Having got our bearings, we find before us a purely practical problem,
that of leading the student through the maze of a new science and teaching
him the skill of an old art, exemplified in a long line of masters.
By way of preface we may say that the mastery of the English language
(or any language) is almost the task of a lifetime. A few easy lessons
will have no effect. We must form a habit of language study that will
grow upon us as we grow older, and little by little, but never by leaps,
shall we mount up to the full expression of all that is in us.
WORD-STUDY
INTRODUCTION
THE STUDY OF SPELLING.
The mastery of English spelling is a serious under-taking. In the first
place, we must actually memorize from one to three thousand words which are
spelled in more or less irregular ways. The best that can be done with
these words is to classify them as much as possible and suggest methods of
association which will aid the memory. But after all, the drudgery of
memorizing must be gone through with.
Again, those words called homonyms, which are pronounced alike but spelled
differently, can be studied only in connection with their meaning, since
the meaning and grammatical use in the sentence is our only key to their
form.
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