nce, that students who
have been trained in the use of phonetic script turn out to be better
spellers than those who have not--simply because this training has
made them more careful and has given them a clearer conception of the
discrepancy between sound and letter.

That elementary grammar should be taught inductively is true to an
extent, but often overstated. It is true for the more abstract
principles, such as the formation of the compound tenses, the
formation and the use of the passive voice, and so on. But attempts at
inductive teaching of concrete elements of mechanical memory, such as
the gender and plural of nouns, or the principal parts of strong
verbs, are a misunderstanding of the principles of induction. It goes
without saying that thorough drill is much more valuable than the most
explicit explanation. It holds good for college as well as for high
schools that there is but very little to "explain" about the grammar
of any language. Unnecessary explanations rather increase than remove
difficulties.

=The use of English=

The use of English is another debated question. As far as the teaching
of grammar is concerned, it is unessential. If inductive drill takes
the place of explanations and abstract rules, the question is very
largely eliminated from practical consideration. In those very rare
cases when theoretical discussions might seem desirable, it does not
make much difference whether a few minutes a week are devoted to
English or not. The question assumes greater importance when the
development of the vocabulary is considered. In this, there are three
fairly well-defined elements to be distinguished. The first
vocabulary, say, of the first two or three months should be developed
by concrete associations with objects and actions in the classroom;
the use of the vernacular has no justification whatever during that
time--not on account of any objection to an occasional English word or
phrase, but simply because there is no need of it, and every minute
devoted to German is a clear gain. After this, the vocabulary should
be further developed through the thorough practice of connected texts.
If they are well constructed, the context will explain a considerable
portion of the words occurring; those that are not made clear through
the context form the third division of the vocabulary and can without
hesitation be explained by English equivalents. In general, the
principle will go rather far that the use of