Chapter VII: Part I: Grammar (3)

From the run wash-stand to the table.

Wash-stand from the to the run table.

LESSONS AND COMMANDS ON PREPOSITIONS

The teacher may also take groups of children and give them short lessons on the preposition to explain the meaning, selecting if possible two or three synonyms or antonyms each time. The lessons should always he practical and full of action. The child should come to understand in this case the relationship established by this or that preposition between the object (noun) and the action (verb) to be performed. As soon as this has been made clear by the teacher the commands are distributed to the children who put them into execution. Here is the material that we use:

Subject:

Of (di).

Command:--

--Go and get a boxful _of_ counters. Go and get a glass _of_ water. Bring me a piece _of_ cloth.

Subject:

near (to), next (to), beside, far away from (vicino, accosto, lontano).

Command:--

--One of you boys stand in the middle of the room. Now you others go and stand _near_ him. One of you stand _next_ to him on the right, another _beside_ him on the left. Now all go _far away from_ him.

Subject:

in, into, inside, out of (in, dentro, fuori).

Command:--

--Rise from your chairs and go _into_ the next room. Stay _in_ that room a moment and then come back _into_ this one. Go back on tip-toe and lock yourselves _inside_ the next room. Come _out of_ the next room _into_ this one.

Subject:

On this side of, on that side of, beyond (di là da, di qua da, oltre).

Command:--

--Leave your places and form a circle _on that side of_ the door; form a circle then _on this side of_ the door. All of you go and stand somewhere _beyond_ the door.

Subject:

except, save (tranne, eccetto).

Command:--

--All the children, _except_ George and Mary, walk on tip-toe around the room.

--All the children, _save_ George and Mary, walk on tip-toe around the room.

Subject:

side by side with, opposite, in front of, along (di fianco, di fronte, avanti).

Command:--

--Form a line _side by side_ with each other.

--Form a line _along_ the wall _opposite_ the door.

--Form two lines _in front of_ the piano.

Subject:

before, behind (dirimpetto, dietro).

Command:--

--Two of you come and stand _before_ me.

--The rest of you go and stand _behind_ me.

Subject:

on, about, along (su, secondo, lungo).

Command:--

--Each of you place one counter on the table. Now arrange the same counters _along_ the far edge of the table. Now scatter the same counters _about_ the center of the table.

Subject:

between, among (fra, in mezzo a).

Command:--

--One of you go and stand _between_ the door and the piano.

--Place ten white counters on the table. Now go and scatter two or three red counters _among_ the white ones.

Subject:

from, to, as far as (da, a, fino a).

Command:--

--Rise and walk _from_ your places _to_ the piano; wait a moment and then continue _as far as_ the door of the next room.

Subject:

around, about (attorno, intorno).

Command:--

--Walk in couples, arm in arm, _around_ the room twice; when you reach the piano on the second round, form a circle _about_ the piano.

Subject:

toward, against (verso, contro).

Command:--

--Take your chairs and move them three steps _toward_ the wall in front of you. Next, arrange your chairs in a row with their backs _against_ the wall behind you.

Subject:

across, through (attraverso, per).

Command:--

--Roll your handkerchiefs into balls and throw them _across_ the room.

--Pick them up as they lie and try to throw them _through_ the door into the hall.

Subject:

With, without (con, senza).

Command:--

--Walk around the room _with_ your chairs in your hands.

--Walk around the room _without_ your chairs.

Subject:

to, in order to, so as to (per).

Command:--

--Wash your hands _in order_ not _to_ soil the cloth. Then close your eyes and feel this cloth _so as to_ recognize it.

VIII

ADVERBS

ANALYSES

Again the exercise consists of sentences analyzed by means of colored cards and commands. The grammar box contains six compartments having, like the others, the names of the different parts of speech on title cards of proper color. The card for the adverb is pink. In the rear compartment are six slips for each exercise, and in the sections the usual number of corresponding colored cards for the necessary words.

GROUP A

(Adverbs of Manner)

--Walk _slowly_ to the window.
Walk _rapidly_ to the window.

--Rise _silently_ from your seat.
Rise _noisily_ from your seat.

--Speak _softly_ into the ear of your nearest comrade.
Speak _loudly_ into the ear of your nearest comrade.

--Take five steps toward the door; turn _abruptly_ to the left.
Take five steps toward the door; turn _gradually_ to the left.

--Take your nearest comrade _lightly_ by the arm.
Take your nearest comrade _roughly_ by the arm.

--Look _smilingly_ into the mirror.
Look _scowlingly_ into the mirror.

GROUP B

(Adverbs of place and time)

--Place your pencil _there_.
Place your pencil _here_.

--Lay your book _somewhere_ on the table.
Lay your book _elsewhere_ on the table.

--Walk to the window _constantly_ clapping your hands.
Walk to the window _occasionally_ clapping your hands.

--Drink the water in the glass _now_.
Drink the water in the glass _by and by_.

--Carry the pink tower _upstairs_.
Carry the pink tower _downstairs_.

--Write a word on the blackboard _immediately_.
Write a word on the blackboard _soon_.

GROUP C

(Adverbs of quantity, comparison)

--Walk along the hall swinging your arms _somewhat_.
Walk along the hall swinging your arms _a great deal_.

--Bend your head a _little_.
Bend your head _much_.

--Walk _slowly_ to the window.
Walk _less slowly_ to the window.
Walk _more slowly_ to the window.

--Place on the table your _most_ beautiful drawing.
--Place on the table your beautiful drawing.

--Make a broad mark on the blackboard.
Make a _very_ broad mark on the blackboard.

GROUP D

(Adverbs of comparison, correlative adverbs)

--Look for a piece of cloth softer _than_ velvet.
--Look for a piece of cloth _as_ soft as velvet.

--Find among your colors a shade _as_ black _as_ the blackboard.
--Find a piece of cloth _not so_ shiny _as_ satin.
--Find among the plane insets a rectangle _as_ broad _as_ half
the square.
--Bring a rod longer _than_ your copy-book.
--Bring a rod _as_ long _as_ your copy-book.
--Bring a rod _not so_ long _as_ your copy-book.
--Find a piece of cloth _less_ rough _than_ the canvas.

