist -even now an almost general agreement among experts. Let me take these first. They are :
(i) It is necessary that Modern Language teachers should have a much longer and better training1 than they have had up to now in the great majority of cases. Their preparation should be at once more scientific and more practical. The
•
1 On the method of training of Modern Language teachers see my before-mentioned lecture, and also the Journal of Education, February 1899, p. 151-
8 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
improvement of the masters must needs precede the improve- . ment of the children entrusted to their care. The number of ' hours Modern Language masters are expected to teach per • week should be reduced to about 16.
(2) Modern Languages should not be taught in the same style as the ancient tongues. They are not studied mainly for the sake of their form, not even exclusively for the beauty and value of their literature, but in teaching Modern Languages we aim at teaching the principal features of the life, character and thought of great foreign nations. You will, then, agree with me that Modern Languages should not only or mainly be studied and taught by means of translation-exercises, by getting up many paragraphs of grammar, remembering rare exceptions
^nd turning over the pages of dictionaries. There should be /no lessons more interesting and delightful to children than a [/ Modern Language lesson given by the right teacher.
(3) And again, Modern Languages should beunuch more closely connected with the study of English on the one hand, and with History and Geography on the other. If groups of languages are studied together, those naturally related to each other should be taken by preference. French should be con- nected with Latin, and German with English. From a purely theoretical point of view it is even desirable that the two foreign tongues should not be taught by the same person, as not many a man will possess the power of transforming himself now into a Frenchman and now into a German with equal ease and success. There are, on the other hand, many advantages in entrusting the teaching of English and of Modern History and Geography, which are often sadly neglected at school, to the Modern Language master.
I have maintained that Modem Languages should not be taught in the same fashion as the ancient classical languages. Much greater stress must be laid on the language as a living and spoken organism. Hence it follows that
(a) Pronunciation should be most carefully taught by
in our Secondary Schools.
trained teachers and from the very first lesson. The pronun- ciation of the children should be correct from the beginning and. should become easy through much practice. This aim cannot be reached by mere unconscious imitation, but in the case of some especially difficult sounds a certain amount of phonetic drill is absolutely necessary in order to shorten and to smooth the way of the pupil. No one should undertake to teach Modern Languages even to beginners who has not previously had some training in phonetics.
(b) Ordinary phrases and characteristic idioms should be taught from the very beginning. The children should learn to choose them correctly and to use them readily. And lastly,
(c) Their vocabulary should be as large and as useful as possible.
Under the old system of studying Modern Languages cases like the following often occurred : a great scholar would read French easily, but would scarcely understand a word of the spoken idiom if a French colleague happened to address him in French. Another scholar would write German fluently and without a single grammatical mistake, but it would be mere book-German, a dictionary language, a 'papierner Stir as it has been called by O. Schroder, a language in which there would be scarcely a single sentence such as a German would write. A letter on ordinary topics written by this scholar would so much smack of translation and be so utterly academic and unreal that it would require re-writing from beginning to end in order to become living German. On hearing a noise outside he would perhaps say: ' Welches ist doch jenes Gerausch, welches ich eben jetzt dort ausserhalb vernehme?' while a German would say: 'Was ist denn da draussen ftir ein Gerausch?' or possibly in familiar language: 'Was ist denn draussen los?' Only the other day I heard a gentleman who professed to know Modern Languages well say home for homme, vou for vu> and Enfenk for Anfang, swonsig for zwansig, Studien for Studien, etc.
io The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
It is not easy to say to what extent oral and colloquial German should be combined in school teaching with the study and analysis of the written literary language. In order to arrive at a fairly satisfactory conclusion and to strike a fair balance between the views of the old school who almost exclusively studied the written language of a few select classics, mostly poets, and the modern extremists who condemn what- ever is not colloquial and, in their dread of elegant diction, often recommend and teach in school a familiar language bordering on slang, it will not be out of place before going any further to settle for ourselves the question : What should be the aim of Modern Language teaching in our Secondary Schools'!
Here we cannot ask merely: What is desirable on general theoretical grounds ? we are obliged to ask: What can be done in a limited number of lessons with children ? Hence it seems ^to me that 'a practical mastery' of a foreign language as promised by some methods cannot possibly be hoped for. How many aduks can confidently assert that they are absolute masters of their own language ? But a good deal may be done at school, and whatever is learned should be learned well and intelligently so as to become a good basis for later practice.
What is to be of paramount importance to most learners in after-life? Here I deliberately look for a moment at things from the utilitarian point of view and maintain the following propositions :
Not one of them will have to translate English works into foreign languages (we are of course not concerned with the training of interpreters and professional translators).
Some may be called upon to speak fluently in a foreign tongue.
Some may wish to translate from the foreign idiom into English.
Others may wish to correspond in the foreign tongue, but
^4//want to read foreign books, periodicals and newspapers, and to enjoy the treasures of foreign literature. All will one
\'
in our Secondary Schools. n
day be anxious to know something of and to appreciate justly the general character, thoughts and manners of their neighbours and fellow-workers in the great field of European civilisation. For this most important aim the school teaching should fully equip them. Hence it follows that reading, and not translating^ should be placed in the foreground. ' Sprach- gefiihl ' should be early aroused and carefully fostered by much reading of first-rate modern authors. A sufficient amount of grammar should be learned chiefly from the reading and a sub- sequent systematic analysis of the most important sentences1. But in school (the University system is of course different) grammar should not be taught for its own sake, but rather as a subsidiary subject, to promote the full and proper understanding, and to facilitate the reproduction or imitation, of the author's words and phrases. Translation from the foreign language into good and idiomatic English (not the usual shocking trans- lation-English) should be carefully and systematically practised after the first foundation has been laid (see p. 12). At an early stage some very easy original composition in the foreign language might be attempted with advantage. But very little ordinary composition, i.e. translation from English into the foreign language, should be done, and only with the more advanced pupils. This is I believe the greatest mistake | made in our schools. The worship of early composition in French and German is as unjustifiable as it is detrimental to the best training in lower forms. In almost all schools composition is begun much too early, when the children know but little grammar, hardly any idiomatic turns and phrases, and have not yet developed any 'Sprachgefiihl.' Most
1 See F. Spencer's 'Aims and Practice of Teaching' (Cambridge, 1897), pp. 100 sqq. and J. Findlay's * Preparation for Instruction in English on a direct method' (Marburg, 1893). It should, however, be borne in mind that both of them gained their experience by teaching small classes of adults. See also some of the pamphlets and essays enumerated in the Bibliographical Appendix, especially those by W. Rippmann.
12 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
examinations prescribe it at a stage when the children cannot possibly be expected to produce a piece of decent composition of ordinary difficulty. The regulation requiring early compo- sition and the pieces set may look very nice on the syllabus and in the papers of certain examinations — but read the Examiners' Reports in order to estimate the value of the work sent up by the vast majority of the candidates. Rather set them some easy original composition. Original compositions are in fact easier than translations from the mother-tongue and certainly at first better calculated to make the children enter into the spirit of the foreign language. The writing of easy letters on familiar subjects which would interest the children should be encouraged early arid practised constantly. Little stories read or told by the teacher should be reproduced by the pupils, short accounts of ordinary things and occurrences should be frequently given. The children should be en- couraged to write and to speak about all they have actually seen and experienced. During a Modern Language lesson no English appellation should as far as possible stand between the objects and their foreign name. In higher forms paraphrases of easy poems should be attempted, and at the end of their school time the most advanced pupils might write about the principal characters in a play which they have read or on similar subjects. Some of the best pupils might also be induced to take part — under due supervision — in the lately instituted International Correspondence between pupils attend- ing German, French and English schools. This movement is a very recent one but much good is reported of it1.
After having now settled the various preliminary questions concerning the requirements and aims of Modern Language teaching I shall proceed to the more detailed discussion of the
1 Apply to Dr M. Hartmann, Konigliches Gymnasium, Leipzig, and also to Monsieur Sevrette, 31 Rue St Brie, Chartres (Eure et Loire). Compare Miss M. Brebner, ' The Method of Teaching Modern Languages in Germany,' pp. 38 — 39, and the Journal of Education^ 1897, p. 99.
in our Secondary Schools. 13
teaching of pronunciation, spelling, grammar, and similar points of language, while in a subsequent lecture I shall discuss the reading, the composition and study of reading-books, and the proper selection and explanation of authors, and the teaching of the history of foreign literature. In a final lecture I shall speak of some special points referring to the teaching of German only.
Pronunciation.
Any child that is instructed in a foreign language has a right to hear and to learn from its teacher a correct and idiomatic pronunciation of the foreign tongue. Am I wrong if I main- tain that in many schools, even in good ones, this condition is far from being fulfilled ? I do not at all require a teacher to dwell too long on phonetic niceties or to give a great deal of precious time to the teaching of phonetics pure and simple. There is neither time nor need for that. He should at first speak and read to his pupils a good deal himself > in order to train their ear and to accustom them to the characteristic sounds and intonation of the foreign idiom. After they have been bathed, as it were, in the foreign element and have become somewhat familiar with the foreign way of articulating sounds, words and phrases, he will make them repeat his sentences over and over again, immediately and carefully correcting any mistake of any importance. He will not unfrequently make the whole class pronounce some sentences in chorus in order to force shy and backward pupils to speak out and to form their sounds after the model of the others. He will thus more readily detect the faulty pronunciation of an individual child. The chief difficulties will be noted down and tabulated. Victor's Lauttafeln (for German, French, and English) should be used throughout in connection with this work. They should be hung up in the class room during the lesson. They will be continually worked at, and the difficulties will gradually become less and will finally be overcome by the
14 The Teacliing of Modern Foreign Languages
large majority of children1. Such difficulties are for instance the French nasal sounds, the 1 mouille, the guttural r in French and German, the pure (undiphthongised) long vowels and the modified vowels in German, the German initial z, the ich and ach sounds, etc. The instruction in actual phonetics should be as short and as simple as possible, but its fundamental principles should be imparted even to children. They should 'be told and shewn that the spoken words consist of sounds and not of letters (e.g. veau, deuil, feuille; schwarz, stehen, sprechen, etc.). There is no very great difference in the pronunciation of the German Vieh, the English fee and the French fi, although the vowel sound is sometimes a diphthong in the English word (=feeee, phonetically^'). Again a teacher would probably seize an opportunity of shevVitig the children that our ordinary alphabet is not by any means complete, as it is far from representing each sound occurring in a language by a special symbol, but uses the same letter for various sounds, e.g. ch in ich, ach, or b in Weib, Weibes \ or a in man, father, small, or oo in good, floor, flood1, or th in thin and thine', g in gin and gun ; I i\\ fusil, peril and jf/y (' sons' and 'threads'); // in famille, Camille\ or g in gant, mangeant. Again — and here lies a great source of danger with regard to pronunciation —the same letter may represent different sounds in different languages, and in pronouncing foreign words the child should be early accustomed to give to the letters their foreign and not their usual English pronunciation, e.g. Mann and man, Ball and ball. In the case of the German words the mouth is much more opened and the vowel sound quite short and pure. The German Quell ' source ' is to be pronounced kvel (bilabial but without protruding the lips at all), the English quell is
1 On the whole question see now the able lecture " On the use of Phonetics in Modern Language Teaching" by Dr Paul Passy, an abstract of wbich is printed in The Modern Quarterly of Language and Literature, I. pp. 64sqq. and cp. The Journal of Education, 1897. (See the Index under " Phonetics.")
in our Secondary Schools. 15
kuell. Or again, in many German words the so-called * glottal stop' should be carefully noticed and practised, e.g. Verein (=fdr>ain\ erortern (^-ar'ortdrri), geachtet (^gJactet), abdndern (=dp'$nd?rri), Polar eis (= polar* als\ Wachtelei (vactzPai), etc.1 The ' glottal stop ' is formed by bringing the vocal chords together, so as for a moment to close the glottis, and then suddenly opening them with an explosion, as is done, more violently, in coughing, or in clearing the throat. It is not a sound difficult to produce, but, as it is not ordinarily written, it is often neglected by English teachers of German. Students who wish to speak German at all well must be careful not to neglect the glottal stop and to make a clear distinction in the pronunciation of words such as vereisen (-for'aiz^n) and verreisen (firaizdn). See Miss Laura Soames, ' Introduction to Phonetics,' p. 146, W. Victor in 6 German Pronunciation/ pp. 56 sqq., and W. Rippmann, ' Elements of Phonetics/ pp. 6, 24.
A word exists as a rule only as part of a phrase, hence the proper reading of whole sentences should be started at once. Here the characteristic foreign intonation and the peculiar accent of the phrase should be carefully taught from the beginning. The teacher should insist on his pupils reading and reciting the French sentences in the even, rhythmical and distinct manner which is so characteristic of the French enunciation. He should not allow them to jerk out the words one by one, but should strictly insist on their emitting them in one continuous flow to the end of the sentence, however slow the pronunciation of the whole sentence may be at first. This is often neglected in school teaching, the masters being satisfied with a correct pronunciation of individual words. Reciting should be regularly and carefully practised from the beginning,
1 For the explanation of the symbols used in the transcription of the German words see Victor's 'German Pronunciation,' Leipzig, 1890. Professor Victor has now adopted the transcription of the Association Phonetique which cannot be reproduced here.
1 6 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
and also dictation, in order to train the ear to catch foreign sounds quickly and correctly.
In order to teach pronunciation effectively, most advocates of the ' Ne^iere Richtung * strongly recommend beginning with a phonetic transcription of foreign texts and not letting the children see the ordinary spelling at all during the first few weeks (or months). They maintain that children will catch the foreign accent ever so much better if they do not start with the confusing spelling of the present day, and they are of opinion that the transition to the ordinary spelling later on is not nearly so difficult as one would believe. They say that the experi- ment has been tried more than once with excellent success, while those who most strenuously oppose it have never given it a fair trial. This vexed question (of which I have no practical experience) is still much discussed and far from being settled1. Practical experiments by competent, well-trained teachers are still much wanted. As far as I can see at present and have been able to gather from the experience of others, it is not necessary to introduce transcribed texts — excellent and in- dispensable as no doubt they are for students and teachers — into class teaching. The modern reformers seem to go, in this case, a little too far in their natural reaction against the old method. They want revolution instead of reform. At all events books like Dr Sweet's l Elementarbuch des gesprochenen Englisch ' and *A Primer of Phonetics' will never do for school teaching. Dr Passy's system as used in his periodical *Le maitre phonetique-' is easier, and bids fair to become the r° cognised International alphabet for phonetic transcriptions. Single words of exceptional difficulty might well be transcribe/^ in class teach- ing in the symbols of this alphabet. The books on phonetics from which a teacher will derive useful information are enume- rated in my * Handy Guide/ § 4, b. To these should now be
1 See The Mod. Quarterly of Language and Literature, 1 1. 150 — 3 and jgy — g; the Report of the Mod. Lang. Association Sub-committee on Phonetics will appear in the Quarterly of April, 1899.
in our Secondary ScJwols. 17
added Victor's ' Kleine Phonetik des Deutschen, Englischen und Franzosischen,' Leipzig, 1897, and the most useful trans- lation and adaptation of it by W. Rippmann (London, Dent, 1899) which has just appeared.
After the ordinary pronunciation has been thoroughly mas- tered by the children, the teacher should discuss with them, as occasion arises, noteworthy exceptions occurring chiefly in the rimes of the classical poets. The apparent irregularities of French rimes such as roi : parlerais : Francois should be explained by an account of the earlier pronunciation of -oi (like oe). The rimes of Schiller and Goethe, e.g. gliihn : ziehn ; Euch : bleich ; krone : Thrdne^ an : Bahn ; keck : weg\ Getose : Schosse, etc. are not impure in the South German dialectic pronunciation of these great poets. In the highest forms an occasional word about the changes of pronunciation and the standard of pronunciation would not be out of place.
Spelling.
As to Spelling a word or two must suffice. German spelling will be discussed in the last lecture. In nearly every language there is a discrepancy, more or less marked, between the way in which the words are written and that in which they are pronounced. The spelling represents in this case an earlier stage of pronunciation, it is more or less ' historic' (cp. knight, veau, Stahl). Much has now simply to be committed to memory, but again the advantage of a good pronunciation on the par^of the children will clearly shew itself. If children have been taught from the beginning to distinguish in French properly betw.in e, e and e, they will without fail write reponse, but repos* and represented pere, and desespere. If they are accustomed to pronounce the German modified vowels — one of the greatest stumbling-blocks in the way of English students of German — no confusion between Tochter and Tochter, Burgen and Biirgen, geachtet and geachtet, tauschen and tauschen would be possible. They would distinguish in writing between B. 2
1 8 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
reisend, reissend and reizend, between versehren and verzehren, between Senne, Sehne, Scene, and Zdhne.
Grammar.
It is pretty generally admitted that up to now the getting up of grammatical niceties and curiosities has been far too prominent in most of our schools, and that grammar should not be taught and learned at school principally for its own sake — not even in our modern ' grammar schools.' It should be taught in order to explain difficult passages and in order to help the pupils to group together, to compare, and thus better to understand certain important linguistic phenomena. The study of grammar and the careful analytical examination of sentences is no doubt a most valuable mental training — although it is wrong to say, as is often rashly done, that the study of grammar is a study of logic ; grammar is often not logical — still the special and minute study of grammar as such is not school work but should be left to the scientific treatment of the University. Every school child should know the chief points of the grammar of the foreign tongue, ' but only the master should have made it a special study. He should of course be thoroughly well grounded in his grammar; more- over— and this is important — he should be able to give, wher- ever it may be desirable, the 'why' no less than the 'what.' He should know the historical or phonetic reasons of the chief grammatical phenomena1 — but it would be a grave mistake if he were to introduce too much of this special knowledge into his class teaching. The classics should be read and enjoyed — I am not sure whether they always are at present — and they should certainly not be turned in class into a hunting-ground for grammatical curiosities. The somewhat elaborate notes to the classics in the Pitt Press and similar editions are merely intended to facilitate home preparation, and to help the pupils
1 See Ernst Laas, ' Der deutsche Unterricht auf hoheren Lehranstalten ' (2nd ed. (by J. Imelmann), Berlin, 1886), pp. 217 — 222.
/';/ our Secondary Schools. 19
thoroughly to understand the words of the text, they are certainly not meant to be learned by heart in order to be reproduced in the next examination paper. They are intended to relieve the teacher and to give him time for reading the text and discussing the scenes and characters of great plays, but not to disgust children with a beautiful poem or a fine story.
