GIFT OF tr u Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/englishforcomingOOroberich ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS TEACHER'S MANUAL A RATIONAL SYSTEM FOR TEACHING ENGLISH TO FOREIGNERS PETER ROBERTS, Ph.D, ASSOCIATION PRESS New York : 347 Madison Avenue 1918 Copyright, IM^ by the International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations , /^ '/■-■ 4.( twcr CONTENTS PAGE Preface . . . • , 5 Chapter I. Three Guiding Principles . 9 II. The Thirty Lessons and the Equipment :. 21 III. Teaching the Lesson i»: 33 IV. Action in the Classroom . . 47 V. Sidelights in Teaching . • 57 VI. Grammar Lessons for the Course 1, 67 VII. Reading and Writing CI 89 VIII. How to Organize Classes (•: 99 392682 PREFACE I I URING the last five years I have visited hun- •^""^^ dreds of branches of the Young Men's Chris- tian Associations in North America, and cooperated with secretaries in organizing Enghsh classes foi foreign-speaking men. The system of teaching Eng- hsh explained in this manual has been used wherever classes have been organized, and the result has been gratifying to both teacher and pupils. The basic idea in the system is found in the "Art of Teaching and Studying Language" by Francois Gouin. His reasoning in defense of oral instruction as the first step in teaching boys a new language is irrefutable, I have applied this principle in the preparation of lessons for aliens not familiar with the English lan- guage. Thousands of men have been helped by the system to a knowledge of our speech and the number of men now organized into classes in North America studying the language by it, is not far from 20,000 The merits of the system are : 1. A man who knows nothing of the language ot the foreigner can use it and produce results. 2. The foreigner will learn to think in English and not translate from his mother tongue. 3. He will learn English after the same mannei as he learnt his mother tongue. 4. The lessons are prepared for adults and deal with experiences of daily life, which are clothed in a new garment of language. I 6 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS 5. No matter what the mother tongue of the for- eigner is, the system is appHcable to all. It is used by men of forty-two different tongues and it works equally well with the Chinaman as the Italian, with the Finn as the Armenian. 6. Its simplicity. A child of ten has used it effectively to teach a domestic the English language. 7. It is full of action and a teacher of ordinary ability need not have a tedious moment in the class- room. 8. The students begin to talk the very first lesson. They leave the classroom knowing some English, and every time they meet they get something new. 9. Each lesson is arranged according to the laws of mnemonics, so that the least possible strain is placed on the memory and the student is able to con- centrate his attention on right pronunciation and enunciation. 10. It appeals to the practical judgment of foreign-speaking men, for they see that the English taught them is such as they can use every day in the experiences of life. The course outlined in this book is for beginners. It is designed for men who cannot form a sentence with any degree of facility and accuracy in the Eng- lish language. Many aliens learn a few words of English soon after they land, but they cannot form a sentence. For these men the thirty lessons are pre- pared, and the prime purpose is to teach them how to talk our language. Reading and writing are also taught, but the main purpose of the course is to help the foreigner to a talking knowledge of English. PREFACE 7 The course comprises thirty lessons: ten on the home life, ten on the work life, and ten on the busi- ness life of men. The words used are those heard on the street and in the shop, in the mill and in the mart, and the student who will do good work will have more than a thousand English words at his command at the close of the thirty lessons, which will stand him in good stead in his life in the new world. Two other graded courses follow this. Foreigners who have mastered the thirty lessons in preparatory English should be encouraged to go on to perfection and not to cease their effort until they are able to speak, read and write the English language with ease and accuracy. Men who will conscientiously follow the courses prepared will acquire this proficiency, and, in the work of attaining it, they will have learnt much about their country and what it can do for them. CHAPTER I THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES L^ ACH generation of men, with equal ease, ac- -*— ■ quires command over its mother tongue. A hundred Pohsh children, in their fourth year, speak the Polish language as fluently and accurately as a hundred American children, of the same age, speak English. The youths of every nation possess equal capacity to acquire their mother tongue. This is not a thing of chance. The power of speech is not in- herited. Each person must attain it by training and practice. But the uniform capacity of children to learn the speech of the home, no matter how difficult that language may appear to adults, suggests the efficiency of the equipment wherewith nature does the work and here, as elsewhere, nature acts according to law. The equipment nature freely gives each child to learn a language with has not been lost by man, and the laws by which language is built up in the mind are still active everywhere. If this be true, the inference is apparent. Every^^foreign-tongue^i individual coming to our shores has the capacity_jo^ learn_J3Ai^3frftguage'lfjg:Sg^^^tliI^^ so and the task can be more easily accomplisned if we follow those laws which regulate the operation of the mind in the quest for knowledge. P^r first duty then is to find out how language is attained by nature's gifts. 10 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS FIRST Did you ever see a child learning its mother tongue from a book? Did you use a book when you learned to speak the language of the home? Long before you read a word on the printed page, or wrote a word on paper, you fluently and accu- rately spoke. Before you knew that there was such a thing as A, B, C ; or that there were any such things in life as syllables, grammar and dic- tionary, you enjoyed the power of speech and com- municated by means of language with those who loved you tenderly. And during these years you used words accurately, although you could not de- fine a single word if any one asked you to do so. And the vast majority of men carry on their daily conversation without consulting Webster or Worces- ter, or reading a treatise on the synonyms of the English language. Of course these people don't talk book language. They use speech as they use currency. They find it at hand and use it, asking no questions about its intrinsic nature. And they get along fairly well in the home, in work, and in business. How is this done? What is the door through which this knowledge passes into the mind? What genius presides over the right use of words and grammatical forms, so that the majority of men get along well without grammar and dictionary? The door is the ear; the genius is common usage. The ears are the receptive organs of language. They enabled you to learn your mother tongue. THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES 11 The language of the home passed into the soul through these doors and awoke it to love, duty and honor. They registered the sounds accurately and presided over the attempt of the organs of speech to reproduce them. The ears discharge this func- tion so accurately that the peculiarities of speech in every home are reflected in the accent of each child reared therein. And what is language? Is it anything more than a combination of certain sounds which men have agreed to make the channel whereby ideas and feel- ings may be communicated from one to the other? Mechanically considered, it is atmospheric vibration' conveying to us certain ideas through the organs of hearing — the ears. Have you listened to two men speaking in an unknown tongue? All you hear is a combination of sounds. There may be feeling or passion in the voices, but you discern it only by the intensity of the sounds you hear. This is the secret of the talking machine. It records sound or the vibration of the air caused by the instruments in close proximity to it. The diff*erence between the talking machine and the human voice is that back of the one is cold steel ; back of the other is a living soul. Both affect the hearer through the same medium — the ear, but the one does so by a cold metallic ring, the other by the living voice, which in its accent and inflection penetrates into the deep recesses of the human soul as no other medium can. Yes, it is the voice of parental love, acting upon nature's wonderful mechanism — the ear, that elicits the response of afl^ection in the soul of its offspring. 12 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS And the coming of thousands of foreign-speaking men and women to our country each year affords us opportunity to perform this miracle in thousands of instances if we trust the ear and speak to these men in accents of sympathy and affection. Tlj £. first au di f oi:eBfto»fe>jirinciple^ then, in teaching the Enghsh language to foreigners is to trust the ^^MTT- Don't begin the task by giving the pupil 'a 'book from which to learn his A, B, C. Don't give him a reader and ask him to spell out laboriously the monosyllables, c-a-t, b-a-d, m-a-d; and then pass on to dissyllables, har-row, sor-row, etc. Don't ask him to buy a grammar and a dictionary and begin his studies by translating sentences into his native tongue and vice versa. No one ever got practical knowledge of a language in that way. I have known scores of students who have studied modern lan- guages in that manner, but when their power to converse in any of them is tested, it is found want- ing. I know a gentleman who, having taught German for many years in one of our colleges, was ludi- crously put out of countenance when in his travels he tried to talk that language. The professor was in Germany and he asked a simple question of a domestic ; she looked at him seriously and then said, "I can only speak German." A child of four years, raised in a German home, would have fared much better. Men who read French authors with ease are at sea when they come to express their simplest wants in that language. It is the penalty they pay for learning a language contrary to the suggestion of nature. '^b^y_Jl3i^^ "^*^d th e eye instea d-^£J;he ^ THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES 13 £aj^ They have gone to books rather than to the hving voice. They have sought in grammar and dic- tionary what can only be acquired by daily con- versation and practice. a/j Hence, trust the ear. Let not the pupil see a ^-^^ word before he first hears it from the teacher. He should not write a word before he can accurately reproduce it. Train the ear to hear and the tongue to talk before the eye and the hand are enhsted in the work of learning a language. Follow this rule religiously and you will find your reward. SECOND The pupils will get correct pronunciation, accu- rate use of practical English, correct idioms, and grammatical forms b^jjractice. Book learning may be stored away in the mind,' but unless it is daily called into practice it is of little use. The con- ventional forms of language can be learned only by conversation. Common usage sanctions hundreds of expressions which the learned taboo, but which serve as mediums of communication between man and man in the home, in the workshop, and in the business office. The man who tries to get a knowledge of the English language from books will fare no better than scores of Americans who have studied modern lan- guages and are unable to communicate their wants in those languages. The foreigners are moving and living in the common walks of life, they want the lan- guage of daily life and, in the fullest sense, they can appreciate this new world only when they can use and understand the expressions daily used by men 14 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS ' with whom they associate. Our second guiding prin- ciple, then, in the task before u s, is _tfl ^ve t)^esemen such lessons a^ c ^me within the r ange of their daily 1 e xperien ce and such as contain wprds~'and expres- sions op^marily used. le foreigners are often referred to as illiterate and ignorant. This is the condition of the majority of them. Their illiteracy, however, is not so great as to interfere with their capacity to converse freely of the things of daily life in their native tongue. What they see and hear daily they speak of with great facility. They have clothed the experiences of daily life in the garb of language, and their greatest need is to clothe anew their ideas and ex- periences in the language of the land of their adoption. Experience proves that if we take the simple prac- tices with which each foreigner is familiar; put these into simple English phrases, such as are of common use; then train these men in these new com- binations of sound, they will rapidly and with in- terest attain a knowledge of English that will greatly help them in the home, in work, and in business. The plan herein described provides for the use of ideas with which they are familiar, and for the training of their ears so that they will understand the new channel for the communica- tion of those ideas. If this is faithfully done, the foreigner will soon have at his command a supply of words and phrases that will enrich his life and be the porch through which he can enter the larger and higher life of America. THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES 15 Thus, the second rule to be remembered is, that our point of contact is the daily experience of the foreigner. This we must clothe anew in an Eng- lish garment, using the language of daily life so as to bring him as soon as possible into touch with the world around him whereby he may learn the con- ventional combinations of our tongue more accu- rately than by the study of books, grammar and dictionary. THIRD Nature works or.derli( and the mechanism of the brain is as subject to law when one is acquiring the knowledge of language as it is in every other de- partment of its activity. All men are logicians although they may know nothing of logic. The process of language building in the mind of the child is presided over by laws as imperious as those which govern the building of coral reefs in the deep. If these laws were closely followed, the process of teaching English to foreigners would be greatly facilitated and the burden placed upon the memory would be largely obviated. Let the reader try to memorize the following: "So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage leaf to make an apple pie; and at the same time a great she-bear, coming up the street, pops its head into the shop. What, no soap ? So he died, and she was imprudently married to the barber; and there were present the Picininunions, and the Joblilies, and the Garules and the great Panjandrum himself, with 