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UNIVERSITY LECTURES.

Normal Course of Instruction in French, 1876-77.

PROFESSOR BOCHER will begin a course of French lessons, open to men and women, in No. 2 University Hall, on Saturday, October 14, at 2 P. M. The lessons will be two hours in length, and will be continued every Saturday during the academic year.

This course is intended for teachers, and may be of use to any who, beyond a mere practical knowledge, wish to undertake a more thorough and critical study of some of the difficulties of the language.

Attention will be given to the following points:-

1. PRONUNCIATION. - The first half-hour during the first third of the course will be devoted to an exposition of the laws of French pronunciation, in connection with practical exercises.

2. GRAMMAR. - The principles of French grammar will be explained, but elementary grammar as such will not be taught; that is, it will be taken for granted that the common forms and rules are known, but the reasons of various changes of form and the general laws that have given rise to special rules of syntax will be studied.

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3. ETYMOLOGY. - Some attention will be paid to the derivation of French words; and the general principles of Historical French Grammar will be explained.

4. TRANSLATION. - Practical lessons will be given to illustrate the principles of translation from French into English and from English into French, and also directions in French composition. In connection with this, difficult idioms will be explained.

5. BOOKS OF REFERENCE. - Information will be given as to the best grammars, dictionaries, and books of reference in general with which a student of the French language should be acquainted. The works themselves will be shown and tested in the class. Occasionally an hour will be devoted to the study of some difficult text, when those who wish to do so may take an active part in the lesson, using the books to look up embarrassing points, and thus learn to clear up for themselves not only difficulties of language but such as arise from insufficient knowledge of French usages or institutions.

6. SPOKEN LANGUAGE. - Although the course will in general be rather theoretical than practical, some attention will be paid to the spoken language, the methods of learning it will be discussed, and an opportunity will be offered to acquire ease in understanding French, as the exercises in the last half-hour, and later in the course in the last hour, will be carried on wholly in French.

7. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. - A few half-hours will be devoted to a discussion of the various methods of teaching French, and the principal text-books in use will be spoken of and examined.

The lessons will be carried on mostly by lectures, but it is hoped and expected that those who take the course will co-operate with the instructor by frequent questions.

This course will not be given unless thirty persons manifest their desire to take it. The address of any person intending to take the course must be sent to JAMES W. HARRIS, Secretary, Cambridge, before October 1.

The fee will be $30 for the year, payable before the first of January, 1877, to ALLEN DANFORTH, Bursar, Cambridge.

Those who wish to obtain a certificate of attendance may do so by passing a satisfactory examination at the end of the course, for which examination an additional fee of $5 will be charged.

The text-books to be used in the course will be announced at the first lesson.

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