From this there follows as the very first precept addressed to the teacher of foreign grammar : Do not burden the memory of your pupils with too many rules, still less with numerous lists of words following their own rules, those words which we call * exceptions,' and which are generally so very largely utilized by a vast number of examiners whom I wish I could call excep- tions also. All we want to teach and to impress firmly on the memory of the children is a number of ever-recurring facts, certain rules, briefly and clearly expressed, deduced from the texts by the children themselves, and in addition to these only a very few of the most noteworthy exceptions. Most ' practical' school grammars contain far too much ; they would certainly be twice as good if they were half as full. They should chiefly be used as books of reference.
Another important point is that the rules should invariably be preceded by a number of well-chosen instances, selected phrases from which the pupils with the assistance of the teacher will find it easy and interesting to deduce the rules for themselves. This is the natural process of thinking — by com- parison of similar facts the underlying law is discovered1. All the rules which a teacher wants to impress upon his pupils, he should make them find themselves. The process may be at first somewhat slow, but the interest of the pupils will never be allowed to flag, and ultimately the rules will be much better known, being remembered in their application and not merely in themselves.
1 This point is not by any means new, but was emphasized by Comenius and others.
2O The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
Our model teacher will, I fear, in many cases have to make up his own illustrative sentences, for what shall we say of exercises such as the following : Decline in full : ' The blind mouse,' or of the exercise on the numerals: 'Have you got two apples?' 'No, but my four sisters have six dolls'?...! have often pitied teachers and pupils who had to work through such elaborate grammars, often containing subtle distinctions of which the Germans themselves are entirely ignorant and which only live an artificial life in the German of certain examination papers. You might read in connection with this a pamphlet which, although it is full of exaggerations and indeed not free from mistakes, yet contains a great deal of truth; it is ' The caricature of German in English Schools,' by Curt Abel Musgrave, London, 1894.
Must, then, grammar be dry and repulsive to children? It certainly was so under the old system when all schools were ' grammar schools ' in the strictest sense of the word. But cannot even Dame Grammatica be made attractive to the minds of the young? I think she can, and everything de- pends on the way in which a teacher will introduce her to the children.
First of all he will not give too much at a time, and that modicum chiefly in connection with the passages read. He will also give the children some idea as to the actual meaning of * rules ' and ' exceptions,' and keep the rules, i.e. the large groups of facts, constantly before them, so as gradually to develop their Sprachgefiihl, the unconscious and unerring feeling for what is right, the creation of which is one of the highest aims of the teacher. He will discuss the terms ' regular' and 'irregular' in the proper way and choose a few easy and striking instances for his explanations. Even children at school should sometimes get a glimpse of the 'why' and the 'how/ although as a rule they have of course only to remember the very commonest 'what.' With children of the highest forms even a few somewhat more advanced grammatical phenomena
in our Secondary Schools. 21
may be discussed as occasion offers itself, viz. the problems of ordinary form-association (e.g. in Goethe's ' Legende vom Hufeisen': Das ein zerbrochen Hufeisen was. was, now war, through form-association with the plural waren\ but cp. English was and were where the old difference is preserved) ; the development of Latin words in French, German and English, the two groups of words which are distinguished as 'mots populaires' and 'mots savants' (meuble, mobile — Kerker, Karzer — sure, secure), the former of which is the older group in which the words have undergone the effect of the usual sound-laws of the language. Of course all such instruction should be kept strictly elementary — yet it would be sure to interest the children and give them more correct notions of the growth and develop- ment of language. Good German instances are found in the little book by E. Wasserzieher, 'Aus dem Leben der deutschen Sprache' (3^.), also in R. Kleinpaul, 'Das Fremdwort im Deutschen' (is. Sammlung Goschen, 55). and in the books by O. Behaghel and O. Weise (see pages 69 — 70). The relation of English to French and German should be briefly and clearly . explained. The relation of numerous words such as finir and finish, or Leib and life, might very well be shewn. (For classified lists of correspondences between German and English words see my edition of ' Doctor Wespe ' by R. Benedix. Pitt Press Series, 1888, 2i895.) Rather than not touch on these points at all, sacrifice the greater number of exceptions, in fact a good deal of what our practical grammars give in small print, and what should not be got up, but only be referred to as occasion offers. The discussion and brief explanation of such important general phenomena is of far greater educational value than the somewhat mechanical drill in rare exceptions or seldom used words and phrases.
Idioms.
The study of idiomatic phrases and the acquisition of a useful vocabulary cannot be begun too early. But only the
22 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
really current idioms should be committed to memory, and sentences, not isolated words, should be learned. The princi- pal idioms should be imparted gradually and, where advisable,, explained. Ancient manners and bygone customs have left many an interesting trace in the idiomatic phrases of everyday speech. An explanation of German idioms such as einem die Stange halten — einen im Stiche lassen — mir schwant Boses — einem ein X fitr ein U machen — einen Kerb bekommen and many others would not fail to arouse the interest of the class, to set their imagination going, and thus to help them to remember the idioms. In most schools they are unduly neglected. The necessary books of reference for the teacher of German are given on p. 71 and in my ' Guide1 on p. 39; there are some smaller books intended for the use of the pupils, e.g. those by Koop (London, 2i89i), Becker (London, 1891), and Weisse (London, 1892), but a really first-rate book for class purposes has still to be written.
Vocabulary.
Apart from the vocabulary, which the pupils will gradually I acquire in a somewhat haphazard way from the reading of foreign authors, the teacher should from the beginning aim at adding systematically to the stock of words learned by his class. He will do this by regular discussions of small groups of words which are either connected by their sense or by their form and which will be learnt by the class. He will of course form short sentences showing the ordinary use of these words, or, in lower forms, have recourse to pictures composed for the purpose (e.g. Holzel's ' Wandbilder fur den Anschauungs- und Sprachunterricht,' n pictures, Wien, Holzel1), or G. Egli's
1 In connection with these may be used the books called * Konversations- Unterricht nach Holzel's Bildertafeln ' (German, French, Italian, English) published by Emil Roth at Giessen. The German, French, etc. parts can be had separately. The First French Book and the First German Book in Dent's Series will also be found most useful in this respect.
in our Secondary Schools. 23
cheap and useful little picture-books with vocabulary called 1 Satze fur den Unterricht in den vier Hauptsprachen ' (Bilder- saal fur den Sprachenunterricht), Zurich, Orell Fiissli. He will take such series of words as: father, mother, ' child, son, daughter... i.e. all the ordinary (but* no unusual) family names Another day he will take : house, court, garden, street, road ; ...or sun, moon, star, cloud, thunder, lightning... the sun sets, a cloud covers the moon, the thunder roars, the lightning flashes... ; or tree, bush, oak, beech, fir, willow... together with the verbs : to plant, to grow, to burst into leaf, etc. The teacher will do well to work the necessary words and phrases into short and interesting dialogues, or into stories which he will tell the children several times in the foreign language and which he will make them repeat, write down from dictation, and learn by heart. Subjects such as 'a walk in the country,' 4 a thunderstorm at sea,' ' a cycling accident in the street,' ' a visit of our uncle from Berlin or Paris ' would afford plenty of useful material for increasing the vocabulary of the pupils. The numerals, the pronouns, the forms of address make natural groups which should be studied together and worked into a number of well-devised sentences. Together with the numerals the chief foreign measures, weights and moneys should be given with their English equivalents. Some foreign coins should be shown to the class when their name and value is given.
Another way of increasing the vocabulary, which is often very useful with more advanced pupils, is the study of ordinary words which are connected by f o r m : sitzen, setzen, Sitzung, Satzung, Sitz, Satz (Aufsatz, Einsatz, Vorsatz, Absatz), auf- sitzen, absitzen, nachsitzen, einsetzen, absetzen, vorsetzen, versetzen, besetzen, ubersetzen, Besitzung, Besatzung, Besetzung, Versetzung, or steigen, Steig (Bahnsteig, Steigbiigel\ Stieg (Aufstieg, Abstieg), Steg^ ein-, aus-, itm-steigen...z\.c. The difficulty here is where to stop, but the conscientious teacher who has prepared his lesson beforehand and has written down the words which he intends to give to his pupils will not be exposed to the danger
if
\\
24 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
of giving too much, viz. words which are of but little practical importance for school purposes. Word-formation is at present far too much neglected in school-teaching.
A third way of widening the vocabulary, and one which should only be used occasionally in the highest forms by a skilful and well-informed teacher, is the method (so far as it can be used) of etymological comparison. (See the lists of sound-correspondences in my Pitt Press edition of * Doctor Wespe.')
I should not advise teachers to confine themselves to one method only — some change is always refreshing — but to take the first method (the 'series' method — a simplified 'Gouin' method) as a. foundation, and to make the children learn, gradually and systematically, all the most important words of the foreign language — and none but those.
Some hints how this may be done are contained in a German pamphlet on the first teaching of French. It is by Dr Hermann Soltmann, and is called * Das propadeutische Halbjahr des franzosischen Unterrichts an der hoheren Mad- chenschule,' Bremen, 1893. What is said there with regard to French at German schools holds equally good with regard to our English schools. Short but useful guides for English teachers of French and German have recently been written by W. Rippmann ('Hints on teaching French,' London, 1898; 4 Hints on teaching German/ London, 1899); who has also contributed some valuable articles on the early teaching of French to the first numbers of 'The School World.'
Conversation.
It is of the utmost importance that a master should talk to his class in the foreign language as early as possible. He will begin by discussing pictures and objects which are placed before the pupils (e.g. Egli's or Holzel's pictures; see above). At first, of course, in order to be understood, he will occasion- ally have to give some short explanations in English, and he
in our Secondary Schools. 25
will not talk French or German the whole time. Gradually the necessary explanations in the English language will become less frequent and the talk in the foreign language will be continued longer. The master must from the beginning make all the children take an active part in the lesson ; they must be interested — stimulated to make out what the master says and to express in the foreign tongue what they see him doing. He has first to train their ear and their faculty of catching the peculiarity of the foreign sounds and intonation, then- their faculty of speech. He must make them answer in complete sentences — all of them, not only the few forward pupils — he must in every way endeavour to overcome their first natural shyness and disinclination to use the foreign idiom. Most English boys and girls are unwilling to try to speak any other language than their own, and it will require all the skill and tact of a master in whom they believe to draw them out. He will naturally make them speak at first exclusively of things which they see or have observed and experienced, about topics well known to them, the vocabulary of which they have mastered. In order to fulfil this condition the teacher must of course be full of resource besides being able to converse in the foreign idiom with ease and fluency. A French candidate for the degree of Agrege is required by the regulations of the examination to teach for an hour in the foreign language. A German modern language master is required in his 'Staats- examen ' to s^ew fluency and correctness in the practical use of the foreign language which he wants to teach. Our English examination tests are in this respect as yet far from sufficient. A change for the better seems however to be setting in1.
In speaking the foreign language the teacher should at
1 At Cambridge the institution of -a new voluntary viva voce Examina- tion on a much larger basis and of a much more searching nature than the present oral test is just under consideration. For the latest ' German regulations see the Ordnung der Priifung fur das Lehramt an hoheren Schulen in Preussen vom 12. Sept. 1898, and cp. pp. 85 — 90.
26 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
first make use of some picture such as Holzel's. With older pupils he may also take the map of Europe, and teach accord- ing to the direct method, beginning perhaps by pointing to England and saying l :
Dies ist England. Was ist dies? Dies ist England. Dies ist Deutschland. Was ist dies ? Dies ist Deutsch-
land. England (Deutschland) ist ein Land. Das Land ist gross,
das grosse Land. Deutschland ist ein grosses Land. Dies ist die Nordsee. Die Nordsee ist ein Meer. Dies ist der Rhein. Der Rhein ist ein Fluss. Der'Fluss fliesst in das Meer (in die Nordsee). Dies ist die Elbe. Die Elbe ist auch ein Fluss. Die Elbe fliesst auch in die Nordsee. Der Rhein und die Elbe sind Fliisse. Die Elbe ist ein grosser deutscher Fluss.
A number of questions and answers — carefully pronounced — would serve to make the children familiar with the foregoing sentences and the sounds contained in them. Then a sum- mary of the grammatical material contained in these sentences would be made by the teacher speaking English, thus :
Der, die, das — ein — dies — gross ; grosser, grosse, grosses — ist, sind — fliesst — Fluss, Fliisse — der Fluss, das Land, das Meer, der Rhein, die Elbe, die Nordsee — England, Deutsch- land, deutscher — ein deutscher Fluss.
Or a teacher might start with Egli's little picture-books and discuss all the scenes of everyday life with his pupils, especially
1 Cp. now the excellent chapter on the teaching of German on a direct system by Professor Spencer in his ' Aims and Practice of Teaching ' (Cambridge, 1897), pp. 100 — 120. My specimen above given was con- structed before the appearance of Dr Spencer's valuable experiment. On a similar experiment (by Dr Findlay, Mr Twentyman and Mr Kirkman) see the Bibliographical Appendix p. 61 under 8 and 15.
in our Secondary ScJiools. 27
with young children -in the lower forms. With older children historical and geographical pictures should be discussed also.
In order to secure, without risk of losing it again, an easy command of the foreign idiom, teachers of Modern Languages should have resided abroad and should from time to time go abroad again. But a prolonged stay in a foreign country will be valuable in other ways also. It will enable teachers to see with their own eyes and to speak from personal experience. They will be more just and sympathetic in their judgment of foreign excellence and foreign peculiarities. Residence abroad is so far nowhere compulsory, no European State requires it expressly of its Modern Language teachers ; but in France, where of late the State has done much for Modern Languages, to have resided abroad is virtually a condition of appointment to good posts. Travelling exhibitions are given in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France by the State and by munici- palities ; and in Sweden, I am informed, on such a scale that every Modern Language teacher receives one every five years on an average. America, as is well known, gives a prolonged leave of absence every seventh year, and also bursaries. At the Neuphilologentag at Hamburg (1896) it was resolved to memorialise the German government to the effect that "for the maintenance of conversational facility and the knowledge of foreign life and customs, leave of absence should be granted to teachers of Modern Languages — whether in Universities or High Schools — at certain fixed intervals of time (at least every five years)." In England the State does not directly interfere in these matters, but it is very desirable that teachers of Modern Languages should help themselves to keep up their practical efficiency, and that Headmasters should help them by granting an occasional leave of absence. This is a point of the very greatest importance and one that the Modern Language Association should be interested in taking up. At Birmingham Professor Fiedler has succeeded more than once in raising a sum of ^50 to be given as a
28 rf/ie Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
travelling scholarship to students of the Mason College. Here County Councils and private donors can do much good. At present there exist in various French, Swiss, and in three German University towns so-called * Holiday courses' in which lectures in the language of the country are given, opportunities for the constant use of the foreign language offered, practice in phonetic drill arranged, and illustrations in method (often ' direct method ' courses) given. Such summer meetings are being held in July and August at the German Universities of Greifsvvald (on the Baltic Sea), Marburg (on the Lahn), and Jena (near Weimar and the Wartburg). The French meetings are arranged at Paris by the Alliance Frangaise (apply to the Secretary, 45, Rue de Grenelle) and (at Caen and Tours) by the Modern Language Holiday Courses Com- mittee (apply to the Secretary of the Teachers' Guild, 74, Gower Street, London, W.C.). On the French and Swiss meetings see P. Shaw Jeffrey, ' The Study of Colloquial and Literary French.' London. 1899. pp-35sqq. Many of my own students have derived the greatest benefit from attending them. Moreover the Ferienkurse are cheap, part of them specially devised for the needs of foreigners and, from all I have heard of them from a number of students of both sexes, most enjoyable1. I have no doubt that our students and teachers of Modern Languages will very largely benefit by repeated visits abroad in the congenial society of fellow-teachers and in daily practice of the foreign idiom. They should live, if possible, in a German or French family where they could be the only foreigners, and not go to one of the large boarding- houses, which are obviously the most unsuitable places to go to if one wants to learn a foreign language. There is a grow-
1 See also the Modern Language Quarterly, i. (July, 1897), p. 37 ; II. (November, 1897), p. 89; the Mod. Q. of Lang, and Lit. II. (July, 1898), pp. 153 — 60; and several notices in The Journal of Education and other educational papers. Read also the report of an important discussion in the Journal of Education, 1899, p. 151.
in our Secondary Schools. 29
ing conviction that the teaching of Modern Languages in our Secondary schools should henceforth as a rule not be entrusted to foreigners but to duly qualified English men and women. I believe that this is a very sound and well justified view — I cannot discuss it here at length — and the only advice I have to give to intending teachers no less than to those who have entered the profession, is : Go abroad as much as you can, improve and deepen your knowledge of the language and of the people as much as is in your power1. Here at Cambridge we have now (1899) for nearly fifteen years past been training teachers of Modern Languages, and there have been among them very few indeed who did not manage to go abroad at least once, during the three or four years they were reading for their Modern Languages Tripos2. Most of them went abroad two or three times during their residence. In order to derive real benefit from their stay abroad, students should not go too early and should very carefully prepare themselves for it. The way in which they should proceed to study abroad is indicated in my lecture on the training of Modern Language Teachers.
Reading.
As the object of Modern Language teaching is in my opinion to teach not only the foreign language, but at the same
1 Books such as * French Daily Life ' (by W. Rippmann, based on Kron's Le petit Parisien, London, 1898) and Hamann's ' Echo der deutschen Umgangssprache ' will be found most useful. Students should be provided with Jaschke's little pocket dictionaries of French and German, with the Baedekers of Paris (or Northern France, in French) or Berlin (or Nord- deutschland, Rhein, etc. in German); Langenscheidt's ' Notworterbuch der franz. Sprache ' in. ('Land und Leute in Frankreich ') ; Mahrenholtz, 'Frankreich' (Leipzig, 1897); and consult Klopper's * Franzosisches Real- Lexikon ' (Leipzig : in course of publication).
2 An account of the history and present position of the Cambridge Medieval and Modem Languages Tripos is given by me in the April number (1899) of the Modern Quarterly, pp. 322—26.
3O The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
time by means of it the principal features of the life and character of a foreign nation, it follows that the material for reading should be chosen so as to promote this aim.
A most careful selection of suitable material should be made, and a systematic gradation of Reading should be devised.
After a good many object lessons in which the common objects of the foreign country are called by their foreign names and discussed in a variety of sentences, there might follow a Primer containing all the commonest words and well-chosen characteristic illustrations. From the very beginning the Reading should be connected with the history and geography of the foreign country. A good clear map of Germany (or France) with German (or French) names should be hung up in the Modern Language class room during all German or French Lessons. German names of German places should be taught throughout (why are they usually given in French spelling and in English pronunciation?), e.g. Aachen, Koln, Mainz, Wiirzburg, Miinchen, Braunschweig, Wien, Donau, Weichsel, Vogesen, etc.