16 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS the little round button on the top; and they all fell to playing 'catch as catch can' till the gunpowder ran out of the heels of their boots." — Upham's Men- tal Philosophy, quoted hy Professor White. But how easily can the following be memorized: "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, con- ceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. Wfe have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is alto- gether fitting and proper that we should do this." — Lincoln^ s Gettysburg Address. Wherein lies the difference between these two selec- tions? The first disregards every law of nature and consequently must defy the strongest memory, if carried to any great length; the second presents a picture so natural and orderly that each sentence is associated with what went before and with what comes after, so that the memory and imagination are impressed and the ideas can readily be recalled. Suppose we teach the foreigner English by giving him a dozen disconnected words to memorize, or by giving him a dozen phrases wholly unrelated and pertaining to as many subj ects ; would not such a system be as difficult to memorize as is the first quo- tation given above, and precisely for the same rea- son? But take for the subject a familiar section of THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES 17 daily experience and let the body of the lesson de- scribe the series of acts normally included in that part of the pupil's day, each sentence carrying him one step farther in perfect chronological order. Will not such a lesson be easily memorized? In this way sentence after sentence is inalienably associated with others in a relation of cause and effect or they are bound together by contiguity in time or place, so that one suggests the other and bears a part in one unbroken catenation. What foreigner would not find such a lesson easily remembered? And the reason is that in its formation we obey natural laws. No one doubts this, and it is the rule by which each lesson in this course is formed. The laws governing the action of the mind are followed, and we feel con- fident that the more closely they are observed the more interesting will be the lessons and the more rapid will be the progress of the pupil. In this connection, we should remember that na- ture is one and is not divided. If the lessons in their make-up are true to natural law they will be easily remembered not only by the American, but also by every other human being. The Pole and the Lett, the Italian and the Greek, the Chinaman and the Japanese will also be aided by the arrangement if any of them should learn the English language by this system. The reason for this is apparent. God made of one blood all nations of the earth. The thinking mechanism of every nation is constructed after the same pattern. Few of the thousands of foreigners in North America can tell what the prin- ciple of cause and effect means, but they daily act / 18 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS according to this and other laws of logical connec- tion. Thousands of these wage-earners in mine and mill, factory and shop, compare and contrast things. One thing constantly suggests another to their minds and they act and live with the law of contiguity in place and time; but they are wholly oblivious to the fact that they thereby obey funda- mental laws which rule mental operation everywhere as rigorously as does gravitation the stars. Yes, we may say that, without exception, this reign of law is as universal as the operation of the human mind. Hence, we can confidently deduce the follow- ing practical proposition; that the lessons which aid the memory of Americans will also aid the mem- ory of Poles, Italians, Chinese, etc. In this as in other spheres, "one touch of nature makes the whole world kin." Thus, the third principle to guide us in this work is, that the lessons must obey natural law. A hap- hazard, disconnected, unrelated group of words and sentences must end in tedium, discouragement, and despair. Such an effort is irrational and abortive. Follow nature, and the stars in their courses will fight for you. Give all possible aids to the memory and when the strain upon it is reduced to a minimum, the student will be better able to concentrate his mind upon getting the correct sound of the new language and in reproducing what he has heard. In this way the lessons will be a pleasure, the progress of the student rapid, and he will be conscious that each time he comes to the classroom he is getting some- THREE GUIDING PRINCIPLES 19 thing he can immediately apply in the affairs of daily life. Let us summarize the ground thus far traversed: Each generation of men learns joyously and easily its mother tongue. A study of how this is done gives us three principles whereby we may be guided in teaching English to foreigners. 1. Trust the ear, the receptive organ of lan- guage. The eye can aid and so can the hand, but it is contrary to nature to try to learn a language by those senses. The pupil must not see a word be- fore he knows how to pronounce it, he must not write it until he can reproduce it viva voce. 9>. Find your point of contact in the daily ex- perience of the foreigner, and lead him as speedily as possible into touch with the language of daily life, for thus only will he be able to get practical knowl- edge of English that will serve him in good stead in the affairs of life. 3. Remember that the minds of all men operate in accordance with the same natural laws. The les- sons should follow these laws as faithfully as possi- ble, for thus we hope to relieve the tension on the memory and enable the student to concentrate his attention upon getting correct pronunciation and correct enunciation. These three principles we hope to apply in the following pages. CHAPTER II THE THIRTY LESSONS AND THE EQUIPMENT HE course herein proposed is known as a course in preparatory English. The total equipment is as follows: rpi . . 1 r Ten known as the Domestic Series. . 1 fl J. f \ Ten known as the Industrial Series. I Ten known as the Commercial Series. 2. A set of large charts (20" x 30") for the Domestic Series_, for reading exercise and review practice. 3. Sets of cards for the Industrial and Commercial Series^ for practice in conversation, 4. Examinations. 1. The Lessons The words and phrases in the first ten lessons pertain to the sphere of the home. They describe the experiences common to all peoples reared in the customs of our western civilization. The lessons are as follows: THE DOMESTIC SERIES (A) 1. Getting up in the 6. Eating Breakfast. Morning. 7. The Man Washing. 2. Getting Wood to S. A Family of Eight. Light the Fire. 9. Welcoming a Vis- 3. Lighting the Fire. itor. 4. Preparing Breakfast. 10. Going to Bed. 5. Table Utensils. 22 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS The second series describes experiences in the in- dustrial world. In these lessons we depict common everyday events, being careful to avoid so minute a description of operation as to make the lessons ap- plicable only to local groups. Our aim has been to meet the need of thousands who have common expe- rience in industrial life. Most of these lessons are appropriate to all industrial classes, but the need of special groups should also be met. This is true of those employed in the mining industry. Thousands of foreign-speaking men work in dangerous places in the mines and their prime need is to learn simple words and phases descriptive of their daily voca- tion. Hence, in order to meet this need, we have arranged a group of lessons pertaining especially to mining, and yet in preparing these we refrain from entering into such minute details as to make them of local interest only. The lessons in mining are equally applicable to men working in the hard coal and in the soft coal seams; they can be used in the mining villages on the Pacific Coast, where the Chinese and the Japanese labor, as well as in the mining patches of Pennsylvania, where the Slavs and Letts work. Lessons can be prepared to meet the special need of any group of foreign-speaking men, providing they are numerous enough to justify their prepara- tion. The system is plastic and can be adapted to the need of any group of industrial workers. A series of lessons has been prepared for mill workers which applies to all the textile industries. The teacher who has constructive ability will be able to prepare LESSONS AND EQUIPMENT 23 lessons to meet the local situation. The ten lessons prepared in this group will meet the need of foreign- speaking wage-earners generally. Samples of other lessons marked in this series are given below. The teacher should study his groups, and select from the Industrial Series those lessons which best suit his purpose. The following are the lessons prepared in this series :* THE INDUSTRIAL SERIES (B) 1. Going to Work. 7. A Man Quitting his 2. Beginning the Day's Work. Work. 8. A Man Looking for 3. Shining Shoes. Work. 4. A Miner Going to 9. A Man Injured at Work. Work. 5. A Man Working on 10. Finishing the Day's the Railroad. r| 6. A Man Working in the Mill. Other Lessons in Series B FOR MINE WORKERS 1. Going Down the 5. Cleaning and Load- Shaft. ing Coal. 2. The Miner Going to 6. The Miner Drilling his Chamber. a Hole. 3. Standing a Prop in 7. The Miner Prepar- the Mines. ing a Cartridge. 4. Guarding Against 8. Fixing and Firing a Fire. Shot. *Other lessons are being prepared from which teachers may choose to meet the requirements of their classes. A complete list of lessons will be forwarded to any address on applicatiop- 24 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS FOR MILL WORKERS 1. The Weaver Going 6. The Cotton Spinner to Work. Begins Work. 2. Changing the Bob- 7. Changing the Bob- bin in the Loom. bins. 3. Securing a New 8. Accidents in Supply of Filled Worsted Spin- Bobbins, ning. 4. The Thread Breaks 9. Changing the Rov- in the Loom. ing Bobbin. 5. Saturday in the 10. The Yarn Boys at Mill. Work. The third series describes experiences common to all workers, hence this course is uniform for all classes. The relation of the average manual worker to the commercial and business world is restricted, but the comfort and sometimes the happiness of the foreign-speaking depend upon their ability to un- derstand A^ to use the few necessary English words. Tnese lessons describe the acts which for- eigners in a strange land daily perform. When they are mastered the pupils will be able to transact their business outside the narrow circle of places controlled by men conversant with their language. Shrewd business men of foreign birth often take ad- vantage of the foreigner's ignorance. Give him a knowledge of English so that he can transact his business and the fraud of shysters will decrease. The following are the lessons prepared : THE COMMERCIAL SERIES (C) 1. Writing a Letter. 3. Going to the Station. 2. Buying and Using 4. Taking the Train. Stamps. 5. Pay Day. LESSONS AND EQUIPMENT 25 6. Home Expenses. 7. >^ Buying a Hat.— 8. Taking Money to the Bank. 9. Sending Money Home. 10. Buying a Lot. The following is the first lesson. We will now show how it is developed. The topic is "Getting up in the Morning" ; the seventeen sentences develop the means used to realize this end. FIRST LESSON Getting up in the Morning awake : I awake from sleep. open look : I open my eyes. : I look for my watch. find : I find my watch. see : I see what time it is. is • It is six o'clock. must get up throw back . I must get up. I throw back the bed-clothes. get out I get out of bed. put on put on wash comb I put on my pants. I put on my stockings and shoes I wash myself. I comb my hair. put on put on open go down I put on my collar and necktie. I put on my vest and coat. I open the door of my bedroom. I go down stairs. The lesson is developed after this manner. In getting up in the morning what are the successive steps we take.? Are they not the following.? (1) We awake, (2) we look to see the time of day, (3) 26 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS we get out of bed, (4) we dress and (5) we go down stairs. The above lesson follows this order and de- scribes in greater detail the various acts in the or- der given. This gives us sentence after sentence in chronological order, thusjnaking of the wholeo£era- tion a logical chainjaf acts whlcK can be ^asilj^-^e.- membereSTHy'any man of average intelligence. Try it and prove how quickly you can assimilate the les- son. Bear in mind the five successive steps, then read the lesson through slowly twice pr three times, and you can recite it verbatim without looking at the page. Every lesson is constructed after the same man- ner. The J^jtl^ may be ,said to be jthe eujal to be reached ; the^bodv, the nififlj^^used ^jj^reach tl ^at end.^ Each sentence follows the other in logical sequence. Each depicts in order the successive steps you or any other rational being take in the execution of the task. Let your imagination dwell upon the topic given in any lesson. Ask yourself, "What must I do to reach this end?" and you find your imagination placing you successively in exactly the situations the lesson sets forth. That is the reason each one of the lessons is so easily memorized, and the foreign- speaking pupil will find the matter equally easy to assimilate if he exercises his imagination, and sees himself passing from step to step in the execution of the task. But some one says, "You cannot get the foreigner to exercise his imagination"; then it re- mains for you to quicken it by acting out the lesson. Let your imagination guide you in all your teaching so that each step will not only be described in your LESSONS AND EQUIPMENT 27 words, but also seen in apposite gesture. Suit the action to the word, and the class will know what you want to teach although they do not understand all the words you use. Each pupil will soon associate the phrase with the action and learn the meaning of the combination of sounds he hears. Then, as far as possible, brijig^_the^^articles of / which you speak into the classroom. Play your part ( with these implements. Execute, wherever you can before the whole class, each successive step described in the lesson. In this way, if you act the part well and speak plainly, never hurrying and never impa- tient, the class that is wholly foreign in tongue will soon comprehend your meaning and begin to talk and understand the English tongue. Each lesson in the series deals with Q oncrete reali- / ties. Every less Qii describes an experience in daily_ \ li fe which m ay, with little trouble, bfi^-fuU^L-fiJiacted beloxE^-therctas^. The objects referred to are acces- sible and, in miniature form, can be brought into the classroom. Let the classroom be a microcosm, and the pupils will be better able to play their part in the macrocosm wherein they move and act. The teacher will also observe that the lesson is divided into three parts. This is done to facilitate the work of the teacher and to aid the pupil. It is not wise to take too big a bite of anything, no mat- ter how wholesome it may be. Good English is no exception