PERMUTATIONS

The sentences to be analyzed are reproduced as usual by building the first sentence on each slip; and then, by changing the adverb, the child gets the second or third sentence. One of the first permutations is to remove the adverb from those sentences where it performs the function of an _adjective to the verb_, thereby causing one action to be changed into another. For example take the two sentences:

Walk slowly to the window.
Walk rapidly to the window.

Taking away the adverb we have:

Walk to the window.

The child can perform the action which, now, is a simple one. The adverb, however, changes, _modifies_, the action. If the teacher in play puts the two adverbs together in the same sentence the child has the problem of interpreting two contrary movements. That is, he is to go to the window _slowly_ and _rapidly_ at the same time. Taking away the adverb cards the sentence left is _Go to the window_. This action the child can perform. But how shall he perform it, in what way? With the help of adverbs! Similarly in the following sentences:

Bend your head _a little_.
Bend your head _much_.

Written without the adverb they indicate one action. What slight changes in the position of the head can be brought about by these adverbs! It is the _adverb_ which really shows fine differentiations in movement!

In other sentences also where the adverb is, so to speak, an _adjective_ to an _adjective_ and therefore really affects the object (noun), similar permutations may be made.

Make a broad mark on the blackboard.
Make a _very_ broad mark on the blackboard.

Here by the use of an adverb two different _objects_ (nouns) are distinguished which, though they have the same quality (breadth) differ in degree (broad, very broad). Take, for instance, two objects belonging to the same series:

Place on your table the prism which is most thick.
Place on your table the prism which is least thick.

If the adverbs are taken away the factor determining the degree of quality (thickness) disappears and we have sentences which are far less precise in their meaning:

Place on your table the prism which is thick.

As the teacher proceeds to make permutations in the different sentences she should remember (for Italian) that the normal position of the adverb is after the verb (in the compound tenses it comes between the auxiliary and the participle).

(Note: In English the position of the adverb is much freer than in Italian; it often stands at the end of the sentence and even between subject and verb,--something quite foreign to normal Italian usage. We retain the text entire.)

In the sentences analyzed by the child it is sufficient to recall that the adverb modifies the verb and follows the verb it modifies. Take the sentence:

Bend your head a little as you write.

If the adverb is placed after the second verb the meaning changes:

Bend your head as you write a little.

The same is true in the following:

Walk along the hall swinging your arms somewhat.
Walk somewhat along the hall swinging your arms.

General shifting of position would give results as follows:

Bend a little your head as you write.
A little bend your head as you write, etc., etc.
Somewhat walk along the hall swinging your arms.
Walk along somewhat the hall swinging your arms, etc., etc.

The child is quick to recognize by ear the accurate, the normal position of the adverb.

On the other hand, adverbs of quantity and comparison precede the adjective:

Make a very broad mark on the blackboard.
Place on your table the prism that is least thick.

Permutation gives the following results:

Make a broad very mark on the blackboard.
Place on your table the prism which thick least is, etc., etc.

Adverbs of time and place often ring like trumpet calls to attention at the beginning of the sentence:

Drink the water in the glass now.
Now drink the water in the glass.

(Note: In English the adverb of time, placed at the end of the sentence, gains quite as much emphasis. So for adverbs of place.)

LESSONS AND COMMANDS ON ADVERBS

Subject:

straight, zig-zag (diritto, a zig-zag).

Command:--

--Run _straight_ into the other room; return to your place
walking _zig-zag_.

Subject:

lightly, heavily, sedately (leggermente, gravemente,
pesantemente).

Command:--

--Walk _lightly_ into the other room; return to your
place walking _sedately_ as though you were a very
important person; walk across the room and back again
resting _heavily_ on each step as though it were
hurting you to walk.

Subject:

suddenly, gradually (ad un tratto, gradatamente).

Command:--

--Form in line and walk forward beginning _suddenly_
to stamp with your left foot. Return to your places
letting the stamping _gradually_ cease.

Subject:

meanwhile, frequently, occasionally (sempre, spesso, raramente).

Command:--

--Form in line and march slowly into the next room, stopping
_frequently_. Return to your places stopping
_occasionally_.
--Walk into the next room and back again, _meanwhile_ keeping
your eyes closed.

Subject:

back, forward, to and fro (avanti, indietro, su e giù).

Command:--

--Form in line and walk _forward_ to the other side of the
room; then come _back_ to your places.
--Walk _to and fro_ across the room with your heads lowered
and your hands behind your back.

Subject:

forwards, backwards.

Command:--

--Stand in the middle of the room; then walk
_backwards_ to the window, being careful to walk in a
straight line. Return to your places walking
_forwards_.

Subject:

slowly, abruptly (lentamente, bruscamente).

Command:--

--Rise _slowly_ from your seats.
--Rise _abruptly_ from your seats.

Subject:

politely, cordially (gentilmente, garbatamente).

Command:--

--Offer your chair _politely_ to your nearest neighbor.
--Shake hands _cordially_ with your nearest neighbor.

Subject:

alternately, in succession, simultaneously (successivamente,
alternativamente, simultaneamente).

Command:--

--Raise your two hands _alternately_ above your heads.
--Raise your two hands _simultaneously_ above your heads.
--One of you children walk around the room bowing to each pupil
_in succession_.

Subject:

Well, badly, fairly, best, worst (bene, male, meglio, peggio,
così così, benino, maluccio, benissimo, malissimo).

Command:--

--One of you call the children to the end of the room,
carefully observing how they walk; judge their
carriage without speaking and distribute the following
cards where they belong: _well_, _badly_, _fairly_,
_best_, _worst_.

Subject:

away, back (via).

Command:--

--One of you stand in the center of the room; the
others gather round him. Suddenly all of you run
_away_ from him. Then come _back_ to him again.

Subject:

here, there, somewhere, elsewhere (qui, qua, costì, costà,
lì, là, altrove).