In the middle classes a well compiled Reader should form the centre of all Modern Language teaching. It would be a graduated continuation of the Primer used in the lower forms. The ideal Reader for English Schools has not yet been written. E. Hausknecht's 'The English Student,' perhaps also W. Victor's and F. Dorr's 'Englisches Lesebuch,' or O. Jespersen's and Chr. Sarauw's ' Engelsk Begynderbog ' (Kj^benhavn, 1896) are the books which I should set up as models to be followed.
In the upper forms the Reader should be replaced by the study of some of the best classical works.
Nature of the proposed ' Reader.''
Our model 'Reader' — which is as yet unwritten— should contain only pieces illustrating the life and thought of foreign nations in olden and, still more, in our own times. The
in our Secondary Schools. 31
selection should be made by an experienced teacher with skill and tact, and above all in a spirit of sympathy with foreign excellence and of interest in foreign peculiarities. Its aim must obviously be to make the children understand foreign ways of thinking, but not to encourage in them a spirit of immature and self-asserting criticism. The texts should as far as possible be accompanied by a series of illustrations. A complete glossary at the end, carefully compiled, with easy phonetic transcriptions of especially difficult words : and short references to obvious etymological comparisons with English, would much enhance the usefulness of such a Reader.
Anything not in harmony with these principles should be strictly excluded from the Modern Language reading books. From a model Reader of French and German I should for instance unhesitatingly exclude a description, however brilliant, of the ' battle of Marathon/ or ' a trip to the Isle of Wight,' or ' a sunset in the desert/ or ' the character of the Chinese,' or ' Warren Hastings.' I should also discard general anecdotes, such as 'remarkable cleverness of a fox-terrier,' or 'the boy and the serpent,' etc. On the othejc hand I should gladly admit 'a trip from London to Paris,' 'a visit to the South of France/ or 'to the Rhine/ or 'to the Black Forest/ a 'visit to the Louvre/ or ' to the Castle at Heidelberg/ or ' to Cologne Cathedral/ ' a reception into the Academic Frangaise/ ' a speech by Bismarck in the Reichstag/ 'a German school-treat,' 'a Turnfahrt/ ' a Sangerfest/ etc. Or subjects such as ' Henri IV. , and the foreign ambassadors/ ' the Emperor Max and his fool Kunz von Rosen/ 'Frederick II. and the miller of Sanssouci/ ' Bismarck and the Austrian Ambassador/ or ' Goethe's corre- spondence with Carlyle/ or some letters of Lessing or Schiller or of Moltke or Bismarck.
Pieces such as these would be just as useful to the pupils learning the German language as those contained in the present books, and they would — each of them — in addition illustrate some point of German history, geography, life and thought,
32 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
and would furnish excellent material for comparison and dis- cussion.
In addition to the selected pieces in prose and verse I should put into the Reader :
(1) Good clear maps, not too small, of Germany and France ; rivers and places to be given with their foreign names. Special maps of Berlin and Vienna (or Paris) and surroundings should be included.
(2) Tables of foreign measures, weights, and moneys (the latter perhaps with coloured illustrations — few English children realise the size and value of a German Pfennig or have seen German nickel money) together with their English equivalents.
(3) Pictures of the flags and ensigns of foreign nations, also the German spread-eagle (as seen on all official documents), the emblem of the French Republic, and similar illustrations of importance and interest which can easily be procured.
(4) Enumerations of the principal ranks and titles, together with the proper forms of address.
(5) Letters of various kinds, ordinary letters (social and commercial) as well as some of a higher and of the highest type. Some of the German letters should be in German handwriting.
(6) A list of all the most common abbreviations used in the foreign languages.
A Reader containing all these items could most profitably be made the basis of instruction in the foreign tongues.
Study of the Classics.
For the use of the highest forms of schools a charac- teristic selection of truly representative works should be made, beginning with some rather easy works. A sort of ' canon ' of all that is really first-rate and at the same time suitable for school-reading should be devised. This again would be a really useful subject for discussion among the members of the Modern Language Association, and the columns of the Modern Quarterly of Language and Literature are at the disposal of
in our Secondary Schools. 33
persons of experience anxious to discuss this most important problem. As but little time can be allotted to Modern Lan- guages in the curricula of our High Schools, it is of paramount ! importance that no book but the very best, the most suitable and the most characteristic, should be set for school-reading.^ This is at present very frequently not the case ; a number of the books prescribed and edited with English notes do not deserve to be studied in schools to the neglect of other works, which are no more difficult and far more attractive and important than the books actually studied.
The ' canon' of works to be read should of course be sufficiently comprehensive to admit of frequent changes : at one time one of Lessing's plays, at another one of Goethe's or Schiller's or Grillparzer's or some other great dramatist might be set, the same standard of difficulty being kept. But nothing that is not of real literary excellence should be read, and for this reason for instance Kotzebue's old-fashioned and one-sided farce, 6 Die deutschen Kleinstadter,' which is at present much read in France and of which there is, unfortunately, also an English edition, should be sternly rejected. School-children would get nothing but wrong notions about German life from the reading of this farce, while a more modern and infinitely superior play, Gustav Freytag's comedy, * Die Journalisten,' is not read half as much as it deserves to be.
A ' canon' of poems to be learned by heart — after due explanation and recitation by the master — should also be prepared. There should be a gradation from the easier to the harder, and the older poems should be repeated from time to time in later terms.
Some prose pieces (fables, passages from speeches) might also occasionally be committed to memory and recited with suitable intonation before the class. If properly treated this is . really a most useful exercise, but of course the master must take care that the piece is well learned, well understood, and recited with the proper expression. The pieces thus learned
B. i
34 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
should be models of style and need not be at all long. Here is a large field for really useful investigation and much wanted reform. These exercises will be found to ' pay ' all the better when the necessary changes in Modern Language examinations are made and due importance is attached to the spoken lan- guage. It is to be hoped, and it is indeed probable, that this change for the better — an all-important change for the proper teaching and study of the modern living tongues — will soon take place.
I sincerely trust that before long all the better schools in this country will assign more time to the study of Modern Languages, which is the first and foremost condition of success in teaching. In the meantime find out
(1) How many hours for how many terms and years you can dispose of at present at your school ; then
(2) Make a general plan of work on a clearly conceived system.
(3) Endeavour to bring about a fruitful interchange of ideas with your fellow-teachers, especially with your colleagues at the same school, as to what should be read.
The study of foreign classics should be less dependent upon ' set books ' appointed for examinations. The draw- backs of getting up * set books ' are well known. They may be too hard or they may be too easy for a great number of pupils. They are often merely learned by rote — completely spoiling the child's pleasure in the book — and at all events a disproportionate amount of time is given in most schools to the getting up of one or two books, while four or five of the same size might have been read and enjoyed within the same space of time. Sometimes, of course, prescribed books may fit in well and be just the thing to study. But it cannot be denied that they often disturb the harmonious development of the subject, coming in at the wrong time for individual forms and taking 'the place of books which should be read by preference. The following is a true though rather an extreme
in our Secondary Schools. 35
case of the neglect of the classics. Some time ago I had to examine a candidate orally who told me that he had done German for more than three years. When I asked him what authors he had read in this time he answered, 'I have only read one set book, but I have worked • through many — exami- nation papers ' !
More than once I have been asked by teachers : Do you think that the French and German iyth and i8th century classics should still be read in English schools ? This question is most frequently asked by teachers who know only of utilitarian and commercial, but not of educational ends in the study of modern foreign literature. We should here beware of our friends. There is no doubt a decided increase in the interest taken in Modern Languages all over the country, but unfortunately this interest is in many cases not educational but purely commercial. These advocates of ' Moderns versus Ancients' forget that education and culture are the ends of all study, and that the very best is just good enough for the education of our children. That kind of education which the better schools should give cannot be got from the trashy stuff which some utilitarian pedagogues propose to substitute for the great works of the noblest minds. It is true that the study of Moliere's Misanthrope does not always help us to read the poems of Paul Verlaine, still less is Schiller's ' Wallenstein ' the most suitable preparation for the study of the ( Berliner Borsenkurier ' — but I trust that you will all agree with me that, practical as the teaching of Modern Languages must be, teachers have no right to withhold from their more advanced pupils the knowledge of some of the greatest works of modern literary art, works full of beauty and of noble ideas expressed in choice language. It is the privilege of a teacher to shew to his pupils how these great works of art should be appreciated and enjoyed. His zeal and enthusiasm should fire that of his pupils. Above all, in schools in which the ancient classical writers are but little read or not read at all, all the more stress
3 2 "
"
** -., ^
36 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
should be laid on the careful study of a number of foreign masterpieces of the iyth and i8th centuries. These convic- <s tions do not in the least prevent me from admitting that some suitable thoroughly modern texts should be read from time to time by the side of the great classics, especially in the case of an unusually short or crowded term. There will be ample time for reading a considerable amount of real literature on the modern sides of good boys' schools and in all the high schools for girls, as teachers in the future will devote less time to teaching of grammar pure and simple, and very little to the mechanical manufacturing of colourless translations from English into the foreign language.
The method of reading with a class.
The most careful preparation on the part of the teacher — and not only of the young teacher — is absolutely necessary for success. He has not merely to consider what is to be said, but what is not to be said, and in the case of what he says how it should be said and impressed upon the minds of the young.
A good teacher will of course never be content with walking into his class room and saying on the subject he is to teach just what happens to occur to him — he will carefully sift his material, reduce and simplify, dwell on the important points, in short, work according to a well-conceived plan and without omission of any point of importance for the children. The fact that everything has been thought out beforehand need not make his delivery dry and dull, either to himself or to his class. In order to make his lesson interesting and fruitful I would advise a young teacher as follows : Find out with the class, as far as possible by question and answer, the facts which you propose to teach. Extract together with them everything that is of importance in the text you are studying, encouraging every child to help in the work. Be
in our Secondary Schools. 37
careful not to talk above the understanding of the children,"^ especially of the average children, in the discussion of a great V play or of a difficult poem — do not talk about what will interest you most, but about what the children want and have a right to learn. Great care and tact, also great self-abnegation, is necessary in the teaching of poetry and literature. The very best and deepest thoughts of the greatest minds are naturally beyond the reach of children — yet fortunately there remains a very great deal that can be taught and will, if imparted carefully and pleasantly, be sure to bear fruit in later life. The children should be early accustomed to look upon a poem or a play not as an exercise or as something to be crammed for an examination, but as a work of art to be appreciated and enjoyed. A good teacher will not use many words about it, but he will let this feeling arise naturally from the way in which he approaches and treats the poem. Before he begins to read a poem or a passage with the class he will be careful to create, as it were, the proper atmosphere for it. A few introductory words will prepare the minds of the young, and then the poem will not fail to produce the desired effect upon them. But if you begin the reading of a poem by saying in a business-like tone : * Smith, will you read the first stanza of the poem No. 42 on page 96 of the Reader' — of course the Muse of Poetry will have left the room long before Smith has opened his mouth. All will be different if the teacher says a few simple words of introduction to prepare the minds of the children before- hand, and then proceeds to reading the poem aloud with proper pronunciation, intonation and expression. Poems such as Goethe's 'Erlkonig' or Schiller's 'Graf von Habsburg' require very careful reading in order to produce the fullest effect. After the master has read the poem he will have it repeated by the pupils, the better ones being first called upon, and will insist on a good, careful and spirited reproduction. Sometimes a short poem may be advantageously read by the whole class together. The teacher should explain any real
38 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
difficulties and ask questions concerning passages which require explanation — but he should not create difficulties. In the case of poems it is often advantageous to give and to require a paraphrase of difficult lines in ordinary prose, or to give before the actual reading of a more difficult poem a brief summary of its contents. Two poems which I have found to be hard to render well and which are not easily understood even by pupils of good ability are Schiller's 'Kampf mit dem Drachen' and still more Goethe's so-called 'Ballade' ('vom vertriebenen und zuriickkehrenden Grafen'). Never give a poem to the class to be learned by heart without having first read and fully explained the whole of it. Avoid setting very long poems in the lower and middle classes.
With the highest forms you will be able to read pretty rapidly, making the pupils invariably read out the German or French texts and only requiring an English rendering in the case of rather difficult passages. If you attempt at that stage some of the great foreign dramas you will find that your pupils really enjoy them, when not obliged to take Hne by line and scene by scene in homoeopathic doses — the safest way of making them detest Racine and Schiller for many years to come. Many mistakes are made by teachers in giving superfluous information or requiring the pupils to learn by rote all the notes contained in their editions of the classic. A great play is too good to be treated as a storehouse full of grammatical curiosities. These should be explained in the notes where they occur, but their importance should not be exaggerated and no disproportionate amount of time should be allowed for them. Of course I do not wish to recommend that the teacher should pass over unnoticed any real difficulty of language or thought or allow any opportunity for awakening literary taste to slip by.
In dealing with a great play, if it be written in verse, the teacher should consider it his duty briefly to discuss the metrical 'form, of which nearly all school-children and even many
in our Secondary Schools. 39
advanced students of Modern Languages are entirely ignorant. They should know the elements of poetic form— it is by no means a matter of no importance in what way the poet has chosen to express his thoughts. Certain forms suit the poetic genius of certain languages — the iambic trimeter is the national tragic metre for the Greeks as is the alexandrine for the French and blank verse for the English. Lessing and Schiller deliberately adopted in their later plays the English blank verse, Goethe's metre in 'Iphigenie' is more closely connected with the Italian endecasillabo, all three modified the adopted metre to suit their own taste and genius. Even school-boys and school-girls may fairly be expected to have some general notions on such points — which, if properly brought before them, would be sure to interest them. What is the state of things at present ? Some years ago I had to examine a great number of schools in Schiller's 'Wilhelm Tell/ a play con- sisting of 3,290 lines. I ventured to ask the question: ' In what metre is this play written ? Give a brief description of it.' Here are some of the answers which I read with a shudder I can still recall: 'This play is written in the old Italian ballad metre, that is, the metre of Virgil's ^Eneid,' or * The metre of this play is called Alexandrine,' 'Schiller's Tell is written in didactic hexameters.' Such were the extraordinary statements to which they committed themselves after having read over 3,200 lines of blank verse ! It was disheartening, and the worst was that children writing such absolute nonsense did actually pass the examination with credit if their grammar and translation were correct. Who was to blame? Not the children, but the teachers, who had plainly neglected to pay any attention whatsoever \vform.
Another point at which the teacher ought to work with his class is the making clear to every child the plan of the poet — the arrangement of thought — the connection of the scenes — the development of the action — the climax, peripeteia, and the catastrophe — in short what we may fitly call the 'inner
4O The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
form' of the drama, the moulding of the great mass of material in the mind of the poet so as to assume a higher artistic form. Think of the masterly structure of Schiller's ' Wallenstein.' Here the master can do very much to develop the taste, the judgment, and the general culture of his pupils. These lessons should be the finest fruit of all his teaching, they should never be forgotten. How much can be done in this respect by the right man for a whole form, I know from experience, gratefully recollecting a series of stimulating lessons on the German classics given during my last year at school by my own old head-master Dr Wiedasch of Hanover. But where is the corresponding teaching of English literature in our secondary schools? Great reforms in the teaching of English seem to me to be most urgently required in the immediate future in many schools.
If you read great plays with your best pupils — they should only be read with good pupils — sum up after each scene, after each act. Discuss the development of the action, see how far it has advanced (and by what means), what is still expected (hoped or feared ?). Discuss the characters and their motives, group them, see in what way they develop (if they develop at all), and let some advanced pupils attempt to write very briefly in the foreign language about such of the characters as specially interest them. 'Maria Stuart' and 'Wilhelm Tell' are easy plays in this respect, * Minna von Barnhelm,' ' Iphigenie,' 'Tasso/ * Die Jungfrau von Orleans' and 'Wallenstein ' present greater difficulties1.
A teacher is very considerably helped in his task of explaining a play and the chief characters occurring in it if he has seen it acted abroad by good actors. This is one among many other reasons why teachers of foreign languages in going abroad should go to large towns, to great intellectual centres where there are good theatres. Paris, Berlin, Vienna and
1 Compare my article ' How to study a masterpiece of literature ' in the National Home Reading Union Magazine, Special Course, October, 1895.
in our Secondary Schools. 41
many large German towns will in this respect supply all that can be desired. It is a great pity that there are still some students and teachers who are disinclined to go to the theatres — they certainly miss a great opportunity for better understanding the noble plays which they are called upon to explain to their pupils. It is a great mistake to ignore the obvious fact that plays are written to be seen on the stage and not to be read in an easy-chair. I cannot help feeling that he who allows * moral' scruples to prevent him from attending first-rate performances of the great modern masterpieces of dramatic art by the best actors and actresses of our own times may be a most estimable person but will be wholly unsuitable for the office of teacher of Modern Languages. He would probably never care to do justice to Schiller's fine essay ' Die Schaubiihne als moralische Anstalt betrachtet' and to numerous similar utterances by him, Lessing, and Goethe. A teacher of Modern Languages and Literatures should do his best to cultivate and develop a taste for literary art for his own benefit no less than for that of his pupils. Teachers who wish to succeed should be infinitely more than mere maitres de langue. As to books for the proper explanation of plays, those by G. Freytag, Bulthaupt, Bellermann, Franz, and others enumerated in my Handy Guide, pp. 75 and 103, will be found most useful.
One more remark before I leave this subject. If a play should happen to be historical, do not dwell on all the points in which a poet has purposely or unconsciously deviated from history, still less allow them to be crammed for examination purposes, but show by one or two really striking instances in what manner a great tragedy-writer has treated and transformed the facts of history. Goethe's ' Egmont ' and Schiller's c Maria Stuart' or 'Jungfrau von Orleans' afford good examples. Again, if the play should happen to be Goethe's ' Iphigenie,' do not waste much valuable time in pointing out conscien- tiously— if conscience has any part in such a proceeding — all the numerous cases in which Goethe differs from Euripides, but
42 The Teaching of Modern Foreign Languages
be careful to discuss fully the great difference of the spirit pervading the whole, the transformation of all the principal characters in Goethe's drama, and the all-important alteration of the ending.
The last question connected with Modern Language teaching with which I propose to deal in these lectures is
Should Foreign Literature as such be taught in Schools ?
I think not. It cannot and it should not. It will be found difficult enough to give the children in the highest forms some general notions concerning the development of their own national literature, a subject hitherto far too much neglected. But a short biographical account of some of the most prominent modern authors — carefully prepared by the teacher and told in an attractive manner — may very well be given. The children should know something about the greatest modern foreign writers, they should know about their lives, aims, and lasting merits — they should see pictures of them and take a real interest in them. But these must only be the stars of the first magnitude. We must not attempt to do too many things, but whatever we undertake to teach, let us teach well.
