ROSENTHAL'S COMMON SENSE METHOD OF PRACTICAL LINGUISTRY. The French Language. BY DR. RICHARD S. ROSENTHAL, AUTHOR OF THE MEISTERSCHAFT SYSTEM, ETC., ETC. IN TEN PARTS. NEW YORK. :: LONDON. ان دایره Teachers, students, and book-reviewers are requested to carefully read the "Explanation of Rosenthal's Common Sense Method of Practical Linguistry" before taking up the system itself. Explanation of Rosenthal's Common Sense Method of Practical Linguistry. About ten years ago the Hon. Charles Francis Adams, Jr., delivered a memorable speech before the members of Harvard University. In a very clear, conclusive, and elaborate argument he showed that the study of Latin and Greek, as pursued in our schools and colleges, was practically worthless; that scarcely any of our students could read the ancient classics with ease and enjoyment, and that not even the teachers themselves were able to use these tongues colloquially. He closed his speech with an eloquent appeal to the College authorities that greater attention should henceforth be paid to the study of modern languages, and many of our leading Universities have since hen endeavored to act upon his advice. But were Mr. Adams' suggestions carried out in the right spirit by any of our schools? Have the results been reached which he foretold and expected? Can our present college graduates express themselves with fluency and correctness in French, German, or Spanish? Or, isn't it rather a fact that, despite all efforts, the modern tongues have remained just as lifeless to our students as the so-called dead languages? In our times, when international intercourse is constantly increasing, when steam and electricity are. uniting the whole world into one great brotherhood, when the deep thoughts of philosophy and the marvelons discoveries of science are no longer confined to any one tongue, but are almost simultaneously expressed |