=Language and vitality.=--When she is teaching a language, it is never
less than a living language. In Latin the syntax is learned as a means,
never an end. The big things in the study loom too large for that. The
pupils become so eager to see what Caesar will do next that they cannot
afford the time to stare long at a mere ablative absolute. They are
following the parade, and are not to be turned aside from their large
purpose by minor matters. They are made to see and hear Cicero; and Rome
becomes a reality, with its Forum, its Senate, and its Mamertine. When
Dido sears the soul of the faithless AEneas with her words of scorn, the
girls applaud and the boys tremble. When Troy burns, there is a real
fire, and Achates is as real as the man Friday. When the shipwrecked
Trojans regale themselves with venison, it is no make-believe dinner,
but a real one. Where such a teacher is, there can be no dead language,
no dry bones of history, and no stagnation in the stream of life.
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. What suggestions are offered for the vitalization of mathematics?
history? reading? language?
2. In what ways is vitalization of subject matter related to its
socialization?
3. How may motivation in teaching the multiplication table be assisted
by vitalization?
4. What is to be included in the term "read" in the sentence "She can
teach reading because she can read"?
5.
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