This is what I wished to say about the teaching of Modern Languages generally. I have an ideal before me of the manner in which a Modern Language teacher should set to work and of the success which he may reasonably hope for with children of ordinary ability and not extraordinary industry who get only a few hours of German and French a week while all the other subjects are taught by means of the English language. Under existing conditions they can never, as it were, learn to swim freely in the foreign element, but they may and should take a great deal of interest in their work, lay a good and solid foundation at school, and — as the languages are modern and living — go on in later life extending their knowledge of
in our Secondary Schools. 43
the foreign tongues and the great nations who speak them. The stimulus and taste for this study must needs be given in the first instance by the school teachers — what a great and noble task is theirs if only they will approach it in the proper spirit ! Even those whose interests are chiefly directed to the promotion of technical or commercial education and who realise the great importance of Modern Languages for these branches of human activity, even these should remember that all special training in technical and commercial subjects if it is to be sound must needs rest on a satisfactory basis of thorough general information. The teaching of Modern Languages, if properly promoted and improved, will no doubt produce much better results than now for the benefit of those who merely need them for technical or commercial pursuits — but the study and teaching of Modern Languages has a much higher aim and a much more important duty to fulfil in the curriculum of the secondary education of the twentieth century. At the close of our century I think I foresee a great future for Modern Language study in our schools — let us then all do our best to make the most of our great opportunities and never forget that, in spite of all the pressure from without, we must not degrade the study of Modem Languages to a successful analysis of the various types of business letters or newspaper articles or an acquisition of a certain amount of everyday prattle on some trivial topics, but that it is our duty to teach Modern Languages in secondary schools as one of the most valuable elements in a truly liberal education.
THE TEACHING OF GERMAN IN OUR SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
IN this supplementary lecture my aim is to throw out some hints as to the special objects and the special difficulties of the teaching of German. I also propose to give you my own opinion as to some much discussed points of spelling, pro- nunciation and reading, as it is of the greatest importance that intending teachers should start with definite views on such vexed points.
But before entering into details I am anxious once more to say most emphatically that to teach German in the highest sense, even in middle-class schools and to children of ordinary ability, does not merely mean to teach Grammar and Com- position, but above all to teach the spirit of the language, the ready understanding and use of it, and by means of language arid literature to spread a just understanding of the spirit of the German nation, and to produce a sympathetic appreciation of a people so nearly related to the English. The close con- nection of the two greatest Germanic peoples in language, literature and feeling should from time to time be pointed out. The interest in the study of a tongue so nearly akin to the English will thus be kept up and intensified1.
1 English teachers of German may perhaps like to join the newly established (January, 1899) Zweigverein London des Allgemeinen Deutschen Sprachvereins. Applications should be addressed to the Secretary (Hugo Bartels, Esq., Panthurst, Sevenoaks Weald, Kent). See also the Modern Quarterly of Language and Literature, No. 4, April 1899, p. 337.
The Teaching of German in our Secondary Schools. 45
On the other hand it will be the task of a good teacher to find out the chief and characteristic differences between English and German. He will do well to note down all the main difficulties experienced by English children in learning German, to tabulate them for his own use, to keep them continually in view and to make the children pay special attention to them. By doing this he will bring it about that the chief and most annoying mistakes will disappear one by one, and that the children will leave school with as fair a knowledge of German as can be reasonably expected — a knowledge much superior to that now possessed by most children and by not a few students coming up to the Universities.
German Letters.
In a previous lecture I have discussed the relation of letters and sounds in a general way, reminding students of the facts that words consist of sounds and not of letters, and also that the pronunciation changes more rapidly than the spelling, which on this account never quite accurately represents the actual pronunciation. To-day I have to deal with the German letters, the peculiar German (Austrian and Swiss) alphabet. The question arises : Should the use of German small and capital letters, two new alphabets to English children, still be taught in our English schools? This is a question which is frequently asked. I have no hesitation in answering that they should certainly be taught from the beginning, the new letter in connection with the foreign sound1. The initial trouble is exceedingly small, and the reason for incurring it is, that whatever the absolute or the scientific value of the German alphabet may be, yet as long as the great majority of Germans use the German letters exclusively, it would be very wrong in English teachers to withhold from their pupils familiarity with these characters and not to train them in their use while they are young and can easily acquire them. It may
1 This is called in German Schreiblesen.
46 The Teaching of German
hamper some of them very considerably in later life — I know it from experience — if they cannot read or write German characters with ease and fluency. Books from which the reading of the German handwriting can be learned are not wanting, see p. 70 l. Clerks, officers, secretaries, persons travelling abroad, let alone scholars, will one day be glad to be able to read German writing and German print. Even those who in later life do not actually need to read or to write the German handwriting may like to be able to write the language as the Germans do it — they will look upon it as an accomplish- ment. It is true that in * Local' and other Examinations candidates are ' not required ' to use the German handwriting, but this does not mean that those who write German really well are forbidden to write it. Only the examiners have found by experience that in most cases up to now the handwriting of the candidates has been too bad for them to encourage its use in examinations. Writing against time does not tend to improve any handwriting, and many pupils seem only to be able to draw German words letter by letter in a medieval monkish hand- writing, and cannot possibly hope to finish their task in time if they use German characters.
The same remarks apply with still greater force to the use of German characters in German books printed in this country, especially in English school editions of German classics. I think we are bound to keep them, and that teachers are bound to teach them. As long as most German books and all the newspapers are printed in German type we cannot afford to neglect it. Knowing the -history of the so-called Gothic or black-letter type2 in Germany and elsewhere, I am of course far from seeing in its use something specially German which it would be a patriotic duty for the Germans to retain. I even wish the German type were replaced by the common round
1 For exercise books for writing German apply to Mr Nutt, 270, Strand.
2 See G. Hempl, German Orthography and Phonology, Boston and London, 1897.
in our Secondary Schools. 47
type which for various reasons deserves to be recommended — still I think we teachers of German in England have no right to initiate so great a change and to deny to our pupils that proper training in the use of the German letters which cannot anywhere be given with more facility and success than at school. Why do we not first abolish the use of Greek and Hebrew letters in the grammar schools ? They are certainly at least as hard — or not more easy — and not more practically useful to most students of these languages. There are but few German letters which present any difficulty.
In reading German letters teach the distinctions between ie and et, 6 and b, f and f, r and r, 33 and 93, 3R and SB, % and 3, 9t and if. All the others are perfectly easy1. In writing German insist on your pupils marking the modification of vowels, the u hooks, and the difference between $, (, ((, £.
As to the Modern Spelling (of 1880) I believe that it should be adopted. It can very easily be taught, and it prevails now in all schools and is used by most publishers and newspapers. It is decidedly the spelling of the future, being a moderate reform on the right lines but no revolution of the traditional spelling. It is not ideal, but it is without doubt better than anything to be met with in the seventies of this century, and certainly much better than the previous anarchy in spelling. There is, moreover, no reason why the present official ortho- graphy should not be revised again and somewhat improved in the course of the next century. The best books of reference for teachers are named on pp. 68, 72 and in my Handy Guide to the Study of German, pp. "34, 51.
German Pronunciation.
Even the most elementary teaching — the laying of a good foundation — should be given by a carefully trained and duly qualified master. He should be well acquainted with the
1 Cp. the useful word-lists in O. Siepmann's excellent * Public School German Primer,' pp. xxvii — xxx, which afford ample reading practice.
48 The Teaching of German
elements of phonetics and should have a really good pro- nunciation ; he should have been abroad and should go again from time to time. He should know the principal differences of pronunciation in different parts of the country and should be acquainted with the chief shortcomings of the colloquial Hanoverian, Saxon, Swabian and Berlin pronunciation. He should have carefully considered what pronunciation he is to teach and what the standard of refined German speech requires1.
The present standard pronunciation of Modern German is the pronunciation of the best actors on the stage2. Here a common pronunciation is absolutely necessary. A play like 1 Iphigenie ' would be completely spoilt if Orestes was to speak Swabian, Pylades Westphalian, Iphigenia Saxon, and King Thoas East-Prussian. While the forms of the literary language are a compromise between South and Middle German, their pronunciation should be in the main North German. The pronunciation of refined Berlin ladies is particularly recom- mended. The Hanoverian pronunciation — excellent as it is in many respects — is not free from a number of very marked provincialisms which should not be imitated. Being myself a native of the town of Hanover I can speak from personal experience.
A teacher should invariably read out the German text to be explained to his pupils once or twice before they read it to him. He should prepare this reading most carefully. In reading or reciting he should not only pronounce the individual words correctly, but give to the sentences their proper accen- tuation and modulation. Professor W. Victor's little book on * German Pronunciation' (pp. 112 — 133, Leipzig, 1890) will help him to catch the proper accent of the sentence. In some cases of special difficulty he may well resort to a simple method
1 See 'German as she is spoke' (Journal of Educ., 1897, pp. 533 sqq.).
2 See the books enumerated in my Guide on p. 35, to which should now be added Theod. Siebs, Deutsche Biihnenatissprache, Berlin, 1898. is.
in our Secondary Schools. 49
of phonetic transcription of German words and sentences, such as is used by Prof. Victor in his < Deutsche Lauttafel' (which should be hung up in the class room during German lessons) or in Dr Passy's periodical publication 'Le maitre phonetique." The following is a rougn tabulated summary of the chief difficulties experienced by children in pronouncing German.
The chief difficulties of German pronunciation L.
1. & as in Mann, Hals, hart, Anfang.
Pupils should be accustomed to open their mouths wide in pronouncing this sound, which is the a in North Engl. father quite short.
2. 1, e, 6, u, especially before r, as in ihr, Lehm, rot,fuhr. Here the difficulty lies in the necessity of producing a long
clear vowel, without sounding a second element after it, e.g. vier is not to be pronounced like our fear, Lehm not like lame, rot not like wrote, pur not like poor. The lips should be properly rounded in the pronunciation of o and u.
3. o, 6, ii, ii, a as in Holle, Hohle ; fulle,fiihle ; ware. The modified vowels o, ii (short and open — long and
closed) do not exist in English and require special practice. Teachers should not allow pupils to say fu(h}r instead of fur, or funf instead of fiinf, etc., but they should at the outset give the class a brief and clear phonetic explanation of the position of the speech organs in sounding it and o, and should practise these sounds whenever an opportunity offers. They should also point out the difference in sound between ware and where, Kafer and cave, Ahre and air, and so forth.
4. au as in rauschen, heraus.
The mouth should be opened sufficiently for the a element of the diphthong (see under i). The second element resembles more an o than a u.
1 The symbols used are those of Victor's 'German Pronunciation.7 Compare the useful observations in W. Rippmann's Hints on Teaching German, pp. 18 — 22.
B. 4
5O The Teaching of German
5. e in unaccented syllables is nearly always reduced to a dull P, e.g. behende should be pronounced bd/iend? ; nehmen is nemdn. In familiar pronunciation, which is not to be imitated, it often disappears, e.g. leben becomes leb™, sieden becomes zidn, etc.
6. The glottal stop before the initial vowel, even if the word is the second part of a compound, should be carefully noticed, e.g. geachtet should be pronounced gfactdt, Verein is fdr'ain, etc.
7. h is now absolutely silent between vowels, as in sahen, except in compounds (Hoheit) where English children are inclined to drop it.
It is sometimes sounded in artificial school pronunciation. Wehen is to be pronunced vedn, ziehen is tsfat.
8. Final b, d as in Weib, Held, Gold are to be pro- nounced as voiceless sounds (/, t\ hence vaip, helt, golt\ b and d after a consonant do not lengthen the preceding vowel in German as they do in some cases in English: e.g. Hand, 4 hand.' Exceptions to this general rule are Mond, Pferd.
9. w has the sound not of an English w but of a v, e.g. wichsen 'to black (boots)' is viksdn, after sch a w is bilabial but without any rounding of the lips, e.g. schwarz is svarts (NOT suarts).
10. u after q has likewise the sound of bilabial v, with- out rounding of the lips qu - kv, e.g. Quell is kvel, Qual is kvdl, quer is kver.
11. Th« guttural n before g and k when it is followed by a vowel. A g following n is not sounded in German.
The guttural n is as a rule transcribed by #, #, or g. The German Finger is to be pronounced ftndr^ singen is zirwn, while sinken is z in ken. The pronunciation of words such as Engel, Enkel\ Range, Ranke, etc. should be practised.
1 2. The peculiar German ch with its twofold pronunciation after front and back vowels, e.g. lacheln and lachen; ich, dock
in our Secondary Schools. 5 1
(cp. the Scotch 'loch'); Frikhte, Frucht ; brache, brack. One may transcribe Idcheln by //£*/*» but lachen by lacdn1.
As ch may be sounded differently in forms of the same word, great care is necessary in practising the pronunciation.
13. z in German words (and c in certain foreign loan words) is a consonant diphthong denoting ts. Pupils should be early accustomed to pronounce it well (neither like s nor like rff), and distinguish between Seiten and Zeiten, sauber and Zauber, sog and zog, Sehne, Zdhne^ Szene ^-stsend\ and pro- nounce zwanzig (tsvdntsif), Zwergzwiebel (tsverktsvtb9l\ cedcr (tsedzr).
14. Initial sp and st even at the beginning of the second part of a compound should be pronounced sp^ st, as on the stage and in the greater part of Germany. The rounding of s before p and t should take place just as it has taken place before /, m, n, w all over the country. The Hanoverian pronunciation is in this case archaic, and obviously influenced by Low German. Hence sprechen should be sprepn, gestehen should be gf stezn. The South German pronunciation of final st as st (Oberst) should not be imitated.
A number of smaller points might still be touched upon, such as the difference between the (thinner) German and the (fuller) English final //, compare voll and full, but the time at my disposal does not admit a discussion of them, and these hints must not become a treatise. The books by Victor, Siebs, Rippmann, and Miss Soames will give teachers all the neces- sary information as to particular points. A teacher of German in (this country cannot afford to leave them unread
Open Questions.
The pronunciation of initial r (dental or guttural) and of medial and final g are still moot points with the Germans
1 It was impossible to introduce the system of transcription adopted by the 'Association Phonetique Internationale' (see the Mod. Quarterly, April, 1899, p. 320—1) into this edition. .^
4—2
52 The Teaching of German
themselves. I should allow a good deal of latitude in the teaching of them, that is to say I should not force the children to learn the guttural r if it gives them a great deal of trouble, and I should advocate the teaching of medial g between vowels as a voiced mute and not as a spirant. Hence I should transcribe Wege not vej9 but vege. About final g I do not feel so sure and should (at present) admit the pronunciation vek and vec for Weg. The latter (vec) is the more familiar one and the one more generally heard, it seems to be the pronun- ciation of the future — hence perhaps the best plan for the present is to pronounce final g hard in high style and in poetry, but spirantic in ordinary prose anrf in conversation. In case this was thought unadvisable I think the spirantic pronunciation of final g should be adopted in both cases.
Grammar.
The few words I propose to say under this head are of course entirely dictated by the practical considerations of school teaching. The general principles have been discussed in a previous lecture, e.g.Qhat only the chief facts of grammar I should be taught and everything exceptional at first be care- | fully eliminated-^-that grammar should not be taught at school for its own sake and that everything should be deduced from carefully chosen examples of good modern German.
What is the standard? I think the usage of first-rate modern writers such as Heyse, Spielhagen, Wildenbruch, Storm, Geibel, Bodenstedt, Freiligrath, Fulda and others. But teachers should be careful in the use of examples from Freytag, Scheffel, Keller, Raabe, Rosegger, Sudermann, Hauptmann and others whose writings are not free from archaisms, mannerisms, dialectic usages and even a good deal of slang. These writings may of course be great works of art, but they cannot be used for school purposes or invariably as models of refined modern prose.
in our Secondary Schools. 53
The existing Grammars of German compiled for the use of English schools have nearly all serious defects in addition to those general shortcomings noted in a previous lecture :
(1) They do not sufficiently distinguish between familiar, ordinary and historical, and elevated modern prose.
(2) They do not distinguish between modern language and the language of the great i8th century classics. In many cases we cannot say and write now what Lessing, Goethe and Schiller could and attempted.
(3) They do not as a rule distinguish carefully enough between prose and poetry.
Hence the instances from the German classics in most of our Grammars require a very thorough overhauling. A teacher should know German very well himself, so as not to be hope- lessly dependent on the grammar he happens to use.
(4) Another prevalent fault is the failure to distinguish between the cases used in connection with certain verbs, e.g. geniessen^ entbehren, rufen^ etc. It is absolutely misleading to say, as most grammars and dictionaries do, l entbehren takes either the gen. or the ace.' It is true that Hermann (in ' Hermann und Dorothea ') says : Ich entbehre der Gattin, but it is archaic and cannot be said now. In good modern prose the accusative is used exclusively. Again in the case of rufen the accusative is now the only possible case, e.g. er ruft mich. The dative which occurs sometimes in elevated style and still in South German and Swiss language is very expressive, e.g. when the Spirit of the Earth says to Faust Wer 'ruft mir? ' Who calls for me?; But such rare or dialectic or poetic con- structions should be briefly explained when they occur in the text before the pupils and not before.
A good teacher should not only teach the dry facts of grammar, but sometimes in appropriate cases give an explana- tion. In my previous lecture I have cautioned teachers not to go too far ; but they may well here and there ;give some colour to their teaching by supplying an easy explanation, e.g.
54 The Teaching of German
on the origin of many German prepositions, kraft — laut — wegen (why do they take the genitive ?) or of adverbs : flugs — rings — spornstreichs — allerdings^ etc. A word on the nouns in -ei and the ending -ieren in verbs would interest many of the older boys, also on doublets such as Kerker and Karzer, Bursch and Borse, dichten and diktieren. Even the inorganic / in eigentlich^ geflissentlich after the analogy of hoffentlich, flehentlich (for flehend-lich ' like -one imploring ') might be occasionally ex- plained to more advanced pupils. They will thus get a glimpse of the life of the language. There is no lack of handy books of reference for the teacher of German who is anxious to obtain fuller information \
But be very careful that your pupils do not use any scientific terms without properly understanding their exact meaning and their full bearing. Do not allow them to explain away difficulties by one of the three ever-recurring phrases : ' for the sake of euphony,7 1 by false analogy ' (with what ? why false ?), or ' for the sake of the metre,'
as if Goethe or Schiller could not have managed their versifi- cation properly !
