How to teach a foreign language

by Otto Jespersen

For all these reasons, it is not translation (or skill in translation) that we are aiming at in teaching foreign languages.

V

But for all that translation might still be a useful and indispensable means in the service of language instruction. In order to judge of this we must have a clear conception of the different ways in which translation can be and really is used:

(a)—Translation into English is a means of getting the pupil to understand the foreign language, as for instance, when I tell him that cheval means “horse,” or when I translate a whole sentence for him;

(b)—Translation into English is a means of testing whether the pupil understands, as, for instance, when I ask him what cheval means in English, or when I let him translate a whole sentence;

(c)—Translation from English is a means of giving the pupil practice in producing something in the foreign language;

(d)—Translation from English is a means of testing whether the pupil can express himself in the foreign language. It is really a subdivision of this when the teacher lets a pupil translate an English sentence in order to see if he understands some grammatical rule in the foreign language.

It is clear that a and b are right closely connected, likewise c and d; yet it will be seen later that the one does not necessarily presuppose the other, as is no doubt generally assumed.