A TALK ON LANGUAGE.


The teacher is recommended, before assigning any lesson, to occupy the time
of at least two or three recitations, in talking with his pupils about
language, always remembering that, in order to secure the interest of his
class, he must allow his pupils to take an active part in the exercise. The
teacher should guide the thought of his class; but, if he attempt to do
_all the talking_, he will find, when he concludes, that he has been
left to do _all the thinking_.

We give below a few hints in conducting this talk on language, but the
teacher is not expected to confine himself to them. He will, of course, be
compelled, in some instances, to resort to various devices in order to
obtain from the pupils answers equivalent to those here suggested.




LESSON 1.

+Teacher+.--I will pronounce these three sounds very slowly and distinctly,
thus: _b-u-d_. Notice, it is the _power_, or _sound_, of the letter, and
not its name, that I give. What did you hear?

+Pupil+.--I heard three sounds.

+T.--+Give them. I will write on the board, so that you can see them, three