I have said that a teacher will find out the chief difficulties of his pupils and will work hard at these while he will pass quickly over things which are naturally easy to English children.
^^ principal difficulties of German Grammar seem to me :
(i) The right use of the prepositions and of the case required in connection with them. The grammars are not quite sufficient in this respect, e.g. the short rule as to ' rest ' and ' motion ' does not suffice in the case of prepositions with two cases. The right use of the prepositions is a great diffi- culty2.
1 See my essay: 'The Reference Library of a School Teacher of German,' printed on pp. 65 — 84 of this book.
2 It would perhaps be a good plan if the children had grammar note- books with suitable headings to each page. The examples would be
in our Secondary Schools. 55
(2) The inflexion of the adjectives. The threefold use of the adjective (strong and weak inflexion and uninflected form) is characteristic of the German language. This point is really easy — a number of typical instances will suffice to teach it. These examples should be gathered from the Reader and learned by heart.
(3) The modifications of root-vowels in plurals, comparisons, and derivatives. Here a good and careful pronunciation will be of great help — but much must simply be learned by heart e.g. Tag, Tage, but Schlag, Schldge.
(4) The strong verbs ; the separable verbs.
The principal ones must be committed to memory; com- parison with English (singe ', sang, gesungen : sing, sang, sung) will in many cases be helpful, and at all events remind pupils that a verb may be strong. In the case of the separable and inseparable verbs the principal ones, but only the principal ones, should be learned early, and a good pronunciation should be insisted upon. Instead of giving the infinitives (ubersetzen, ubersetzen) it is preferable to teach the ist persons ich setze iiber, ' I put across ' and ich uber seize, ' I translate.7
Pupils should be told that as a rule in cases where the force of the preposition is still felt and a local meaning prevails the verb is separable, but it is inseparable where its equivalent is not a true English verb plus a preposition or adverb, but a compound borrowed from the Latin and where the meaning is abstract and metaphorical. Thus ubersetzen ' put across/ uber- setzen ' translate7; wiederholen * fetch back/ wiederhblen ' repeat7; durchgehen 'go through/ durchgehen ' pervade7; umgehen 'go round about/ umgehen ' circumvent/ etc.
(5) The order of words in a sentence. This is of the very greatest importance and causes a great deal of difficulty at
entered as they occur, e.g. Er schwimmt iiber den Fluss — Der Ballon schwebt iiber der Stadt — Er freut sich iiber sein neues Buch — Der Rock hangt iiber dem Stuhl. — When there are enough examples the children deduce the rules themselves.
56 The Teaching of German
first, but the chief points can be learnt during the time the children are at school. Begin very early with very simple sentences — enlarge them — alter them and turn them about — gradually introduce the various kinds of dependent clauses. Make your own examples if necessary, let the children copy them, refer at first invariably to the same examples until the Sprachgefuhl of the children is sufficiently well developed. Begin with a number of sentences such as :
Das Mddchen findet das Buck
The girl finds the book.
Das Mddchen hat das Buch gefunden
The girl has found the book.
Many instances of a similar kind should be given before you go on, always adding a little :
Das schone Madchen, welches wir heute gesehen haben, hat seinen guten Vater verloren, etc. etc.
Invent a story or a fable, and embody in it the chief things you are anxious to illustrate, e.g. the principal differences between English and German syntax.
Genders.
The German genders are indeed very troublesome to foreigners, more especially to English girls, who as a rule do not do Latin and Greek and are therefore more apt to forget about the genders. There are hardly any good rules about them. I wish there were. I cannot say more than the grammars. I freely admit that children, while at school, can hardly be expected to acquire an absolutely correct knowledge of genders. But on the other hand I do not think that the genders are quite as hard as they are sometimes made out to be. In the amusing chapter * On the awful German language' added to his delightful ' Tramp abroad' Mark Twain has with a great deal of humour exaggerated the difficulties. I think that the children may very well be
in our Secondary Schools. 57
expected to know the genders of all the principal and really important German words. Here the ' systematic vocabulary ' referred to in a previous lecture should be useful.
Die Sonne — der Mond—der Stern — die Wolke — etc. Of course in learning words children should not say Sonne — Mond but die Sonne — der Mond, always adding the definite article. A story might be made up by the teacher which he should first tell and then dictate to the class. The pupils would learn it by heart and could, in case of subsequent doubts or mistakes, be referred back to it. An account of a ramble in the country might end as follows : ' Der Gipfel des Berges war bald erstiegen. Von ihm sahen wir die Sonne unter- gehen und bald nachher den Mond und den Abendstern am Himmel aufgehen. Eine diistre Wolke verdeckte den schonen Stern auf kurze Zeit, ein starkes Gewitter zog herauf, ein greller Blitz folgte dem andern, der Donner rollte, der Regen floss in Stromen ; bald aber war das schwere Wetter vorbei gezogen und das Licht des freundlichen Sternes leuchtete wieder zu uns herab.'
Word Formation.
Only the most important facts of German word-formation (derivation and composition and the old formation by vowel gradation) should be taught, but word formation will naturally play an important part in the construing lessons and will be sure to interest the children if properly brought before them. A well-informed teacher may well now and then explain the formation of a word with a view to giving the pupils a glimpse of old German life, customs, and beliefs. The discussion of the names of the days of the week, words such as Ostern^ Weihnachten, Fastnacht, Hochzeit, Brautlauf (in Schiller's 'Tell'), would be sure to interest and instruct the children. In saying this I am of course far from advocating a display of etymological information which would be beyond the under-
5 8 TJie Teaching of German in our Secondary Schools.
standing of the children and out of place in school-teaching. Again an occasional word as to family names such as Baumann, Agricola, Jacobi, Jacobssohn, Jacobs, or of German and foreign proper names, such as Dietrich, Leopold, Ludwig, Wolfram, Rudolf, Minna, Adelheid, Gertrud — Andreas, Philipp, Moses, Ludovica, Louise — Dietrich Kraft and Ludovica Jacobi, could be made most interesting and valuable even to children. Such instruction should, however, not be given systematically but only as occasion offers.
I should be much pleased if in these lectures I should have succeeded in throwing out some hints which will prove useful in your teaching, and in firing your enthusiasm for a subject, the study and teaching of which grows more attractive and more important with every year. The way is long, the aim is high — let us make a resolute attempt to reach the goal or at least not fall too far short of it !
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX.
PERIODICALS1.
1. The Modern Language Quarterly (now The Modern Quarterly
of Language and Literature]. Edited by H. Frank Heath, with the assistance of E. G. W. Braunholtz, Karl Breul, I. Gollancz, E. L. Milner-Barry, A. W. Pollard, W. Rippmann, and V. Spiers. Since 1897. London. Dent £ Co. (2^. 6d. each part.) ""*
2. Modern Language Notes. Edited by A. Marshall Elliott,
James W. Bright, Hans C. G. v. Jagemann, Henry Alfred Todd. Baltimore. Since 1886. Eight numbers a year. (Subscription in advance, js. a year.)
3. Archiv fur das Studium der Neueren Sprachen imd Litter a-
turen^ begriindet von Ludwig Herrig, herausgegeben von Aloys Brandl und Adolf Tobler. The iooth vol. has just appeared. Braunschweig. 1898. Yearly 4 tiefte. ( 8 s. a year.)
4. Die Neueren Sprachen , Zeitschrift fur den Neusprachlichen
Unterricht. Mit dem Beiblatt " Phonetische Studien." In Verbindung mit Franz Dorr und Adolf Rambeau herausgegeben von Wilhelm Victor. Marburg. Yearly ten parts. Since 1893. (\2s. a year.)
5. Zeitschrift fur den deutschen Unterricht^ begriindet unter
Mitwirkung von Rudolf Hildebrand, herausgegeben von Otto Lyon. Leipzig. Since 1887. Monthly. (i2s. a year.)
6. Zeitschrift fur neufranzbsische Sprache und Litteratur^ mit
besonderer Beriicksichtigung des Unterrichts im Franzosischen auf den deutschen Schulen, herausgegeben von G. Korting und E. Koschwitz. The present general editor is D. Behrens. Oppeln and Leipzig. (Now Berlin.) Since 1879. The periodical is no longer exclusively devoted to Modern French, and the present title is Zeitschrift fur franzosische Sprache und Litteratur. ( i $s. a year.)
1 The full titles of most of the above mentioned and of many other important periodicals are given in the first chapter of my Handy Guide. The Journal of Education should also be referred to. With regard to the prices mentioned see note 2 on p. 66.
6o Bibliographical Appendix.
7. Revue de renseignement des langues vivantes, edited by
A. Wolfromm. Paris. Since 1883. (15$. a year.)
8. Le mattre phon^tique^ organe de 1'association phone'tique inter-
nationale, edited by Paul Passy. Paris. (Bourg-la-Reine.) Since 1885. (3s- a year.)
9. Litteratiirblatt fiir Germanische und Romanische Philologie,
herausgegeben von Otto Behaghel und Fritz Neumann. Leipzig. Since 1880. Monthly, (iij. a year.)
10. Verhandlungen der deutschen Neuphilologentage. Every second year one volume of proceedings.
BOOKS, PAMPHLETS AND ESSAYS1.
1. Allcock (A. E.\ The Teaching of Modern Languages (in
"Essays on Secondary Education by various contributors," ed. Chr. Cookson, pp. 149 sqq.). Oxford. 1898. (4^. 6d. cloth.)
2. Atkinson (H. W.}. An Experiment in Modern Language
Teaching (Journal of Education, May 1897). On the articles by F. B. Kirkman ; his reply is contained in the Journ. of Educ. June, 1897.
3. Bahlsen (Z.). Der franzosische Sprachunterricht im neuen
Kurs. Berlin. 1892. (is. 6d. unbound.)
4. Breal (Michel}. De 1'enseignement des langues vivantes.
Paris. 1893. (is. %d. unbound.)
5. Brebner (Mary). The Method of Teaching Modern Languages
in Germany. London. 1898. (15-. 6d. cloth.) See also: Sadler's Reports, Vol. ill. (1898), no. 8. (The Vol. is 3* $d. net.)
1 The books, pamphlets and essays enumerated are unequal in value and not invariably written from the same point of view, but they will all be found suggestive and helpful. These lists do not comprise all that is worth reading on the subject, their aim being simply to point out a certain number of recent contributions to the study of Methods of Modem Language Teaching which teachers will find it useful to refer to. Several articles contained in the Journal of Education (October 1896 and the following months) are very suggestive. For further information see Munch 's and Glauning's book (described under 22) which gives very valuable biblio- graphical lists. The books most useful for the teacher of German are discussed on pp. 65 — 84.
Bibliographical Appendix. 61
6. Breul (Karl}. The Training of Teachers of Modern Foreign
Languages. Lecture delivered at the College of Preceptors. (Educational Times, May, 1894.)
7. Colbeck (C.\ On the Teaching of Modern Languages in Theory
and Practice. Two Lectures. Cambridge. 1887. (is. cloth.)
8. Findlay (J^. An Experiment in Modern Language Teaching
(Journal of Education, October, November, December (with A. E. Twentyman), 1896). See Kirkman.
9. Franke (F.). Die praktische Spracherlernung auf Grund der
Psychologic und der Physiologic der Sprache dargestellt. Leipzig. 1890. (%d. unbound.)
10. Hartmann (K. A. M.\ Die Anschauung im neusprachlichen Unterricht. Wien. 1895. (6d. unbound.)
11. Hartmann (K. A. M.}. Reiseeindrticke und Beobachtungen eines deutschen Neuphilologen in der Schweiz und in Frank- reich. Leipzig. 1897. ($s. unbound, 4^. cloth.)
12. Hausknecht (Emil}. The Teaching of Foreign Languages. In Sadler's Reports, Vol. in. (1898), no. 9.
J&> Jeffrey (P. Shaw}. How shall we learn French? (Journal of
Education, October, 1897.)
^^- Jeffrey (P- Shaw}. The study of Colloquial and Literary French. London. Whittaker. 1899. (Will appear soon.)
15. Kirkman (F. B.\ An Experiment in Modern Language Teaching (Journal of Education, February, April, 1897). See Findlay ; Atkinson.
16. Klinghardt (H.\ Ein Jahr Erfahrungen mit der neuen Methode. Marburg. 1888. (is. %d. unbound.)
17. Klinghardt (//.). Drei weitere Jahre Erfahrungen mit der imitativen Methode. Marburg. 1892. (2s. 6d. unbound.)
18. Kiihn (V. K.\ Entwurf eines Lehrplans. Marburg. 1889. (is. unbound.)
19. Mangold (W.\ Geloste und ungeloste Fragen der Methodik. Berlin. 1892. (8d. unbound.)
20. Montgomery (Miss J. D.\ The Teaching of Modern Language s in Belgium and Holland. In Sadler's Reports, Vol. n. (1898), no. 26.
21. Munch ( W.\ Zur Forderung des franzosischen Unterrichts. Heilbronn. 1883. 2nd improved ed. Leipzig. 1895. (2S- 6d- unbound.)
62 Bibliographical Appendix.
22. Munch (W.} und Glauning (Fr.). Didaktik und Methodik des franzosischen und englischen Unterrichts. Miinchen. 1895 (from Dr A. Baumeister's c Handbuch der Erziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre fiir hohere Schulen'). This book contains a most valuable up to date bibliography. (4^. 6d. unbound.)
23. Munch ( IV.). Welche Ausriistung fiir das neusprachliche Lehramt ist vom Standpunkte der Schule aus wiinschenswert ? (In 'Die Neueren Sprachen,' iv. Heft 6.) Marburg. 1896.
24. Rippmann (Walter}. Hints on Teaching French. London. 1898. (is. 6d. net, boards.). Hints on Teaching German. London. 1899. (IS* net> boards.)
- 25. Rippmann ( Walter'). On the early Teaching of French. (A series of articles in Macmillan's * School World,' beginning in no. i.)
26. Roden (A. v.\ In wiefern muss der Sprachunterricht um- kehren ? Ein Versuch zur Verstandigung liber die Reform des neusprachlichen Unterrichts. Marburg. 1890. (is. 8d. unbound.)
27. Roden (A. von}. Die Verwendung von Bildern zu franzosischen und englischen Sprechiibungen, methodische Ansichten und Vorschlage. Marburg. 1898. (is. ^d. unbound.)
28. Spencer (Fr.). Chapters on the aims and practice of teaching. Chapter III. (French and German, by the general editor). Cambridge. 1897. (6s. cloth.)
~29. Storr (Fr.). The Teaching of Modern Languages (French and German) in "Teaching and Organisation, with special reference to Secondary Schools. A manual of practice, edited by P. A. Barnett." London. 1897. pp. 261 — 280. At the end of this essay some other contributions by Mr Storr to the question of Modern Language Teaching are enumerated. See also A. T. Pollard's remarks on pp. 24 — 26 of the same volume. (6s. 6d. cloth.)
30. Tanger (G.). Muss der Sprachunterricht umkehren ? Berlin. 1888. (qd. unbound.)
31. Veyssier (E.\ De la m&hode pour Penseignement scolaire des langues vivantes. Paris. 1898. (3^.)
32. Victor ( W.\ (Ouousque tandem.) Der Sprachunterricht muss umkehren. Heilbronn. 1882. Reprint 1886. (8rf. unbound.)
Bibliographical Appendix. 63
33. Waetzoldt (£/.)• Die Aufgabe des Neusprachlichen Unter- richts und die Vorbildung der Lehrer. Berlin. 1892. (\s. unbound.) (Compare the " Verhandlungen des fiinften allge- meinen deutschen Neuphilologentages zu Berlin (1892).) Hannover. 1893. PP- 25 s^*!- anc^ ^e reviews of Waetzoldt's lecture in 'Die Neueren Sprachen' I. 48 sqq. (Victor); " Mitteilungen zur Anglia" in. 361 sqq. (Wendt) ; "Zeitschr. f. franz. Spr." xiv. i sqq. (Stengel); "Englische Studien" XIX. 1 37 sqq. (Kolbing); " Litteraturblatt f. germ, und roman. Philologie" XV. 130 sqq. (Koschwitz).
34. Walt her (Max}. Der franzosische Klassenunterricht. Mar- burg. 1888, 2i895. (IS- 3^ unbound.)
^-35. Ware (Fabian}. Phonetics and Modern Language Teaching (Journal of Education^ August, 1897). See Kirkman.
36. Ware (Fabiaii}. The Teacher of Modern Languages in Prussian Secondary Schools. His education and professional training. In Sadler's Reports, Vol. in. (1898), no. 10.
37. Ware (Fabian). The Teaching of Modern Languages in Frankfurt a/M and district. In Sadler's Reports, Vol. ill. (1898), no. 7.
38. Widgery ( W. H.\ The Teaching of Languages in Schools. London. 1 888. (With a very full bibliography.) This pamphlet is now unfortunately out of print.
— 39. Methods of Teaching Modern Languages. By A. Marshall Elliott, Calvin Thomes, W. Stuart Macgowan, and others. Boston, U.S.A. 1894. (Essays and speeches very unequal in value and importance.) (3^. 6d. cloth.)
40. Breymann (//.). Die neusprachliche Reform-Litteratur von 1876 — 93. Leipzig. 1895. (3s- unbound.)
SPECIAL BOOKS ON THE TEACHING OF GERMAN1.
41. Hildebrand (/?.). Vom deutschen Sprachunterricht in der Schule. Leipzig. 4i89O. (3^. unbound.)
1 Those books which are specially intended for the use of German teachers in German schools contain much more than an English teacher can possibly expect to get through ; but as the smaller is contained in the greater, English teachers of German will in many cases find such works of
64 Bibliographical Appendix.
42. Laos (E.). Der deutsche Unterricht auf hoheren Lehran- stalten. Berlin. 1872. 2 1886 (edited by I. Imelmann). (8s. unbound.)
43. Lehmann (Rud.). Der deutsche Unterricht. Eine Methodik fiir hohere Lehranstalten. Berlin. 1890. (8s. unbound.)
44. Wendt (Gustcm). Der deutsche Unterricht und die philo- sophische Propadeutik (from Baumeister's ' Handbuch ' Vol. ill.). Miinchen. 1896. With useful bibliographical lists. (3^. unbound.)
PHONETICS1,. >«*^'
45. Klinghardt (//.). Artikulations- und Horiibungen. Cothen. 1897. ($s. 6d. unbound.)
46. Passy (Paul). Les sons du Frangais. Paris. 3i892. (is. 6d. unbound.)
47. Passy (Paul}. Abre'ge' de prononciation franchise. Leipzig. 1897. (is. 2.d. boards.)
48. Rippmann (IV.). Elements of Phonetics. English, French and German. Translated and adapted from Prof. Victor's " Kleine Phonetik." London. 1899. (zs. 6d. net, boards.)
