(Front Cover) BULLETIN OF THE FIRST DISTRICT NORMAL SCHOOL KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI Volume XVI Number 2 FEBRUARY, 1916 Publisht Monthly Modern Language Series No.2 (Page i) (Page ii) BULLETIN OF THE FIRST DISTRICT NORMAL SCHOOL KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI Founded by Joseph Baldwin As the North Missouri Normal School, September 2, 1867 Adopted as the First District Normal School, December 29, 1870 Under Act of the General Assembly, Approved March 19, 1870 Opend as the First District Normal School, January 1, 1871 VOLUME XVI NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY, 1916 Publisht Monthly by the First District Normal School Modern Language Series No. 2 Division of German JOHN R. KIRK, PRESIDENT JACOB WILHELM HEYD, A. B., Ph. M., Professor of German Enterd as second class mail matter April 29, 1915, at the post office at Kirksville, Missouri, under the Act of Congress of August 24, 1912. (Page iii) (Page 3) READING VERSUS TRANSLATION A great deal has been said and written about reading. The conception of what constitutes real reading has been revolutionized in the last generation. No up-to-date-teacher in our schools would any longer consider mere calling of words reading. It is more than mere mechanics, such as was once the practice. Much improvement has been made along this line. But how about reading a foren language? Many still call translating from a foren to a nativ tongue reading the foren language. We still hear even in our universities of, reading Greek or Latin, when the student means, translation. But translation is not reading, and reading is not translation. As long as a person translates a foren language, he is not reading the foren language, but his own improvised vernacular, It is almost an impossibility to translate at all without some loss of the author s thought or creation. But even if absolute translation were possible, it would not be reading the foren tongue. Translation is always a laborious task and for the most part uninteresting. A glib translation is invariably a sign of superficiality and lack of full appreciation. The finer the appreciation of the original, the more difficult becomes the exact translation. Only a person who commands two languages equally well, and is somewhat of an artist in both has any right to translate from one to the other. This is perhaps more true in reference to German than other modern languages. German is preeminent for its musicality and the rhythmic flow of its sentence structure. To be fully appreciated German literary master pieces must be read aloud. The finest, passages so rich in correspondences of sense and sound color can be appreciated in no other way. Even modern German prose has a musical strain permeating its every, element. For example whole pages of Heine s prose can be scanned to a flexible rhythmic scheme. Only oral reading can enable one to enter folly into the exquisit beauties of the artistic whole. But most of all is this imperativ in German dramatic and lyric literature. Much of this needs even the help of declamation or song to reveal its marvels of artistic expression. 3 (Page 4) We need but read even the better translations from German literature to convince us of the truth of what has just been said. This also explains the numberless very mediocre would-be translations on every hand. How some of the finest German poems and songs are butchered is known to every one familiar, with their originals. Almost disgusting are many of these so-called translations. No one who has really read with appreciation a literary work of art will choose a translation of that work even if excellently done. For example, who conversant with English would read the German translation of Shakespeare by Tieck and Schlegel to gain an appreciation of this author. And yet that translation is a monument of the translator's art, and has made Shakespeare a German author, so that he is read and played more in Germany than in all the rest of the world. IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE STUDY The man conversant with only one language can never sympathetically approach the thinking of another people, whose language differs from his own. That is proved by the nonsense and even untruths, which have been so freely circulated and just as freely and gullibly believed during the present war, even by men and women of culture and of national reputation. It is really a reflection upon American intelligence. On the other hand the ability to think one's way in two worlds of thought, crystalized in that many languages enables one to enter more readily into the conceptions of a third people of a still different speech. The person able to read only his own language is of necessity provincial in his thinking. Language is the door which opens to us world thought. Hence every one who makes pretense of scholarship must needs be conversant with one or more languages besides his vernacular. Without this he is hopelessly handicapped. Three languages today stand preeminent the world over - English, French and German. A knowledge of these languages will open the door to the world's rich treasures of science, commerce, history and economics, literature, philosophy and religion. With these three languages or at least two of them 4 (Page 5) one is at home among the educated of every land and nation. The knowledge of these can make one a world citizen. But this knowledge must be more than the mere ability laboriously to translate. One must be able to think in the foren tongue. Thus alone can the genius of the language be appropriated. THE TEACHER S TASK What then is the task of the teacher of modern languages? 