Practical French Grammar and Exercises ...

PLAN OF THE PRACTICAL FRENCH GRAMMAR.

The grammatical rules and examples are on the pages with an even number at the top; therefore constantly on the left-hand side when the book is open. The various practical exercises in connection with the rules are on the right-hand side, i.e. on the pages with an odd number at the top.

The practical part contains:

1stly, A VOCABULARY of words or expressions in connection with a given subject.

2dly, A simple READING AND TRANSLATION lesson on the progressive system for beginners.

3dly, An English EXERCISE to be written out in French, also on the progressive system, in which the words used in the vocabulary and reading lesson are chiefly used.

N.B.-The English of the Progressive Reading and Translation lessons is given at the end of the book, to save as much as possible the use of the dictionary, and consequent loss of time whilst preparing a lesson, and to enable the student to reverse the work of translation—that is, to turn back the English into French.

Last of all, will be found a number of Extracts in French, well calculated for the purpose of reading aloud. It is in preparing the translation of these Extracts into English, that the pupil will practise his judgment and discrimination in the use of the dictionary.

PLAN OF A LESSON WITH THE PRACTICAL FRENCH GRAMMAR APPLICABLE TO THE TEACHING OF A CLASS OR SINGLE PUPIL.

We will suppose, for the sake of illustration, that the pupil has prepared for his lesson one page of grammar and the corresponding practical page. We proceed thus:

With closed books.

The master asks grammatical questions in connection with each rule; then he gives viva voce the English of the examples; the pupil gives the French.

II.

With closed books.

The master gives the French of the words in the vocabulary at the top of the corresponding practical page; the pupil translates into English from his word of mouth; then the master gives the English and the pupil the French.

The master reads out distinctly in French the Reading and Translation lesson, teaching the accurate pronunciation of the words which may offer some difficulty to the pupil; then the pupil reads out the lesson in French and translates it into English, and vice versâ from the English at the end of the book retranslates it into French.

With closed books.

The same work of translation is gone through over again by word of mouth; when the master gives a sentence in French, the pupil turns it into English, and vice versa.

N.B.-This viva voce and vice versa system of translation is the pith of the method introduced in the Practical French Grammar.

IV.

The master corrects the written exercise, making all due references to the rules.

The master gives a short dictation. In the case of beginners, very easy sentences should be selected, made up chiefly of words contained in the vocabulary and reading lesson for the day.

The above PLAN OF A LESSON pre-supposes that the pupils have already made some progress, and that they are well drilled to work together, and well in hand. At the outset-especially in a class of young beginnersit would probably be impossible at any rate unadvisable to make them go through a page of grammar and one of practice in a single lesson. The progress at the beginning will be very slow, and will tax the energy, patience, and ability of the instructor, as well as his tact, self-control, and power of constant repetition; but experience has shown us that, in the case of a class of average aptitude, the pupils will very soon get into the way of preparing a page of grammar and corresponding practice for their lesson. In many cases it will, of course, be judicious to appoint the same lesson for the next day, once or twice, if necessary, according to the difficulty of the matter or deficiency on the part of the pupil.

DEFINITIONS. The words used for the purpose of naming persons and things are called Nouns.

COMMON NOUNS represent all objects of the same nature.

PROPER NOUNS represent single objects exclusive in their

nature.

GENDER is the property of nouns to represent really or fictitiously the sex of living creatures and things.

There are only two genders in French-the Masculine and the Feminine.

NUMBER is the property of nouns to represent whether they stand for one or several objects of the same kind.

The sex of living creatures is represented,

1stly, By totally different nouns.

2dly, By the same noun with a different ending.
3dly, By masculine nouns for both sexes.

4thly, By feminine nouns for both sexes.

Things having no sex are conventionally represented by nouns either masculine or feminine.

Formation of the Plural of Nouns.

Rule 1. The plural of nouns is generally represented by the addition of an s.

Rule 2.-Nouns ending in s, x, or z, are spelt the same both

in the singular and the plural.

Rule 3.-Nouns ending in au and eu take x instead of s for

the plural.

arbre, jour, chat, neveu, couteau, laquais, palais, tante, cerceau, lieu, nuit, loup, homme, cheveu, boisseau, jeu, procès, jardin, chapeau, enfant, tyran, soldat, drapeau, dent, sens, noix, château, gant, prix, bateau, rideau, choix, courtisan, croix.

Progressive Exercise 1.

Write out the words in the above translation, spelling them in the plural, according to Rules 1, 2, 3 on the grammatical page.

Rule 4-Nouns ending in ou take an s in the plural ; a few