I shall here deal with various kinds of exercises in which the pupils
have to say something in the foreign language which they have not
either seen in their books or heard from someone else just a moment
before. Some of the first and easiest of these are _arithmetical
exercises_. But here I must first stop to make a remark about the
numerals in general. It is not so seldom that we find pupils in our
schools who have studied French for several years without having
become perfectly familiar with the French numerals; they have great
difficulty with dates. What is the cause of this phenomenon? Of course
the French numerals are difficult, more difficult than the German;
but the French verbs are also more difficult than the German, so
that alone is not the reason why this class of words troubles the
pupils. No; the matter is quite simple. Only imagine a French reader
so planned that there is not a single French adjective in the text,
while English words like “good,” “ugly,” “dazzling,” “white” are mixed
in among the French words. Would the pupils then be able to learn the
French adjectives? But is not this exactly what is done in the case
of the numerals? It makes no difference if the French text has 1888
or “eighteen hundred and eighty-eight,” in both cases the pupil has
to translate from English to French when he is reading the passage
aloud. There are scarcely any exercises at all in translating numerals
from French or in understanding French numerals; as far as this class
of words is concerned, the very poorest method of translation is
used, the one by which the pupil is himself required to construct
expressions in the foreign language according to certain rules, without
having previously had sufficient opportunity to see and hear how the
foreigners themselves go about it. In the home preparation we may be
very sure that only the most conscientious pupils trouble themselves to
think about how 1793 ought to be read.
Then here we have a point where reform is necessary and unusually easy
to bring about. Let the Arabic numerals disappear from all text-books
for beginners in a foreign language, and then if they contain enough
of numerals written out in full--and especially if the teacher drills
the pupils a good deal in simple arithmetical exercises in the foreign
language in the manner now to be suggested--it will be found that
when the pupils are so far advanced as to give up text-books and
read literary works, they will have no difficulty in reading all the
numerals which they happen to come across fluently and correctly.
Already, at a very early stage, after one or two months’ instruction,
the teacher can begin with arithmetical exercises, because they do not
require any great command of language; they not only give the pupils
practice in the numerals themselves, but also in catching the foreign
words and sounds. The question is directed, as suggested above, to
the whole class, and then the teacher points out--by name or merely
by a glance--the one who is to answer it; the answer must include the
question. Thus the teacher: Deux fois six, combien, Henri?--Henry: Deux
fois six font douze. (Répète, Jean). Trois et neuf font, Alfred? A.:
Trois et neuf font onze. T.: C’est faux, n’est-ce pas, Louis?--Louis:
Oui, trois et neuf font douze. (Or: Est-ce correct, Louis? or: Est-ce
bien ça, Louis?) In addition to this, sums may be set containing
concrete numbers, especially such as may familiarize the pupils with
the foreign coins: deux francs, combien de sous valent-ils? trois sous,
combien de centimes?...; or a little rule-of-three sum: si une poire
coûte trois centimes, combien cinq poires? Or, for instance: deux œufs
à deux sous et trois pommes à un sou, combien ça fait-il? The teacher
must not be afraid of using several whole lessons for such exercises,
and afterwards he can take a few minutes of a lesson now and then
in order to keep the pupils in practice. Since of course it is not
arithmetic that is being taught, it is best to stick to easy problems,
mostly addition and multiplication. Of course, by way of a change, one
pupil may be allowed to give a problem to another to solve.
The numerals may also fittingly be brought in when the vocabulary is
to be reviewed, the boys being allowed to count with concrete numbers
in a certain order, so that each boy in turn has to think of some word
which has not previously been used during the lesson; it is often funny
to see how eager they are to outdo each other. And it often happens
that a pupil who has said Pass, suddenly recalls a whole series of
words when one of his comrades mentions a word from a selection which
has not been broached before; the one thought suggests another that is
associated with it. In French, the pupils must also pay attention to
the form of the numeral, which changes according as it precedes a vowel
or a consonant.