1. He must inspire an interest in their study in the student body and the community where he teaches. 2. He must lead his pupils to think and feel in the foren tongue and to imbibe the spirit of the people whose language they are studying. How shall the teacher create an interest among the student body and in the community for the study of, say German, for that is the foren language most widely studied in this country, especially in the central states where we live? Not by speeches, nor appeals nor compulsory enrollment, as in some of the other subjects in the curriculum, nor by any external or artificial means. Let teachers of other subjects fill their classes with conscripts, driven to their tasks. The wide-awake teacher of German does not need these means. No! the secret lies in the accomplishment of the second purpose, i. e. in leading the pupils to think in the German without the medium of their nativ tongue. What a compelling delight in the awakening of this new power the power to think in the foren idiom! It energizes all the faculties of the mind, and a new mode of thought expands the c[o]nceptions of the human soul. An enthusiasm results that will not down, and the pupils will do the rest. What arouses the enthusiasm of the pupils will arouse the support of the community. THE TEACHER S EQUIPMENT The problem then resolves itself into the consideration of the means of attaining this end. The first of course is always the teacher, his equipment and personality. The teacher must have a keen appreciation of the German language, a clear understanding of its grammar and syntax, the ability to use German in the classroom largely as the language of instruction. He must have 5 (Page 6) faultless pronunciation and must be able to read to the class with expression. Phonetics will enhance his ability to analyze the defects in his own pronunciation and that of his pupils. He must be familiar with the history, customs, institutions And present conditions - politically, economically, industrially, commercially, culturally, educationally and religiously - of the people, whose language he is teaching. He must know their ideals, aspirations, and achievements at the present time. He must be reasonably familiar with German literature down to the present. This has for those who are not masters of German at present considerable of difficulty. The unholy, cowardly and diabolically planned campaign of misrepresentation, slander and calumny against Germany by her enemies thru a hired Anglo-American press has in a measure succeeded, so that the minds of the unthinking have been poisoned, and even the otherwise fair and intelligent people have the most preposterous conceptions of what Germany stands for. The teacher of German must get a correct and positiv knowledge in this respect. For the help of such persons the following list of books and pamphlets is given: Howe, Socialized Germany, cloth... $1.50 Koester, Secrets of German Progress, cloth... 1.25 Rohrbach, Germany s Isolation, cloth... 1.00 (These can be obtained from Ernst Kaufmann, 37 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, Ill.) From pamphlets issued by the Bureau of Education the following are especially helpful: 1913, No. 9 Consular reports on Continuation schools in Prussia... 5 cents 1913, No. 19 German Industrial Education... 15 cents 1913, No. 24 Education in Germany and the United States... 5 cents 1907, No. 3 Auxiliary schools in Germany... 1913, No. 3 The Teaching of Modern Languages in the United States (contains an excellent bibliography). 1912, Bulletin of the United States bureau of labor whole No. 101. 1912, Bulletin of the United States bureau of labor whole No. 98 (Industrial Courts). (These can all be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing office, Washington, D. C.) In reference to the present war the following are reliable: Burgess, The European War, its causes, purposes and probable results... $1.00 Beveridge, What is Back of the War... 2.50 Chamberlain, Who is to Blame for the War?... .25 6 (Page 7) Chamberlain, England and Germany... .25 Fullerton, Why the German Nation has gone to war? An American to Americans... .15 Thompson, Robt. J., England and Germany in the War. Letters to the Department of State, cloth... $1.00 (These can be obtained from Ernst Kaufman, 37 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, Ill.) Cornau, Rudolf, German Achievements in America. (R. Cronau, 340 E. 198 St., New York City)... $1.10 THE TEACHER AND HIS METHOD The teacher must be enthusiastic himself, for enthusiasm rightly directed is catching. He must be at ease and cause his pupils to feel perfectly at home. Let there be life and even fun in the classroom, but never at the expense of any individual, such as will intimidate the more backward and reticent. Let every one in the class feel the interest and sympathy of everyone else in the class. The teacher should be perfectly frank with the class, but never rough. The most timid pupil should be made to feel, that he can approach