How to Teach a Foreign Language

Some Opinions of the Press"It appeals not only to specialists, but to all who concern themselves with that most fascinating of modern questions, the origin and development of speech. The opening chapter shows us the independent thinker and original investigator. Throughout, the destructive criticism is clear, incisive, and cogent. It cannot fail to affect in time even the manual-mongers and the examiners who expect the innocent school to reproduce the fictions of the cram-books. A...
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Some Opinions of the Press"It appeals not only to specialists, but to all who concern themselves with that most fascinating of modern questions, the origin and development of speech. The opening chapter shows us the independent thinker and original investigator. Throughout, the destructive criticism is clear, incisive, and cogent. It cannot fail to affect in time even the manual-mongers and the examiners who expect the innocent school to reproduce the fictions of the cram-books. A philologist, who sees with his own eyes and sees straight, is a rare combination."--Journal of Education."Mr. Jespersen, who is still young, has long ago gained a high reputation as a phonetician. The introductory essay prefixed to the tracts before us will, we believe, secure for him a distinguished position among philological thinkers. It is long since we read so brilliant a performance of its kind."--Academy."Our readers will find the book as instructive as it is far removed from the dryness characteristic of most philological treatises. It furnishes material for deep thought and may almost be called a new starting-point in philology."--Asiatic Quarterly Review."The book is historical in its method, and attempts to show, by an examination of the typical characteristics of languages in all stages of development, what the general drift of language has been."--Guardian.When, in accordance with a wish expressed by English and American friends, I determined to have my Sprogundervisning translated into English, I found it difficult to decide what to retain and what to leave out of the original. So much of what I had written appeared to me to apply more or less exclusively to Danish schools and Danish methods, and I had too little personal experience of the practice of English teachers or of English school-books to be quite sure of the advisability in each case of including or excluding this or that remark. I have, however, made my choice to the best of my ability, and if some parts of my criticism are not altogether applicable to English methods, I hope I may be excused on the plea that what is now the really important thing is less the destruction of bad old methods than a positive indication of the new ways to be followed if we are to have thoroughly efficient teaching in modern languages.OTTO JESPERSEN.Gentofte,Near Copenhagen.IAbout twenty years ago, when I began to be interested in a reformation of the teaching of modern languages, there were not, as there are now, numerous books and articles on the subject, but merely scattered hints, especially in the works of Sweet and Storm. It was not long, however, before the movement found itself well under headway, especially in Germany. In Scandinavia it began at the appearance of the adaptation which I had made of Felix Franke's capital little pamphlet, "Die praktische spracherlernung auf grund der psychologie und der physiologie der sprache." At just about the same time, Western in Norway and Lundell in Sweden came forward with similar ideas, and at the Philological Congress in Stockholm in 1886 we three struck a blow for reform. We founded a society, of course, and we gave it the name Quousque tandem (which for the benefit of those not acquainted with Latin may be rendered "Cannot we soon put an end to this?"), that Ciceronian flourish with which Viëtor had shortly before heralded his powerful little pamphlet, "Der sprachunterricht muss umkehren." Our Scandinavian society published some small pamphlets, and for a time even a little quarterly paper. But the movement soon reached that second and more important stage when the teachers began to put the reform into practice and when the editors of school-books began to give it more and more consideration, until at present it may be said that the reformed method is well on the way to permanent favour, at least as far as younger teachers have anything to say in the matter.