Command:--

--Form in line and the first four children come to me
_here_; the rest go and stand _there_ by the window.
Now go and stand _somewhere_ in the other room. Remain
where you are a moment, then go and stand _elsewhere_.
Finally all come back _here_ to me.

Subject:

thus, likewise (così).

Command:--

--One of you walk around the room holding his arms in a certain
position. The rest of you do _likewise_.
--All of you hold your hands _thus_, as I am doing.

Subject:

up, down, upward, downward.

Command:--

--Roll your handkerchiefs into balls and throw them _up_
to the ceiling.
--Pick them up and throw them _down_ again to the floor.
--Look _upward_ to the ceiling. Now look _downward_ to
the floor.

Subject:

crosswise, lengthwise.

Command:--

--Lay two rods _crosswise_ on the table. Then lay them
_lengthwise_ on the table.

Subject:

sharply, sullenly, gently, kindly.

Command:--

--_Sharply_ order your nearest neighbor to rise from his seat.
--Ask him _gently_ to sit down again.
--Sit _sullenly_ in your chair with your eyes lowered.
--Smile _kindly_ at your nearest neighbor.

A BURST OF ACTIVITY:

THE FUTURE OF THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE IN POPULAR EDUCATION

In our own private experiments when we reached the adverb there occurred among the children a veritable explosion into a new kind of activity. They insisted on making up commands themselves. They invented them and then read them aloud to their companions or had their companions interpret the slips which they had written. All were most enthusiastic in performing these commands and they were rigorously scrupulous in acting them out down to the minutest detail. The executions came to be a literal, intensely real dramatisation: if a word was inexact or incorrect, the interpretation of the command threw the error into noisy relief, and the child who has written it saw before him an action quite different from what he had in mind. Then he realized that he had expressed his thought wrongly or inadequately and immediately set to work to correct his mistake. The revelation seemed to redouble his energy. He would hunt among his numerous words for the one necessary to translate his idea into a living scene before his eyes. Suppose a child had written the following sentence involving the use of the adverb _sempre_ "always":

Walk about the room (sempre) _always_ on tip-toe.

meaning that the child should _all the while_ go on tip-toe; if the child began to walk on tip-toe and continued to do so for a long time, trying to express _sempre_ (always--forever) he would find himself facing a serious problem. Hence the spontaneous query: "What must I do to express myself correctly?"

A little girl once wrote "Walk around the tables," meaning that the children should form a line and walk in and out around each table. Instead she saw her companions form a line and walk round the entire group of tables. Red in the face and out of breath she kept calling: "Stop, stop. That isn't the way," just as if this difference between the thought she actually had in mind and the way it was being executed were hurting her intolerably.

This is only a passing suggestion of something which, I think, will merit much further development later on, after more thorough experiment. It will suffice, however, to bring to the teacher a notion of a most fertile field for the development of the written language in its most rigorous purity. It is evident that the experiment shows the possibility not only of having spontaneous compositions without grammatical errors (just as the mechanical writing was spontaneous and without errors), but of developing a love for clearness and purity of speech which will be a potent factor in improving the literary appreciation of the masses, and popular culture generally.

When the children are seized with this passion for accurate expression of their thoughts in writing, when, spontaneously, clearness becomes the goal of their efforts, they follow the hunt for words with the keenest enthusiasm. They feel that there are never too many words to build with exactness the delicate edifice of thought. Problems of language come to them as a revelation. "How many words are there?" they ask. "How many nouns, how many verbs, how many adjectives? Is there any way for us to learn them all?" They are no longer content with their little copy-books of words. They ask for a wealth of word material which they now enjoy with all the delight of attractive and orderly interpretation. They never get tired of it.

These developments in our work suggested to us the idea of giving the children a large vocabulary comprising a sufficient number of nouns, verbs, and adjectives and containing _all_ the words of the other parts of speech. The difference in bulk between the real content of language (substance and modification, that is, nouns with their adjectives, and verbs with their adverbs) and the other words which serve to establish relations and consolidate this content, is something very impressive to children of eight. It is for them that we tried to prepare our word charts and the dictionaries of synonyms for nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Here, meanwhile, are some of the commands which the children wrote themselves--things which they improvised all of a sudden, by an explosion of energy, as it were, developed as the result of inner maturity. Compare the aridity and uniformity of the commands we invented ourselves with the variety and richness of ideas appearing in the children's commands! We very evidently show the weariness the preparation of the material caused us. They, on the contrary, reveal an ardent, vivacious spirit, a life full of exuberance.

COMMANDS IMPROVISED BY THE CHILDREN

--Build the pink tower very _badly_.

--Make _accurately_ a pose for each of the pictures in
the room.

--Pretend you were two old men: speak _softly_ as if
you were very sad; and one of you say this: "Too bad
poor Pancrazio is dead!" And the other say: "Shall we
have to wear our black clothes to-morrow?" Then walk
along _silently_.

--Walk along limping _heavily_; then _suddenly_ fall
_prostrate_ on your faces as though you were
exhausted. Return tripping _lightly_ to your places,
without falling and without limping.

--Walk _slowly_ with lowered heads as though you were
very sad; return then _joyfully_ and walking
_lightly_.

--Take a flower and run _eagerly_ and give it to the
lady.

--Go half way round the room limping; the rest of the
way _on all fours_.

--Silence _immediately_; _silently_ act out poses for
the pictures in the room.

--Go from your seats to the door _on all fours_;
_then_ rise and limp _lightly_ half way round the
room; do the other half back to the door _on all
fours_; _there_ rise and run _lightly back_ to your
seats.

--Walk _silently_ into the next room; walk three times
around the big table and _then_ return to your places.

--Go into the next room running _quite fast_; come
back _gradually_ reducing speed until you reach your
places.

--Go to the cabinet _immediately_; take a
letter-chart, and walk twice around the room with the
chart on your head, trying _never_ to let it fall; go
back to your places _in the same way_.

--Walk around the large hall, walking _wearily_; sit
down, as though you were tired, and fall asleep; wake
up _shortly after_ and go back to your places.

