535
English. The old difficulty of getting Chinese boys to talk, having quite dis- appeared, the next thing is to get them to talk grammar. There is room for improvement in this respect, but the methods employed in the lowest Standards leave little to be desired and merely need to be amplified. Great credit is due to the Chinese master in charge. The boys do not recite distinctly enough.
—
Composition. The Composition in the lower Standards is very satisfactory, and is good in Standard V. The few boys presented in Standards VI and VII do not shew any proportionate improvement.
Geography.The local Geography was well learned in the lower Standards. In Standards V and VII the same course-Asia-was studied and there was no appreciable difference in the written work done by them. After holding a written examination the impression left in my mind was that of well-prepared notes learned too much by heart and reproduced by boys whose knowledge of English is still hardly equal to the task. They had bad excellent material, but too much of it it also appeared to be rather too difficult. At the same time most of the answers
:
given were considerably above what is usually expected from Standard V. Sketch maps were poor, with few exceptions.
History.--I looked through the notes given, which were complete, but appeared rather too detailed. I did not set a paper for the reason that the boys had only been taken in Greek History as far as the period prior to the Persian Invasion, and it would not have been possible to set the broad questions to which alone valuable replies could have been expected. In teaching a period of History, I strongly recommend the concentric method. The main outlines of the period should first be given, the main dates can conveniently be arranged, shewn graphi- cally on lined paper, the different countries to which reference is made being repre- sented by parallel columns. On revision, more dates and less important events can be filled in.
Mathematics.-The Arithmetic is well done, though not noticeably better than at the other two District Schools, as might perhaps have been expected from the much longer time devoted to mathematics. It was strange to find that a com- pound division sum which might have been done by reduction to half crowns was done in every case by reduction to pence. In several instances the answer' (a number of pounds) was given as the same number of pence, shewing that com- mon sense had not been enlisted.
Algebra. Has been taught in the highest Standards, which as has already been explained had melted away before the examination. I cannot but regret that so much pains spent on this subject should thus in a sense have been wasted.
ing.
(4).-Yaumati Anglo-Chinese School.
Staff.-W. CURWEN (Headmaster) and 3 Assistant Chinese Masters.
Discipline and Organization.-Very satisfactory.
Sanitation. As good as can be expected, considering the nature of the build-
Floor space.-Sufficient for 156 scholars.
Apparatus.-Satisfactory.
English. The study of.colloquial English continues to shew good results. Lists of about 200 verbs have been prepared, from which the lower Standards have been taught to make sentences, illustrating them by appropriate actions. The system might well be extended so as to include the use of the future and past tenses of these verbs. I believe if this were done the number of grammatical inistakes made in the compositions of the higher Standards would be materially diminished. Spelling and handwriting are good. Standar I might be more practised in reproducing very easy stories told them.
Geography. The local Geography, and that of the Canton Province were very well known. Mr. CURWEN has taken his boys for walks and taught them to use their eyes. I strongly commend this method. The papers done on Asia by the higher Standards were by no means good.