Page:Handbook of Irish teaching - Mac Fhionnlaoich.djvu/42

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HANDBOOK OF IRISH TEACHING.

When a class is fairly advanced, their knowledge of spelling may be tested by reading out the lesson to them instead of supplying the written copy and requiring them to write down the exercise. The teacher can then give each pupil the usual copy of the lesson so that he can compare it with his own; or the pupils' copies may be passed to other pupils to correct, at the same time supplying each with a correct standard copy. By these means I think it will be found that students will be able to spell Irish correctly as soon as they are able to speak and write it.

The Series.

The limited number of Series given in this handbook are intended as specimens, and do not in any case exhaust the subject. A scientific set of Series would exhaust the whole of the objective language. A single department of life would be taken and described in general terms. Then sub-Series going into details would be given. These might be split up into others until the whole subject would be exhausted. Suppose we had a leading Series on The Farmer. It would describe in about twenty sentences a farmer's occupations. In ten or twenty new Series each occupation would be dealt with and described, and if this did not exhaust the subject a more minute set of Series might be given under each sub- Series. We would then have exhausted all the objective language that is found connected with farming operations. It is obvious that so full a treatment of the subject could not be attempted in a small handbook such as is here aimed at. It will