Note 24 — Chapter VIII · SOME FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS

This is not the place to speak of the way in which prevalent methods of teaching foreign languages can be improved. A slavish copying of the manner in which English children learn English is impracticable, and if it were practicable it would demand more time than anyone can devote to the purpose. One has to make the most of the advantages which the pupils possess over babies, thus, their being able to read, their power of more sustained attention, etc. Phonetic explanation of the new sounds and phonetic transcription have done wonders to overcome difficulties of pronunciation. But in other respects it is possible to some extent to assimilate the teaching of a foreign language to the method pursued by the child in its first years: one should not merely sprinkle the pupil, but plunge him right down into the sea of language and enable him to swim by himself as soon as possible, relying on the fact that a great deal will arrange itself in the brain without the inculcation of too many special rules and explanations. For details I may refer to my book, How to Teach a Foreign Language (London, George Allen and Unwin).