to the rule. Attempt to give the lesson as a whole without any breathing place between times, and the bite is too big for the pupil and the feeding process too trying to the teachei^ Cut It up into 28 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS three parts. Give the pupils two breathing places, but remember to connect the parts as each is mas- tered, and the students will enjoy the exercise and heartily participate in the recital. Do this with every lesson. You have also observed that the verb in each sen- tence is placed on the left of the sentence. It is set there for a purpose. We believe that its impor- tance in the sentence justifies this emphasis, and the difficulty experienced by learners *iri' mastering the verb demands our special attention. Have you ever counted how often during the day 3^ou use common verbs? Contrast the frequency and variety of their use with that of any other part of speech, and you will soon be convinced that the prominence given the verb in tKese lessons is amply justified. Observe again the foreigners, who speak broken English, carrying on a conversation. Mark the part of speech with which they experience greatest difficulty, and you will find that it is the verb. Here they stumble oftenest. They get the nouns, and the adjectives, with comparative ease, but the modes and tenses of the verb, the use of the auxiliaries, perplex them and give them consider- able difficulty. That is, that part of speech which plays the most important role in every sentence is least mastered by foreigners. They stumble in the use of the verb, which is the soul of the sentence and plays the leading part in all conversatron. Are we not then justified in emphasizing it, in making it the key to every sentence, and in placing it in so con- venient a place that we can call the attention of the LESSONS AND EQUIPMENT 29 class to variations in its use according to changes of mode and time? It is not within the range of our scheme to conjugate any verb in an abstract man- ner, but it is our purpose to introduce such parts of the conjugation of each verb as bear directly upon the lesson in hand. The student is given in each case a concrete instance of the change necessary in order to meet the demand. In this way he will learn the several modes and tenses, and our hope is that through practice he will acquire that grammatical sense which each of us attained, not because we read the treatises of grammarians, but because we speak as we heard our relatives and friends speak. 2. The Charts The first ten lessons are put in chart form for the purpose of reading and review work. This is not done with the second and third series,* for the reason that we hope the students who have mastered the first series will be so familiar with common English words as to be able to write simple sentences without visual aid. This is the advanced step we hope the pupils will take in the second series. The students may not be able to do this in the first or second les- son of the Industrial Series, but this should be the objective in this part of our course, and the teacher will exercise his ingenuity to lead the pupils to this accomplishment. *Some teachers ask for printed charts for the second series. The teacher, if he feels that his work can be facilitated by the use of a chart, is advised to write out each lesson in Series B on a manila sheet and use it for review work. I believe, however, that better work can be done by the use of cards in Series B, than by the use of charts. 30 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS In the third series, the pupil should be urged to throw the lesson into a continuous narrative, and tell or write the story in his own words as far as he is able. This is the objective in the Commercial Series, and the teacher will find a way to work out the desired result by having the brightest pupils recite first, thus giving an example to the others in the class. 3. The Cards There is one danger against which we must guard. Some foreigners have tenacious memories and they may learn each and all of the lessons in a perfunc- tory manner. They can readily rehearse them if once you give them the cue, but they are not able to use the sentences and words in other relations. To guard against this "parrot talk," a system of cards is prepared, dealing with the subject-matter of the lessons taught in class. These cards, as above stated, are used in connection with Series B and C, and take the place of the charts for review work. The sen- tences printed on these cards are in the form of question and answer, so that a group of students sit- ting around a table may carry on a conversation in words and phrases learned in the lessons to which the cards refer. This card practice will, we trust, help the pupil to put into use what he has learned in the classroom. It will also afford diversion by breaking up the monotony incident to rehearsing the lessons in con- cert. The teacher can, by the use of these cards, urge rapidity of response from pupil to pupil, so LESSONS AND EQUIPMENT Si that they will develop fluency of speech. The card work can be made still more interesting by so arrang- ing the game that the man who makes a mistake will be penalized — debarred from the game, or the like. In this way innocent pressure will be brought to bear upon each player, which will sharpen his wit and speed on the day when he can think and freely con- verse in English. The pupils who master the thirty lessons in this course will have a vocabulary of more than 700 words. This is a larger stock than most men in the common walks of life use. Equipped with this stock of words, which have been learned in simple sentences, the for- eigner will be better able to comprehend the larger life into which he has come. He will be a better employee, and in this simple course a channel of communication will have been opened, through which American ideas and ideals will reach his soul, 4. Examinations Each student participating in the course, "Eng- lish for Coming Americans," is not only offered the privilege, but is also strongly urged to take advan- tage, of the International examinations in this sub- ject of "Preparatory English," as arranged by the Educational Department of the International Com- mittee of Young Men's Christian Associations. These take place simultaneously throughout the con- tinent on a specified day during the first week in April and the second week in June. A certificate will be issued to each student successfully passing the 32 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS examination. This gives a goal for which each young man will aim, and also gives the teacher an objective toward which he will be anxious to lead his class. The expense for the examination is twenty-five cents per student, which covers an individual set of questions, examination paper, and the certificate that may be won. CHAPTER III TEACHING THE LESSON ^y\/ E will now illustrate how to teach the lesson, * " and will take lesson one in the Domestic Series for the purpose. FIRST LESSON A i B. i awake open look find see Getting up in the Morning I awake from sleep. I open my eyes. I look for my watch. I find my watch. I see what time it is. IS must get up throw back get out put on put on wash comb put on put on open go down It is six o'clock. I must get up. I throw back the bed-clothes. I get out of bed. I put on my pants. I put on my stockings and shoes. I wash myself. I comb my hair. I put on my collar and necktie. I put on my vest and coat. I open the door of my bedroom. I go down stairs. There are five distinct steps in the process of teaching each lesson: 1. The Oral Training 2. The Reading Exercise 34> ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS 3. The Writing Practice 4. The Review 5. The Grammar Lesson 1. Oral Training Begin with section A. Pronounce the five verbs — "awake, open, look, find, see" — distinctly and not too rapidly. Then say "awake" and encourage the class to say the verb. Do the same with "open," "look," "find," "see." The class, in a few minutes, will be able to repeat the five verbs without your aid. Now take the five sentences. Pronounce them dis- tinctly and not too rapidly: "I awake from sleep"; "I open my eyes"; "I look for my watch"; "I find my watch"; "I see what time it is." Then go back to the beginning: "I awake from sleep," and en- courage the class to say the sentence; follow with each of the other sentences: "I open my eyes," "I look for my watch," "I find my watch," "I see what time it is." The students will in a very short while pronounce distinctly the five sentences in order with- out your aid — only as far as you prompt them by acting the various steps in the sentences.* When the pupils can rehearse part A fairly well, proceed to part B. Begin again with the verbs on the left of this section. Pronounce all of them clearly before the class begins to repeat. Then begin again: Say "is" and encourage the class to * I have found some teachers reluctant to repeat the sentence again and again until the pupil catches the right sound and is able to repro- duce it. The teacher must repeat and repeat and help the class along until it is able to recite the lesson of its own accord, prompted, how- ever, by the acting of the teacher. TEACHING THE LESSON 35 repeat the verb; follow with, "must get up," "throw back," "get out," "put on," and "put on." When they can give these verbs in order without your aid, proceed to the sentences in part B. Go over them yourself before the class begins to rehearse. Then begin with "It is six o'clock" and let the class sa}^ the sentence. Follow with "I must get up" ; "I throw b^ck the bed-clothes" ; "I get out of bed" ; *^I put on my pants"; "I put on my stockings and shoes." M As soon as the class is able to rehearse part B, join this to part A, and let the class begin with the first sentence, "I awake from sleep," and proceed in order, sentence by sentence, till the pupils say, "I put on my stockings and shoes." You will find that it is necessary for you to lead the class through parts A and B two or three times before they fully comprehend your idea. They will soon understand and will rehearse in order these two sections. Now proceed to part C. Begin by pronouncing In succession the six verbs, then go back and say, "wash," and encourage the class to say it ; follow with "comb," "put on," "put on," "open," "go down." When the class can rehearse these in order, take up the sentences. Go over the six sentences alone first of all, and then begin with, "I wash my- self," and have the class repeat it ; follow with, "I comb my hair" ; "I put on my collar and necktie" ; "I put on my vest and coat"; "I open the door of my bedroom" ; "I go down stairs." When the class is able to rehearse part C fairly well, join it to parts A and B, then begin with the 26 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS first sentence, "I awake from sleep," and proceed through the lesson, sentence by sentence, until you come to, "I go down stairs." It will be necessary for you to rehearse this three or four times, but you will soon have the joy of hearing the class going through the seventeen sentences without any oral aid from you, save only the prompting that comes from your acting. The class now knows the lesson. The proper sound of each of the fifty words* taught them is in the pupils' ears. They have spoken audibly each word and each sentence. Some cannot pronounce "the," "throw," "vest," "watch," distinctly. You see and you hear their mispronunciation. Call their at- tention to it. Show them how you fix your lips and your teeth to pronounce these words. Ask them to do the same, and you will be astonished how soon the pupils acquire correct enunciation if you give them clear and simple direction. But the important part in the work thus far done is that each pupil has had correct pronunciation of each word. It is in his ear and it will guide him in his efforts to reproduce the same. The first step — oral training — is done. We are now ready to take the second: S. Reading Exercise You now take your chart of the "First Lesson." Hang it where each pupil can see it. Take the first *The pupil has learned fifty words in the first lesson, viz., 14 verbs, 19 nouns, 9 prepositions, 3 pronouns, an article, a conjunction and a numeral. In the grammar lesson to be given in conjunction with this lesson the pupils will learn thirteen other pronouns. This makes a total of sixty words. TEACHING THE LESSON 37 lesson in the leaflets, and give a copy to each member in the class. The pupils now see the lesson in print for the first time. Let them read it. You stand by the chart and point out word after word as you read. Go through the lesson twice or three times in this way. Then ask the pupils to lay down their leaflets and look at the chart. Try their reading capacity by pointing to the verbs, choosing one here and there as your judgment suggests. Then go to the sentences and do the same. Point to the third, then to the seventh, then to the last. Pass from one line to the other in rapid succession, testing their power to read and recognize the words and sentences which they all know and can speak. This exercise should not take more than five or ten minutes. You will be guided by the capacity of the class to read any word or sentence at sight as soon as you point to it. When you are satisfied that they can read the lesson or any part of it fairly well, the second step is completed and we are ready to take the third. 3. Writing Practice Ask each pupil to turn over the leaflet. Here he finds the same lesson in script form. Each student has a blank book and a pencil or pen. Tell him to copy the lesson, and immediately the class is busy writing the lesson each one knows. While the writing exercise goes on, the teacher and his assistant will pass from pupil to pupil and see how he can aid each one. Here is Tony holding his pen as if it were a hammer: show him the better 38 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS way to hold his pen. See, Casimir is inserting some Greek letters for English ones, and Kaspar in his hurry is using German script. Correct them. I have seen very ludicrous errors in this practice of writing, and you will see some funny ones: never laugh at them. Come to the pupil with encourage- ment. Help him to compare what he writes and what is on the printed page. He will possibly laugh — oftenest he is so earnest that he has no time to laugh. Your duty is to help, to encourage, to com- mend, to correct. There may be a pupil who excels all others in the matter of writing the exercise. Encourage him and as soon as you think he is capable, let him write one of the sentences from memory on the blackboard. In this way, you will lead the whole class to take a step forward from simply copying to writing sentences from dictation. All the scholars have written the lesson. You and your assistant have corrected all that need correc- tion, now we are ready for review work. 4. Lesson Review You go to the chart and by a simple arrangement you cover all the sentences in the lesson with a sheet of paper, leaving visible the verbs on the left of the sheet. You ask the class, "What was the first sentence in our lesson.?" The pupils reply, "I awake from sleep." Uncover the sentence as if to see if it is correct; then you say, "Right, and now what is the second?" "I open my eyes." Move your paper and TEACHING THE LESSON 39 show the sentence. "Correct," you say, "and then what follows?" "I look for my watch," uncover the sentence and say, "Good, that's right, and then what?" etc. You go through the lesson in this way, carrying on a conversation between yourself and the class somewhat after the following: Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil "Give me the first sentence in our les- son." "I awake from sleep." "Good, what is the second?" "I open my eyes." "Correct, and then what?" "I look for my watch." "Right, and then what follows?" "I find my watch." "That's right, and then you say?" "I see what time it is." "All right, and now what comes?" "It is six o'clock." "Fine, and what then?" "I must get up." "Good, and then what?" "I throw back the bed-clothes." "First-rate; and then what is done?" "I get out of bed." "Right, and now what?" "I put on my pants." "Correct, and then what ?" "I put on my stockings and shoes." "Good ; and what follows ?" "I wash myself." "That's it; and now what?" "I comb my hair." "Well done; and now what follows?" "I put on my collar and necktie." 