A WORD TO THE TEACHER

There is no intention, in these few words, of saying to any teacher, " Thou shalt do thus and so," but it may not be amiss to show how this book, in the form of leaflets, has been used to advantage in the schoolroom, foiffirst, second, third and fourth year work. In every lesson, grammar is taught by means of conversation, the questions and answers being so arranged that they may be " mimed " in class, " acted out," " made living." Each sentence is recited in class and drilled upon in ensemble work, with a view to the perfection of every sound in every stress group and to the correct placing of the tonic accent, for its rhythm* — the sentences to be conjugated, scattered throughout the lessons, are particularly valuable for this ensemble work; while the pupils' first steps in simple composition are made easy by their being constantly obliged to construct sentences after models given in the daily lesson. This practice familiarizes pupils with many useful idioms and cultivates in them those habits of attention and accuracy so necessary in writing and speaking a language full of such varying inflections as French.

The story of each paragraph is told in questions and answers, each question bearing an odd number. Pupils in their self-corrected exercise (see model devoir, pp. 128-129) supply the answers to these questions, giving to each answer an even number. Often several answers, from which the pupil may choose, are suggested in the text. If pupils have not been honest in their work, if they have not obeyed the order of working with closed book, frequent tests will very soon show the teacher where they stand.

At the end of the first year, pupils can understand any of the simple questions of every-day life and reply to them with ease and directness. Then, and not before then, can they be said to be ready for the intelligent reading of any of the approved high-school texts for first and second year. This reading is the home work of the pupil, and the teacher assures himself that the work has been done by asking questions in French about the characters and incidents in the book, to which the pupil gives written replies — naturally also in French. This