--Form in line and march forward till you reach a
clear space; _there_ form a circle; _next_ a rhombus;
_then_ a square; _finally_ a trapezium. Go into the
big hall conversing _softly_; _suddenly_ fall to the
floor _lightly_ and go to sleep; then wake up and look
around, saying, "Where are we?" Then go back to your
seats.

IX

PRONOUNS

ANALYSES

Material:--The box has seven compartments marked with the colored title slips; tan for the article, black for the noun, brown for the adjective, red for the verb, violet for the preposition, pink for the adverb, and _green_ for the _pronoun_. In the rear space are the slips for the sentences to be analyzed. There are, as usual, fewer cards than words. The exercise is to substitute the pronouns for nouns.

GROUP A

(Personal Pronouns)

--George's sister was weeping. George soothed his sister with a
kiss.
George's sister was weeping. _He_ soothed _her_ with a kiss.

--The book fell to the floor. Emma replaced the book on the table.
The book fell to the floor. _She_ replaced _it_ on the table.

--The children gave their mother a surprise. The children wrote a
letter to their mother.
The children gave their mother a surprise. _They_ wrote _her_ a
letter.

--The teacher said: The drawing is beautiful! Will _you_ give the
drawing to the teacher?
The teacher said: _It_ is beautiful! Will _you_ give _it_ to
_me_?

--Charles has gone into the other room. Can you find Charles?
Charles has gone into the other room. Can you find _him_?

GROUP B

(Demonstratives (questo, cotesto, quello) "this, that, these, those, this one, that one)

(As already noted for the adjective English lacks the demonstrative of the second person: that _near you_.)

--Show a child the prisms of the brown stair; _this_ prism is
thicker than _that_ prism; _that_ prism is thinner than
_these_ prisms.
Show a child the prisms of the brown stair; _this_ is thicker
than _that_; _that_ is thinner than _these_.

--Let us look at the children: _this_ child is taller than _that_
child; _that_ child is shorter than _this_ child.
Let us look at the children: _this one_ is taller than _that
one_; _that one_ is shorter than _this one_.

--Here is a cone on top of a cylinder: try to put the cylinder on
top of the cone.
Here is a cone on top of a cylinder: try to put _this_ on top
of _that_.

--Let us show the cubes of the pink tower to a little girl: _this_
cube is the largest; _those_ cubes are the smallest of the
series.
Let us show the cubes of the pink tower to a little girl: _this
one_ is the largest; _those_ are the smallest of the
series.

GROUP C

(Relatives and Interrogatives: (che, il quale, cui, chi? quale?) who, whom, whose, which, that, who? whose? whom? what? which? where, when?)

Note: The situation with the relatives is different in
English: _who_ refers to persons; _which_ to things;
_that_ to either persons or things; whereas _che_ and
_il quale_ are interchangeable referring to both
persons and things, _il quale_ having special
rhetorical advantages over _che_, in addition to
showing gender and number. _Cui_ is used after
prepositions; and, for the possessive Italian has _il
cui_, _la cui_, etc., "whose".

--Ask the children: Which child wants to see my drawing?
Ask the children: _Who_ wants to see my drawing?

--Ask Charles for the pencil; Charles put the pencil into the
drawer.
Ask Charles for the pencil _which_ Charles put into the drawer.
Ask Charles for the pencil _that_ he put into the drawer.

--Thank Charles. Charles gave you the pencil.
Thank Charles _who_ gave you the pencil.

--Look at the children. You hear the children in the next room.
Look at the children _whom_ you hear in the next room.

--Yesterday you put the flowers into a vase: change the water in
the vase.
Change the water in the vase into _which_ you put the flowers
yesterday.
Change the water in the vase _where_ you put the flowers
yesterday.
Change the water in the vase _that_ you put the flowers into
yesterday.

--Choose among the pieces of cloth the cloth most like your dress.
Choose among the pieces of cloth _the one which_ is most like
your dress.
Choose among the pieces of cloth _the one that_ is most like
your dress.

--Here is the little girl. We found her pocketbook.
Here is the little girl _whose_ pocketbook we found.

--Here is the boy. We saw him yesterday.
Here is the boy _whom_ we saw yesterday.

--Select an inset from the insets used for drawing.
Select an inset from _those which_ are used for drawing.
Select an inset from _those that_ are used for drawing.

GROUP D

(Possessives: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs)

--This book is my book
This book is _mine_

--This book is your book
This book is _yours_

--Those pencils are his pencils
Those pencils are _his_

--Those pencils are her pencils
Those pencils are _hers_

--That house is our house
That house is _ours_

--This money is your money
This money is _yours_

--Those seats are their seats
Those seats are _theirs_

--This place is its place
This place is _its_

PERMUTATIONS

The function of the pronoun as a substitute for a noun has been made clear in the analysis of the above sentences. After the children themselves have composed the first sentence with the colored cards they form the second sentence by taking away the noun card and substituting the corresponding pronoun. In the work done by the teacher to give the child an idea of the normal position of the pronoun, let her remember that in Italian personal pronouns precede the verb except in interrogation (where the subject may follow) and in cases where the subject is specially emphasized and where the pronouns appear as a suffix (infinitive, participle and imperative).

He soothed her with a kiss.
He her soothed with a kiss, etc., etc.

[It will become apparent that in English the personal pronoun takes the position of the noun, whereas for Italian the pronoun shifts to a position in front of the verb. Considerable variety develops in English when the noun is replaced by a relative pronoun. However, the different problems arising in connection with pronouns generally are so complex that we return to this subject, especially to the question of subject and object forms, in dealing with sentence-analysis later.]

LESSONS AND COMMANDS ON THE PRONOUN

Subject:

Subjective Personal Pronouns: I, you, he, she, we, you, they
(io, tu, egli, essa, noi, voi, loro, etc.).

Explain these pronouns as briefly and practically as possible from the point of view of speaker and listener, etc., one child commanding the others while they _execute_ the command along with him. Example: The teacher, named for instance Anna Fedeli, explains in this way: "I don't say _Anna Fedeli_; I say _I_." "To Carlino here I don't say Carlino; I say, _you_." "Of Gigino, over there, I don't say Gigino; I say _he_," etc., etc.

