In French the novels of René Bazin lend themselves admirably to classroom use for the advanced course in French, and Bazin, you remember, is one of the leading modern French writers and a member of the French Academy. May the day soon dawn when Catholic language teachers have a full series of their writers edited for modern language classes! As regards text-books on the history of French literature the teacher will find useful material in Histoire de la Litérature Française by Duval and in the Primer of French Literature by F. M. Warren (both published by D. C. Heath & Co) and also in the Eléments de la Literature Française by M. D. Berlitz. But a work which cannot be too highly commended to the Catholic teacher, especially to those who are called upon for advice in the matter of French fiction, is the book of the Abbé Bethlem, already referred to. It covers practically the whole field of modern French literature under such definite headings as Novels to be Avoided by Virtue of the Decrees of the Congregation of the Index; Novels to be Avoided by Virtue of Christian Morality; Worldly Novels Which May be Read by Persons of Ripe Age and Mature Judgment; Novels Which May be Read by Young Persons who have been Carefully Trained; Stories for the Young, or Tales, Novels and Romances Which May be Read by All; Juvenile Works and Entertaining Stories for Boys and Girls-in a word, a splendid example of what the French call a catalogue raisonné. Something may perhaps be added about the relation of modern language study to other subjects of the curriculum. There is no doubt that a rational and methodical study of French and German should aid the student to obtain a clearer knowledge of his mother tongue. Every text-book on the history of the English language devotes considerable space to the effects of the Norman Conquest on the English language. But the far-reaching results of that event in the history and development of Eng lish speech will be more clearly understood by the student if he can bring a knowledge of French to a study of the many contributions made to his own speech by the Norman Conquest of England. Almost every teacher of English finds it opportune at some time or other, to touch on the close consonantal relation in the form of cognate words in English, German, Greek and Latin. This relation stated quite accurately in Grimm's Law-a law, by the way, not as easy and as satisfactory of explanation as seems at first blush-will mean more to the student who has mastered elementary German, besides Greek and Latin, than to one without this knowledge of the modern language. Again, how often may not the modern language teacher bring home a clearer knowledge of some facts of English or Latin grammarfacts which should have been mastered in earlier years! Here may be mentioned even such elementary items as the rules of concord, the construction of the accusative with the infinitive, the impersonal construction, etc., which as the modern language teacher finds out to his surprise, have never been well grasped by the students. After all, French and German are not as unfamiliar as they seem and even the pupil who never cares to acquire even the elements of a foreign language must often be struck by the similarity of these modern forms of Indo-Germanic speech. The skillful teacher and the one who has some training in the elements of Comparative Philology can readily bring home in a more scientific and interesting way the family resemblances between English and German on the one hand, and (if the students have studied Latin, as will often be the case) between Latin and French on the other. Of course, this comparative work must be done with discretion. For in no phase of language teaching is there so much room for reckless "etymologizing" and wild theorizing as to "relationship" than in the comparative study of these modern tongues. I have not yet definitely stated which of the aforementioned methods seems best adapted to our courses. An answer cannot be given which will apply equally well to every case. Much depends on the nature, size, age and previous work of the class. Much depends too on the teacher. After all, the problem of successful modern language teaching is not so much a question of method. Much will depend on arousing an intelligent interest in the language, the life and the literature of the foreign tongue and, in the hands of an enthusiastic and well prepared teacher, almost any method lends itself to this purpose. But as most of us, no doubt, lay much stress on introducing the student to the life and literature of the foreign tongue- that is, as our aim will be largely cultural- we may perhaps emphasize the reading method. This method has also found great favor with the Modern Language Committee and with the mention of their opinion I shall close this paper which has already transgressed its assigned limit. "For any shorter course (that is, a course of less than four years) we should advise the 'reading method', accompanied, however, by scientific training in the pronunciation, drill in the rudiments of grammar, and a moderate amount of oral practice." APPENDIX By way of appendix I wish to add a list of French and German texts for our modern language classes. These texts are based on the lists drawn up by the Committee of Twelve of the Modern Language Association of America. Many of the texts therein suggested, however, are not suitable for classes in Catholic high schools and colleges. This is especially the case for the books mentioned for advanced French. No Catholic teacher would ever think of recommending some of the works there listed. It is believed that the following selection, however, will give ample choice to the Catholic teacher of French and German. The selection is all the more suitable because the texts recommended can be had in neat editions prepared especially for classes in American schools and colleges. chon. ELEMENTARY FRENCH Erckman-Chatrian-Le Juif Polonais-Waterloo. Labiche et Martin-La poudre aux yeux-Le voyage de M. Perri Malot-Sans Famille. Verne-Stories. INTERMEDIATE FRENCH About-Le roi des montagnes. Bazin-Contes-Les Oberlé. Chateaubriand-Le dernier Abencérage. Merimee-Colomba. Souvestre Un philosophe sous les toits. ADVANCED FRENCH Balzac Eugenie Grandet. Daudet Tartarin de Tarascon. Le Fontaine-Fables. Moliere-L'Avare-Le Bourgois Gentilhomme. ELEMENTARY GERMAN Andersen-Bilderbuch ohne Bilder. Bluethgen-Das Peterle von Nuernberg. Grimm-Maerchen. Storm-Geschichten aus der Tonne. Zschokke-Der zerbrochene Krug. INTERMEDIATE GERMAN Freytag-Bilder aus der deutschen Verganganheit-Die Journalisten. Keller-Kleider machen Leute. Lessing-Minna von Barnhelm. Schiller-Balladen-die Jungfrau von Orleans-Das Lied von der Glocke Der Neffe als Onkel-Wilhelm Tell. Scheffel-Der Trompeter von Saekkingen. ADVANCED GERMAN Goethe-Iphigenie. Grillparzer-Der Traum ein Leben. Hauff-Lichtenstein. Kleist-Der Prinz von Homburg. Schiller-Maria Stuart-Wallenstein. MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE SECTION PROCEEDINGS The Mathematics and Science Section was called to order by the Chairman on Tuesday afternoon, June 25th, in the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh. Quite a number of priests, Brothers and laymen, and a few Sisters were present. The paper of the afternoon was entitled "Progress of Sciences in Catholic Colleges". It was prepared and read by the Rev. Daniel J. McHugh, C. M. A lively and interesting discussion followed the reading of the paper. Rev. James J. Dean, O. S. A., of Villanova College, spoke about the pioneer work done by the institution with which he is connected. He wished to know whether the scope of the paper included work in science extending back quite a number of years or was limited to the last three years. The answer was given that the paper dealt chiefly with the work of the last three years, or since the Science Section was organized and former statistics collected. Dr. W. J. Wohlleben, S. M., of St. Mary's College, Dayton, Ohio, took up the point in reference to the expense or outlay of money required in teaching the sciences. He called attention to the fact that a great deal can be saved by importing goods free of duty instead of buying them outright from business houses in this country. He thought that some institutions might not be aware of this. Rev. E. L. Carey, C. M., of St. John's College, Brooklyn, and Rev. Frederick Siedenburg, S. J., also spoke a few words. The second and last session of the Science Section was held at 3:30 o'clock Wednesday afternoon. |