It very seldom happens that a boy uses a word which is impossible after
a numeral, as for instance, _venir_ or _bonsoir_ or _trot_, which
indicates that he is ignorant of the word’s signification, but then the
whole class laughs of its own accord. But it is the easiest thing in
the world to hear from the manner in which the words are said if they
are really understood; and, in case of doubt, the teacher can suddenly
ask for a translation; this is, however, generally superfluous, for the
pupils only mention words which they understand, but still of course it
is good for them to review them.
One of the most important exercises is to transpose a selection which
has been read into _questions_ and _answers_. The teacher can begin
this rather early, but he must from the very beginning and always
strictly require the _pupil’s answer to be given in the form of a
complete sentence_. We have no use for such an undignified performance
in which the pupil gets along bravely if only he is able to answer all
his teacher’s questions with either Oui, monsieur, or Non, monsieur, or
some other equally intelligent answer. As an illustration of the kind
of exercise I mean, take for instance the following one based on one of
the very first texts in my own French Reader, which runs:
Enfant gâté.
Veux-tu du pâté?
Non, maman, il est trop salé!
Veux-tu du rôti?
Non, maman, il est trop cuit!
Veux-tu du jambon?
Non, maman, il n’est pas bon!
Veux-tu du pain?
Non, maman, le pain ne vaut rien!
Enfant gâté, tu ne veux rien manger,
Enfant gâté, tu seras fouetté!
The following questions may be based on this piece. The pupils’ answers
are given in [ ]:--Es-tu un enfant? [Oui, monsieur, je suis un enfant.]
Es-tu un enfant gâté? [Non, monsieur, je ne suis pas un enfant gâté.]
L’enfant gâté veut-il du pâté? [Non, monsieur, il ne veut pas du pâté;
or: l’enfant gâté ne....] Veut-il du rôti? [Non, monsieur, il ne veut
pas du rôti.] Veut-il du pain? [Non, monsieur, il ne veut pas du pain.]
Veut-il du jambon? [Non, monsieur, il ne veut pas du jambon.] Pourquoi
ne veut-il pas du pâté? [Parce que le pâté est trop salé.] Pourquoi
ne veut-il pas du jambon? [Il ne veut pas du jambon parce qu’il n’est
pas bon.] Pourquoi ne veut-il pas du rôti? [Parce qu’il est trop
cuit.] Pourquoi ne veut-il pas du pain? [Parce que le pain ne vaut
rien.] Qu’est-ce qui est trop salé? [C’est le pâté qui est trop salé.]
Qu’est-ce qui ne vaut rien? [C’est le pain qui ne vaut rien.] Qu’est-ce
qui est trop cuit? [Le jambon est trop cuit.] L’enfant gâté sera-t-il
fouetté? [Oui, monsieur, il sera fouetté.] Pourquoi sera-t-il fouetté?
[Parce qu’il ne veut rien manger.] Va-t-on chercher le bâton pour taper
l’enfant gâté? [Oui, monsieur, on s’en va chercher le bâton pour venir
taper l’enfant.]
Thus it will be seen that a simple little piece can suggest a large
number of questions, and it is important, especially in the beginning,
for the teachers to ask the pupils _as many questions as possible_ in
order to accustom them to the exercise, so that they may take part
intelligently and fluently. Anyone who sees all these questions in
print may think that they occupy a long time in a monotonous way;
but after a little practice, on the part of both the teacher and the
pupils, the exercise really proceeds very rapidly. In dealing with
beginners, it were best for the teacher in formulating his questions
to _deviate as little as possible from the words of the text_, so that
they can be used in the answers almost or entirely without any change.
It is not assumed in this exercise that the pupils have committed the
piece to memory, but of course the exercise itself tends to make them
thoroughly familiar with it. In order to give the pupils confidence,
and in order not to require too much of them immediately, the teacher
can in the first few lessons allow them to keep their books open while
the piece is gone through once in question form, so that they can look
up their answers when they cannot remember them. Then they can be told
to close their books and answer the same or almost the same questions
without referring to the text. Of course, the first few times when such
an exercise is used, it is also well for the teacher to direct the same
question to several boys in succession; and the very first time he can
also write a few questions with their corresponding answers on the
blackboard, in order to show the class how the exercise is to proceed.