the teacher and find a friend at all times. This perfect absence of unnatural restraint, the perfect ease and responsivness of the pupil is necessary for the best results. This atmosphere is not always easy to establish, but is worth all the efforts it takes to obtain it. The personality of the teacher is perhaps after all, what will make or mar his work. He must always be open to new impressions, be willing to see his mistakes and then correct them. He must be willing to throw his methods overboard if he finds others more serviceable, either by experience or by contact with other teachers. He must have the highest ideals for himself and not be satisfied with mediocre results. The best is none too good! That is one of the secrets of that German efficiency, which is the admiration of the world and the dispair of her enemies. Truth must be accepted no matter where it comes from, be it from civilized or uncivilized, friend or foe. Adapt what is of value in other civilizations to one s own conditions and do it a little better than the originator himself, is the German theory and practice. The teacher of German should exemplify this efficiency in his classroom work. 7 (Page 8) SIGHT-SLAVERY AND ITS CURE Most students are deficient in obtaining knowledge thru the ear i.e. in hearing an expression accurately, retaining it and reproducing it either verbatim or in changed order. All their education has been sight education: Spelling, reading, mathematics, science, and even the study of languages, when the translation method is used. The picture show is not helping the situation any. It has become almost proverbial that English speaking audiences are very inattentiv. This is due to the methods of sight education, to the neglect of ear education. Our pupils have never learned to listen intently. They come to be distrustful of what they hear. They want to see everything before attempting to say it. On hearing a German expression they want it written before they will venture to use it. They even hesitate to repeat verbatim after the teacher what they have not seen in black and white. This attitude, this habit of mind is very detrimental to the ready acquisition of a foren tongue. It is the task of the teacher to lead the pupil to free himself from this sight slavery; This can only be done by abundant practice in using German words, phrases and sentences, which the student has only heard and of which he has no visual image of its appearance on paper or board. Conversation about things in the room, numbers, divisions of time, such as seasons, months, the week, days, etc., the weather, school happenings, or anything of local interest can be made interesting and helpful for this purpose. GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX BY CONVERSATION *This use of the sentence in oral practice can be used to fix firmly many grammatical and syntactical facts, so that students say them correctly from habit rather than by rule. This principle is incorporated in some beginners texts on the market today, notably Gronow s Jung Deutschland from which some of the illustrations will be taken. But it should not be neglected even if the adopted text does not contain it. A few examples will suffice to illustrate it. To learn the conjugations so any form will come quickly and naturally. *Krause, The Direct Method of Modern Language Teaching, p. 59. 8 (Page 9) Ich bin in der Sfchule, du bist in der Schule, er, sie, es ist in der Schule, etc. Ich war in der Schule, du warst in der Schule etc. Ich werde in der Schule sein, du wirst in der Schule sein etc. Ich bin in der Schule gewesen, du bist in der Schule gewesen etc. Ich war in der Schule gewesen, du warst in der Schule gewesen etc. Ich werde in der Schule gewesen sein etc. This drills also incidentally on the principal parts of verbs. Synopses can be given in all tenses and in any person and number. A feeling for the inflected part of the verb in the second place and participles and infinitives at the end is thus developed. This feeling can be fixed still better by beginning sentences with different elements of the sentence. Ex. Ich gehe heute zu Fuss in die Schule. Heute gehe ich zu Fuss in die Schule. Zu Fuss gehe ich heute in die Schule. In die Schule gehe ich heute zu Fuss. This can be carried thru the six tenses and gives very interesting and valuable drill. The results are imcomparably better than all rules learned from a book. This method is very helpful in fixing the correspondences between the personal pronouns and the possessiv adjectives. *Ex. Ich werfe meinen Ball, du wirfst deinen Ball, Er wirft seinen Ball, etc., wir werfen unsem Ball etc. Practice is in this way given in verb conjugation) use of case as well as drill on the special problem. In the same way impersonals with dativ can be learned. Ex. Es tut mir leid, es tut dir leid, es tut ihm leid, etc. These are examples enough to show the mode of procedure. The real advantage lies in the fact that drill is given in several things at the same time, and time is thus gained and habits of speech and feeling are developed, which are of much greater value for learning the grammar than translation. It is more interesting and gives more freedom and readiness in the use of German and is more accurate in its results. Students who come from schools in which the old method is used have a hard time in competing with student from schools which use the direct method. *Grohow's Jung Deutschland, p. 28. 