685948-1879-Education-Annual-Report- — Page 5

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 2ND APRIL, 1879.

嘗學之堂譯助文 用名

As to the method of teaching adopted in the

Central School, I am of opinion that the school is, on the whole, taught too much like an English school for English boys, in comparative disregard

of the fact that the majority of the boys neither speak English nor hear English spoken outside

the school, and that, as Mr. STEWART stated, out of 453 boys at the beginning of last year as many as 336 did not speak English at all and only 8 could speak it idiomatically. The school-books also, which were made for boys in Ireland, who bring to school a fair knowledge of English colloquial, are ill adapted for use in teaching Chinese boys, who come to school to learn English colloquial in the first instance. These school- books are far too difficult to begin with, contain too little colloquial and have too little of regular gradation, to make it easy for masters, some of whom are unable to speak Chinese and thereby prevented explaining peculiarities of idiom in an intelligible manner, to teach much English speak- ing. There is further too little attention given, in my opinion, to the practice of English com- position and to written translations from Chinese into English, which valuable means of teaching English to foreigners is at present entirely rele- gated to home exercises. English composition and written translations from Chinese into English might be used in the school as a means of teaching grammar practically, by requiring the boys, under the eyes of the master, to make and form simple

and eventually complex sentences, in various

ways, so as to make them thoroughly understand the practical application of the rules of grammar to the art of speaking and writing correctly. Finally the teaching of such subjects as G netry, Alge and Chemistry seems to me of dtful utility long as the majority of the ye the Centra School, after six years of sch óling, without being able to speak English, and as long as History re-

mains entirely excluded from the range of sub- jects taught in the school.

As regards the Chinese department of the

Central School, there is a division, made necessary by the presence of non-Chinese boys in the school, between the so called Anglo-Chinese and Chinese classes, the former being intended for boys whose native language is other than Chinese.

The pre-

sence of foreign boys in the Central School is, on the whole, more an impediment than an advantage, as those foreign boys who speak English idioma- tically are too few, and, in the absence of a re- creation ground, have too little opportunity to

enable the other boys to learn much English from

them conversationally; whilst on the other hand foreign boys are as a rule not amenable to dis- cipline when under the tuition of native masters

and necessitate special arrangements to teach them the Chinese written language, as they cannot keep pace with the Chinese boys, and require the presence of an English master during these Chinese lessons so as to maintain discipline.

Now as to the method of teaching the Chinese

language, adopted in the Central School, the de- fect I noticed in the English department, viz., of following too much the methods of teaching in

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堂之事但要知作英字之文章繹華文以英字其法仍須當面試作先則分用單句 譯華文卽教異國人學英文一極貴之法現雖有用之者亦只是學童在家之時" 助他學說英語不亦甚難乎按照做監院意見在大書院不甚記得用英字作文章 又無循序漸進之法故教師中有未諳華人言語者欲解此英文之奥妙使華人小子明及 館儆學英語郷談者似未合用叉初學者用此書而學貫爲太難因在内甚少尋常所用句語 用之書本在埃蘭國,小原爲小子入館時已能言英語者所用但用以教華人小子初進書 名學童中有三百三..一名之多不甚能說英語者而精說英語者不過八人焉又大書院所

能說英語者且在書院之外幾未聽人說英語卽如史監督去歲春季 大書院所用教法監院以及極似在英國教英人小子模樣,

嘗教以各國史記

者况華字有聲音之別故舉國書塾教訓學童不惟觀 來教法多備其間湊合華文之節奏自有不期然而然 做泰西教小子之法由此更顯明竊思中國千百年 有教華文之法則已上所言教英文所有之缺憾卽多 人教師監管庶免他有不遵教訓之弊論及書院所 文不克與華童並驅而進且教伊學華文時必須有英

故華童學英語土談之 華人教師約束故教學華文須另立一班以其學華 小子善說英語者在彼亦甚寥寥更因並無遊玩之區 也夫中外學童同察學習其獲益少而阻碍多因英國 所稱英華班者卽該學童之土談不是華人語言者是 是華人故分班亦有二樣有日英華班者有日華班· 濕多又因外國小子不遵

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