Even if the pupils learn the piece by heart in the course of the
exercise, yet their answering the teacher’s questions does not become
mechanical, since they have to consider the form of the question, and
then reflect over what is to be included in the answer, and how it is
to be worded and constructed. Of course, the teacher ought to feel
gratified if the pupils of their own accord make slight alterations in
the words of the book, substitute a pronoun for a substantive, etc.,
only it is best not to give too early encouragement to great deviations
from the text. The last question of the above examples, which is based
on a piece that has been read before in the same book, shows how the
teacher already at a very early stage can vary a certain day’s exercise
by bringing into connection with it something previously learned. The
pupils will greet such a question with pleasure, partly the pleasure of
recognition, and partly the pleasure of the opportunity thus afforded
them to feel at home in the language. As time goes, the teacher may
depart more and more from the material of the book. For instance,
he may use its words in asking the pupils questions about their own
personal affairs, or about things in which they are interested outside
of their French lessons. If they are having a selection which contains
the word _roi_ and the names of various countries, the teacher may say:
Comment s’appelle le roi d’Angleterre? (or, notre roi?) Qui est roi
d’Espagne? etc.; yes, why not also Comment s’appelle le roi de France?
In the beginning, it is only the teacher that asks questions, but it
does not last very long before the teacher by way of a change can allow
the _pupils themselves to ask each other questions_; thus they learn to
construct sentences in the interrogative form, which, when they come
to make practical use of the language, is just as important for them
as to be able to answer. In German schools, they have a regular system
of exercises on this plan in connection with grammatical categories;
of a given sentence in the book the pupils are to construct first
a subject-question, then a verb-question, then an object-question,
etc. If, for instance, the sentence is _La mère de Gribouille a cassé
sa marmite_, and the teacher wants a subject-question, pupil A asks
B: Qui a cassé la marmite? (or Qui est-ce qui a cassé la marmite?);
or a verb-question: Qu’est-ce qu’a fait la mère de Gr.?; or an
object-question: Qu’est-ce que la mère de Gr. a cassé? In order to
help beginners with the grammatical difficulties, several sentences
may be written on the blackboard with their various parts differently
underlined. Later on the teacher can tell one of the pupils to change
all the sentences in a piece which has been read--of course only in
so far as they lend themselves to such a change--into, for instance,
object-questions. After each question, the teacher points out the one
who is to answer. Then another pupil may change the same sentences (or
those in the next paragraph) into subject-questions, etc. Of course
the teacher must not put up with a mere mechanical alteration of the
text, but must always require the pupils to exercise so much common
sense that no questions are made which would not occur in a natural
conversation.
When the pupils themselves ask questions, they naturally cannot
do anything else but follow the text slavishly as it stands, so
therefore it is not advisable always to let _them_ ask the question;
the teacher must on the whole avoid getting into any rut. He himself
must do the asking rather frequently; he may either pounce upon some
little point or ask comprehensive questions, including the gist of
several sentences. Only he must remember that sentences which are too
comprehensive either require too much of the pupils, or are quite empty
and meaningless; besides, the result may only be that the exercise
shrinks into almost nothing, since then there can only be two or three
questions to correspond to a whole page of the text, and thus the text
cannot make as strong and detailed an impression as it should. And,
above all, the questions must be asked as naturally as possible.
If this question-exercise is used and all its possibilities for
variation exhausted in the right way--with liveliness, tact and
constant consideration for the pupils’ standpoint--it gives ample and
abundant opportunities for the teacher not only to talk to, but with,
the pupils in the foreign language; and notice that it is not “talking
to the pupil in a language which he does not yet understand”--this
fear is often expressed by those who have misgivings as to the
advisability of conversational exercises at an early stage--but from
the very beginning nothing is said which the pupil cannot be required
to understand and to answer intelligently in the same language.
