Sweet Henry. The Practical Study of Languages: A Guide for Teachers and Learners

Oxford University Press, 1972. — 300 p. — (Language and Language Learning 1).The Practical Study of Languages was first published in 1899 and it may seem surprising that nearly 70 years later it should reappear without any alteration in the text. It is, however, particularly appropriate that the complete text of Sweet’s book should be made accessible to a wider public at a time when language teaching is in some ways undergoing revolutionary changes. Technological advances have made visual and recorded material available on a scale undreamt-of by Sweet; but unless these are based on a sound theory of methodology there is the danger that their promise will be unfulfilled, and that the average learner will be little better off than before.