9 (Page 10) GERMAN COMPOSITION In composition as in reading a wooden, mechanical method is often used. Nearly all textbooks for composition work are mere translation texts, with disconnected and uninteresting matter to be laboriously translated into an unidiomatic and unnatural German. As long as the mother tongue is made the basis for learning composition in any foren language the work in such composition will be dry and dreaded as a necessary evil, which cannot be avoided, but has no connection with life. Composition texts should be banished from the class room and translation discouraged and gradually eradicated. Only by getting the students to think in the foren tongue can the work be made a delight as it should be. Translation absolutely defeats this end. By the direct method oral composition begins with the first day, imitativ at first but gradually becoming freer until it rises into spontaneity. Every lesson even if a reading lesson should give the pupil a feeling for the language, "*Sprachgefuehl." "Sprachgefuehl" is the secret of natural idiomatic and spontaneous composition. The insight into German word-building makes the student more and more independent of the dictionary, for he soon begins to form his own words from the elements already, familiar to him. His language does not consist of isolated words, but rather of idioms, phrases and Sentences. In the regular work of the class he has had drilled into him by actual usage word order and gender, the bugbears of students in the old method. He can give his time to choice of words, idioms and balanced sentences. With this foundation a pure composition course should be given. In this letters should be written, familiar, formal and business letters. Arithmetical problems can be solved and analysis given in German. In such courses students seem to enjoy writing continued stories of their, own invention or else after the pattern of one which they have read in their own language. An enthusiasm is thus created, a consciousness of growing power of expression awakens their minds to more concentrated and intelligent effort, (*The publishing house has no umlaut letters, hence the old spellings have to be used thruout this work.) 10 (Page 11) and the composition course becomes the one course above all others that is looked back to with keen delight. If the class is of normal size the daily compositions should be written on the board and corrected before the class. One third as much covered in this way will produce better results than twice as much written, where corrections are merely made on paper by the teacher between classes and handed to the pupils the following day. Much time is wasted by having the pupil write too much and failing to criticise the work where every member of the class can see and hear every correction which is made. The advantage of board work in composition is that every member of the class gets the benefit of the correction of the work of every other member. In this way every student becomes familiar with the idioms and vocabulary used by all in the class. Students should be encouraged to criticise each other's work. They may later in the course change places and make corrections of each other s work. Of course the teacher must then go over each one and test the corrections in the presence of the class, and explain every difficulty. Composition must be free and spontaneous. Only in this way is real naturalness and spontaneity, in the use of the German gained. After a course like this the student is in a position to do genuine reading in the German. Everything should be read aloud in the class. The student uses the dictionary much less, but uses it more intelligently when necessary. In these reading courses the easier short stories and novels should be read. Often the members of the class can be required to reproduce in their own words in the German the story of the lesson. Instead of translation the use of synonyms and antonyms and equivalent expressions are very effectiv. It not only clears up the difficulties, but also increases the activ vocabulary of the student. The constructs side of the language instruction must always be kept in the foreground. 11 (Page 12) WORD BUILDING German is a homogeneous language. It retains its ancient power of forming its vocabulary largely out of nativ elements, instead of importing words from other languages, such as is the case in English. This is so much so that foren words are labeled as such by having the accent on the last or next to the last syllable. The only exceptions are such words that have been in the language long enough to have changed in form until they look like pure German words. Examples are Birne, Bischof, Kelch, Kirche, Pfaff, Pfirsich, Pflaume, predigen. The formation of compounds is especially characteristic of the German. Traces of that power in English are found in such words as school-house, base-ball, post-office, etc. The second word in the compound is the generic or class designation, the first the special or particular term. So we have Baumgarten, Blumengarten, Gemuesegarten, Weingarten, etc. With "Kunde" meaning the "science or knowledge of" are formed: Bergkunde, Buecherkunde, Fischkunde, Heilkunde, Menschenkunde, Sternenkunde, Yogelkunde, Yoelkerkunde, and