40 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher Pupil Teacher "Good ; and then ?'* "I put on my vest and coat." "Fine; and what follows?" "I open the door of my bedroom.' "That's right ; and then ?" "I go down stairs." "Good; the lesson is done." The teacher should be careful, during the progress of this lesson, to uncover sentence after sentence as the class gives the phrase asked for. This adds in- terest to the review, and it makes vivid the com- ments of the teacher which are interjected in the progress of the review. Let the teacher now compare the phrases he inter- jects in the progress of the review with those forming the body of the lesson. They are wholly different in character. They pertain to the judgments of the mind, pronounced as the students perform their part, and the relation between these two kinds of phrases is similar to that between the person who acts and the one who sits in judgment upon him. The rela- tionship is still closer. Language is one and so is each personality. But as in each personality there are two persons : the one acting, the other sitting in judgment ; so in language there are two distinct lan- guages: the one pertains to external things, the other to the judgments of the mind regarding these external realities. Now, it is easy to put the first kind of speech into lesson forms that will hold the interest of the foreigner, but it would be well-nigh impossible to put the other in such form as to make it intelligible to him. But in our review work there TEACHING THE LESSON 41 is ample opportunity for the introduction of phrases pertaining to the judgments of the mind, and if these are judiciously introduced, the class will soon be versed in their use, and thus become familiar not only with the phrases in the lessons relating to con- crete realities, but also with those interjected which relate to the judgments of the mind. If the teacher reflects he will see how large a part this reaction of, the mind upon external reali- ties plays in language. In the first ten lessons sim- ple expressions should be used, such as, "right," "good," "capital," "first-rate," "fine," "that's right," "that's excellent," "wrong," "that's not right," "try again," "that's better," and the phrases, "and then — ," "what follows — ," "what next — ." In Chapter VI other relative phrases are given which can be used by the teacher in the course. The review is over ; we are ready to proceed to the final step. 5. The Grammar Lesson The students should be trained in grammatical forms. Practice in grammar should be introduced in connection witli each lesson. The grammar les- son should never be given alone ; it should always be attached to what the pupils already know. Gram- mar lessons in an abstract form will drive away any body of men, but attach the lesson in grammar to what the pupil already knows and immediately he is interested in the changes introduced. He sees their practical application, and before he knows that he 42 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS is learning grammar, he is interested and wiU con- tinue to study the changes incident to varied rela- tions in life.* The following is the grammatical lesson to be in- troduced in connection with the first lesson. The first personal pronoun is used throughout the lesson. Tell the pupils that there are three per- sons in the English language as in their native tongue : I, you, he ; we, you, they. Ask them to substitute "you" for "I" and go through the lesson. You awake from sleep. You open your eyes. The pupils will say in the second sentence, "You opeii my eyes." Stop them and say, "No, you open your eyes." Then write on the blackboard the per- sonal and possessive pronouns. I — my we — our you — your you — your he — his they — their Continue the lesson with the second person singular. When you come to sentence thirteen, "I wash my- self," the scholars will hesitate. Help them: "You wash yourself," and again write the reflexive pro- noun alongside the possessive pronoun on the black- board. myself ourselves yourself yourselves himself themselves *The teacher should not teach grammar in the way I have found some men trying to do. They begin by saying, "This is a noun," "This is a verb," etc., and then define the parts of speech. The instruc- tion in the book is designed to help the teachers to graft grammar practice upon each lesson without telling the pupil it is grammar — introduce it as diversion. TEACHING THE LESSON 43 Then substitute "he" in the place of "I." The pupils will say in the first sentence, "He awake from sleep." Stop them and say, "No. He awakes from sleep." Go to the blackboard and write down the word awakes, thus, "awake - s," calling the attention of the pupils to the addition of s, the variable element in the verb. They will comprehend and proceed through the lesson. Then take the first sentence, "I awake from sleep," and conjugate the verb in the present tense indicative, thus: I awake from sleep. We awake from sleep. You awake from sleep. You awake from sleep. He awakes from sleep. They awake from sleep. Do the same with the other sentences. Do not be afraid this will prove monotonous to the students. They will make mistakes and you will have oppor- tunity to correct them in a happy vein which will keep up the interest of the class. The practice is of importance in order that the pupils may get the grammatical sense of which we spoke above. This ends the lesson. How long will it take the average group to mas- ter this first lesson.? We have taught it to a group of Polish young men in an hour. True, they com- plained that their "jaws were sore," but they went through every part of it as outlined above. It took an hour and a half with a group not as quick to learn as the Polish young men referred to, but these less apt scholars got it in that time. The teacher 44 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS may find it impossible to go through the lesson as above outlined in one session of an hour and a half; then he had better curtail the grammar part, reserv- ing this for the second evening. We have outlined the way the lesson is to be taught. Of course, the teacher must use tact and judgment. The system herein proposed is a tool to be used by the teacher. If he can rise above the plan herein proposed, so much the better for the class, if he attains greater efficiency. What the teacher should always remember is, that a hap- hazard, disorderly method of teaching will never succeed. He must be masterful, confident in his own powers, and conscious that he has a duty to per- form each time he appears before the class. Almost invariably the question is asked by teach- ers, who know not the language of the foreigners whom they teach, "Must we use an interpreter?" If you are a good actor, no. If you lack the power to interpret the lesson by acting, then you had bet- ter get an interpreter. But remember he is your assistant and not your leader. An interpreter, who is discreet and sympathetic, can be of great service to hold the men together and can aid the teacher in many ways. In the classroom, however, the more English the students hear and practice, the better. They are there to learn our language and the best way to master it is to conduct all the work in the English language. After the first two or three les- sons have been learned by the pupils, the service of the interpreter, as far as the lessons are concerned, will no longer be necessary. TEACHING THE LESSON 45 I repeat, bring into the classroom the objects re- ferred to in the lesson. Let the pupils see the object and let the teacher go through the activity described, using the implements named. If this is well done, not a member in the class will leave the room without a clear idea of what is taught, and everyone will re- member the language in which the ideas were clothed. CHAPTER IV ACTION IN THE CLASSROOM I N the previous chapter I have said that the teacher -*• should act out the lesson. This is so impor- tant that it deserves special emphasis. Every good teacher has an actor in him, and, besides clearness of expression, action is so well adapted to the word taught that the students are never at a loss to com- prehend what is described. Many good men, ex- tremely anxious to help the foreign-speaking man to learn English, fail in this very quality. They will not act, they stand or sit in a good-natured way in the classroom, and patiently repeat the words, but they fail in action. If they could only be made to move hand and foot, head and body, and gesticulate, new life would come into their teaching. This was very well illustrated in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. A class was dwindling, although the teacher was a good man. The organizer in charge of the work went to see what was the cause of the falling off. He interviewed an Italian, who was a member of the class, and asked him why the men kept away; he replied: "The teacher has na gotta steam." The man lacked the ability to act. If the lesson took hold of him so that it came out in his hands and feet and the move- ments of his body, the criticism that he had no steam would never have been made. Act out the lesson and don't be afraid to make yourself ludicrous if by it you 4.8 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS will unloosen the tongues of men and make them talk our beautiful language. If you teach the first lesson, don't forget your watch. One of our teachers lay down, closed his eyes and snored and awoke from sleep. The stu- dents laughed, but they all knew what the first sen- tence meant. He said, "I open my eyes," and suited the action to the word so admirably that some of the men in the class closed their eyes and opened them as they repeated the sentence. He then looked for his watch in a way that everyone felt that the search was going on ; he found the watch, and the tone of his voice as well as the expression of his eyes told of the discovery more clearly than the words he uttered. He then opened the case of the watch and said: "I see what time it is," and all the men knew what he meant and repeated the phrase after him. When he came to the second part, he pointed to the watch and said, "It is six o'clock." He then made a gesture that showed resolution, "I must get up" — the will was seen in his hahds as well as in his eyes. He then lay down again and used his overcoat and an old cur- tain as bedding; he threw these aside and said: "I throw back the bed-clothes" and the men smiled and moved in their seats ; he repeated the act and had the satisfaction of seeing their faces radiant with intel- ligence — they understood what he meant. Then he got out of bed and said, "I get out of bed." Bed — did they understand what the word meant.? The teacher took no chances. He had a picture of a bed with him, he showed it to the men and said: "bed"; he lay down again on two chairs and made a gesture ACTION IN THE CLASSROOM 49 "sleep in bed," "get out of bed," and illustrated the act so that no man having eyes could misinterpret the action, and none of the class did. When he came to the dressing operation, he pulled up his trousers as he said, "I put on my pants," and the same with his stockings and shoes ; the teacher knew that his efforts were fruitful; for not only did the men recite, but they also followed him in action ; every pupil watched him as the hunter does the prey, and no sooner was he illustrating a sentence by gesture, than he saw the same action in the mercurial members of the class, while the more stolid felt the impulse in a marked degree. When the teacher came to the last part of the lesson, his task was easy. There was a small washbowl on the chair and he stood over it in the act of washing his face and hands and said, "I wash my- self." He then took a comb and said, "comb," "comb," and began combing his hair while he re- peated the sentence, "I comb my hair." The act of putting on his collar and necktie, his vest and coat, were dramatized as every other part of the lesson. When he illustrated, "I open the door of my bed- room," he took the knob of the door and opened it, repeating the sentence slowly ; and he illustrated the last sentence by pointing to the stairs leading to the cellar and said, "I go down stairs." That teacher needed no interpreter. He could ex- plain all by action. He made himself ludicrous — yes, but also very dear to the foreign-born in the class. They saw in him a man, anxious to help and willing to make himself all things if only he might bring them to a knowledge of what he wanted to teach. There 50 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS is no theater where genuine human nature can show itself more readily than a classroom in which foreign- speaking men are taught English, and no body of men is keener either to perceive the shallow or to appreciate the true qualities of a teacher. One of our teachers was doing his best to explain to a class the word "soundly" in the phrase "I sleep soundly all night." He had tried various ways, but he saw by the faces of his pupils that they did not understand ; he then closed his eyes and tried to open them and failed, and instantly one of the brightest scholars jumped up and said, "Me know, sleep like h ," He grasped the idea and expressed it in his own way, and instantly helped the teacher to bring every other member of the class into line. Many things must sound very funny to the foreign-born when they learn the sounds of our tongue. I have seen them look at each other and smile, but whenever they have faith in the teacher and feel that he is earnest in his work, they invariably sober down and mark progress. Let us look a moment at the second lesson, "Get- ting wood to light the fire." The teacher, when teaching this, should provide himself with a small hatchet, a