Dent's Second English Book [antikvár]

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITIONNine years ago I sent forth my First English Book, wondering greatly how it would be received. It had been a labour of love, as well as a fascinating linguistic enterprise; but would it prove in practice as helpful a " guide book on the road to English " as I hoped 1 Clearly it could become known but slowly ; would it ever be widely used 1During the first year after its publication only 350 copies were sold; but gradually the demand became greater, and last year the number rose to nearly 2500, apart from the sales in Sweden, where a separate edition was issued in 1909. It would be impossible to enumerate the countries where it is in use; it has been kindly welcomed in Germany, and has travelled to Finland, Hungary, and Spain, nay, even to the Argentine, to India and Siam, to China and Japan. Soon teachers began to write, asking: "What shall we read with our pupils when we have finished the First English Book 1" The answer was not easy. I believe in a systematic acquisition of the vocabulary, and no other book was built on the foundation supplied by mine. So when other duties rendered it possible I set about writing this Second English Book.Its main purpose is to give further practice in the words already learnt, and to provide new ones. To this end I have selected, and in part rewritten, a number of stories. The earlier ones are of a simple nature, without (I hope) being dull. Then come such favourite tales as Dick Whittington and Rip Van Winkle, followed by stories from real life. Words not contained in the First English Book are printed in heavy type, when they first occur, and are explained by means of familiar words at the foot of the page. An alphabetical list of the new words, with phonetic transcription and references, is given at the end of the book. The words occurring in the First and Second English Books have also been arranged in groups according* In 1924 the number rose to 9000.