Wetterkunde among others, for which the English has borrowed minerology, bibliography, ichthyology, therapeutics, anthropology, astronomy; ornithology, ethnology, and meteorology respectjvly. If this simplicity of word-building is impressed upon the pupil he will become observant and will save much valuable time otherwise needed for consulting the dictionary. Many words have been and are still being coined by translating the elements of a foren word instead of borrowing it. Such are: Ackerbau Lat.; agricultura, Blumenbau Lat. floricultura, Gartenbau Lat. hortieultura etc. Telephone from Gr. Tele- "far" phone "sound" gave the German Fernsprecher, Lat. translatus gave English "translate," but the German says "uebersetzen," from Lat. scio, sciens came English "science," but the German got "Wissenschaft" from wissen "to know." Erziehen corresponds to the educo, which gives English "educate." Scores of others of everyday usage might be sighted. But fundamental to all are the spontaneous formations from 12 (Page 13) Germanic roots with prefixes and suffixes. This power is as alive today as at any time in history. English possesses this in a limited sense in its Anglo-Saxon elements. It was a vital element in older English as is shown by "one" and its compounds. Alone- "all one"; lonely is "all-one-ly"; lonesome is "all-one-some," thus also in loneliness, and lonesomeness. Atone is "at one" "to make at one," atonement is "at-one-ment," likewise atoneable, atoneness, atoner, atoningly. Others can be found under "one" in the Standard Dictionary. In the German this power is almost limitless. Ein "one," Einzahl "the one number, singular, "einzeln" "by ones, singly," einzig "the only one, unique," einfaeltig "one fold, simple" einig "being one, harmonious" Einheit "oneness, unity, einfoermig "one formed, uniform," eintoeiiig "one toned, monotonous" and many others found in any dictionary. This means of word-building should be emphasized very strongly. If word-building is understood dictionary slavery will cease, and drudgery banished by interest. A very fine exercise for advanced classes is the working out of a group of words derived from the same root stem. An example follows: The variants of this root are: zieh, zog, zug, zucht, zuck in some cases with the umlaut of the Vowel. The root stem is given in black type to distinguish it from the prefixes and suffixes. zieh bar die Zieh e zieh en der Zieh er die Zieh erin die Zieh ung ab zieh en auf zieh en aus zieh en be zieh en be zieh entlich die Be Zieh ung durch zieh en er zieh en der Er zieh er die Er zieh erin er zieh erisch er zieh lich die Er zieh ung nach zieh en euber zieh en Der Ueber zieh er un zieh en ver zieh en die Ver zieh ung voll zieh en der Voll zieh er die Voll zieh ung vor zieh en zer zieh en zog ge zog en unge zog en 13 (Page 14) die Unge zog enheit ver zog en die Ver zog enheit der Zoeg erer zoeg ern die Zoeg erung der Zoeg ling ver zoeg erlich ver zoeg ern die Ver zoeg erung un zoeg erlich der Zug zug ig der Ab zug der An zug der Auf zug der Be zug der Durch zug der Nach zug der Um zug der Ver zug der Voll zug der Ueber zug der Weg zug der Zueg el zueg eln ab zueg lich an zueg lich be zueg lich nach zueg eln der Nach zueg ler nach zueg lerisch nach zueg lich vor zueg lich die Vor zueg lichkeit die Zucht die Nach zucht die Un zucht zuecht en zuecht ig zuecht igen die Zuecht igung der Zuecht ling die Zuecht ung das Ge zuecht der Un zuecht er un zuecht ig der Un zuecht ler der Un zuecht ling der Zuck zuck eln zuck en die Zuck ung durch zuck en um zuck en ver zuck en zueck en durch zueck en um zueck en 14 (Page 15) BIBLIOGRAPHY The following list of books is supplementary to the list in the Modern Language Bulletin No. 1, March, 1915. There are some copies, of that bulletin left and may be had on request. 1. Krause, Cari A., The Direct Method in Modern Languages. Charles Scribner s Sons, Chicago, Ill.... $0.75 This is a collection of articles published by the author in American professional journals. It is well worth thoughtful reading by every teacher of German. 2. Lewisohn, Ludwig, The Spirit of Modem German Literature. B. W. Huebsch, 225 Fifth Ave., New York... $1.00 3. Three new books in the Walter-Krause German Texts, Scribner s Sons, Price per volume.... $0.50 (a) Arnold, Fritz auf Ferien, (b) Gerstaecker, Irrfahrten, (c) Wildenbruch, Das edle Blut. 4. Gronow, Fuer kleine Leute, Ginn & Co. (Excellent for 7th or 8th grades) 5. Gronow, Geschichte und Sage, Ginn & Co. For 2d year in the high school to follow Jung Deutschland. 6. Zinnecker s Deutsch fuer Anfaenger. D. C. Heath & Co.... $1.25 This is a real direct method text. 7. The Modern Language Journal, New York and Chicago. Per year... $1.50 This is a new and excellent professional journal devoted to the teaching of the modern languages. It is the organ of a number of eastern modern language associations and also of the Association of Modern Language Teachers of the Central West and South. The Modern Language section of the Missouri State Teacher's Association is affiliated with this larger organization. Every teacher of modern languages should belong to this association. By sending $1.50 to Dr. Alfred H. Nolle, Columbia, Mo. you become a member and obtain one year's subscription to the journal named above. No teacher of German can afford to do without it. 15 (Back Cover)