stick of wood, a small chopping block, and a small basket ; thus equipped he can in an interesting and speedy way make every member of the class fol- low him, comprehend each sentence, and after they have learnt the lesson, no matter what part of the operation the teacher reiterates in action, the men will clothe it in speech. I recall having taught a group of foreigners this lesson, and on the afternoon of the following day I visited the works where they ACTION IN THE CLASSROOM 51 were employed. The superintendent knew that some of the men had been to school and wondered whether or not any of the lesson remained in their memory. Two of the scholars were called aside, I took a hatchet and raised it and instantly they said, "I raise the hatchet" ; I brought it down and they said, "I bring down the hatchet," I laid it aside and they said, "I put away the hatchet." When I went through the lesson in pantomime form, the men gave us the sen- tences as taught them the night before; the lesson was there in the mind in perfect order, and I also showed the superintendent that it had not pushed out the first from their memory, for the moment I began to act out the first lesson, sentence after sentence came. Objectify the lesson by taking to the class- room every object mentioned in it, and every lesson will be instinct with life. But I hear the objection, "It is not always possi- ble to get objects to illustrate the lesson, for instance, grandmother and grandfather, what then?" One teacher illustrated these persons so well by borrow- ing a Santa Glaus wig and beard and walking in a decrepit manner with a cane, that every member in the class knew what he meant by grandfather and grandmother. Another teacher was a bit of an artist, and never was at a loss to make the class understand what he had in mind. Some of the sketches he put on the blackboard would have been good material for the comic page, but they served the purpose. A teacher in a western city was at a loss to illustrate some parts of the lessons; he had considerable distance to go to the foreign colony 52 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS where the class was conducted and did not care to burden himself with miniature objects; he had, how- ever, a catalogue of one of the large department stores in his home and from it he clipped a series of pictures of the articles mentioned in the lessons; he then pasted them on cardboards and brought the illustrations to the classroom. They served the pur- pose admirably. When the lessons on buying a stamp, buying a railroad ticket, depositing money in the bank, were to be taught, he went to these vari- ous institutions and secured samples of the articles sold or used, and went through the transaction as naturally as if the alien were actually in the act of buying, etc. A superintendent of a steel mill was so interested in the advancement of a group of his men, that he taught them the lesson, "Lighting the fire." There was a stove in the room, he had matches, paper and wood, but there was no coal on hand. He took out his pocketbook which was black and fat and made it play the part of coal. Everything went on fine, and at the close of the lesson a bright pupil said, "Me like coal," and pointed to the pocketbook. One of the finest efforts to make lessons for foreign- speaking workers perfectly clear, has been perfected by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coal Com- pany, at their mines in Scranton, Pa. The lessons are on coal mining, the cause of accidents, and the laws regulating mining. The company, anxious to help the men, incurred the expense of taking more than 200 pictures of situations in which men were injured because of violation of either state laws or company rules. Cuts were made of these pictures and ACTION IN THE CLASSROOM 53 lessons, setting forth in simple English the cause of the accidents and how the men could have avoided them. The lessons and illustrations were then put into book form which is now being used by the for- eign-speaking employees of the company. While describing the industrial series on page 22, I said that the teacher of constructive ability will find little difficulty in preparing lessons descriptive of the work of men in particular plants. This has been done. When the course was used in a construction camp where hundreds of foreigners were employed in mixing cement and building concrete structures, the teacher got the carpenter to make a box which well illustrated the mixer, then miniature boxes repre- sented the wheelbarrows ; some stone and cement were brought to the classroom, and the lesson was so pre- sented that all the terms used in the operation were taught the men. When the operation of putting together the concrete was illustrated, a string was stretched across the room, a miniature basket was run along this, and lowered to the imagined place where the mixture was dumped into the framework. All the terms used in hoisting, lowering, dumping, packing, etc., were brought into the lesson and the men made familiar with them. Did it pay? Yes. The company thought so and encouraged the work, for the men in the English class were more intelli- gent and better able to take care of themselves than the men who were deaf to the terms used in the oper- ation. In a nursery, where between fifty and sixty Magyars and Poles were employed, the teacher and the author made a series of six lessons pertaining to 54 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS the work the men performed — the care of horses, plowing, planting, weeding, etc., and the students saw the practicability of the lessons, while the words and phrases they were taught came into daily use. The expense attached to the work was gladly borne by the company ; the superintendent encouraged the work, he supplied all necessary equipment, and took a personal interest in the teaching, for he knew that it was an investment that paid a hundred- fold. An- other corporation in the steel business wanted its men in the yard to learn English, and in order to facilitate the work, brought together a list of illustrations from catalogues of firms making locomotives, cars, cranes, chains, tracks, hooks, pulleys, etc., to use in the class- room, so that the lessons were made more real to the students than they would have been without the illus- trations. There is no lesson and no sphere of human activity which cannot be illustrated if only the teacher puts a little thought and time into the prep- aration of the lesson. One of the most successful teachers I knew prac- ticed his lesson before he went to the classroom. He knew each lesson from beginning to end, he studied how best to act out the various parts, he carefully prepared himself by going through the necessary gestures, he felt he had something to give the men and knew how to give it. That class was a success. The foreigners swore by their teacher. The progress the men made was remarkable, and the men showed their appreciation of his efforts by giving him a gold- mounted fountain pen. All men are not equally gifted in the capacity to teach, but we all can do our ACTION IN THE CLASSROOM 55 best. I know a teacher who carried a formidable weapon in his pocket, while he taught a group of foreigners for $2 per night. When asked, "Why do you go armed?" he answered, "I do not know what they may do, they are dangerous fellows." That man was not fit to teach foreigners. Another teacher, when among a group of foreigners, became so frightened when one of them closed the door of the room that he instantly fled for life. Men of this type can never convey knowledge. We must believe in the foreign-speaking man, put ourselves at his service, plan and devise all possible ways to illustrate what we have to teach, sit patiently with him, awaken the man in him, and the hour will come when the teacher feels that he has a troop of friends that will cling closer than a brother. A bright young man gave a winter to this work in a large city. He taught a group of Poles and gave them the best that was in him. They learnt much English, but they got infinitely more from that young man than words and phrases. They learnt to love him and see in him the Christian gen- tleman. He also learnt to know the foreigner bet- ter and felt that "God is no respecter of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him." Never in his life did he feel the cords of friendship bind him more firmly to men than in this work. He knew full well that should there be an occasion for these men to manifest their affection for him, they would indeed risk their lives in his behalf. It is by doing good we project goodness. Let the teacher study ,how to teach, how to make the men understand, how to throw 56 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS his soul and body into the lesson he teaches, and he will preach the message of holy work that will react powerfully upon the lives of men in goodness and virtue. CHAPTER V SIDELIGHTS WHILE TEACHING I HE course in preparatory English printed in '*' leaflet form is not designed to tie the hands of the teacher and suppress his individuality and in- genuity. He can depart from the prescribed course if he does so discreetly. I believe it is best to teach the lesson as prepared and see that the pupils know it, but while this is the main purpose of the evening, the teacher should be alert and never fail to use opportunities to enlarge the pupil's vocabulary by sidelights suggested by the laws of memory. It requires considerable skill to stand a pole on end, but it is easy to stand a tripod. One word placed in the memory is hard to retain, but put two or three related words there and they are easily retained. While the teacher presents the lesson, he will find opportunities to throw in extra words which are suggested by those in the lesson. This should be done in a cheerful way and he will find his reward in the light reflected from the eyes of his brightest pupils. Of course, he must be discreet in the use of this poy^er, for one may be tempted to lose sight of the main purpose of the session and go off^ on a tangent. I will illustrate what I mean by taking up lesson three in Series A. The lesson is "Lighting the fire." I stand before the class and tell the men what the lesson of the evening is. "Light," the room is light, gas light, or 58 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS electric light — light; the opposite is dark. Fire: fire is hot, it burns, and I put my hand on the stove and say, "fire, hot, burns." "Lighting the fire." 1 now take the first part of the lesson and teach it after the manner described in Chapter IIL In the sentence, "I put some paper into the stove," I hold the paper and say "newspaper," "we read news- papers," and then proceed to put the paper in the stove and pronounce the sentence clearly and dis- tinctly. I come to the sentence, "I put some wood on the paper," I hold the wood and say, "wood from tree"; "tree," and I point to the one in the yard outside : "wood — tree," and I proceed with the action and pronounce the sentence. I am through the first part and am now teaching the second. I come to the sentence, "The wood catches fire"; "catches" and I say "the man catches the ball, the pitcher catches the ball, the pitcher throws the ball : catches — throws" : "the wood catches fire," and proceed. In the sentence, "I put coal on the wood," I take up the word "coal" ; coal is black, the contrast is white, I point to the paper, black — white, "I put coal on the wood" and go on. We are through the first and second parts; now I take up the third and here again I can suggest a few extra words by way of contrast: "The stove gets warm," warm — cold : warm, by the stove ; cold, out- side ; "the stove gets warm," and continue the lesson. In the phrase, "The fire is lighted," I dwell a moment on "is lighted" and say, "the gas is lighted, the lamp is lighted" ; "the fire is lighted in the stove." The lesson is finished, but the students have eleven SIDELIGHTS WHILE TEACHING 59 more words than the lesson contains and they were suggested by way of contr ast, si milarity, contij light — dark; warm — cold; black— white; catches- throws ; gas light — electric light ; wood — tree ; fire — gas — lamp. These words were thrust in as side- lights, they were given the students as we passed along on the main highway of the evening. I did not ask the class to give these words back to me; they concentrated their thought upon the lesson and my main purpose was to get them to rehearse it in a clear and accurate way, but I lodged some other words in their minds; in a short while, these other words associated with the ones in the lesson will come to the surface, called up again from the deep by my simply asking for the opposite of light, hard, black, etc. The human mind is a wonderful casket; cast into it to-day precious gems and you may think that they are lost, but on occasions least expected they rise to the surface and enrich our lives. The teacher should never neglect the opportunity of throwing in some words as sidelights, but he should also be care- ful not to do it too often, for if it distracts the mind too much it will do more harm than good. Let it be done as a diversion and never ask the pupils to rehearse the additional words, see that you do not dwell too long upon them. These addenda, by the way, should be introduced as a skilful piano player tactfully introduces a few flourishes in the accom- paniment, but never do you miss in his playing the main theme in the selection. The teacher should see that the lesson is taught, but while skilfully leading the class to that achievement, let him put in here and 60 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS there a few variations which will add considerably to the interest of the performance. The teacher, in the choice of these variations, should choose them in a natural way. The mind loves order and works according to laws, and the sug- gested words which are to be introduced should come to the mind of the teacher in a natural way as he studies the lessons and prepares himself for class work. He should make a note of the suggestions which come to his mind, select the best from among them and give them to the students. The more direct the connection between the word in the lesson and the suggested word, the better. Certain principles give us direct connection. Take lesson six ; we have the word "sugar" and immediately it suggests "sweet" ; the relation between sugar and sweet is that of cause and effect, and this is one of the great laws by which the mind works. Another principle equally direct and used unconsciously by all men, foreign as well as native-bom, Polish as well as English, is that of means to an end. In the same lesson we have the word "knife," and immediately it suggests "cut," for that is the purpose of the tool, and if the teacher, when teaching this sentence, simply takes the knife in hand and makes the gesture as if cutting some- thing, the class will immediately understand him and will remember "cuts" as associated with "knife," for that is the way it lies in their experience. Another principle is the coupling of