49. Victor (IV.). German Pronunciation, Practice and Theory. Leipzig. 21890. (zs. cloth.) (See pp. 72—73 of this book.)
50. Breymann (H.). Die Phonetische Litteratur von 1876 — 1895. Eine bibliographisch-kritische Ubersicht. Leipzig. 1897. (3.9. unbound.)
the utmost service — except in the cases of the special conditions and special difficulties of the English learner. With regard to these and to the right methods of teaching German in English schools the standard book has still to be written.
1 For more detailed information see my Handy Bibliographical Guide^ pp. 8, 24 — 26, and 35, and also pp. 72 — 73 of this book. For French see : Miinch, in his ' Methodik und Didaktik des franzosischen Unterrichts,' pp. 95 — 96. Here the titles of the important books by Beyer, Koschwitz, and others are given in full. See also Miss Brebner's pamphlet (No. 5), pp. 70 — 72, and Le maitrc phonetique (January, 1897), pp. 39 — 41 (ouvrages recommandes pour 1'etude de la phonetique et de la pedagogic linguistique).
THE REFERENCE LIBRARY OF A SCHOOL TEACHER OF GERMAN1.
THERE are no doubt many difficulties which beset a teacher of German in this country, such as — want of time allotted to his subject in the school curriculum, necessity of preparing his pupils for a host of examinations, want of a clearly defined and methodically arranged curriculum, lack of encouragement of the subject in the vast majority of schools, distinct dis- couragement in the present regulations for the army exami- nations, shyness of the pupils in dealing with the living and spoken idiom, uncertainty concerning the best method to be adopted in teaching, and doubt as to what books should be used with the classes, and more especially in preparing for his work.
It can, however, not be urged that there is not now a great number of really good, scientific, as well as practical books available for a teacher to refer to in all cases of difficulty and doubt, such as may arise at any moment in the various departments of his every-day teaching. On the contrary, there are, at least in some cases, so many books on the same subject that a real difficulty is experienced by teachers- as to which should be used by preference. The school reference libraries are, as a rule, very poor as far as German is concerned; moreover, most teachers will probably wish, as far as may be,
1 Revised and enlarged Reprint from the Modem Language Quarterly for November 1897. A similar up-to-date list of the best books of reference for a teacher of French has still to be written.
B,
66 The Reference Library of
to purchase gradually all the necessary books of reference for themselves. The choice of tools will, of course, largely depend on the kind of work which the teacher will have to do, but a well-equipped reference library will be found by every teacher of the very greatest importance for the success of his teaching and for necessary self-improvement. It is the object of this article to assist younger teachers to some extent in making their choice. New books of value and interest will henceforth be regularly noticed in the Modern Quarterly of Language and Literature. (London : Dent and Co. Single numbers, 2s. 6d.}
Such ordinary grammars, composition-books, school-dic- tionaries, and the like, as are in daily use in schools, and with which every teacher is naturally familiar, have all, or nearly all, been excluded from the following lists. I shall, in the subsequent paragraphs, freely refer readers to my ' Handy Guide1,' where a much greater number of books of reference is given.
Dictionaries. — A number of dictionaries of different kinds should be found on the shelves of a well-equipped reference library. Apart from the ordinary small school- dictionaries, a teacher will be in constant need of at least one large dictionary of the first order. The last edition of Fliigel's well-known and time-honoured dictionary is at present the largest English-German and German-English dictionary which is complete. Its full title is Felix Flugel, ' Allgemeines Englisch-Deutsches und Deutsch-Englisches Worterbuch.' Fourth, entirely remodelled, edition. 2 parts in 3 vols. Braunschweig, 1891. (Price, bd., £2. $s.)2 The English-
1 Karl Breul, 'A Handy Bibliographical Guide to the Study of the German Language and Literature for the use of Students and Teachers of German.' London: Hachette £ Co., 1895, 8vo. Bound, is. 6d. Some books enumerated in this article are of more recent date than the 'Guide.'
2 The prices quoted in this article are those for which the books may be obtained from Mr Th. Wohlleben, 45, Great Russell Street, London, W.C. (opposite the British Museum). The prices are liable to a discount of 10% for foreign and 25% for English books to bona fide teachers.
a School Teacher of German. 67
German part is by far the better of the two; the German- English part, which is really the more important one for English students, leaves a good deal to be desired. A smaller dictionary, partly based on the large Fliigel (the English- German part only), is the one called — Fliigel-Schmidt-Tanger, ' A Dictionary of the English and German Languages for Home and School.7 Two vols. Braunschweig, 1896 (12^. 6d. bound). It is excellently printed, very full, and most useful for all ordinary purposes.
A work which will surpass in completeness even the big Fliigel is now in course of publication. It will ultimately consist of four large volumes. The first two volumes, con- taining the English and German part (compiled by G. Muret, with the help of many specialists), are completed (half-bound, £2. 2s.). The publication of the second part has been begun by the Langenscheidt'sche Buchhandlung, Berlin, 1897. The editor of the first number was the late well-known lexico- grapher Daniel Sanders. The work is being continued under the general editorship of Immanuel Schmidt. An abridged school-edition of this work (in 2 volumes) is also in course of publication. Vol. i. (the English-German part) has appeared. (is. 6d.)
The smaller books by Grieb, Thieme-Preusser, Kohler (all of which have been, or are being, completely re-edited), and the still smaller books by Whitney, Krummacher, and Weir (of which I am preparing a thoroughly revised edition) are certainly useful in many respects, but do not always afford all the information a teacher of German may desire to obtain.
Apart from German -English and English -German dic- tionaries, a teacher will often desire to consult a German dictionary with German explanations, and, if possible, with well-chosen German instances. The very big works of the brothers Grimm and their successors, and of Daniel Sanders (see my * Guide/ pp. 48-49), are too bulky and expensive for
5—2
68 The Reference Library of
ordinary purposes. Two recent dictionaries of smaller size will probably be very welcome to many teachers of German. One is by Moriz Heyne, ' Deutsches Worterbuch,' 3 vols. Leipzig, 1890-95 (;£i. IQJ. unbound, £i. 195. half calf). It contains numerous well-chosen instances, and is most handy for reference. An abridgment of it in one vol. has recently (1897) been published (135. half calf). Another most useful dictionary, in which no instances are given, but the develop- ment of meaning of the words very carefully elaborated, is the * Deutsches Worterbuch,' by Hermann Paul. Halle, 1897 (8s. unbd. ; IQS. half calf). Both books strictly exclude all foreign words of recent importation. Every teacher should endeavour to get Paul's dictionary and the large Heyne — both will be of daily use to him. English teachers of German will sometimes be in doubt as to the inflexion or pronunciation of foreign words in German. They should consult the ' Fremdworterbuch,' by Dan. Sanders, 2 vols. Leipzig, 2iSgi-2 (145. 6d. half calf ). There is now, however, a strong tendency in Germany to avoid, if possible, the use of foreign words, and several dictionaries have been compiled in which German equi- valents of foreign words are given. Such are C. A. Sahlfeld, 'Fremd- und Verdeutschungsworterbuch.' Berlin, 1898 (js. 6d. bound) and O. Sarrazin, ' Verdeutschungsworterbuch.' Berlin, 2i889 (6s. bound). A short account of the history of foreign words in German has been given by Rud. Kleinpaul, under the title * Das Fremdwort im Deutschen,' Leipzig, 1896. (Sammlung Goschen, No. 55, lod. boards.) Many teachers will be glad of a very complete and useful dictionary giving every ordinary modern German word, whether of German or of foreign origin, according to the so-called new spelling. One of the greatest authorities on moderate spelling reform, Konrad Duden, has compiled a 'Vollstandiges orthographisches Worter- buch der deutschen Sprache mit etymologischen Angaben, kurzen Sacherklanmgen und Verdeutschungen der Fremd- worter. Nach den neuen amtlichen Regeln.' Leipzig, 5th ed.,
a School Teacher of German. 69
1898 (is. 6d.}. The most handy dictionary of synonyms is Eberhard's ' Synonymisches Handworterbuch der deutschen Sprache' (the latest, i5th ed., by Otto Lyon) with well-chosen German instances and translations of the German synonyms into English, French, Italian, and Russian. Leipzig, 1896 (half-bound, i$s. 6d.). The etymology of words of German origin has been admirably treated by Fr. Kluge in his * Etymo- logisches Worterbuch der deutschen Sprache.' This book, the first edition of which appeared in 1881, has rapidly gone through a number of carefully revised editions. The last edition was published at the end of 1898 and costs, bound in leather, los. A short, but very useful, etymological German dictionary is the one by Ferd. Better. Leipzig, 1897. (Samm- lung Goschen, No. 64, lod. boards.) A very good systematical English- German vocabulary (parts of which will be found useful for class-teaching) has been compiled by Gustav Kriiger, 1 Englisch-Deutsches Worterbuch nach Stoffen geordnet fur Studierende, Schulen und Selbstunterricht.' Berlin, ^895 (4^.). A most useful and handy little pocket-dictionary for travelling purposes is the ' English-German Conversation Dictionary/ by Richard Jaschke. London, 1893 (2$. 6d.}.
Many other dictionaries, including older German dic- tionaries, special glossaries, dialect dictionaries, dictionaries of technical and commercial words and phrases, etc., which are of less importance for ordinary teaching, must be passed over in this article. Their full titles are given in my e Guide,' chapter vi., pp. 45-54. I will only mention F. W. Eitzen's ' Worterbuch der Handelssprache.' German-English. Leipzig, 1893 (us. 6d. bound), which seems to be very full, and is not mentioned in the * Guide.'
Grammars, etc. — Such books as are very widely known and extensively used in class-teaching, e.g., the grammars by Kuno Meyer, Macgowan, Fiedler, Aue, Eve, Weisse, Baumann, Meissner, Siepmann, and others, need not be discussed here. I wish to call attention to some excellent books which seem to
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be less known. L. Harcourt's ' German for Beginners/ Marburg and London, 2i898 (23. 6d. net), is an admirable book for its purpose. The 'Leitfaden fur den ersten Unterricht im Deut- schen ' by S. Alge, with the collaboration of S. Hamburger and W. Rippmann. Part I., 2i899 (is. qd. net), London, deserves warm recommendation. Part II will appear this year. Among the smaller grammars of German for English students there is the American book by H. C. G. Brandt, 'A Grammar of the German Language for High Schools and Colleges, designed for beginners and advanced students,' Boston, 6i893 (6s. net, cloth), which is far too little known in this country and will be found extremely useful. The ' Deutsche Grammatik und Geschichte der deut- schen Sprache' by Otto Lyon, Stuttgart, 2i892 (Sammlung Goschen, No. 20, lod. boards), will be found useful in many cases where brief and reliable information is wanted. Among the more bulky works on German grammar, written in German and intended for teachers and students, the following deserves special recommendation : F. Blatz, l Neuhochdeutsche Gram- matik mit Beriicksichtigung der historischen Entwickelung der deutschen Sprache.' Third ed., entirely rewritten in two vols. Karlsruhe, 1895-6 (unbound, 22^., half-bound, 26^.). This is a most useful book for study and for reference. Of the older books, I. Ch. Aug. Heyse's * Deutsche Grammatik,' 25th ed., completely rewritten by Otto Lyon. Hannover, 1893 (5^.), may, in spite of some shortcomings, still be used with advantage in many cases. The ' Deutsche Grammatik ' (Gotisch, Alt- Mittel- und Neuhochdeutsch), by W. Wilmanns, which is now in course of publication, will probably be of too strictly philo- logical a character to meet the practical needs of most teachers. So far vol. i. (phonology), Strassburg, ^1897 (8^. unbound, los. half-bound), and vol. n. (word-formation), Strassburg, 1896 (i2s. 6d. unbound, 15^. half-bound), have appeared. Two, or possibly three, more volumes are to follow. It is an admirable piece of work.
An excellent short book for repetition of the principal facts
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of old and modern phonology and accidence is Fr. Kauffmann, ' Deutsche Grammatik.' Marburg, second edition, 1895 (2^ ^. cloth). The book is only for teachers and students, it cannot be used for class-teaching.
With regard to syntax alone, the works by Vernaleken, Erdmann, Kern, and Wunderlich, give much useful infor- mation. (See my ' Guide/ p. 32.) Erdmann's work (in two volumes), which is now completed (vol. n. by Otto Mensing, Stuttgart, 1898), deserves special recommendation. (13^. un- bound.)
There are a number of German books in which doubtful points of grammar and the 'best German ' are discussed at length. Three of these will be especially serviceable to English teachers (for others, see my ' Guide/ pp. 29-30). K. G. Andresen, ' Sprachgebrauch und Sprachrichtigkeit im Deutschen.' Seventh edition, Leipzig, 1892 (6^. or cloth 7^.). This is the most conservative book of the three. Th. Matthias, in his 'Sprachleben und Sprachschaden.' Leipzig, 2 1897 (6s. cloth), of which an abridged edition has been published in 1896 (Kleiner Wegweiser durch die Schwankungen und Schwierig- keiten des deutschen Sprachgebrauchs, is. 6^/.), makes greater concessions to recent usage. The third book is much shorter, but also very useful — A. Heintze, 'Gut Deutsch.' Sixth edition, Berlin, 1895 (is. 6d. cloth). These books will often be found useful in cases where the ordinary school-grammars do not give sufficient information. Wustmann's often quoted * Sprachdummheiten ' should be used with the greatest caution.
Teachers who are anxious to have a brief survey of the history of the German language should refer to the following books — O. Weise, ' Unsere Muttersprache ; ihr Werden und ihr // Wesen.' Third ed., Leipzig, 1895 (2*. 6d. cloth). An English translation of this work which, in spite of a number of minor mistakes, is useful and suggestive, is being prepared in America. A somewhat older book of a similar character and more reliable with regard to strictly philological information is
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O. Behaghel, 'Die deutsche Sprache,' Leipzig, 1886 (is.)-, an adaptation of it, which is not free from slips, by E. Trechmann, appeared in London, 1891, under the title, 'A Short Historical Grammar of the German Language.' (^s.6d.) A small pamphlet containing a few short and popular articles on the German language, such as boys preparing for scholarships may like to read, is the one by E. Wasserzieher, ' Aus dem Leben der deutschen Sprache/ Leipzig, no date (3^.). A. W. F. Cerf has begun a ' Short Historical Grammar of the German Lan- guage' (Part I. : Introduction and Phonology. London, 1894. 45".), the second part of which has not yet appeared. A somewhat larger book is the one by Henri Lichtenberger, 'Histoire de la langue allemande.' Paris, 1895 (6.r. 6d.}. Another useful French book, treating of the mutual relation of English and German grammar, is a book by V. Henry, which was translated by the author himself, under the title, 'A Short Comparative Grammar of English and German, as traced back to their Common Origin and contrasted with the Classical Languages.' London, 1894 (yj. 6d.). All desirable information with regard to the new spelling is given by W. Wilmanns in his valuable book, ' Die Orthographic in den Schulen Deutschlands.' Berlin, 1887 ($s. 6d. unbound). A short guide to modern punctuation is the book by O. Glode, 'Die deutsche Interpunktionslehre.' Leipzig, 1893 (6d.). Teachers who have to prepare boys for examinations in which they must shew proficiency in reading German handwriting should use C. F. A. Kolb, ' Lesebuch in Handschriften.' 8th ed. Stuttgart, 1895 (is. $d. boards), or B. Levy, ' Recueil de lettres allemandes reproduites en ecritures autographiques pour exercer k la lecture des manuscrits allemands.' Paris. Sixth edition, 1892 (2S. &d.). The subject of the best German pronunciation is still a very vexed question, even among the Germans them- selves. Teachers should consult the various books by W. Victor (see my 'Guide/ pp. 35, 47) and the 'Deutsche Buhnenaus- sprache' by Th. Siebs. Berlin, 1898 (2s.). Those which will be
a School Teacher of German. 73
most helpful for English teachers are Victor's * German Pronun- ciation: Practice and Theory.' Leipzig, 1890 (2^.), his 'Die Aussprache des Schriftdeutschen,' 4th ed., Leipzig, 1898, with the transcription of the Association Phonetique Internationale (is. 6d.), and the reprint of his lecture, 'Wie ist die Aussprache des Deutschen zu lehren ? ' Marburg, 1893 (is.). A ' Deutsche Lauttafel/ illustrating this lecture, was published at the same time (is. 6d.). It can also be had on a large scale and mounted to be hung up on the wall of the class room (25. 6d.}. Teachers who are anxious to consult handy books on phonetics may refer either to Laura Soames, 'An Introduction to Phonetics.' London, 1891 (25. bd.\ which is now out of print, to some extent replaced by Soames' ' Phonetic Method ' \ or to Victor's * Elemente der Phonetik und Orthoepie des Deutschen, Englischen und Franzosischen, mit Riicksicht auf die Be- diirfnisse der Lehrpraxis.' Leipzig. Third edition (with useful bibliography), 1894 (8s. cloth). An abridged edition of this work has just been issued. Leipzig, 1897 (3^.). It is called 'Kleine Phonetik des Deutschen, Englischen und Franzosischen' (3^. 6d. cloth). A useful translation and adaptation of it is W. Ripp- mann's 'Elements of Phonetics.' London, 1899 (2S- 6d- net).
There are several books devoted to the teaching of conver- sation (see my ' Guide/ p. 38). Perhaps the most serviceable of them is A. Hamann's 'Echo of Spoken German.' Leipzig, 1892 (25-. 6d. cloth), a series of excellent dialogues, which afford, at the same time, a useful introduction to the study of German life and manners.
For the explanation of German idiomatic phrases, no better books could be desired than those by Wilh. Borchardt, 'Die sprichwortlichen Redensarten im deutschen Volksrnund nach Sinn und Ursprung erlautert.' Leipzig. Fourth ed., 1894 (js. cloth), and by H. Schrader, ' Der Bilderschmuck der deutschen Sprache.' Berlin. Second edition, 1889 (js. cloth). For other similar books, familiar quotations, slang, etc., see my 'Guide,' p. 39.
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Teachers who make their advanced pupils write free essays on German classical works or characters occurring in great plays should use among others the books of Victor Kiy, ' Themata und Dispositionen zu deutschen Aufsatzen und Vortragen im Anschluss an die deutsche Schullektiire fur die oberen Klassen hoherer Lehranstalten.' Three parts. Berlin, 1895-1897. (Parts I. and III. 3J., Part II. 35. 6d. cloth.)
