The Berlitz Method
by Jessica Cinco
The end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century brought much excitement and technological development. Henry Ford introduced his new, affordable Ford Model T automobile, which enabled the growing American middle class to travel more. The Wright brothers, and others, were experimenting with flying contraptions which quickly evolved into air travel vehicles called airplanes. Extensive railroad lines zigzagged across countries and continents. These were times when people began leaving the safety and security of their own homes and hometowns to venture out to places that, just years before, were too expensive or inaccessible to visit.
With so many people traveling out of their comfort zones and discovering more of the world, the need to practically learn and use languages to communicate when traveling to new countries was imperative, thus bringing about the birth of the Direct Method of language learning. One of the masterminds behind this approach was the German-born Maximilian Berlitz. Upon moving to the United States to teach French and German, he developed interactive methods for educating his American students (Brown, 2007). In 1878, he founded the Berlitz language schools, which, to this day, continue to offer language courses using the “Berlitz Method.” This method utilized many of the activities and the pedagogies of the student-centered Direct Approach. For well over 100 years, these schools have taught languages whose objective is to emphasize mainly speaking skills and some listening skills over reading and writing (Stieglitz, 1955).
Berlitz published multiple books on language education and acquisition. The below excerpt is taken from a text for English language teachers,entitled simply, Second Book. In its preface, Berlitz states that the dialogues and other activities in the book should be led by the teacher, with non-native English speakers either repeating dialogues, enacting them or answer questions only in English. He goes on to explain that teachers should put posters, or “wall pictures,” on their walls to portray the location of the conversations in the text. These posters would give the students a visual aid to understand what they’re discussing (Berlitz, 1906).
Here is one of Berlitz's activities for communicating at the post office. Teachers would have already discussed some ideas about American post offices and sending letters. Berlitz instructed teachers to read the dialogues and then students should repeat. Then students would orally discuss questions and the perhaps act out the scene. All of which sounds very familiar to the description of the Direct Approach in the video. Readers will notice some interesting vocabulary used at the time this book was published (Berlitz, 1906).
At the Post-Office
Mr. A – Here is my card. Are there any letters for me?
Clerk – There are two, one is registered. Have you any papers by which to identify yourself?
Mr. A. – Yes, here is my passport.
Clerk – Sign your name in this register, please.
Mr. A. – Where can I get some postage stamps?
Clerk – Next window.
Mr. A. – (At the other window) What is the postage for a letter to Mexico?
Clerk – Two cents, if it does not weigh over an ounce.
Mr. A. – And for Chili?*
Clerk – Postage to all foreign countries except Canada, Cuba, Mexico and England is five cents for the first ounce.
Mr. A. – Give me five 2-cent stamps and two 5-cent ones, please. Where can I find a public telephone station?
Clerk – Across the way, right opposite.
Exercise
1. How do we send a letter to another city?
2. What do we put on the letter to show where it is going?
3. What do we put there to show that the postage is paid?
4. How can Mr. A. prove who he is?
5. Where does Mr. A sign for the letter? (Berlitz, 1906)
(Many more questions were included, but for the sake of brevity, these five questions are used as just a sample.)
The above situation and following activity helped students understand how to pick up mail, buy stamps, identify themselves and so on. The dialogue not only taught English language but also focused on American culture, specifically in a post office. Students learning English by using this activity can practice this encounter in English, but also answer oral comprehension questions, heightening their speaking ability. Teachers will help students with pronunciation and correct accent. Students can also enact this dialogue and even embellish or change it with other information they’ve learned about American Post Offices.
* In American English, the South American country is now spelled as “Chile.” Berlitz used the spelling of the early 1900’s, “Chili.”
References:
Berlitz, M. D. (1906). Second Book. Retrieved November 13, 2015 from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bHsKAAAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Berlitz&ots=EZOjuh8cBP&sig=2qWokczedHZmvOy-_3__NDNA-bc#v=onepage&q=Berlitz&f=false
Brown, H. Douglas (2007). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy.
Stieglitz, G. J. (1955), The Berlitz Method. The Modern Language Journal. Retrieved November 13, 2015 from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1955.tb03457.x/pdf