two things in the experi- ences of life ; here again the connection is most direct. In the first lesson we have the word "sleep"; imme- diately the word "night" suggests itself, for we sleep SIDELIGHTS WHILE TEACHING 61 in the night; in the same lesson we have the word "shoes" and immediately the word "feet" comes to the mind, for shoes and feet go together. I will mention one more principle, that of contrast. Take lesson five, in which we find the word "near" and imme- diately the word "far" suggests itself by way of con- trast. We have the word "square" and at once the opposite "round" comes to mind. And we may feel sure that these laws which rule in our minds are also regnant in the mind of the foreigner, for his thinking machine was made by the same Hand that made ours. We have thus mentioned four principles by which the direct relation between words are traced. There are others but the teacher will do well to bear these in mind and by their aid look for a few sidelights in the lesson he prepares for the classroom. I wish every teacher might memorize the four principles above described and for his convenience they are brought together and illustrated. (1) Cause and Effect : as rain, wet ; frost, cold. (2) Means to an End: as razor, shave ; pen, write. (3) Coexistence : as rain, umbrella ; cold, overcoat. (4) Contrast: as white, black; high, low. It is needless to warn the teacher that the use of all material in the classroom needs discretion. When a class is new and the men incapable of forming any English sentences, it would be unwise to introduce any extras. These men for the first three or four evenings will get all they can attend to in the regular lessons. The work will be new, the method of instruc- tion is different from that they saw in school in the 62 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS days of their childhood, they will be suspicious of everything, some may be critical, and the teacher must remove their suspicion, allay their criticism, gain their confidence by producing results, for these alone will appeal to the practical judgment of the foreigners. When the men are familiar with the system, when they and the teacher know each other as friends, when they find themselves gaining rapidly in the use of English words and the power to form sentences, then introduce the variations and they will be appreciated by the pupils. As the work progresses the teacher should also learn to play skilfully on the verb. This will afford as amusing an exercise as one can imagine. Take the verb "open," how many of us think in what a variety of ways we use that little word. I open the door; I open the book ; I open the bottle ; I open my mouth ; I open the way ; I open the lock ; I open the box ; I open the cut ; the mayor opens the park ; the govern- ment opens the canal ; the operator opens the fac- tory; and in addition we have the figurative use of the word, as in phrases such as, to open one's under- standing ; to open one's heart to a friend ; to open a passage of Scripture ; to open a question. Besides this transitive use of the verb, the intransitive form gives us an equal variety of usage, such as, the door opens ; the wound opens ; the earth opens ; the flower opens ; etc. The students, when they come to Series B, will be able to appreciate some sentence building around common verbs which they have used again and again in the progress of the lessons. It is inter- esting exercise for the pupils. Let the teacher put a SIDELIGHTS WHILE TEACHING 63 common verb on the blackboard and ask the men to build simple sentences around it, and immediately they will be interested. A capable teacher was in the habit of doing this and then acting as in the game of charades, asking the pupils to form a sentence descriptive of what he was doing, using in it the verb on the blackboard. He wrote the word "open," took a bottle and acted the part of opening it, and one of the men in the class shouted : "I open the door of the bottle." That was a good effort. Another wrote the word "begin" and acted as if he began the day's work; an Italian in the class responded: "I be-gin-me the work" ; there was a laugh, but he was on his way to learning English. Play on the common verbs which are constantly used by us in daily con- versation, so that the brother of foreign speech may become familiar with the variety of uses made of them. In this connection also it is well to suggest the use of games in which the linguistic powers of the men may be developed. One of the teachers of foreigners has several games which he has his men play. They are children's games but the men find diversion in the use of them. They guess what the leader has in mind, he telling some of the qualities of the article ; when the right answer is given, the leader then asks one of the men to tell all he knows about the object. A simple story is made up by each student supplying a word as the teacher asks for a noun, a verb, an adjective, a pronoun and a conjunction; these he writes on a slip of paper and then reads it to the amusement of the class. The nature of the game 64 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS must be adapted to the capacity of the students ; the teacher also must have tact and skill in leading men in such a game so as to secure the maximum result as far as amusement and instruction are concerned. When the class is studying Series B and C, the con- versation cards accompanying these series are to be used as a game. The sentences are simple and they relate to the game. If used discreetly they will aid the students in the arts of reading and conversation, as well as afford the teacher an admirable oppor- tunity to correct the pronunciation and the enuncia- tion of the men. The teacher should speed up the pupils when the conversation cards are used so that they may promptly reply to the question asked, and thus aid the brain and the tongue in the use of English. He should also be watchful that the stu- dents give the correct answer and for this purpose he must keep ever near him the guiding card. The use of the cards, however, is to be regarded as that of a crutch — a thing to be laid aside when it has served its purpose; and the skilful teacher will not depend too much upon the cards, but will lead the men to simple conversation without the use of any visual sentences. It is important for the teacher to take some pains to correct the mispronunciation of the men. I knew a young man who for six months was trying to say the word "than" as an English-speaking man would pronounce it. When he did finally succeed in getting the right sound there was no happier man than he in the town. All the Germanic and Slavic peoples have considerable trouble with the "w," they invariably say SIDELIGHTS WHILE TEACHING 65 "west" for "vest." It takes time to correct the pecu- liarities of pronunciation of various peoples. The teacher, however, will soon be able to detect them in a group of twenty men as readily as the skilled con- ductor of a stringed band detects the slightest dis- cord on the part of one of the players. The difficulties experienced by foreign-speaking men in their effort to pronounce English accurately is as varied as their nationalities. The Finn has difficulty with certain sounds of which the Italian knows nothing, while the Syrian finds it hard to pronounce some letters which are easy to the Greek. It is the business of the teacher to note these peculiarities according to the ethnic character of the group he teaches, and from the very beginning guard his pupils against mispronunciation. The best way to help the students over their diffi- culties is to show them how we adjust our organs of speech when uttering certain sounds. Have them adjust the lips, teeth and tongue as they should be adjusted in trying to make the sounds you make. They will not be able to do it in a night and don't worry them by trying too often the same night. If they cannot get it after half a dozen trials, be cheer- ful and go on with the lesson. Next time you will again come to the same difficulty and again try by adjusting your lips and asking them to follow you. One of them gives you back the sound correctly and you say : "You have It ; good ! do it again," and it will not be long before each member of the class is able to make the sound correctly, but, of course, they will relapse into the old way when they forget they talk 66 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS English and the sounds of their mother tongue assert their supremacy. It is just as easy for the foreign-speaking to get the correct sound of Enghsh words as it is for them to acquire the incorrect. Thousands of foreigners take their first lesson in English from a fellow countryman who murders our speech. If every alien could be brought under the influence of some English-speaking person as soon as he comes into this country, it would be easy to teach him the correct pronunciation and enunciation, and all foreigners would talk so that we could understand them. I think it is a mistake to put a foreigner who cannot pronounce and enunciate the English language correctly and clearly, in charge of a class of foreigners. It is true that he can converse with them in their mother tongue, but I have known men taught English by their countrymen and the defective pronunciation they acquired in the classroom clings to them for life. Let the sympa- thetic, patient and large-hearted English-speaking teacher take this system, and if he has ingenuity to carry out the suggestions made in this and the last chapter, he will get along successfully although he cannot speak a word of the tongue of the men he teaches, and the pupils will get better pronunciation than if taught by a man who has not overcome the difficulties peculiar to his people in speaking the Eng- lish language. CHAPTER VI GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE I HE illustration given in the previous section, "*" showing how grammar can be introduced in conjunction with each lesson, is designed as a guide to the teacher throughout the course. No lesson should be given the pupils without its corresponding grammar practice. The exercises outlined in con- nection with the first lesson appear very simple to us, but they are not simple to the learner who begins the study of the English language. It is not enough to drill him in the use of the personal pronouns and the present tense indicative of the verbs in the first lesson only. This practice should be continued each time the class meets during the ten lessons of the "Domestic Series." Our aim should be, not simply to show the class the variations incident to the change of the pronouns or of the subject of the verb, but so to drill the student in these forms that he will in- stinctively observe these variations when the sub- ject or the complement of the verb is changed. This can be attained only by practice. The stu- dents will come in time to comprehend the rules of grammar, but they cannot be expected to do so when they begin their studies. Indeed, it would be unwise to inflict upon any student an abstract rule before he has secured such practice as to make the statement of the rule superfluous. Our course then is to give the class practice — constant practice, in 68 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS simple grammatical forms in the first ten lessons of the "Domestic Series." I. Grammar Lessons for First Series During the first three lessons of the first series, drill the class in the present tense indicative of every sentence which begins with the first personal pro- noun. Do not perplex the class with the use of "thou" for the second person singular. It is never used in colloquial English and its use will be ex- plained later. This will give the class practice in forty different sentences on three or four different evenings, and the uniformity with which the "s" is added to the verb in the third person singular will impress itself upon every mind. During this practice, try individual pupils now and again, and see if each can conjugate the tense correctly. If one makes an error, ask the class to correct him. In reviewing the first lesson — and each lesson should be reviewed before the next following is taught — write on the blackboard : I wash myself. You wash yourself. He washes himself. We wash ourselves. You wash yourselves. They wash themselves. and ask each one to write it down in his blank book. In the second lesson substitute "the man" in place of "I" and ask the class to go through the lesson. GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 69 Ask the class to write out the present tense in- dicative of the first sentence in the second lesson, in- serting the possessive pronoun before the word hatchet, thus : I look for my hatchet. You look for your hatchet. He looks for his hatchet. We look for our hatchet. You look for your hatchet. They look for their hatchet. If this is too difficult for the class, write it on the blackboard and ask them to copy the same in their books. Take the sentence, "Two pieces fall to the ground," and ask the class to begin with "One piece falls to the ground" and continue up to ten: thus, "One piece falls, etc.. Two pieces fall, etc., Three pieces fall, etc." In the third lesson substitute "the servant" for "I" and ask the class to go through the lesson. Change "The stove gets warm" to "I get warm" and ask the class to give you the present tense in- dicative. Write on the blackboard : I am getting warm. We are getting warm. You are getting warm. You are getting warm. He is getting warm. They are getting warm. and ask the class to copy it in their blank books. The class will be fairly familiar with the pronouns by this time. Between the fourth and fifth lessons 70 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS write the following table on the blackboard and let the class copy it in their blank books. ONE— Singular The Actor Acted Upon Noun The One With a Without a (Reflexive) Noun On the Actor Man and Woman I me my mine myself Man and Woman you you your yours yourself Man Only he him his his himself Woman Only she her her hers herself Thing it it its itself MORE THAN ONE— -Plural The Actors The Ones Acted Upon With a Noun Without a Noun (Reflexivk) On the Actors Men and Women we US our ours ourselves Men and Women you you your yours yourselves Men, Women and Things they them their theirs themselves The next step is to put this table into practice in the subsequent lessons in the first series, so that the pupils can use them readily and accurately. GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 71 In lesson four, substitute for "the wife" the pro- noun "she" in sentences 5, 11 and 18. Use the plural of wife in sentence 11, thus: "The wives pour boiling water on the coffee," and ask the students to use the pronoun "they" in the following four sen- tences. Take sentences 3 and 5, and write them on the blackboard as follows : "The kettle is empty and the wife fills it with water." Ask the class what did the wife do. In lesson five take sentences 11 and 12 and write them on the blackboard as follows : "The spoons are made of silver, some of