Histories of Literature. — There is not as yet a really satisfactory History of German Literature written in English and based on a first-hand acquaintance of the author with the German works of literature of old and modern times. The English translations and adaptations of German works are none of them free from very serious shortcomings. Hence a teacher will very likely prefer to possess one or more German works of moderate size on the subject. The following will, in my opinion, best serve his purpose — Wilhelm Scherer, <Ge- schichte der deutschen Litteratur.' Berlin, yth ed., 1895 (los. cloth, i2s. half-bound), perhaps the most brilliant book of its kind, written by a ripe scholar, who was endowed with a refined taste for literary beauty. A new edition (apparently unaltered) is just being issued in parts at 15-. each. A book of similar compass is that by the late poet and professor Otto Roquette, 'Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung von den altesten Denk- malern bis auf die Neuzeit.' Frankfurt-on-the-Main. 3rd ed., 1882 (>js. 6d. unbound). The last book of this kind deserving warm recommendation has only quite recently appeared. It is the 'Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur von den altesten Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart,' by Friedrich Vogt and Max Koch. Leipzig and Wien, 1897 (bound, 16^.). This book is pro- fusely adorned with very carefully selected and splendidly executed illustrations, giving facsimiles of old and modern manuscripts and handwritings, and numerous portraits of famous authors, etc. The scientific value of this book is incomparably higher than that of another well-illustrated history of literature by Robert Konig (25th revised ed. in two vols.
a School Teacher of German. 75
Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1895 (£i half-bound), which has had a wide circulation in Germany. A fine and suggestive book giving a full account of the development of German literature as influenced by social forces hails from America. It is called 'Social Forces in German Literature. A study in the history of Civilization' by Kuno Francke. New York, 2i89y. (IQS. cloth.) A splendid work, merely illustrating German literature from the earliest times to the present day by over 2200 pictures and illustrations, is Gust. Koennecke's 'Bilder- atlas zur Geschichte der deutschen Nationallitteratur. Er- ganzung zu jeder deutschen Litteraturgeschichte/ 2nd ed. Marburg, 1895 (£I- %s- na^ calf). For the eighteenth century the great work by H. Hettner, * Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur im achtzehnten Jahrhundert,' 4th ed. (revised by O. Harnack), Braunschweig, 1894 (£i. i$s. 6d. unbound, or bound in 2 vols. (leather) ^i. igs. 6d.), will be found as useful as it is interesting.
There are several books from which information as to German literature in our own century can be obtained. It is hardly necessary to say that they differ a great deal in character and judgment, but in all of them there is plenty of interesting matter and valuable information. The following may be mentioned in the first instance — R. v. Gottschall, ' Die deutsche Nationallitteratur des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Litterarhistorisch und kritisch dargestellt,' 6th ed., 4 parts. Breslau, 1892 (£i unbound). Fr. Kirchner, 'Die deutsche Nationallitteratur des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts/ Heidelberg, 1894 (75-. 6d. unbound, los. half calf). L. Salomon, 'Ge- schichte der deutschen Nationallitteratur des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts/ 2nd ed. (with thirty portraits of poets). Stuttgart, 1887 (i2s. cloth). Ad. Stern, 'Studien zur Litteratur der Gegenwart ' (with portraits of authors). Dresden and Leipzig, 2 1 898 (IQS. 6d. unbound, i2s. 6d. cloth). A short and somewhat one-sided work is the 'Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur in der Gegenwart,' by Eugen Wolff. Leipzig, 1896 (6.r. 6d. cloth).
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In many ways preferable is the still shorter book by A. Bartels, 'Die deutsche Dichtung der Gegenwart.' Leipzig, 2i898 (3^. 6d. boards). The short account of nineteenth-century literature by Adolf Stern, * Die deutsche National-litteratur vom Tode Goethes bis zur Gegenwart ' (originally intended to form a supplement to Vilmar's * History of German Literature'), Marburg, ^890, is also not without value (25. $d. cloth). The modern German drama has been treated with much interest by Berthold Litzmann. Hamburg and Leipzig, 2i894 (5^.). From a great number of German primers of literature for schools only those by H. Kluge, G. Egelhaaf, Max Koch, G. Botticher and K. Kinzel, and Gotthold Klee (Dresden and Berlin, 2nd ed. 1897) need be mentioned. See my ' Guide,' pp. 63-64. Each has its own advantages. Klee's book (2s. cloth) is perhaps the best for school purposes. Brief and reliable information concerning all living modern German authors (not only poets, but men of letters generally), authors' societies, periodicals and newspapers, etc. is given in Joseph Klirschner's annual publication (somewhat corresponding to our ' Who's who') called 'Deutscher Litteratur-Kalender.' The 2oth volume appeared at Leipzig, 1898 (bound, 6*. 6d.}.
Metre. — A short but useful survey of the history of German metre, with good specimens and due consideration of modern forms, is given by Fr. Kauffmann in his l Deutsche Metrik nach ihrer geschichtlichen Entwickelung.' Marburg, 1897 (^s. 6d.). A more detailed account of modern German metre — a subject which apparently is hardly ever touched upon in school teaching, while the outlines of it deserve to be just as well known as the metrical art of the ancient classical writers — is given in F. Minor's 'Neuhochdeutsche Metrik.' Strassburg, 1893 (IQS. unbound; 12$. half calf). Most teachers will probably find the book too elaborate for their purpose in spite of its being extremely readable and suggestive. The metre of a play in blank verse and in the Old German free metre of four accents is fully discussed in my edition of Schiller's 'Wallenstein i.'
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Cambridge, 2i896 (3^. 6d. cloth); blank verse alone in my editions of 'Wilhelm Tell/ Cambridge, "1897 (2*. 6d. cloth), and of Goethe's ' Iphigenie/ Cambridge, 1899 (3s- &d. cloth).
Theory of Poetry, etc. — A number of 'Poetiken' of very different size and character are enumerated in my 'Guide' on pp. 74-75. There will be little time, and perhaps little need, for systematic instruction in our school teaching, but teachers will probably like to possess and use at least the following two small and cheap hand-books : C. F. A. Schuster, ' Lehrbuch der Poetik fur hohere Lehranstalten.' Halle, 3rd ed. 1890 (2S. cloth), and the still smaller * Deutsche Poetik' by Karl Borinski, * Sammlung Goschen,' 1895 (lod. cloth). In this connection I should like to mention and to recommend very strongly three books which teachers will find helpful in dis- cussing German dramas with more advanced pupils, or in preparing for scholarship examinations : Gustav Freytag, ' Die Technik des Dramas,' 4th ed. Leipzig, 1881 (55-. unbound, 6s. 6d. bound). The American translation of this book by E. J. MacEwan, Chicago, 1895 (ls- 6^- cloth), does not seem to be very well done. R. Franz, ' Der Aufbau der Handlung in den klassischen Dramen.' Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1892 (4s. 6d. unbound, 6^. half-bound), and H. Bulthaupt, ' Drama- turgic des Schauspiels.' Vol. i. (Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist). Oldenburg and Leipzig, 5th ed., 1893 (6s. cloth).
German Classics. — A great number of school editions of German classics with English, German, and French Notes are enumerated in my ' Guide,' pp. 94-96. For particulars as to English editions of German Classics available in 1893 see my article in Lyon's ' Zeitschrift fur den deutschen Unterricht,' Vol. viu. (1894), pp. 167 sqq. Of English editions without notes Max Miiller's 'German Classics' in 2 vols., Oxford, 1886 (;£i. is.), deserves to be mentioned. Professor Schiiddekopf , is preparing a comprehensive modern anthology ; and I am preparing a selection of the best and most characteristic of Goethe's collected works in one volume for the Clarendon
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Press. Of German editions : the Hempel editions of Lessing, Goethe and Schiller, the Schiller edition by Bellermann for the Leipzig Bibliographical Institute, the editions of Burger, Uhland, Riickert, Heine (in 7 volumes) and others by the same publishers, and most of the volumes of Kiirschner's * Deutsche National-Litteratur' and of Brockhaus' 'Bibliothek der deutschen Nationallitteratur des achtzehnten und neunzehnten Jahr- hunderts,' deserve to be recommended. Of the cheap series the volumes of Cotta's ' Bibliothek der Weltlitteratur ' (bound), and those of the ' Collection Spemann ' (bound), uniformly printed in excellent type on excellent paper, can be had for is. each; the Hendel editions (Halle, unbound) for $d. per volume; Reclam's texts, ' Universal Bibliothek' (Leipzig), $d. per volume ; and the texts of the series called ' Meyer's Volksbiicher' (Leipzig) for 2d. per volume.
Some other excellent sets of classics of a more scientific character are enumerated in my l Guide ; on pp. 81-82, and a number of commentaries mentioned on pp. 100-104. English teachers of German will find M. W. Gotzinger's ' Deutsche Dichter,' 5th ed. (partly rewritten by E. Gotzinger), 2 vols. Aarau, 1876-7 (iSs. unbound, and £i cloth), very useful.
Old German. — Few teachers will feel inclined to give much time and attention to Old German, and will therefore hardly be in need of advice as to what books to use for the study of the Older German classics. Still many teachers may in a not very distant future wish to prepare boys for scholar- ships at the Universities, and although Old German is with very good reason no longer an indispensable condition for success in an Entrance Scholarship, a teacher may occasionally like to give specially promising pupils a start and teach them the elements of Middle High German and sixteenth century German1. Some teachers may also like to continue their
1 On the whole question see The Educational Times, May i, 1894 ; and my article on 'Modern Languages at Cambridge' in P. Shaw Jeffrey's The Study of Colloquial and Literary French, London, 1899, p. 190.
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own reading and extend their knowledge of Older German literature.
I shall not, in the following list of books, include any works of an advanced character, being strongly of opinion that Old German as such is not a school subject, and should not, unless in very exceptional cases, be begun before the University course. Moreover, a smattering of Old German and German philology, if not very well and carefully taught by an experienced teacher, is sure to do far more harm than good.
The basis of the modern literary language is sixteenth century German. A teacher might first use Raphael Meyer's ' Einfiihrung in das altere Neuhochdeutsche,' Leipzig, 1894 (2s.), in which the first fifty-five stanzas of the poem of 'Huernen Seyfrid ' are commented on, and then proceed to reading some of the small volumes in 'GoschenV or 'Botticher and KinzelV sets (see ' Guide/ pp. 79-80). In the 'Sammlung Goschen,' Vol. xxiv. might be selected for this purpose. It contains a selection (by L. Pariser) of passages from ' Seb. Brant, Luther, Hans Sachs and Fischart.' Stuttgart, 1893 (iodf. cloth). In ' Botticher and KinzePs ' ' Denkmaler der alteren deutschen Litteratur,' the volumes ' Hans Sachs ' (by K. Kinzel). Halle, 1893- (is. unbound), and ' Kunst- und Volkslied in der Re- formationszeit ' (by K. Kinzel). Halle, 1892 (is. unbound), will be found useful.
If teachers should desire to give their pupils some speci- mens of the actual text of Luther's first translation of the Bible (' Septemberbibel') and briefly to discuss the principal changes from sixteenth to nineteenth century German they cannot do better than use the excellent and handy book by A. Reifferscheid, ' Marcus Evangelion Martin Luthers nach der Septemberbibel, mit den Lesarten aller Originalausgaben, etc/ Heilbronn, 1888 (4.$-. 6d. unbound). For other sixteenth century texts nothing can be better than Braune's cheap and reliable ' Neudrucke.' (See * Guide/ p. 8r.)
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The best introduction to the study of Middle High German is Jul. Zupitza's ' Einfiihrung in das Studium des Mittelhochdeutschen.' Oppeln, 1868. 4th ed., 1891 (23. 6d. unbound, $s. cloth). Many scholars have been first initiated into a serious study of Middle High German by this most excellent little book. After having gone through Zupitza's introduction, teachers might rapidly read through Jos. Wright's ' Middle High German Primer.' Oxford, 1888, "1899 (3* 6<£), and then study Hartman von Ouwe's ' Der arme Heinrich ' in J. G. Robertson's edition. London, 1895 (4^. 6</.), or W. Golther's selections from * Der Nibelunge Not ' (Sammlung Goschen, ioa). Stuttgart, 1895 (io</. cloth), or some other volumes from Goschen's series. English editions of the Nibelungenlied and of a selection from the Minnesinger are being prepared by Professor Fiedler. The small Middle High German grammar by H. Paul (Halle, 3i889, 35. 6*/.), and the small dictionary by M. Lexer (Leipzig, 3i885, 65-.), are much to be recommended.
Mythology, Sagas. — A teacher who is desirous of ob- taining a rapid survey of German Mythology and 'Heldensage' without being able to devote much time to the study of the more comprehensive books might read two handy volumes (lod. each) of the very useful ' Sammlung Goschen.' The one on * Deutsche Mythologie ' is by Fr. Kauffmann. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, 1893; the booklet on 'Die deutsche Heldensage ' is by O. L. Jiriczek. Stuttgart, 1894. The larger books on those subjects are enumerated in my ' Guide' on pp. 110-112. To these should now be added W. Golther, 'Handbuch der germanischen Mythologie.' Leipzig, 1895 (14*. half calf ), and O. L. Jiriczek, 'Deutsche Heldensagen,' i. Strassburg, 1898 (8s. unbound).
History and Geography. — Although German history and geography as such will hardly ever be taught in ordinary schools, a teacher of German should make it a point to be well informed as to either subject, and should possess German
a School Teacher of German. Si
books with German names of places and events in his private library. The histories and atlases of this kind need not be very bulky and expensive ; some really good German school and family books will amply suffice for his purpose. There are a good many works which would do very well, but German books on German Realien do not seem to be as yet very familiar to English teachers of German1. A book on Germany similar to Wendt's < England ' has still to be written ; a small book on ' German J3aijy Life' is being prepared by Dr Kron. l-' I can recommend the following : David Miiller, ' Leitfaden zur Geschichte des deutschen Volkes.' loth ed. Berlin, 1897, 2s. 6d. cloth. A larger book by the same author is called ' Geschichte des deutschen Volkes in kurzgefasster iibersicht- licher Darstellung.' i5th ed. Berlin, 1894 (bound 6s.). The t Deutsche Geschichte ' by O. Kammel is also largely used in Germany. Some consider it to be now the best work of its kind (Ss.). A shorter work by Otto Kammel also deserves to be recommended. It is called * Der Werdegang des deutschen Volkes. Historische Richtlinien fur gebildete Leser.' Vol. i. Das Mittelalter. Leipzig, 1896 (25*. 6d. cloth). Vol. n. Die Neuzeit. Leipzig, 1898 (3^. cloth). K. Biedermann's Deutsche Volks- und Kulturgeschichte fur Schule und Haus. 3 Parts in i Volume. Wiesbaden, 2i89i (7^. 6d. cloth), is much to be recommended. Teachers may also like to read through J. Jastrow's interesting book called * Geschichte des deutschen Einheitstraumes und seiner Erfiillung.' Berlin, 4i89i (6s. unbound, >js. half-bound). A most excellent ' Atlas fur Mittel- und Oberklassen hoherer Lehranstalten ' was published in 1898 at Bielefeld and Leipzig under the editorship of R. Lehmann and W. Petzold (5^.). Teachers of German will
1 In Germany an acquaintance with the principal English and French Realien is required by the present regulations of the Oberlehrerpriifung (see pp. 89, 90). There is no book on German Realien corresponding to Cl. Klopper's Englisches Real-Lexikon and Franzosisches Real-Lexicon which are in course of publication (Leipzig, since 1897).
B. 6
82 The Reference Library of
find it extremely useful. The small Atlas by E. Debes 'Schulatlas fur die mittlere Unterrichtsstufe,' Leipzig (is. 6d.), deserves to be mentioned in this connection, and will suffice for ordinary purposes. A useful little book is also A. L. Hick- mann, * Geographisch-statistischer Taschen-Atlas des deutschen Reiches.' 3 Parts. Leipzig- Wien (23. each part cloth, or the three in one volume, 3^. cloth). Very cheap and useful for class teaching is P. KnotePs * Bilderatlas zur deutschen Geschichte' (with explanatory notes). Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1895 (&•)• A number of valuable and interesting books on German History and on German Life and Customs are enumerated in my * Guide' on pp. 116 sqq. Concerning the rights and duties of German citizens teachers will find reliable information in the book by A. Giese, 'Die deutsche Biirgerkunde.' Leipzig, 1894 (is. 3^.), and in G. Hoffmann and E. Groth, ' Deutsche Biirgerkunde. Kleines Handbuch des politisch Wissenswertesten fiir jedermann.' Leipzig (2$. bound).
General Information. — Succinct and reliable informa- tion on all matters connected with German history and biography, life and thought, may be obtained from Meyer's 'Kleines Konversations-Lexikon ' in 3 volumes. 5th ed. Leipzig, 1893 (half-bound, £i. 4*.), which will prove of the greatest use in many questions, and which every teacher of German should endeavour to get. The 6th edition is just being published in parts. A very concise book giving brief information concerning German affairs, institutions, customs etc. is J. Kiirschner's Jahrbuch. Berlin-Leipzig-Eisenach, 1898. (is. unbound). Some good English books on Germany are W. H. Dawson, 'Germany and the Germans.' London, 1894, 2 vols. (26^.), and S. Whitman, 'Imperial Germany.' London, 1889 (new ed. 1895, 2s. 6d.}. An interesting book, written from the French point of view by a man of culture, is 'Les Allemands' by Le Pere Didon. Paris, 1884 (6s. unbound).
a School Teacher of German. 83
Method of Teaching. — However well informed a teacher may be, he will have to adapt himself in his teaching to the school curriculum, to the aims to be attained by his pupils, and he will have to give his most serious attention to the study and consideration of the methods to be followed in his teaching. No school teacher who takes the slightest interest in his subject can at the present time afford to keep aloof from the discussions as to the best method of teaching modern foreign languages, and every one will be able to learn a great deal from the books written on the subject of the teaching of German. A number of the most suggestive books have been enumerated on pp. 60-64 of this book. Some of these works a Modern Language teacher will no doubt wish to possess for himself, so as to be able to refer to them from time to time as occasion arises. The following books appear to me to be especially useful — W. H. Widgery, 'The teaching of languages in schools.' London, 1888 (2^.). W. Rippmann, ' Hints on teaching French ' and ' Hints on teaching German.' (See p. 62.) Michel Breal, ' De Fenseignement des langues vivantes, Conferences faites aux etudiants en lettres de la Sorbonne.' Paris, 1893 (2^.). Fr. Spencer, 'Aims and Practice of Teaching.' Cambridge, 1897 (6s.). An interesting account of the new methods of Modern Language teaching in a number of German schools was given by Miss M. Brebner in her pamphlet called * The Method of teaching Modern Languages in Germany.' London, 1898 (is. 6d. cloth). All of these books advocate more or less the so-called ' Neuere Richtung,' and are written for teachers whose native tongue is not German. But much that is useful can also be learned from some German books for German teachers, if one bears in mind that the standards set up in them require modification and abatement, as German is a foreign language in this country. Teachers can still learn a great deal from a careful study of the books by E. Laas and R. Hildebrand (see my ' Guide,' pp. 37 and 119, 120), but generally speaking they will derive most benefit from
6—2
84 Reference Library of a School Teacher of German.
the works by R. Lehmann, ' Der deutsche Unterricht. Eine Methodik fiir hohere Lehranstalten.' Berlin, 2i897 (9^. cloth); and by G. Wendt, < Der deutsche Unterricht.' Miinchen, 1896 (35-. unbound). The latter contains also an admirable bibliography.
