Ollendorff method

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The Ollendorff method is a (from today's perspective outdated) language learning method and was developed by Heinrich Gottfried Ollendorff in Paris around 1830 . When it was first created, it was a groundbreaking innovation in that it shifted the focus of learning from simply understanding the text of the grammar translation method to targeted instruction in lively conversation . This is why the Ollendorff method found its important place in the 19th century, especially in teaching young women.

It is based on the learning objective of a lively command of the foreign language for the purpose of using it in elegant conversations . The methodical procedure she uses is the practice of grammatical forms through question-answer pairs, which cover all essential grammatical forms in 80-90 hours.

An Ollendorff lesson (e.g. in French for German) consists of a grammatical-lexical introduction in which the new grammar intended for the lesson is explained and new vocabulary is introduced. The example sentences presented here are given in two columns in both languages ​​(e.g. German-French).

The second part of the lesson consists of translation exercises, with question-answer pairs only to be translated from the mother tongue into the foreign language. Only in the last approx. 5 lessons are short prose pieces translated into the foreign language.

The first (actually meaningless) question-answer pair, which serves as the starting point for the first approx. 18 lessons, is:

  • Do you have? - Avez-vous?
  • Yes sir I have. - Oui, monsieur, j'ai.

Over the first twenty lessons the question construction is to have then more complex with the help of grammatical constructions further:

  • Which volume of his work do you have? - I have the first one.

In the eightieth lesson, the student is then already able to conduct conversation on a level that was relatively demanding for the time:

  • What do you think of our king? I say that he is a great man, but I add that, however powerful the kings may be, they die as well as the least of their subjects.

Ollendorff's method was mainly criticized for not treating the grammar systematically from the basics to the advanced level , as was customary with the grammar translation method that was prevalent at the time , but rather chopping it up into small bites. Furthermore, the Ollendorff method was accused of degenerating into mechanical, mindless training instead of training the logical-analytical mind.

Nonetheless, the Ollendorff method was soon widely used and, much to the displeasure of its inventor, was repeatedly pirated abroad. It served as a model for other well-known learning methods, e.g. B. the Gaspey-Otto-Sauer method , which was widely used until the 1950s.