them are small and some large." Ask what does them refer to ? Do the same with sentences 8 and 9 : "The knives are made of steel; they are sharp to cut with." Change this sentence to the singular: "The knife is made of steel; it is sharp to cut with." Ask what is the difference in these sentences. To what do ''they'' and "it'' refer? In lesson sixth, substitute "she" for "I," and ask the class to go through the lesson. Substitute "the men" for "I" and go through the lesson using the pronoun "they" in the M, 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th 72 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS sentences. This necessitates certain changes such as dropping the indefinite article, substituting the plural of nouns, and changing the possessive pro- nouns. See if the class can make these changes. If not, write the sentences on the blackboard and call attention to them. Now substitute for "the men," "the women," and go through the lesson. Ask why "they" is the same for "men" and "women" and refer to the table of pronouns which they copied a short time before. In lesson seventh, ask the class to use the pro- noun "he" as often as possible in going through the lesson. Write on the blackboard, "The man gets into the bathtub, it takes the soap." Ask the class if that is correct, if not, why not.'' Write on the blackboard : "The man comes home dirty, she w^lks into the house." and put the same questions. In the eighth lesson, ask the class to recite the numerals up to twenty. Write them on the black- board and see how the pupils can reproduce them in their blank books. Ask the class to conjugate in the present tense indicative the seventh sentence: I am learning a trade You are learning a trade, etc. Ask the class to write "two/' "too" and "to," and see if they observe any difference in their meaning in the lesson: "two boys," "too old" and "to write." GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 73 In the ninth lesson, write the following sentences on the blackboard: The father goes to the door; he opens the door. Mr. Smith is standing on the porch; the father shakes hands with him. Ask the class to tell to whom does "he" refer, and the same of "him." Put "Mrs. Smith" in place of "Mr. Smith" and what is the change to be made in the sentence? Put "mother" in place of "father" in the first sentence and what is the change needed in the sen- tence ? Call the class's attention to "Smith's hand," "his hand," and tell them that the phrase, "the hand of Mr. Smith," could be used. Write the following on the blackboard and have the class copy them in their blank books : man woman brother sister husband wife grandfather grandmother father mother uncle aunt son daughter nephew niece child (boy or girl) cousin (man or woman) In the tenth lesson, write the following sentences on the blackboard and ask any pupil to come to the blackboard and correct them: I reads the evening paper. I take off our shoes and our stockings. He closes your eyes to sleep. We take off its clothes. 74 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS Write the words, "stand before," "stand back of," "stand back," "stand up," "stand still," "stand straight," on the blackboard, and give the class an acting exhibition of their several meanings. Write the following words on the blackboard and let the pupils copy them : bed-room bed-clothes bed-stead bed-ding bed-post bed-gown bed-side bed-fellow bed-tick bed-time bed-quilt If the grammar work outlined in connection with the ten lessons of the "Domestic Series" is faithfully done, the students will possess a fair knowledge of the pronouns and their use, also the use of the present tense indicative, and their minds will have been prepared for still more advanced work in the subsequent lessons. We have gone into detail in specifying how gram- mar work can be grafted on each lesson, in order that the teacher may, in the next twenty lessons, put the same methods into practice and train the students in the elements of grammar we shall now mention. II. Grammar Lessons for Second Series The teacher in taking the second ten' lessons of the "Industrial Series" should aim at progress, and the next step should be to lead the class to write GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 75 simple sentences either from memory or from the teacher's dictation. In order to facilitate this pro- cess, we have not prepared large charts for the series, but leave it to the teacher to have the lesson read from the leaflets and then supplement the writ- ing practice by dictating simple sentences to the pupils. In place of the review use the cards for conversational practice and introduce relative sen- tences as in review work in the first series. See p. 41. The grammar lessons to be grafted on the second series pertain to : 1. The Plural of Nouns 2. The Comparison of Adjectives S. The Past and Future Tenses of the Verb 1. The Plural of Nouns The following are the ways the plural of nouns is formed: The simplest way is by adding s to the singular: eye, eye-s. When the noun ends in s, x, z, sh and ch soft, you cannot form the plural without an additional sylla- ble, hence, es is used : glass, glasses ; box, boxes ; fez, fezzes ; brush, brushes ; arch, arches. This same rule applies to verbs in the third person singular of the present tense indicative, and for the same reason : I miss, he misses, etc. Nouns ending in ?/ preceded by a consonant change the 7/ to i and add es : sky, skies. Some nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant 76 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS form the plural by adding es : hero, heroes ; others take s only, as solo, solos. The following nouns ending in / or fe change the / or fe into ves in forming the plural: wife, wives; life, lives ; shelf, shelves ; self, selves ; leaf, leaves ; calf, calves ; half, halves ; loaf, loaves ; elf, elves ; beef, beeves ; wolf, wolves ; thief, thieves. The following words are irregular in the forma- tion of their plural : ox, oxen ; child, children ; foot, feet ; tooth, teeth ; man, men ; woman, women ; mouse, mice ; louse, lice ; goose, geese. These rules, governing the formation of the plural of nouns, are not given here in order that the teacher may give them in this way to the class of foreigners in his charge. They are rather given for his con- venience, in order that he may apply them to nouns found in the lessons, for the rule laid down in a former section of this book must not be forgotten — to graft your grammar practice upon the lesson known to the pupil. The pupils already know many nouns which illustrate these rules. The simplest, the plural formed by s, may be freely illustrated in any lesson. They learn, in the first ten lessons, the following nouns, demanding es in the formation of the plural: watch, match, glass, porch. The word "family" in lesson eight illustrates an- other rule. The nouns "wife" in lesson four, and "knife" in lesson five, illustrate another form. The nouns "man" in lesson seven and "children" in lesson eight illustrate the irregulars. GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 77 In the lessons of the "Industrial Series" oppor- tunities will be found to illustrate the various ways of forming the plural of nouns. The teacher should not let one of these pass without improving it. The regular formation of the plural will be soon known to the students ; the following nouns, together with analogous ones above taken from the lessons in the "Domestic Series," will bring the other ways of formation of the plural to their attention. Lesson 2. "Fore-man" — "fore-men"; put on black- board "fore-woman" — "fore-women." Lesson 3. "Foot" — "feet"; "brush" — "brushes"; "pol- ish" — "polishes" ; "dry" — "dries." Lesson 4. "Match" — "matches"; "butty" — "butties." Lesson 5. "Push" — "pushes." If you think the class can comprehend, illustrate the difference between "rise" and "raise." Lesson 6. "Go" — "goes"; "watchman" — "watchmen"; "boss" — "bosses" ; "carry" — "carries." Lesson 7. "Go" — "goes" ; "foreman" — "foremen" ; "IH"^"I will"; explain a.m. and p.m. Lesson 8. "Agency" — "agencies" ; "go" — "goes" ; "money" — "moneys"; explain "blacksmith's shop" and give other form. Lesson Q. "Foot" — "feet" ; analogous "tooth" — "teeth," "goose" — "geese"; "cry" — "cries"; "carry" — "carries" ; "dress" — "dresses." Lesson 10. "Workman" — "workmen"; "family" — "families" ; "child" — "children" ; "wife" — "wives." We give some words used as verbs in the lessons under contemplation, for the reason that the forma- tion of the third person singular indicative comes 78 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS under the same rules as the formation of the plural of nouns, so that examples of either kind illustrate the application of the rules, and the pupils will be able to see how in both cases the variations are made. 2. The Comparison of Adjectives Adjectives modify nouns. The qualities of objects are subject to degrees, and so the adjectives descrip- tive of these qualities must express the relative de- gree possessed by the object. Adjectives have three degrees: the positive, the comparative and the superlative. The positive degree is that possessed by the ad- jective in its simple form: white, beautiful. The comparative degree shows that one of two objects possesses the quality named in a higher or lower degree than the other: whiter, less beautiful. The superlative degree shows that the object re- ferred to possesses the quality named in the highest or lowest degree as compared with all others: whitest, least beautiful. There are three ways of expressing the compari- son of adjectives: (1) Adjectives of one syllable and many of two syllables form the comparative by adding r or er, and the superlative by adding st or est to the simple form : white, whiter, whitest ; noble, nobler, noblest ; long, longer, longest; narrow, narrower, narrowest. (2) Adjectives of two or more syllables form the comparative by placing "more" or "less," and the superlative by placing "most" or "least," before GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 79 the simple form: glorious, more glorious, most glorious ; less glorious, least glorious ; diligent, more diligent, most diligent; less diligent, least diligent. (3) Some adjectives express the comparative and superlative degrees in an irregular manner: good, better, best; bad, worse, worst. The second series will afford ample opportunities to illustrate these ways of comparing adjectives: Lesson 1. "Fast," "faster/' "fastest"; opposite, "slow/' "slower/' "slowest." Lesson 2. "Good/' "better," "best"; opposite, "bad," "worse," "worst." Lesson 3. "Black," "blacker," "blackest"; opposite, "white/' "whiter," "whitest." Lesson 4. "Safe," "safer," "safest"; opposite, "un- safe," "more unsafe/' "most unsafe." Lesson 5. "Loose," "looser/' "loosest"; opposite, "fast/' "faster," "fastest." Lesson 6. Some words used as adjectives do not admit of comparison; illustrate by "steel" in steel mill. Lesson 7. "Busy," "busier," "busiest"; opposite, "idle," "more idle," "most idle." Lesson 8. "Common," "more common," "most com- mon"; opposite, "uncommon," "more uncommon/' "most uncommon"; "stout," "stouter/' "stoutest"; opposite, "thin," "thinner," "thinnest"; "strong/' "stronger," "strongest"; opposite, "weak," "weak- er," "weakest." "Hard/' "harder/' "hardest"; opposite as an adverb, "leisurely," "more leisurely," "most leisurely." When aoplied to substance, "soft," "softer," "softest." **Long/' "longer," "longest"; opposite, "short," "shorter," "shortest." 80 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS "Heavy," "heavier/' "heaviest"; opposite, "light," "lighter," "lightest." "Hot," "hotter," "hottest"; opposite, "cold," "colder," "coldest." Lesson 9- Heavy, as above. Idle, as above. The opposite of the adjectives used in the lesson is given, for we learn many things by contrast, and the students should get as far as possible the ad- jectives in pairs — the one the antithesis of the other. The same word, as "hard" in lesson eight, has dif- ferent meanings, so that the antithesis is not the same in each instance. The foreigner may find it difficult to understand these and the teacher must exercise his discretion as to whether it is wise or not to submit them to the pupils. In these lessons attention can be called to the in- definite and definite articles : a, an, the. "A" or "an" is used before a noun to designate any one of a group : a man ^ any one of the genus homo; an apple = any one of that species. Being thus limited in its use to one of a class it cannot be used with a noun designating more than one. "An" is always used before words having an open vowel sound : an earl ; an honest man ; an onion. "The" is used to point out some definite person or thing: the man is one already known, one of whom we speak; the horse, that is, the one well known, or the representative of the species. It can be used before singular and plural nouns. This information relative to the general use of parts of speech which are so frequently used, can be woven into the lessons of the second series. GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 81 8. The Past and Futuee Tenses of the Verb The practice in verb conjugation in the "Indus- trial Series" should be especially directed to the past and future tenses of the verb. The students are now conversant with the use of the pronouns; they are familiar with the conjuga- tion of the present tense indicative; the next step is the past and the future tenses. The four great divisions of time are, a day, a week, a month, a year. The foreigners know these divisions as well as we do. Each of these periods of time may be present, past or future. When in the present, the forms are: "to-day," "this week," "this month," "this year"; in the past the forms are: "yesterday," "last week," "last month," "last year" ; in the future the forms are: "to-morrow," "next week," "next month," "next year." We constantly use these divisions and so do the peoples of every nation. Men, everywhere, label their acts as they stow them away in their mind, according as their relation may be to definite periods of time. When these are recalled, we use a qualify- ing word or phrase which locates the act or experi- ence in time. Never do we speak of our experi- ences without these qualifying phrases : "Yesterday, I learned my lesson"; "To-day, I go to market"; "To-morrow, I shall go to town." Illiterate persons use the correct verbal forms with these time qualify- ing phrases. They do it from habit. When the time phrase is uttered, the correct verbal form fol- lows as naturally as one foot follows the other in 82 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS walking. It is an unconscious performance and is the result of practice. What we must aim at in these exercises is to train the non-English-speaking into the same habit, so that when they use any of the time phrases the correct verbal form will follow. This can be done in the same way as the practice in the present indicative was given the pupil in the previous lessons. Graft it on the lesson already known to the pupils. The teacher