Quite imperceptibly the teacher may pass from this exercise to
_renarration_; the question has merely to be formulated in such a way
that it cannot be answered in a single sentence but only by an account
of the contents of at least a few lines or so. Thus longer and longer
pieces may be required to be retold, although during the first years
it should only be such pieces as have previously been learned and gone
through in detail by means of questions and answers. Later on, the
teacher can use pieces for renarration which have not been assigned to
the class for preparation; the teacher reads aloud (or may possibly let
one of the pupils do it), if necessary, several times, and thereupon
requires as much as possible to be retold either orally or in writing,
or first orally, then in writing. Or if there is a sufficient number
of copies of the book used, the pupils may be given say ten or twenty
minutes in which to read the piece through silently to themselves, and
then they can use the rest of the hour to write down what they can
remember of it. Such exercises are used to a large extent in teaching
the mother-tongue, and it is agreed that they are highly beneficial,
because they not only sharpen the powers of apprehension, especially
the ability to distinguish between the essential and the unessential,
but they also develop linguistic technique, that is the formal command
of means of expression, since much of the language used in the original
creeps into the renarration and thus becomes the possession of the
reteller. Of course the pupils are earlier ripe for such exercises in
their native language than in foreign languages, but that does not
lessen their value in the two respects mentioned, of which the latter
is the more important here, while there is perhaps too great a tendency
to attach the chief importance to the former in the teaching of the
native tongue. Even when the pupils are far advanced, it is highly
beneficial for them to give (French, etc.) reports of something which
they have read--not merely simple renarrations of bits of fiction or
history, but also résumés of the trend of thought in some philosophical
or critical essay, etc.
Many pieces also lend themselves to _reshaping_ in various ways,
whereby grammatical relations may be practised at the same time as the
words and sentences of the selection once more pass in review through
the minds of the pupils. All the singulars may be changed to plurals,
as far as the plurals make sense in the connection. After the piece
has been gone through in its printed form, the pupil reads it aloud,
remembering in the case of each word to consider whether or not it
has to be changed to the plural and what it would be in the plural.
Thus, according to circumstances, there are either nouns, adjectives,
pronouns or verbs to be changed. Or what is told about a boy may be
said about a girl. Changes in time from “now” to “yesterday,” from
“to-day” to “in a week,” occasion many alterations in the forms of the
verbs, fewer in the adverbs. The person may also be changed, especially
in such a way that the pupil puts himself in the place of that Peter
about whom something is told, and thus substitutes _I_ for _he_,
etc.; if desirable, those further alterations may be made which make
a letter out of the narrative. A change from the first to the third
person can easily be combined with the shifting of tense which gives
us indirect instead of direct discourse. Thus the following sentence:
“Eh bien, Pierre, dit Jean, qu’est-ce que tu vas faire demain? Je ne
sais pas, dit Pierre,” may be changed to: “Jean a demandé à Pierre ce
qu’il allait faire le lendemain, et Pierre a répondu qu’il ne savait
pas (qu’il n’en savait rien).” In German, this kind of transposition
involves such complicated changes (person, mood, order of words) that
they cannot be required until at a later stage than in French; but
transposition from indirect to direct discourse is not very difficult.
Changes from the active to the passive must be undertaken with a good
deal of care, since there are comparatively few sentences which can
be thus transposed without undergoing a shifting of meaning, which
it is not always easy to explain or understand the cause of, and
many sentences do not lend themselves to such transposition at all.
Likewise there are relatively few connected passages where negative
sentences can be made affirmative and vice versâ without giving us
sheer nonsense. So these last two kinds of transposition can, as a
rule, only be applied to single sentences, which the teacher has to
pick out of their connection; but when carefully selected in this way
they will be found to be very useful, especially in French, where the
correct placing of _ne_ and _pas_ is so important; they are less useful
in German.
Now and then, too, dependent clauses (for instance relative, adverbial
clauses, etc.) may be changed to independent clauses and vice versâ,
and still more complicated changes may be undertaken by which one may
try the different ways in which the thoughts of a passage may be linked
together.
Of course it is also possible to have mixed exercises of this kind.
For instance, pupil A reads aloud; the teacher interrupts him at the
end of a sentence, mentions what kind of change it is to undergo, and
thereupon points out one of the other pupils (whose books are closed)
who is to make the change. But the teacher must never allow any of
these exercises to become something merely mechanical which is turned
out according to a certain fixed formula; the pupils must always be
trained to consider whether a newly constructed sentence makes sense or
not; thereby both their linguistic intuition and their powers of logic
are sharpened at the same time.