NEW SYSTEM OF TEACHING FRENCH. BY EDWARD CHURCH. Third Edition. PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY E. H. BUTLER & CO. 1848. EducT 1518.48.276 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY BY FXCHANGE SEP 8 1938 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, BY EDWARD CHURCH, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. PREFACE. EDWARD CHURCH'S French System! How many people will say, seeing my name, "This French System comes from an English mind.” If they could hear me speak English, I should not be obliged to write a single line to prove that I am quite a Frenchman, although I must acknowledge my name has very little French about it. This explains why I did not wish my English to be corrected; being certain that each line, each word of it, would speak for me, and assure my readers it really comes from a French pen. As for my System of teaching French, who will speak for it? I should like, very much, to do it myself; but every one would think I was partial, and I fear it would be the truth. I will, therefore, apply for recommendations to those who employ me, and also to Rev. E. N. KIRK, who was present at an examination at the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, and will ask them the favor of publishing their testimony. This being done, I hope the public will have confidence in this System, which I will endeavor to explain in my Introduction. RECOMMENDATIONS. Extract from a letter of Rev. E. P. ROGERS, of Northampton, Mass. I have been one of his (Mr. C's) pupils, and can recommend him as an able and successful teacher. His system is peculiar, and, in my judgment, far superior to that generally adopted in this country. I would add that Mr. Church is universally respected in Northampton, as an amiable and upright man. E. P. ROGERS. During the two past years, Mr. Church has given lessons at different times in the French Language in the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, with which I am connected. All the teachers in the Institution, with myself, have been highly gratified with his peculiarly happy mode of giving instruction. SOUTH HADLEY, Nov. 4, 1844. MARY LYON. This system, for the acquisition of the French Language, has been tested by its author, the past year and a half, in several classes, in the school under my care. Its peculiar advantages, I think, are these;-it is interesting to the learner; it leads him to speak French; 'it makes him,' as the author says, 'speak French out of his own head;' and the progress of the pupil is sure, constant, and rapid. Although much of the proficiency of his pupils should be ascribed, undoubtedly, to the peculiar talent and tact of Mr. Church, as a teacher, I believe his 'System' for 'French Spoken,' will be found not only original and ingenious, but one of intrinsic merit. GOTHIC SEMINARY, NORTHAMPTON, OCT. 31, 1844. MARGARETTE DWIGHT. Extract from a letter of Rev. EDWARD N. KIRK. I have examined your system of instruction in the manuscript, and find but one source of embarrassment in recommending it. My name is already given in favor of another system; and to many it may seem that the recommendation to one or both must either be insincere, or too hastily given. But that shall not prevent me from doing justice to your industry, enthusiasm, and talent, as well as the admirable system you are about to publish. No one, indeed, can learn to use the French as a spoken language, merely by the aid of books. But your book is the best aid I have ever met with, in two departments,—which constitute a large part of the embarrassment in learning your language, -the pronunciation and the verbs. It gives me great pleasure to see my young friends spared the tedious and needlessly painful hours which other systems inflicted on me. With the most cordial wishes for your success, and with much respect, BOSTON, Nov., 1844. I am your ob't servant, E. N. KIRK. |