Let us take the case of the youth or man who commences the study of a foreign language. He has found that a foreign language will be of use to him or has become necessary to him in his work. He begins to study it and takes the usual one lesson per week of one hour’s duration. In a year he has spent fifty hours with the teacher; if he devoted two or three hours weekly to the preparation of each lesson, he will have spent 150 to 200 hours per annum upon it, or, less absences and omissions, perhaps
140 or 180 hours upon its study. This makes fourteen days of ten hours or perhaps three weeks as against fourteen years spent by the child upon its mother tongue. Multiply this amount of fourteen days by two or three, and grammar is still seen by comparison to have accomplished a stupendous miracle. But even this disparity is not complete, for whilst the child, whether at work or play, never ceases to study and practice its native language, and this is by far its principal occupation, the youth and man, on the other hand, devote to the study of a foreign language, the remnants, the odds and ends of their time, after having exhausted their energies in their work.
These were the considerations that occurred to me on thinking over Mr. Rodger’s prospectus. Nevertheless, it was impossible to regard as satisfactory a method of tuition or study, which left the pupil unable to understand or speak a language after having gone through a grammar like that of Otto. The Grammatical Method being one which does not seek to render easy and simple at the cost of efficiency, by eluding and evading the difficulties and peculiarities of a language, but being the one which fairly meets and masters them: there can be no question of dispensing with its valuable assistance. The wise course is to adopt that method of using it, which will enable us to derive most benefit from its teachings, and ensure success. It is for this purpose the following has been written. It follows from this, that if the pupil’s time admit, the most complete Grammar is the best.
We have been amongst the most backward in this branch of study, but our grammars since then have been largely borrowed from our more successful competitors; from those who excelled as much in modern languages as we ourselves in industry. They are in many instances the work of foreign specialists and experts, they are the very instruments of success used by our most successful rivals, how then can they be inadequate? Translation has put us into possession of the best works used by our foreign rivals, and if we are less successful than they, it is due, as a Swiss correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian” recently stated, not to the superior aptitude, but to the superior application of the foreigner.
The writer first commenced studying foreign languages nearly forty years ago, and has resided for nearly twenty years in various foreign countries. His experience with regard to those who learn foreign languages has been that those who commence the practice of a foreign language with a previous knowledge of
its Grammar, learn to speak it with an ease, confidence and correctness never attained by those who try to dispense with such preparation and study. On the other hand those who have learnt to speak without such study, contract vicious and faulty locutions, and rarely if ever make good the deficiency. They are compelled of course to form a rough Grammar of their own, upon incomplete information, and have to do so hastily and imperfectly. For writing, where precision and accuracy are required a knowledge not based upon Grammar is next to worthless.
Most pupils have a fourfold object in studying a language; they wish to be able to read and write, to speak and to understand it. By what method could this be most easily achieved? If this work could be performed simultaneously, it would effect a saving of time and labour, as well as impress what was being studied more deeply upon the memory. The memory for sound, form, music, figures, spelling, etc., appears to be distinct and to vary in each one. If the memory for sound could be brought more into play, it must help to retain more tenaciously what was learnt.
Of course, the pupil can only expect to be master of the language so far as he has studied and learnt. He cannot expect to reap where he has not sown. Within this limit he learns to read, in preparing the lesson, and to write, in writing out the exercises.
But Mr. Charles Sauer says in the preface to his Italian Grammar 5th Ed., page iv., “Everyone who has occupied himself with study of modern languages knows, that by far the more difficult task is to understand the foreign language,” (i.e., when spoken.)
That cannot be called a success which leaves the most difficult part of the task unaccomplished, nor can it be wise to allow difficulties to amass and accumulate, if they can be mastered in detail as they present themselves. The task is the education of the ear and tongue and this can only be done by practice.