examinations. The paragraphs and sentences to be translated being for the most part drawn out of examina ion papers, the two publications will be found most practical. The rules are also written in that comprehensive spirit which characterises the questions asked in Examination papers. III. Our grammar being divided into "parts or years," into "terms," and "lessons," cuts out the work for teacher and pupil in such a manner as to prevent the bad system of cramming on the eve of examinations and so as to considerably lighten the task and responsibility of the teacher. As there are but thirteen weeks in each term and ten lessons only in our book, three weeks in every term are intended to be devoted to recapitulation, and here the "Examiners" will prove useful in ascertaining the progress made by the pupil. IV. Instead of giving the pupil exercises made up of detached sentences, we give him, as soon as he knows the rules of construction, short paragraphs to translate into French. Teachers who pre pare for examinations will recognise the value of such an innovation, as they must all have been disheartened, at some time or other, when they saw how little the most elementary rules of translation were remembered, when a short paragraph was given to be rendered into French, after the pupil had been translating detached sentences for years perhaps. Our principle is that as many rules as possible should regularly be brought under the pupil's notice, that his every-day exercises should fit him for translating the extracts given in Examination papers. The rules are arranged with that end in view, and a very simple system of underlining words, and marking them with asterisks, is meant to bring back to the pupil's remembrance those which, by reason of their frequent application, ought never to be lost sight of. The rules having thus been placed in the order of their importance, we have not tried to bring them under certain headings as most grammars do: this would in our eyes have been sacrificing what is practical to a wrong idea of classification. V. Perfect accuracy in the translation of our exercises, especially those given to the senior pupils, being almost impossible for any but for French-born teachers, we have divided our work in two parts:—the Pupil's and the Master's book. The latter contains all that is in the former with the addition of (a.) A translation of the exercises printed in parallel columns with the text. (b.) Exercises made up of disconnected sentences taken out of Oxford and Cambridge Examination Papers, with the translation immediately following each sen tence. (c) Thirty interesting dictations for second year pupils to help them to master French orthography. (d.) Some more directions for the master's use. Our Master's book is thus a great improvement on ordinary keys, since it is at once a guide, a grammar, and a key. It is meant to be used by all teachers. VI. In addition to those important innovations we beg to mention here a few improvements on existing systems : 1. We have added, for the benefit of the Senior students, a résumé of the history of the French literature, which, complete and suggestive as it is, will help teachers to make the Senior course of study a really instructive and interesting one. 2. From 500 to 600 idiomatic expressions have been introduced in the 2nd part, and as carefully graduated as possible. 3. Our exercises from the twenty-first lesson-second year— upwards, being composed of short stories, complete in themselves, every-day conversations, extracts from daily papers; and in the fourth year of paragraphs given to the Oxford and Cambridge senior candidates, are varied and interesting, and will prevent the student from getting familiar with a few constructions only, to the prejudice of the spirit of the language, which can alone be found in diversity. 4. Vocabularies, which, according to the directions, are to be learned beforehand, will in the three first years save the pupil the trouble of using a dictionary; a previous oral translation of the junior exercises, 3rd year, is much recommended in order to facilitate the student's work at home and the master's corrections in class. 5. We have tried to settle the vexed question of the names to be given to the tenses; after consulting Latin, English, and French grammars, together with the Examination Papers and several English teachers, we have decided on a new nomenclature, which, we hope, will put an end to the perfect chaos of denominations under which French and English verbs labour, and be understood by students of English and Latin as well as by French scholars.* 6. Acting on the kind suggestions of several subscribers to our papers, we have parsed a few sentences, and we confidently beg to give them as models to be followed in order to satisfy examiners in French. 7. Those rules of translation the application of which recurs in almost every sentence have been set apart at the beginning of the second year-first term, and third year-first, second, and third terms, with special instructions concerning them. 8. The rapidity with which a language can be learned depends of course on the amount of time devoted to study. Our work, though useful to all, being specially intended for schools, where certain limits of time and study cannot be exceeded, we have based our system on three lessons a week, as a minimum to be devoted to French, should the head-masters be anxious to prepare their pupils for the Oxford and Cambridge Senior in four years. For in less than that time a language cannot possibly be learned in schools where so many subjects take up the pupil's time. We beg here to thank our numerous subscribers for their intelligent support which has encouraged us to publish this new grammar; the Rev. Henry Becke, M.A. (University College, Oxford), whose kind suggestions and occasional help have been most useful to us; and to let the scholastic world pass judgment on a work which has at least the merit of having been conscientiously undertaken and carried out. HUNT & WUILLEMIN. *REMARK.-As an instance of this wild confusion, we beg to draw the attention of the reader to the various names given to the "preterite" tense; it is called " preterite indefinite" in examination papers, and "perfect" in some English grammars; past" in others; past indefinite" in a few more; and "past definite" in most French books. When used. How full). IV. Ordinal numbers. 29 6 tenses of "Punir" 43 Parler Neg. 42 Int. and Neg. (in (simp. tenses). 43 Aimer Int. and Neg. (simp. tenses). negatives VI. Possessive Adj. and 32 6 tenses of "Recevoir" 44 Finir Neg. (simp.tenses). Pronouns VIII. Relative Pronouns 35 6 tenses of" Rendre" 45 Devoir Neg. (simp. tenses). Compound tenses of 46 Vendre Int. and Neg. "" 66 66 Recevoir," "Rendre" and 47 Agreement of Verb with its Nominative. Verb Conjugated Interrogatively with "est-ce que." Place of ne. 66 Do, does," not translated. "To be," followed by a Present Participle, translated by one word in French. Conjugated in their simple tenses. 44 Rendre .. Flatter, Punir Recevoir, Rendre..47 45 46 Conjugated in their compound tenses. |