Command:--

The command is given by a child; but he himself
executes the first personal form along with the other
children:

--_I_ walk around the table
--_You_ walk around the table
--_She_ walks around the table
--_He_ walks around the table
--_We_ walk around the table
--_You_ walk around the table
--_They_ walk around the table

--_I_ raise my arms
--_You_ raise your arms
--_She_ raises her arms
--_He_ raises his arms
--_We_ raise our arms
--_You_ raise your arms
--_They_ raise their arms

--_I_ lift the chair
--_You_ lift the chair
--_He_ lifts the chair, etc., etc.

--_I_ take the ink-stand
--_You_ take the ink-stand
--_He_ takes the ink-stand, etc., etc.

--_I_ wave my handkerchief
--_You_ wave your handkerchief, etc., etc.

From these exercises the notion gradually develops that:

the _first person_ is the one who _speaks_;
the _second person_ is the one who _listens_;
the _third person_ is the one spoken of.

Other commands may be dramatized by small groups as follows:

--The first person must put a question the second must
answer, and the third from a distance must try to hear
both of them.

--Let the first one write, the second one watch, and
the third one say "That is not right."

The following commands may be read aloud by the child:

--_I_ ask you a question very softly. _You_ answer
_me_; and _he_, over there, must try to hear both of
us.

--_I_ shall write; _you_ must act as if you were
trying to read what I am writing; and then _he_, over
there, will call out: "That is not right."

Subject:

Direct Objective Personal Pronouns: me, you, him, her,
us, you, them (mi, ti, si, lo, la, ci, vi, si, li,
le).

Reflexives and reciprocals: myself, yourself, etc.,
each other.

Command:--

(Here too one child commands executing the first
personal forms, while the others act out the second
and third):

--I touch the oil-cloth on the table; I touch
_myself_; I touch _you_; you touch _yourself_; I touch
_him_; you touch _her_; let us touch _each other_; you
touch _me_.

--Charles, take the whisk-broom and brush the table;
Charles, brush _me_; Charles, brush _him_; Charles,
brush _her_; Charles, brush _yourself_.

--Mary and I bow to the teacher; now we bow to _you_;
now we bow to _him_; now we bow to _her_; now we bow
to _each other_.

--I lead George by the hand to the window; I lead
_you_ by the hand to the window; I lead _him_ by the
hand to the window; he leads _us_ by the hand to the
window; we lead _her_ by the hand to the window.

Subject:

Indirect object personal pronouns: me, te, se, mi, ti,
si, le, gli, lui, lei, noi, voi, ci, vi, loro (the
disjunctive pronouns, used after prepositions, etc.,
do not differ in English from the simple direct object
forms).

(The commands are still executed as above):

Commands:--

--I am going to distribute these pencils: one to
_you_, one to _him_, one to _her_; one to _myself_.

--Louis, give _me_ a command; give _him_ a command;
give _her_ a command; give _yourself_ a command.

--Attention! Charles, give _her_ a blue bead! Mary,
give _him_ a red bead!

--Alfred, give a white bead to _me_; give _me_ also a
yellow bead!

Subject:

Demonstratives for persons (questi, costui, colui; the
second person, "that one near you," is lacking in
English, which also fails to distinguish between
persons and things and between genders).

When the distinctions in space represented by these pronouns have been taught as above the children read and execute as follows:

Commands:--

Distribute the pronouns to different children in the
class; _questi_, "this one (near me)," _costei_
(feminine); _costui_, "that one (near you)," _costei_
(fem.); _colui_, "that one (over there)," _colei_
(fem.); when the children are in their proper places,
give to each child a different command.

--Call to you a boy and a girl, and then command:
_that one_ (_costui_) go and get a case; _that one_
(_costei_) go and get a counter; _those_ (_costoro_)
keep far away and preserve complete silence.

--Point to two children, one standing near you and one
far away; then command: _that one_ (_colui_) go and
fetch an armchair for _that one_ (fem. _costei_) and a
chair for _this one_ (_questo_); then have him return
to his place. Then have all the children execute the
commands which _those_ (_costoro_) will now give.

In case the class is made up entirely of girls or entirely of boys, the children find considerable amusement in trying to imitate the manners of whichever opposite sex is missing.

Subject:

Demonstratives of things (questo, cotesto, quello,
ciò, ne); here also English has no pronoun of the
second person (_that near you_), nor does it possess
the general indefinite _ciò_ (referring to a general
idea: _that_ (ciò) _is true_).

When the meaning of these words, in terms of space
location, has been taught, the children execute as
follows:

Commands:--

--You children divide into three groups; then go and
occupy three different places; change places as
follows: you leave _that_ (_cotesto_) and occupy
_that_ over there; the others leave _that_ (_quello_)
and occupy this (_questo_).

Subject:

Possessives: mine, yours (thine), his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs.

Commands:--

--Point out various objects, saying: This is my slate;
that one is _yours_, that is _hers_, and this one is
_his_.

--Point at the different seats, saying: Here are our
places, that is _mine_ and this is _yours_. Those over
there are _theirs_.

--Pass around little baskets, saying: This is my
basket. Whose is that? Is that _yours_? Is this
_hers_? Are these _ours_? Is this one _his_?

We dealt with the relatives only incidentally in the analyses (Group C above); we do not treat them here, postponing the study of them in detail to the chapter on sentence-analysis.

PARADYMS

In teaching the declension of the pronouns we use the method employed by us in teaching all inflections: bundles of cards, of which one group is tied separately and serves as a guide. The child arranges the cards on the table, working first on the guiding group and putting the pronouns in order of persons: first, second, third.

