Three generations of English textbooks and other things found on our attic

[mothwing]

Newspaper clippings (1940ies) with maps








That's my granduncle's signature, and he can't have been very old at the time.



Atlas (1943)







English Course for soldiers (1945)






The course was designed to enable those German troops stationed in areas controlled by the British to speak English ASAP, and the editors beg forgiveness from the people whose material they ripped off to piece together this course as quickly as possible and from the readers for possible mistakes.





English (1960) for first year learners


This is the first page in this English book, actually. The students were supposed to learn the vocab and then translate the texts into German, learning . There are no dialogues (which were even included in the book from 1945).

What I love about this book are the drawings and the simplified stories, all taken from well-known British children's books, which, in retrospect, seem incredibly simplistic, constructed around the grammar students were supposed to learn. I loved them in my own English book back then, but today, I can see their various faults.





Singing book (1961)






This book would like to know the readers that its primary aim is experiencing music to support the spiritual and mental development of the students.





English (1963) for second year learners







I love that picture. Let's have a closer look at it:


*snerk*


It's good to see that students planning a holiday trip to the youth hostel has been one of the staple themes for over fourty years. One of our recap units contained students planning and later executing a hiking trip to the youth hostel in which they ended up visiting the same locations the guys above wind up going to.

English (1989) for students in their first year of learning English


My English book!! The first edition of this book is from the eighties, our school was still using it when I started learning English in the nineties.

Kevin and Ronny and their families are the characters who accompanied us through the first four years of English.



English (2004) for Hauptschul-students in their first year of learning English.

I used this one for my tutoring students.

Even though this is a book for Hauptschul students it's obvious that the approach is radically different, and it's not only due to the technological advances. The first impression is now not only a test they have to translate, but very short and lots of listening comprehension to make students get an idea of what they're supposed to be saying later on is supposed to sound like.

Comments

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

I love old books. And as a native English speaker, the lesson books are rather entertaining.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Aren't they? I love reading the German versions of these, although the stereotypes they sometimes include are horrid.

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. I run up against that constantly with older English books too. (Two obvious examples: Agatha Christie's casual Jewish slurs and H.P. Lovecraft's appalling racial commentary.)

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I've had encounters of that sort. It's especially mindboggling if the books are written to educate children on how to be more tolerant and contain messages of love such as, "People from foreign countries are not all dirty and used to unhygienic conditions - it depends on the country of origin! And they don't all want to steal things! Some do, but most don't! And not all of them are dangerous! And they're not dumb, either, they just can't speak properly!"

Good to know that not all foreigners are filthy thieving thick buggers, thanks for informing the kids!

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Oh. Um. Wow.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

There was an entire series of these things in the library that was my second home when I was eleven. Ooh, these books. One was about how migrant workers from Poland could be friendly and don't really steal things and can be nice even though talk funny. The intention is clear - Polish people stealing is a common stereotype, and the book wants to end this, but I hadn't ever heard of it until I read that book. Another was on how a boy becomes friends with a chubby Turkish girl who is an outsider at their school. He didn't want to at first because she supposedly smells weird and is fat, but then she shares her sweets with him and they get along just fine. They're... yeah. Um.