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they involve important changes in sound. Definite drill on phrases and short sentences repeated after the teacher are equally important. Such drill should be at normal conversational speed, at first using short phrases. The phrases may later be lengthened to ten or more words at a time. This helps in acquiring rhythm and speed which are important elements in speaking. Mimic the phrase as a whole, as accurately as possible at this stage. If studying character at the same time, the eye may sometimes follow the Chinese character during this drill, thus helping to connect the idea with both auditory and visual symbols.
4. Observe how the final consonants h, k, and ng, and some of the initials as l, n, and d, are often half-suppressed, interchanged, or seem wholly to disappear in the easy, native mode of speaking. Very close attention to these phonetic changes is essential to ease and accuracy in public address and common conversation. The standard is not the pronunciation of single isolated words, nor the way the expression is written in Romanized, but the way the whole phrase or sentence is used in ordinary conversation.
5. In listening to a sermon or address in Chinese, in the early stages of language study, it is better to concentrate attention for two or three minutes, then rest for a few minutes, than to attempt to pay strict attention all the time. It is useful to keep a notebook and write out new phrases heard in conversation or in addresses. This is a help to memory and calls attention to many important words or particles which otherwise might not be learned for years. Listening to translated addresses is another useful way to acquire new expressions.
6. While the spoken language comes first in importance, there is every reason for urging an early start on the written language. There is a limit to the amount of time that can profitably be spent in listening and vocal drill, and for the average student five hours a day is probably a maximum. An early start on the written language need not therefore interfere with rapid progress in the spoken language.
Most of the early missionaries took it for granted that they must learn the Chinese written language. In spite of difficulties many times as great as those now met with, the achievements of Morrison, Legge and many others in mastering the Chinese written language and using it to interpret China to the West and the Westto China put to shame most of the work done in later years when the task has been so much easier. As missionaries have spread over China, the attitude towards the use of Chinese character seems to have differed in the coast provinces where there are local dialects