MATERIALS FOR TRANSLATING FROM ENGLISH INTO GERMAN. BY A. HEIMANN, PH. D., PROFESSOR OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE PREFACE. A PROFICIENT scholar in German ought to be able to do four things well: to explain the structure of the language; to read a German book; to speak with some fluency; and to write a letter, or to translate a part of an English book into German without the assistance of Dictionary and Grammar. The greatest number of pupils master the three first points, but very few succeed in the last. It is acknowledged to be the most difficult of all. Now in order to smooth the way towards acquiring it, I have undertaken this volume. It contains a course of carefully selected and not very easy Exercises on the chief parts of Grammar, and a variety of fragments taken from good prose-writers, with notes, which both explain grammatical difficulties, and give a complete vocabulary, since it has been found that small Dictionaries afford but insufficient aid, and the large ones, on account of the great number of meanings mentioned under one word, often impede and puzzle the student instead of guiding him. I am convinced that those who have gone through a good part of this book, will gain a facility in expression, which must ultimately not only make the task of writing a composition or rendering an English piece into German very easy, but also contribute to a greater proficiency in speaking, and to a better understanding of the classical writers of Germany. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. A. H. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. THIS Edition contains some points which will prove of great service to the student. It was found by my own experience, and corroborated by that of other intelligent teachers, that the beginning of the Exercises was too difficult. I, therefore, added three introductory chapters (p. 1-10) which will materially facilitate the theory of the arrangement of words. In the chapter on Punctuation one Period was added (the 15th, p. 118) to show how to divide the clauses in a complex of chief and subordinate sentences; and in the Second Part I inserted twenty four pieces without notes, (p. 245-276) to give the student an opportunity of proving his acquirements if no help is offered to him. Besides these additions, I revised the notes, and introduced many corrections, of which some were suggested by two excellent scholars of German, Mr. A. Sonnenschein, and Mr. J. S. Stallybrass. To the latter gentleman I am especially indebted, and I publicy express to him my best thanks for his kindness in going through the whole book, and correcting all terms and phrases which were not in accordance with the spirit of the English language. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. March, 1864. A. H. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. I HAVE made three small changes in this Edition. At the end of the First Part I have given some Additional Remarks on points which are not sufficiently explaiñed either in Dictionaries or Grammars. In the Second, I replaced the XLIII fragment On Howard which, on account of its turgids style, gives but an awkward German translation, by another that is more suitable for the purpose. Besides, listening to the complaint of a good scholar, that there are too few smaller pieces in the book, I put at the head of this Part ten short anecdotes which will form an easy transition to the longer stories. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. A. H. July, 1871. |