I trust that the recommendations and hints given above may enable teachers to make a good choice of books of reference in the various departments of their teaching and private study. More than once I have been privately asked by practical teachers for information of this kind; may the suggestions and recommendations now given be found useful to a wider circle of readers, and thus render some service to the cause of the study and teaching of German in Great Britain !
APPENDIX.
EXTRACT from the recently published Ordnung der Priifung fur das Lehramt an hoheren Schulen in Preussen vom 12. September 1898. Berlin, W. Hertz. 1898.
o n
8 8- Umfang und Form der Priifung.
Die Priifung besteht aus zwei Theilen, der Allgemeinen und der Fachpriifung. Beide sind schriftlich und miindlich ; die schrift- lichen Hausarbeiten sind vor der miindlichen Priifung zu erledigen.
Sovvohl in der Allgemeinen als auch in der Fachpriifung ist dem Unterrichtsbediirfnisse der hoheren Schulen Rechnung zu tragen.
Priifungsgegenstande.
i. Priifungsgegenstande sind
A. in der Allgemeinen Priifung fiir jeden Kandidaten : Philo- sophic, Padagogik und deutsche Literatur ; ferner fiir die Kandida- ten, welche einer der christlichen Kirchen angehoren : Religions- lehre.
[In den von den Kandidaten gewahlten Fachern (in der Fach- priifung) muss sich Franzosisch mit Englisch verbinden, aber es kann an Stelle der einen oder der andern Fremdsprache auch Deutsch von den Kandidaten gewahlt werden. K. B.]
86 Appendix.
§ I0-
Mass der in der Allgemeinen Priifung zu stellenden A nforderungen.
Bei der Allgemeinen Priifung kommt es nicht auf die Darlegung fachmannischer Kenntnisse an, sondern auf den Nachweis der von Lehrern hoherer Schulen zu fordernden allgemeinen Bildung auf den betreffenden Gebieten.
Demnach hat der Kandidat in der ihm nach § 28, i obliegenden Hausarbeit nicht bios ausreichendes Wissen und ein verstandnis- volles Urtheil liber den behandelten Gegenstand zu bekunden, sondern auch zu zeigen, dass er einer sprachrichtigen, logisch geordneten, klaren und hinlanglich gewandten Darstellung fahig ist.
Fiir die mundltche Priifung ist zu fordern, dass der Kandidat
1. in der Religionsjehre sich mit Inhalt und Zusammenhang der Heiligen Schrift bekannt zeigt, einen allgemeinen Ueberblick iiber die Geschichte der fchristlichen Kirche hat und -die Haupt- lehren seiner Konfession kennt ;
2. in der Philosophic mit den wichtigsten Thatsachen ihrer Geschichte sowie mit den Hauptlehren der Logik und der Psycho- logie bekannt ist, auch eine bedeutendere philosophische Schrift mit Verstandnis gelesen hat ;
3. in der Padagogik nachweist, dass er ihre philosophischen Grundlagen sowie die wichtigsten Erscheinungen in ihrer Entwicke- lung seit dem 16. Jahrhundert kennt und bereits einiges Verstand- nis fiir die Aufgaben seines kiinftigen Berufes gewonnen hat ;
4. in der deutschen Litteratur darthut, dass ihm deren allge- meiner Entwickelungsgang namentlich seit dem Beginne ihrer Bliitheperiode im 18. Jahrhundert bekannt ist, und dass er auch nach dem Abgange von der Schule zu seiner weiteren Fortbildung bedeutendere Werke dieser Zeit mit Verstandnis gelesen hat.
§ ii bis § 27. 'Mass der in der Fachpriifung zu stellenden A nforderungen.
Vorbemerkung. Auf jedem Priifungsgebiete ist von den Kandidaten Bekanntschaft mit den wichtigsten wissenschaftlichen Hiilfsmitteln zu fordern.
Appendix. 87
§ II-
Abstufung der Lehrbefahigung.
i. Die Lehrbefahigung in den einzelnen Fachern hat zwei Stufen : die eine, fiir die unteren und mittleren Klassen (zweite Stufe), reicht bis Unter-Sekunda einschliesslich, die andere (erste Stufe) umfasst auch die oberen Klassen bis Ober-Prima ein- schliesslich.
3. Bei der Erwerbung der Lehrbefahigung fiir die erste Stufe ist in jedem Falle Voraussetzung, dass den fiir die zweite Stufe in dem betreffenden Fache zu stellenden Forderungen entsprochen ist.
§ 14- Deutsch.
Von Kandidaten, welche die Befahigung fiir den deutschen Unterricht nachweisen wollen, ist zu fordern
a. fiir die zweite Stufe : Sichere Kenntnis der neuhoch- deutschen Elementargrammatik und Bekanntschaft mit der Geschichte der neuhochdeutschen Schriftsprache ; eingehendere Beschaftigung mit klassischen Werken der neueren Literatur, insbesondere aus ihren fiir die Jugendbildung verwendbaren Gebieten, und Uebersicht iiber den Entwickelungsgang der neuhochdeutschen Literatur. Ausserdem ist Bekanntschaft mit den Grundziigen der Rhetorik, Poetik und Metrik sowie mit den fiir die Schule wichtigen antiken und germanischen Sagen darzuthun ;
b. fiir die erste Stufe iiberdies : Eine Beherrschung des Mittelhochdeutschen, welche befahigt, leichtere Werke ohne Schwierigkeit zu lesen und mit grammatischer und lexikalischer Genauigkeit zu erklaren ; eine, wenigstens fiir die mittelhoch- deutsche und neuere Zeit, auf ausgedehnterer Lektiire beruhende Kenntnis des Entwickelungsganges der gesammten deutschen Litteratur ; Vertrautheit mit der Poetik und deutschen Metrik sowie mit denjenigen Lehren der Rhetorik, deren Kenntnis fiir die Anleitung zur Anfertigung deutscher Aufsatze in den oberen Klassen erforderlich ist ; dazu nach Wahl des Kandidaten entweder
88 Appendix.
Bekanntschaft mit den Hauptergebnissen der historischen Gram- matik und Kenntnis der Elemente des Gothischen und Althoch- deutschen, oder die Lehrbefahigung in der Philosophischen Pro- padeutik (§ 13).
Franzosisch.
Von den Kandidaten, welche die Lehrbefahigung im Fran- zosischen nachweisen wollen, ist zu forden
a. fur die zweite Stufe : Kenntnis der Elemente der Phonetik, richtige und zu fester Gewohnung gebrachte Ausprache ; Vertraut- heit mit der Formenlehre und Syntax sowie der elementaren Syno- nymik ; Besitz eines ausreichenden Schatzes an Worten und Wen- dungen und einige Uebung im miindlichen Gebrauche der Sprache ; Einsicht in den neufranzosischen Versbau und Uebersicht liber den Entwickelungsgang der franzosischen Litteratur seit dem 17. Jahr- hundert, aus welcher einige Werke der hervorragendsten Dichter und Prosaiker, auch der neuesten Zeit, mit Verstandnis gelesen sein miissen ; Fahigkeit zu sicherer Uebersetzung der gewohnlichen Schriftsteller ins Deutsche und zu einer von groberen sprachlich- stilistischen Verstossen freien schriftlichen Darstellung in der fremden Sprache ;
b. fiir die erste Stufe : Fur den schriftlichen und miindlichen Gebrauch der Sprache nicht bloss voile grammatische Sicherheit bei wissenschaftlicher Begriindung der grammatischen Kenntnisse, sondern auch umfassendere Vertrautheit mit dem Sprachschatze und der Eigenthiimlichkeit des Ausdrucks, sowie eine fiir alle Un- terrichtszwecke ausreichende Gewandtheit in dessen Handhabung ; iibersichtliche Kenntnis der geschichtlichen Entwickelung der Sprache seit ihrem Hervorgehen aus dem Lateinischen, fiir welches Kenntnis der Elementargrammatik nachzuweisen ist nebst der Fahigkeit, einfache Schulschriftsteller, wie Caesar, wenigstens in leichteren Stellen richtig aufzufassen und zu iibersetzen ; ferner Kenntnis der allgemeinen Entwickelung der franzosischen Litte- ratur, verbunden mit eingehender Lektiire einiger hervorragender Schriftwerke aus fruheren Perioden wie aus der Gegenwart ; Ein- sicht in die Gesetze des franzosischen Versbaues alterer und
Appendix. 89
neuerer Zeit ; Bekanntschaft mil der Geschichte Frankreichs, soweit sie fur die sachliche Erlauterung der gebrauchlichen Schul- schriftsteller erforderlich ist.
Bemerkung. Fiir minder eingehende Kenntnisse auf dem Gebiete der geschichtlichen Entwickelung der Sprache kann eine besonders tiichtige Kenntnis der neueren Litteratur nebst hervor- ragender Beherrschung der gegenwartigen Sprache ausgleichend eintreten.
§ 18. Englisch.
Von den Kandidaten, welche die Lehrbefahigung im Eng- lischen nachweisen wollen, ist zu fordern
a. fur die zweite Stufe : Kenntnis der Elemente der Phonetik, richtige und zu fester Gewohnung gebrachte Aussprache : Ver- trautheit mit der Formenlehre und Syntax sowie der elementaren Synonymik ; Besitz eines ausreichenden Schatzes an Worten und Wendungen und einige Uebung im miindlichen Gebrauche der Sprache ; Uebersicht liber den Entwickelungsgang der englischen Litteratur seit Shakespeare, aus welcher einige Werke der hervor- ragendsten Dichter und Prosaiker, auch der neuesten Zeit, mit Verstandnis gelesen sein miissen ; Fahigkeit zu sicherer Ueber- setzung der gewohnlichen Schriftsteller ins Deutsche und zu einer von groberen sprachlich-stilistischen Verstossen freien schriftlichen Darstellung in der fremden Sprache ;
b. fiir die erste Stufe : Fiir den schriftlichen und miindlichen Gebrauch der Sprache nicht bloss voile grammatische Sicherheit bei wissenschaftlicher Begriindung der grammatischen Kenntnisse, sondern auch umfassendere Vertrautheit mit dem Sprachschatz und der Eigenthiimlichkeit des Ausdrucks, sowie eine fiir alle Unter- richtszwecke ausreichende Gewandtheit in dessen Handhabung; iibersichtliche Kenntnis der geschichtlichen Entwickelung der Sprache von der altenglischen Periode an ; Kenntnis der allge- meinen Entwickelung der Litteratur, verbunden mit eingehender Lektiire einiger hervorragender Schriftwerke aus friiheren Perioden wie aus der Gegenwart ; Einsicht in die Gesetze des englischen Versbaues alterer und neuerer Zeit ; Bekanntschaft mit der
9O Appendix.
Geschichte Englands, soweit sie fur die sachliche Erlauterung der gebrauchlichen Schulschriftsteller erforderlich ist.
Bemerkung. Fiir minder eingehende Kenntnisse auf dem Gebiete der geschichtlichen Entwickelung der Sprache kann eine besonders tlichtige Kenntnis der neueren Litteratur nebst hervor- ragender Beherrschung der gegenwartigen Sprache ausgleichend eintreten.
§ 28. Schriftliche Hausarbeiten.
2. Priifungsarbeiten aus dem Gebiete der klassischen Philo- logie sind in lateinischer, aus dem der neueren Sprachen in der betreffenden Sprache, alle iibrigen aber in deutscher Sprache abzufassen.
§33-
Ausfukrung der miindlichen Priifting*
5. Die Fachpriifung in Franzosischen, Englischen, Polnischen oder Danischen ist insoweit in der betreffenden Sprache selbst zu fiihren, dass dadurch die Fertigkeit des Kandidaten im miindlichen Gebrauche derselben ermittelt wird.
UNIVERSITY )
INDEX.
abbreviations, the chief foreign ab- breviations, 32
aims of modern language teaching in secondary schools, 8, 10, 29,
35> 44
analytic method, 2 answers in complete sentences, 25
books on modern language teaching,
60-64 books on the study and teaching of
German, 66-84
Cambridge Medieval and Modern
Languages Tripos, 29 classics, 18, 32, 36; German classics,
77-78
' canon ' to be elaborated, 33 annotated editions, 18, 33, 38,
77
French and German i7th and 1 8th century classics, 35
English renderings of foreign clas- sics, ii, 38
foreign texts always to be read out in class, 38
archaisms in classics, 52-53
rimes in classics, 17
biographical accounts of classics, 42
composition, ordinary, n, 36; free,
11-12, 74
conversation, 24-26, 73 correspondence, international, 12
dictation, 16
dictionaries : German dictionaries,
66-69
German-English, 66-67 German- German, 67-68 foreign words in German, 68 German equivalents of foreign
words, 68 orthographical, 68 etymological, 69 synonymical, 69
systematical (English- German), 69 travelling (English-German), 69 commercial, 69 miscellaneous, 82 differences between German and
English, 45
difficulties, chief difficulties of Ger- man grammar, 54; of German, pronunciation, 49-52 direct method, 2, 26-27
English, too much neglected in many schools, 40
Index.
essays, books on German essay
writing, 74
etymological comparisons, 21, 24 examinations
neglect of the spoken language,
4> 34
prescribed books, 34-35 foreign examinations for modern
language teachers, 25
form-association, 21, 54
form, metrical form of foreign poetry,
38-39 foreign words in German, books
on, 68 P'rench, first teaching of, 24
German :
aim of teaching German, 44 books on the teaching of German,
63-64, 66-84 classics, books on, 77-78 conversation, 24-26, 73 dictionaries, 66-69 difficulties of German, 49-52, 54,
/i
essays, 74
genders, 56-57
geography, 80-82
grammar teaching, 52-58; gram- mars, 69-71
handwriting, 72 ; in examinations,
46
history, 80-82
history of the German language,
books on, 71-72 history of German literature,
books on, 74-76 idioms, 73 letters, 45-47, 72
German :
Middle High German, 79-80
mythology, 80
names, 58
Old German, 78-80
pronunciation, 47-52, 72-73
punctuation, 72
'Realien,' 80-82
sagas, 80
sixteenth century German, 79
spelling, 47, 72
syntax, books on, 71
word-formation, 57 glottal stop, 15, 50 gradation of reading, 30
„ of poems to be learnt, 33 grammar, teaching of grammar, 18— 21
German grammar, 52-58; defects of many school grammars of German, 53
historical grammar, 20-21, 53-4 holiday courses abroad, 28
idioms, 9, 21-22 ; German idioms
explained, 73 illustrated Primer, 30; illustrated
Reader, 30 international correspondence, 12
Latin words in German, French
and English, 21 learning by heart, poetry and prose,
33—34 leave of absence for modern language
teachers, 28
letters in German Reader, 32 literature, books on German litera- ture, 74-76
Index.
93
literature,
should foreign literature as such be taught in schools?, 42
maps of the foreign country, 30, 32 method, new, direct, analytic, 2 method of reading with a class,
36
methods (various) of teaching
modern languages, 5 books on methods of teaching
modern languages, 60-64, of
teaching German, 82-84 methodical preparation for a reading
lesson, 36-38 metre, 38-39, 53 ; books on German
metre, 76-77 Modern Language Association, 27,
32
Modern (Language) Quarterly, 5, 12,
14, 16, 28, 32, 44, 51, 59, 65
Modern Languages at Cambridge,
25, 29 Modern Languages:
educational value, 3, 35
not to be taught like dead
tongues, 8
to be connected with English, 8 ; with history and geography, 8 increased interest in, 35 opportunities for teachers, 3, 43 not to be degraded, 43 mots populaires and mots savants, 21. 54
names, German geographical, 30 proper names and family names
in German, 58 Neuere Richtung, 2, 83 new method, 2, 83
object lessons, 30
oral test necessary in examinations,
4' 34 j orthography, German, 47, 68, 72
periodicals, 59-60 phonetics, 13-15, 64, 73 phonetic transcription, 16 phrases, idiomatic, 9, 21, 73 pictures in 'Reader,' 30, 32 picture-books, discussions of pictures
in lower forms, 22, 24, 26 plays: discussion of great plays,
38-41 ; historical plays, 41 ;
acted abroad, 40 ; books on
classical German plays, 77 poems to be learned by heart, 33, 37;
reading in school, 37-38 prepositions, right use of German
prepositions, and case after
them, 54 prescribed books for examinations,
34 punctuation, book on German, 72
Reader, centre of modern language
teaching, 30 constitution of model Reader, 30-
32 reading, 29 ; what should be rejected,
3i, 33 reciting, 15
residence abroad, 27-29 results of teaching modern languages,
42-43 rimes of the classics, 17
self-abnegation of modern language
teacher, 37 series-method, 24
94
Index.
sound-tables, 13, 73
spelling, 17; German spelling, 47,
72 spoken language neglected in our
examinations, 4, 34 Sprachgefiihl, 20, 56 structure of dramas, explanation, 40,
77
tables of foreign measures, weights and moneys, 23, 31; of foreign sounds, 13
teacher : only duly qualified teachers to be appointed, 4, 18 ; teachers, q'ualifi cations, 25-26, 37-41 training of modern language
teachers, 4, 7
modern language teachers to be mainly English, 29; reference library of a teacher of German, 65-84
theatre, visits to foreign theatres,
40-41
theory of poetry, books on, 77 time, all important question for
success in modern language
teaching, 3-4 translation, u, 38 travelling scholarships for modern
language students and teachers
urgently wanted, 27-28 ; at
Birmingham, 27
utilitarian views on modern lan- guage study, 35
verbs, strong and separable verbs in
German, 55 vocabulary, 9, 22-24
wall-pictures, 22, 24-25 word-formation, 23, 57
CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY j. AND c. r. CLAY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
THIS BOOK is DTTE
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