Teaching Them English

The simple and effective niethod of teaching English tothechildren of Italiana, Portuguese, Polish and Gemían Jews used in the north end schools of Boston might profitably be adopted by other cities which are obliged to face the fact that within their bordera are thousands of f oreign childreu who know nothing of the customs, institutions or language of this country. A writer in the Boston Transcript thus describes the method : The children, within a few days after their arrival, are sent to the public schools, as a rule without compulsión, and here they are flrst of all taught the English language. It is done by a system of object leasous. The teachers in the eleraentary rooms are youn women, as men would not be patiënt enough to accornplish the best results. The teacher rnay point to her eye and say, "This is ray eye, " repeating it several times and requiring the pupils to repeat it in unisón. Other portions of the body are pointed out in a similar manner, and then familiar objects in the room are in the samo way brought to the attention of the children. . Later, when they have made sufficient progress in the language, it becomes desirable to teach the different tenses. To accomplish this, a boy or girl is directed to run slowly round the room, when the teacher and children say in unisón, "That boy is running," repeating the sentence several times. The boy is then told to halt, and the teacher and pupils say in unisón, "That boy did run;" again, "That boy is standing stil]," "That boy can run," "Th'at boy is walking," "That boy walks fast,""I can walk," "I can run," "Ididwalk," etc. These and other eentecces, as they are spoken, are written on the blackboard by the teacher, and the pupils write them on their slates. Thus they are taught the language and taught to spell, read and write almost simultaneouslv.