GROUP A

(Personal Pronouns)

_Masculine_ _Feminine_
I we io noi io noi
you, thou you tu voi tu voi
he they egli loro ella loro
she they esso essi essa esse
it they lo li la le
me us lui lei
you, thee you gli le
him them
her them
it them

GROUP B

(Demonstratives of Person)

_Masculine_ _Feminine_
this these questi costei
that those costui costei
this one these colui colei
that one those costoro costoro
coloro coloro

GROUP C

(Demonstratives of Things)

_Masculine_ _Feminine_
this these questo questi questa queste
that those cotesto cotesti cotesta coteste
this one these quel(lo) quegli, quei quella quelle
that one those ciò ciò
ne ne

GROUP D

(Relatives)

_Persons_ _Persons and Things_
_Masculine_ _Feminine_
who il quale i quali la quale le quali
whose che che
whom chi chi
that cui cui

_Things_
which chi (compound = "he who")
that

what (compound = that which)

GROUP E

(Possessives)

mine its
yours (thine) ours
his yours
hers theirs

GROUP F

(Interrogatives)

_Persons_ _Persons_
who? chi?
whose?
whom? quale?

which?

_Things_ _Things_

che?
what? cosa?
che cosa?

which? quale?

AGREEMENT OF PRONOUN AND VERB

The cards given to the child for this work are green for the personal pronoun subjects, and red for the verb forms of the three simple tenses, present, past, and future. There are, for Italian, three groups corresponding to the three conjugations: _amare_, _temere_, _sentire_. The child's work is to place the pronouns in the proper order of person (first, second, third, singular and plural) and to put after each pronoun the corresponding verb form. Each child corrects his work by his own sense of the language; however, the teacher looks it over to verify it. The resulting exercises when correctly performed are as follows:

GROUP A

io amo ("I love" Io amavo ("I was io amerò ("I shall
etc.) loving") love")
tu ami tu amavi tu amerai
egli ama egli amava egli amerà
noi amiamo noi amavamo noi ameremo
voi amate voi amavate voi amerete
essi amano essi amavano essi ameranno

GROUP B

io temo ("I fear") io temevo ("I was io temerò ("I shall
fearing") fear")
tu temi tu temevi tu temerai
egli teme egli temeva egli temerà
noi temiamo noi temevamo noi temeremo
voi temete voi temevate voi temerete
essi temono essi temevano essi temeranno

GROUP C

io sento ("I hear") io sentivo ("I was io sentirò ("I shall
hearing") hear")
tu senti tu sentivi tu sentirai
egli sente egli sentiva egli sentirà
noi sentiamo noi sentivamo noi sentiremo
voi sentite voi sentivate voi sentirete
essi sentono essi sentivano essi sentiranno

FOR ENGLISH

GROUP A

(Simple Tenses)

I love I loved I shall love
you love you loved you will love
he loves he loved he will love
we love we loved we shall love
you love you loved you will love
they love they loved they will love

GROUP B

(Progressive Forms)

I am loving I was loving I shall be loving
you are loving you were loving you will be loving
he is loving he was loving he will be loving
we are loving we were loving we shall be loving
you are loving you were loving you will be loving
they are loving they were loving they will be loving

GROUP C

(Interrogative Forms)

do I love? did I love? will I love?
do you love? did you love? shall you love?
does he love? did he love? will he love?
do we love? did we love? will we love?
do you love? did you love? shall you love?
do they love? did they love? will they love?

GROUP D

(Intensive and Negative Forms)

I do (not) love I did (not) love I shall (not) love
etc. etc. etc.

The child can shuffle his cards in various ways, mixing the verb forms of the three different Italian verbs, or the four tense forms of the English verb; passing then to a reconstruction of the different tenses according to the pronouns, the order of which has by this time become familiar to him.

The next step is to conjugate properly.

CONJUGATIONS OF VERBS

MATERIAL

In our material we offer (for Italian) the conjugation of the two auxiliary verbs (_essere_ "to be," _avere_ "to have") and the model verbs of the first, second and third conjugations. The colors used for the five verbs are all different, yellow for _essere_ "to be," black for _avere_ "to have," pink for _amare_ "to love," green for _temere_ "to fear," light blue for _sentire_ "to hear." Each card has both pronoun and verb form. This is not only to simplify and expedite the exercise but also to make sure of auto-exercise, since the pronoun guides the order of the forms in each tense. These verb forms of a given verb preceded by the pronouns are, accordingly, made into a little package. Here, however, the groups are not so simple as in other cases. For the verb, the cards are kept in a sort of red envelope tied with a ribbon. The infinitive of the verb is written on the outside of the envelope, which, though very simple, is most attractive. When the whole verb is wrapped in its package and tied with the ribbon, it forms a small red prism of the following dimensions: cmm. 35 X 4 X 5.5. On untying the ribbon and opening the envelope the child finds inside ten little "volumes" with red covers. These volumes represent the _moods_ of the verb and they have the following titles inscribed on the first page:

Indicative Mood
Conditional Mood (for Italian)
Subjunctive Mood
Imperative Mood
Verbals

To facilitate replacing these materials in an orderly way and to be sure that this order is recognized, the child finds in the corner of each envelope a Roman numeral (I, II, III, IV, V); and besides that, an Arabic numeral indicating the number of tenses in the given mood. On opening the little volume and taking off the cover we find many other tiny volumes with red covers. These are the tenses. In the middle of each cover is written the name and, to one side, the number indicating the relative position of the tenses in the following manner: the _simple_ tense is marked with the letter _S_ and the _compound_ tense with the letter _C_. The titles, then, of the eight booklets contained in the little volume for a given mood are:

Present Tense 1s
Past Tense 2s
Future Tense 3s
Perfect Tense 1c
Pluperfect Tense 2c
Future Perfect Tense 3c

(For Italian the tenses are: Present, 1s, Imperfect 2s, Remote Past 3s, Future 4s, Perfect 1c, Pluperfect 2c, Past Anterior 3c, Future Perfect 4c.)

Finally, on opening each of these little booklets (which, by the way, are 3.5 X 4 cmm. and only a bare millimeter thick) we have the cards with the verb forms preceded by the corresponding pronoun.