can take any lesson with which the class is familiar. We take the last one in the "Do- mestic Series." Ask the members of the class to put the phrase "last week" before the lesson and go through it. The verb changes in the English lan- guage as it does in their native tongue. Last week, I read the evening paper. Last week, I laid down the paper on the table. Last week, I took off my shoes and stockings. Last week, I got up from the chair. Etc., etc., etc. Go through the lesson in this manner, pointing out the various changes in the verb. The past tense is regularly formed by adding -d or -ed to the present. This is illustrated in the seventh, eighth, eleventh, fourteenth and fifteenth sentences. Show this by writing the verbs on the blackboard showing the radical and variable elements ; thus : open-ed ; light-ed; turn-ed; climb-ed; close-d. Tell the class that the rule is to affix this syllable to the verb. Then show how some verbs form the past by a change in the body of the verb, such as: lay, laid; GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 83 take, took ; get, got ; go, went ; stand, stood ; sleep, slept ; or by using the same form, as : put, put. These irregular verbs will afford amusement to the pupils. They will be inclined to form the past tense in the regular way, but when you show them that this is an exception, it will afford amusement and will add to the interest of the lesson. This practice in the past tense should be persisted in for the next three lessons, using the various phrases, "yesterday," "last week," "last month," "last year," as the judgment of the teacher sug- gests. In these four lessons no verb should be passed without calling the class's attention to it, and they should be drilled in the present and past of the irregular verbs in these lessons. In the fourth lesson of the second series, take up the future tense. Prefix the time phrases, "to- morrow," "next week," "next month," "next year," and have the class go through them, thus : To-morrow, the miner will go underground. To-morrow, the miner will take a match. To-morrow, the miner will strike the match. To-morrow, the match will be lighted. Etc., etc., etc. In this lesson use the auxiliary "will" throughout. In lesson five use the auxiliary "shall" throughout. These are the two helping verbs of the future tense, and although the class should not be perplexed just 3^et with the fine distinction in the use of the aux- iliaries, they should, nevertheless, know that both of them are used in this relation. 84 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS In lesson six, "will" should be used with one time phrase and "shall" with another. In the remaining four lessons, practice should be given in the present, the past and the future tenses, but always with the time phrases. In this way the grammatical sense of the class will be trained, so that the members will use the forms correctly. Of course, the teacher will go through these lessons in the various persons, "I," "you," "he," etc., as in the first series. The teacher will also keep in mind grammar ex- ercises given the pupils in former lessons, and be alert for opportunities to recall what was taught them, for in discreet revision lies the secret of effi- ciency. Thus in any and all of these lessons, the teacher will not apply himself to one grammatical practice, but will in the course of the lesson test the class on this or that point, to which their attention has been already called. In this way the foreigner, if guided kindly but persistently, will fall into the habit of talking and writing English correctly. III. Grammar Lessons for Third Series Our aim in this third series should be to give the scholars an idea of the different verbal forms, and also to use the course as a field for general review of the grammar work done in the previous lessons. The verbal forms to which attention should be called are: the potential, the imperative, the pro- gressive, the emphatic, and the interrogative. The potential verbal form is used to express an GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 85 assertion, permission, power, necessity, determina- tion or obligation, by means of the auxiliaries, "may," "can," "must," "might," "could," "would" or "should." The imperative is used to express a command or request. Since this is addressed generally to the second person directly, the pronoun is generally suppressed. The progressive carries in it a flavor of the future tense, and points to continued action facing the im- mediate future. It is formed by adding the present participle to the different forms of the verb, "to be." The emphatic is closely aligned with the impera- tive, but has in it the element of entreaty, persua- sion, and urgency; it is formed by placing the auxiliary "do," "does," "did," before the simple form of the verb, and is always joined to the active voice. The interrogative asks questions, and is character- ized by the verb taking first place in the sentence. The auxiliaries, "will," "can," "do," "does" and "did," are often used in this form. These verbal forms are given here as a guide to the teacher in the grammar lessons to be given in conjunction with the Third Series. We suggest the following grammar exercises in conjunction with this series. Lesson 1. Put this lesson into the progressive form, thus : I am sitting on the chair near the table. I am taking a sheet of writing paper. I am taking the pen from the inkstand. Etc., etc., etc. 86 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS Take the next six sentences and go through the progressive form in the present tense, thus : I am signing my name to the letter. You are signing your name to the letter. He is signing his name to the letter. We are signing our names to the letter. You are signing your names to the letter. They are signing their names to the letter. Call attention to the following: Address — addresses; box — boxes. Walk back, walk up, walk down. Lesson 2. Compare "to," "too," and "two." Take the first six sentences in the lesson and put the auxiliary "do" before the verb, thus : I do go to the post office. I do look for the window where the stamps are sold. I do stand before the window. The clerk does come to the window. I do ask for five two-cent stamps. The clerk does give me five two-cent stamps. Conjugate these six sentences in the present tense, thus: I do go to the post office. You do go to the post office. He does go to the post office. We do go to the post office. You do go to the post office. They do go to the post office. GRAMMAR LESSONS FOR THE COURSE 87 Take the same sentences and insert the auxiliary, "may," thus: I may go to the post office. I may look for the window where the stamps are sold. I may stand before the window. The clerk may come to the window. I may ask for five two-cent stamps. The clerk may give me five two-cent stamps. Change the sentences to: May I go to the post office? May I look for, etc. Etc., etc., etc. Explain to the class the difference in these verbal forms. Lesson 3. Interrogatives in 2d, 8th and 17th lines. Review plural of nouns and substitute nouns of like meaning. Policeman — policemen ; depot — station. Clerk — ticket agent. Review "stand" used with words denoting various positions (page 74). Stand before — stand back of, etc. Illustrate imperative form by dropping "I" in sentences 12-17. Lesson 4. Ask for the plural of trunk, box, chest. Gateman — gatemen; coach — coaches; pass — passes. 88 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS Explain and illustrate difference between: were, where, ware and wear. Explain the difference in going up, going down, going forward, going backward, going into, going out of. Take the last five sentences and insert the aux- iliary "must," thus : I must get up from my seat. I must leave the train. I must go to the baggage-room for my trunk. I must give the clerk my check. He must bring me my trunk. Change again the position of the auxiliary, thus : Must I get up from my seat? Must I leave the train ? Etc., etc., etc. This illustrates the way grammar practice should be introduced in these lessons. In the remaining lessons the teacher should carefully study the exer- cises to be given. I He should know exactly how much grammar practice'he is going to give, and adapt the lessons to the capacit}^ of the students) In the re- mainder of the course,(his aim should oe to drill the students in the pronomis, the plural of nouns, the comparison of adjectives, the use of the articles, the verbal forms, and the three leading tenses, so that these rudiments of grammar will form a founda- tion upon which future work may be built.) CHAPTER VII READING AND WRITING I HE following question has often been asked: •*" "Many foreigners do not know how to read and write in their own tongue, and is it not necessary to teach them these arts before giving them these les- sons to read and to write?" Let us reason this question a moment. Language we said was made up of certain sounds agreed upon by men as channels of communication of ideas and feelings. Writing is the employment of certain signs to represent the sounds used in speak- ing. The signs, as the language-sounds, differ in different countries, but the further back we go the greater similarity we find in the symbols used by civilized men. These early signs are far removed from the signs used by modern western nations, and they were fewer in number. The alphabet, as every great fact of human invention, is a development. If we could go back far enough to the beginnings of history, and witness the first steps in the wonderful invention, we should doubtless see an ingenious leader making a picture which represented a group of sounds. Parts of this picture became associated with distinct sounds, and later these various symbols were united to represent combinations of sounds which conveyed an idea or a feeling. Still later men aimed to represent all sounds used in speaking. If any people should succeed in doing this, that language 90 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS would have a perfect alphabet. No language has attained this perfection, and especially is this true of the English language. We use about fprty^four^ distinct sounds in speaking and have only twenty-six letters to represent them. This adds to the difficulty of beginners learning to read the language, and is most perplexing to men of a foreign tongue who try to acquire accuracy in reading and writing English. We have mute letters, different sounds are repre- sented by the same letter and the same letters have different sounds, two letters sometimes represent one sound and two sounds are represented by the same letter. From this brief reflection we learn the following principles : 1. The natural way to learn to read is to lead the adult foreigner, who is not able to read in his ji mother tongue, to an understanding that the writ- ten or printed characters represent the lesson which he knows and can recite.* 2. That we should aid him by artificial signs ac- companying certain letters, so that each sound in the language may be represented by a sign. In this way, the pupil, by the aid of these crutches, will be able to familiarize himself with the several sounds of the letters and words. In a short time, after some practice, he will become conversant with the pe- culiarities of English spelling and be able to dis- pense with the crutches. *Tn my experience I have found men, who cannot read in their Own language, reading the lesson taught when the chart is put before them. I have not found a single instance yet where a resort to the analytic and synthetic method proposed in the following pages is necessary. READING AND WRITING £l 7 S. Words are made up of two elements, the radi- / cai and the variable. The teacher in this course in / preparatory English should, on all occasions, divide / the words into their radical and variable elements, / and let the student see the variation. It is a thing/ for the eye to see, and the rules governing the/ changes in verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs willj help the pupils to understand the variations ana teach them how to make the variations. \ In order to carry out these suggestions we sub- mit the following arrangement of the alphabet, which can be readily applied by the teacher. We have already called attention to the impor- tance to the students of the right adjustment of the lips, teeth and tongue in the execution of certain sounds. If we classify the alphabet according to the organs chiefly used in the enunciation of the dif- ferent letters, it will be easier for the pupil to un- derstand that these symbols represent sounds exe- cuted by these organs of speech. The vowel and diphthong sounds are made by the action of the vocal organs modifying the breath as it passes from the larynx to the outer edge of the lips. The classification over the page is denominated according to the location of the modification of the breath as it passes the organs of speech. I t o (» .CO .a I •S .9 .S .S § S § S S 5 .$3 A « ^ .9 •? :a .9 'o io )o c o •43 o c & .3 ^ ^ g ^ ^ S 8 5 i^ 'tf **-* 03 CQ cQ poo ^ pG M m ^ *» 4^ -^ »-• M >4 ^ O O O o ^ ^ ^ > S3 p :3 03 «3 w w 03 g & ^ ^ g ? g ^ •T3 na -d 'O CJ 0) 4> OJ •TJ nS "TS TS ^^ i i § 3 CO c8 eo »-J t-H i-j •— I 4^ cd eO <« cs ^ ^ ^ 3 03 CO od «] P^ Oi h-i H-l READING AND WRITING 93 A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds. The pure diphthong sounds are four : i as in ice, partaking of the sounds of a in ask and ^ in tYn. ou and otv as in out, down, partaking of the sounds of a in ask and oo in foot. oi and oy as in oil, boy, partaking of the sounds of a in all and i in ill. ^ ^ v as in lute, partaking of the sounds of i in ill and oo in food. The letters y and w have the quality of serai- vowels in some relations, but the four sounds of the y can be represented by i and that of w by w. The consonants are twent3'-one in number and must represent twenty-five sounds. If we discount the letters c, q, j and a?, which could be dispensed with, there arc only seventeen letters to serve us in the representation, which adds to the difficulty of the learner. The letters are pronounced by the aid of the or- gans of articulation, and are arranged below ac- cording to the organs chiefly used in pronunciation. The student, observing the classification, will know what organ or organs arc called into action in articulating them, and will be aided in the art of reading. We have classified the letters under the denominations of lip, teeth, palatal letters and com- binations of the same. 94 ENGLISH FOR COMING AMERICANS THE COKSONANTS Labial Letters jp as in pet. 6 as in bet. 7p as in was. m as in mat. Dental Letters f < as in ten, d as in den. ch as in chess, j, g as in jet, gin. c, s as in cent, sent. 8, c, s, X as in zero, discern, xebec 8h,ch,s ) as in show, chaise, sure. £,i f as in appreciate, action. 1, s, g as in vision, azure, mirage. Palatal Letters { k, c, q as in kit, cat, qnick. g as in gum. y as in yet. Nasal sounding, H as in rung, rink. Lips St Teeth Letters Tongue & Teeth Letters Palate ft Teeth Letters J f,ph,gh&ai I V and / as in I th