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FIRST SPANISH BOOK AFTER THE NATURAL OR DIRECT METHOD FOR SCHOOLS AND SELF INSTRUCTION BY JAMES H WORMAN, AM, PnD, LLD. FORMERLY PROFESSOR OP SPANISH, UNIVERSITY OP VERMONT Nthil est tn tntelUctu quod nonjuerit m sensu AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO BOSTON ATLANTA S MODERN LANGUAGE SERIES SPARSE XE FIRST SPANISH BOOK SECOND SPANISH BOOK REVISED FRENCH FIRST FRENCH BOOK SECOND FRENCH BOOK GRAMMAIRE FSANCAISE REVISED FRENCH ECHO A MANUAL OF FRENCH CONVERSATION GERMAN FIRST GERMAN BOOK SECOND GERMAN BOOK AN ELEMENTARY GERMAN GRAMMAR GERMAN ECHO A MANUAL OP GERMAN CONVERSATION ComiGHT, igi6, IT J H BOSMA WOMIAS KEW FIRST SPAN BK. B P H FOREWORD TO TEACHER AND STUDENT HTHIS little book follows the plan of my First German Book and First French Book, like them, it is the outgrowth of schoolroom expenence, and a product of my language method It as origmall prepared ith the help of the late Prof H M Monsanto, but many changes and impro ements ha e been made in it from time to time, and in this present revision it conforms to the best usages of Spanish enters and to the latest decisions of the Spanish Academy Those wishing to learn not only the ntten but also the spoken Spanish ill find here the material that must be acquired The peculiar features of my method are Pestalozzian in char acter It differs idely, howeier, from all other methods of teaching a foreign language, because netted of this j, Thls taches the Spanish language without the help of the learner s vernacular 2 It bases linguistic instruction upon a direct appeal to a pic torial illustration of the objects mentioned The student is never left to guess at what is said, but is clearly instructed, and learns to speakunderstandingly 3 Grammar is taught to help the student speak accurately Many of the natural or direct method textbooks present too few, if any, grammar rules, and thus make the work superficial Unsystematic study is sure to be barren of results My aim is, therefore, to unfold the principles of the language progres sively, and to supply grammatical as well as lexical details. 4 Paradigms are used to enable the pupil to see the relation of the part to the whole It confuses the learner when he is only given one person or one case at a time 5 The rules are deduced from the examples, the purpose being to develop the abstract from the concrete In short, the laws iv NE FIRST SPANISH BOOK of the language are the learners cwn inferences from the examples 6 The footnotes contain much information. Their mastery is necessan to the students progress m his reading of the text As soon as the text of the first five lessons has been passed, the footnotes should be carefully discussed in class and made the subject of ntten exercises, if not m Spanish then by trans lation into and from the English 7 Everything is taught by contrast and association Too fre jquently the learners memory is overtaxed and the development of his sense and reasoning faculties neglected My special aim is to employ as much as possible the lower or sense faculties of the mind, the perceptions 8 The lessons are strictly graded and consist of conversations on interesting topics, supplying words and idioms needed m the everyday affairs of life 9. Distinctive type is used for the variable inflections of nouns, rate, adjectives, etc...