This rather resembles the famous egg in which a number of smaller and smaller eggs were enclosed. For this beautiful package forming as a whole the entire conjugation of the verb contains the booklets of the different moods, which in their turn contain the smaller booklets of the tenses. The orderly enumeration of the moods and tenses, together with the pronouns which serve to show the order of the verb forms, allows the child to conjugate the entire verb by himself and to study the classification of the different forms that make it up. In fact the children need no help in this exercise. Once they have this attractive, complicated, and mysterious little red package, they evolve on their little tables in an orderly way the entire conjugation of the verb. Having learned the verb forms little by little they shuffle the cards of the different tenses in various ways and then try to put them in their regular order. At length they are able to shuffle all the cards in the entire verb as the children in the "Children's House" did with the sixty-four colors; and to reconstruct correctly the whole conjugation by tense and by mood. They themselves finally ask to write the verb and they prepare of their own accord new booklets writing out the new verbs as they meet them.

For this purpose we have included in our materials many booklets likewise covered in red and filled with _blank_ cards of a variety of colors. The children themselves fill out these cards in conjugating their new verbs.

The exercises both of working out the conjugation of the verb and of writing out new verbs may be performed at home.

X

CONJUNCTIONS

ANALYSES

Material: This box has eight compartments for the title cards, which are tan (article), black (noun), brown (adjective), red (verb), violet (preposition), pink (adverb), green (pronoun), and _yellow_ (_conjunction_). It also has the usual place for the sentences that are to be analyzed. These again are given in groups.

GROUP A

Coordinate Conjunctions

(Copulative, Disjunctive, Illative, Adversative)

--Put away the pen _and_ the ink-stand.
Put away the pen _or_ the ink-stand.
Put away _neither_ the pen _nor_ the ink-stand, _but_ the paper.

--The table, therefore, is bare _and_ in order.
_For_ all your things are in their places.

--Do not leave the objects you use here and there about the room,
_but_ put them all back in their places.

--Speak to your nearest school-mate not aloud _but_ in a whisper.

--Move your table forward a little, _but_ only a little _and_
without making any noise.

GROUP B

Subordinate Conjunctions

(Time, condition, cause, purpose)

--You can push down a key of the piano without making
any sound _if_ you push it down slowly.

--You could write with your left hand _if_ you
"touched" the letters with that hand.

--You will get silence from the children _as soon as_
you write "silence" on the blackboard.

--That child is happy: he always sings _while_ he
works.

--Always shut the door _when_ you go from one room to
another.

--Everybody must be orderly _in order that_ the
"Children's House" may look neat.

GROUP C

Subordinate conjunctions, _continued_

(Cause, concession, alternative)

--The "Children's House" is attractive _because_ it is
pretty and _because_ it is so easy to keep busy all
the time.

--I shall give it to you _since_ you have asked me for
it very politely.

--We shall go to walk in the park rather _than_ in the
crowded streets.

--I shall give you that toy _although_ I should have
preferred to let you have a beautiful book.

--You may promise to go and visit him to-morrow
_provided_ you keep your promise.

PERMUTATIONS

The removal of the conjunction destroys the relationship between the words, and this brings out its function in the sentence:

Put away the pen and the ink-stand.
Put away the pen the ink-stand.

Put away the pen or the ink-stand.
Put away the pen the ink-stand.

You could write with your left hand if you touched the letters
with that hand.
You could write with your left hand you touched the letters with
that hand.

The conjunction must be placed between the words it connects: otherwise the meaning is changed or destroyed:

Put away the pen and the ink-stand.
Put and away the pen the ink-stand.

The "Children's House" is attractive because it is pretty.
The "Children's House" is attractive it is pretty.

LESSONS AND COMMANDS ON THE CONJUNCTIONS

Subject:

Coordinate conjunctions: and, or, neither, nor (e, o,
nè).

Commands:--

--Come to "silence" where you are _and_ move only at
my call.

--Come to "silence" where you are _or else_ move
silently among the chairs.

--Walk on tip-toe about the room, being careful
_neither_ to meet _nor_ to follow one another.

Subject:

Declarative: that (che).

Command:--

--Tell two of your schoolmates _that_ you know a
conjunction.

Subject:

Adversatives: but, however, instead (ma, invece).

Command:--

--Form two lines; now one line face about turning from
left to right; the other line, _instead_, turn in
opposite direction.

--Form in one long line and advance; when you reach
the end of the room, do not stop, _but_ turn to the
left.

Subject:

Condition: if (se).

Command:--

--You will be able to hear this drop of water fall,
_if_ you remain for a moment in absolute silence.

Subject:

Time: while, when, as soon as (mentre, quando,
appena).

Command:--

--A few of you walk about among the tables; then stop
in the center of the room, _while_ the others gather
round you and try to cover your eyes with their hands.

--One of you start to leave the room. _When_ you are
about to cross the threshold, the others will block
the way compelling you to stop.

--All of you ready! _As soon as_ I say "Go!" run to
the other end of the room.

Subject:

Purpose: so that, in order that (affinchè, perchè).

Command:--

--One of you stand in the middle of the room; the
others try to pass near him quickly _so that_ he
cannot touch you.

--I am going to whisper a command: listen in perfect
silence _in order that_ you may hear what I command.

Subject:

Alternative: rather than (piuttostochè, anzichè).

Command:--

--Those children who would _rather_ work _than_ go out
of doors rise from their places.

Subject:

Cause: because, since (perchè, poichè).

Command:--

--Before beginning to work let us become entirely
quiet, _because_ then we can think about what we are
going to do.

Subject:

Exception: except, save (fuorchè, salvochè).

Command:--

--Get the counters and place one on every table in the
room _except_ on this one. Gather up all the counters
_save_ the red ones. Return all the counters to their
box.

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

SERIES A

--Of these two long rods, this one is the _longer_.
Of these three rods, which is the _longest_?

--This rod is _longer_ than that.
That rod in the _longest_ of the three.
Which is the _longest_ of the series?

--This cloth is _smoother_ than that.
This cloth is _smoothest_ of all.

--Of these two shades of red which is the _darker_?
Of all these shades of red which is the _darkest_?

--Of these two prisms which is the _thicker_?
This prism is _thicker_ than that.
Of these three prisms, which is _thickest_?

--Which of these two children is the _taller_?
Which is the _tallest_ child in the room?

