Books and other items printed in Gaelic from 1841 to 1870 > Double grammar, of English and Gaelic, in which the principles of both languages are clearly explained

VI
PREFACE.
tivated among us, and richly remunerate their being so : it
certainly becomes equally imperative upon us to provide si¬
milar assistance for facilitating the acquirement of English or
Gaelic Grammar to the people whose only language is the
Gaelic,—a living and a spoken language of acknowledged ex¬
cellence, by means of which alone, instruction can be com¬
municated with profit to thousands of our fellow-countrymen.
It is a well known and an acknowledged fact, that many in
the Highlands who can read and spell English fluently, can
scarcely connect a single idea with the words read by them;
being taught only the art of reading the language or sounding
its vocables,—an essential object, certainly ; but as the end of
learning to read is to enable the reader to understand the
meaning and purport of the subject perused, reading and
meaning of words should go hand in hand ; that is, the one
should be taught along with the other; for a child is fully as
capable of recollecting the meaning of a word as he is of re¬
collecting its constituent letters and the sounds they produce.
Therefore, as soon as he is able to enunciate a word or sen¬
tence properly, he should be next taught its meaning, other¬
wise his knowledge consists of (to him) a number of unmean¬
ing sounds ; being left to chance or his own isolated exertions
for an acquaintance with the ideas conveyed by them.
In schools where the analytic system, or rather the prac¬
tice of translating from English into Gaelic, and from Gaelic
into English, is pursued, the case is different, for under this
system the pupil picks up the meaning of a number of
English words: so far well; but without a knowledge of their
grammatical relations, he can never express his ideas by them
with precision and confidence. For every one unacquainted
with Grammar is, when he has a subject of importance to
treat of, seized with fear of blundering, “ whereas one who
has an accurate knowledge of the structure and phraseology
of the language he speaks, will seldom fail to utter his
thoughts with superior confidence, energy, and effect.” There¬
fore, in pursuing the translative system, let the pupil, after