THE CHINESE.
METHOD OF CONDUCTING CHINESE SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.
REV. W.C. POND, D.D.
I have been requested to give in the columns of the MISSIONARY, some hints as to the opening and conducting of Chinese Sunday-schools. I wonder that I have waited for such a request, and did not long ago take this good method of replying to letters of inquiry, which, attempting to answer one by one, I have been obliged to respond to briefly, hurriedly, and unsatisfactorily.
1. First, "Catch your hare"—get the Chinese to come. This is less difficult, I fancy, in our Eastern cities, than in those of California. And yet, even there, it may require repeated and persistent invitations. I would not despair even though the teachers came several times at the hour appointed, and found that the expected pupils had broken their promises and failed to appear. You will at length prove to them that you are in earnest and have something for them worth their consideration.
2. When they come, do not undertake any opening exercises, but as soon as the first one appears, let the teaching begin. They are generally so situated, that to exact strict punctuality, is to require the impossible. Give them a reading lesson in whatever book they bring; or, if they bring none, in any primer you may have at hand, Chinese who have made no beginning in English, need to have each one his own teacher. This may not be possible always, but it is very desirable. It is exceedingly important that as much as possible be learned of English in the first few lessons, in order to prepossess the pupils favorably and get them interested in the school. Those who have already learned to read can, of course, be put into Bible classes, but beginners ought to be at liberty to take, each one his own pace, and get on as fast as possible; and for this a teacher for each pupil is needed.
3. From the beginning, let each class or each pupil have one and the same teacher. This is of almost vital importance. The establishment of a personal relationship and the development of a special personal friendship, are almost indispensable, if we would lead such dark souls into light. General exercises will not do this fast enough to meet the emergency. It needs personal contact; careful "hand-picking."
4. That which seems to me the best text-book for Chinese schools is "Jacobs' Reader." It was prepared originally for the deaf and dumb; and thus suits well those who are to us—as we to them—virtually deaf and dumb. Its object words are all represented in pictures. Its lessons are so arranged that the advance involves a perpetual review, and thus fastens in the memory what has been acquired. This is particularly desirable in the case of the Chinese, because the methods of teaching in China are so utterly diverse from ours. Teaching that turns back is in no favor with the average Chinaman. He wants you to pronounce the words and let him pronounce them after you as fast as possible. Go over it two or three times, very much as if you were teaching a parrot to speak, and then let him try himself. He is impatient of protracted explanations. What he wants is sounds; the more of them the better. After he has got the sounds, he will be willing to take the meaning they convey. One beauty of this book is, that it conveys the meaning through the eye, and keeps pupils reviewing without their knowing it. The teacher is in danger of becoming impatient with this Chinese method, for we know that our way of teaching is better. But remember that the end you have in view is not the most effective instruction in English, but the leading of the soul to Christ; and you can be content with a poorer method of doing the former, if thereby you can keep within reach that lost, but blood-bought soul. Another good point in this little book is, that there is just about enough in it concerning God and Christ to give the teacher an occasional opportunity to preach Jesus, without frightening the pupil away by too abrupt a "setting forth of strange gods." And, finally, this one Reader well studied will place the pupil where you can safely commend to him the New Testament as the cheapest and the best book to take next.