SERIES B

--Which of these two pictures is the _more_ beautiful?
This picture is _more_ beautiful than that.

--Which of these three pictures is _most_ beautiful?
Which is the _most_ beautiful picture in the room?

--Which of these two games is the _more_ amusing?
This game is _more_ amusing than that.
This game is _most_ amusing of all.

--This drawing is good.
That drawing is _better_.
That drawing is _best_.

--There are some beads on this table.
There are _more_ beads on that table.
There are _most_ beads on that table.

--There is a little water in this glass.
There is _less_ water in that glass.
There is _least_ water in that glass.

--Of these two children John is the _elder_.
Of these three children Mary is the _eldest_.
Mary is _older_ than John.
John is _older_ than Laura.

A set of exercises may be arranged to bring out the paradymns of comparison by means of suffixes (_-er_, _-est_) and of adverbs (_more_, _most_). Here the series of cards for the positive adjectival forms are, as usual, brown, the phonograms for _-er_ and _-est_ in lighter and darker shades of brown respectively. The cards for _more_ and _most_ as adverbs are colored pink. When properly arranged, the cards appear as follows:

long tall thick smooth
long _er_ tall _er_ thick _er_ smooth _er_
long _est_ tall _est_ thick _est_ smooth _est_

short dark light rough
short _er_ dark _er_ light _er_ rough _er_
short _est_ dark _est_ light _est_ rough _est_

beautiful amusing interesting
_more_ beautiful _more_ amusing _more_ interesting
_most_ beautiful _most_ amusing _most_ interesting

A second exercise contains cards for each of the forms for these same words. There are three colors: brown, light brown and dark brown (superlative). There are in addition similar cards for the adjectives of irregular comparisons, and three title cards: _Positive_, _Comparative_, _Superlative_. The exercise results as follows:

_Positive_ _Comparative_ _Superlative_
long longer longest
tall taller tallest
thick thicker thickest
smooth smoother smoothest
short shorter shortest
dark darker darkest
light lighter lightest
rough rougher roughest
beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
amusing more amusing most amusing
interesting more interesting most interesting
old elder eldest
many more most
good better best
bad worse worst
little less least

XI

INTERJECTIONS

Since this is the last part of speech to be studied the children are now able to recognize _all_ the different parts of speech and it is no longer necessary to make sentences containing only parts of speech which the children know. Therefore in our Italian lessons we choose henceforth sentences from the classic authors (mostly from Manzoni). Since the interjection is really a thought expressed in an abbreviated form it lends itself readily to dramatic interpretation. With the same sentence the children accordingly can now perform the two-fold exercise of general analysis and "interpretative reading." They now recite sentences which they have picked out and studied instead of the commands. At this time also they are given a chart containing the complete classification of interjections. The children read them, interpreting each as they go along by voice and gesture. This is the first table of classification to be presented. Later on all the parts of speech will be given on charts with their definitions and classification.

ANALYSES

Material: The grammar box is complete. It now has nine separate compartments for the colored cards, article (tan), noun (black), adjective (brown), verb (red), preposition (violet), adverb (pink), pronoun (green), conjunction (yellow), and _interjection_ (_blue_). In the compartment for the sentence slips are groups of cards which correspond exactly to the number of the words contained in the sentences.

GROUP A

(Per amor del cielo! oibò! addio! ehm! misericordia! ah!)

_Please!_ Don't make so much noise!

_Shame on you!_ exclaimed Henry, much shocked at those
words.

_Good-by!_ We shall see you to-morrow.

_Look out!_ If you drop that vase, you will break it.

_Mercy on us!_ What is the matter with the poor man?

_Aha!_ now I understand!

GROUP B

(Eh via! bravo! bene! ehi! poh! per carità! oh!)

_Come, come!_ Do you think I am going to believe all
that nonsense?

_Goodness!_ I hope the child is not going to fall.

_Thanks!_ It was kind of you to help me put my objects
away.

_Cockadoodledoo!_ sang the rooster in the yard!

_Ding-dong, ding-dong!_ The engines were passing by.
There was a fire!

_Cheer up!_ There is no harm done!

GROUP C

(Ohè! ih! toh! poveretto! ahi! ohi! eh! animo! uh! ton!)

_Farewell!_ The ship gradually drew away from the
shore! The houses faded from view one by one. The
hills formed a low line on the horizon. _Farewell!_ It
would be months, years perhaps, before George would
see the old familiar town again. _Farewell!_

_Help! Help!_ came a voice through the fog! A man was
drowning.

_Hush!_ Do you hear that bird singing in the distance?

_Alas!_ It was too late! When the doctor came, the
poor man was dead!

_Hurrah! Hurrah!_ The soldiers were now almost at the
top of the hill. _Hurrah! hurrah!_ The
red-white-and-blue was waving at last where the enemy
had held out so long!

_Bang!_ In the still night the sound of a gun roused
the sleeping inhabitants.

CHART OF CLASSIFIED INTERJECTIONS

(For interpretative reading)

ITALIAN INTERJECTIONS:

_Pain_: ahi! ohi! ohimè! ahimè! ah! oh! poveretto!

_Prayer_: deh! mercè! aiuto! per carità! per amor di
Dio!

_Surprise_, _wonder_: Oh! ih! nientedimeno! poh! toh!
eh! corbezzoli! bazzecole! caspita! cospetto! uh!
oooh! misericordia! diavolo! bubbole!

_Threat_: ehm! guai!

_Disgust_, _horror_: puh! puah! brr!

_Anger_: oibò! vergogna!

_Doubt_: uhm!

_Weariness_: auf! auff!

_Calls_, _silence_: ehi! ohè! olà! alto là! pss! st!
psst!

_Demonstratives_: ecco! riecco! eccomi! eccoci!

_Encouragement_: orsù! via! suvvia! animo! coraggio!
arri là! hop hop!

_Greeting_: salve! vale! addio! arrivederci! ave!
ciao!

_Applause_: bene! bravo! viva! evviva! gloria! osanna!
alleluja!

_Onomatapoetic_: crac! patatrac! piff paff! din don!
ton ton! zum zum! bum bum!