Joking apart, however, we should take note of grammar. translation’s assumptions
about language learning, if only because they were so thoroughly rejected in later years and can thus provide a key insight into ways in which ideas about languages and language learning have changed. In this ‘traditional’ language teaching, the way into the new language was always through the student’s own first language. Complicated rules were mastered and this mastery then tested by means of translation. Success was measured in terms of the accurate use of grammar and vocabulary rather than effective communication. (No marks for saying ‘Me go sleep now’ when you are tired and want to go to bed!) Using the language meant written translation. There was no emphasis on the development of fluent speech: it was better to get things right slowly than say them fast and effectively, but incorrectly. It was assumed that the processes of learning the language and eventual use of it could be disassociated. Eventually, perhaps, for some students anyway, one would lead to the other, but the ends were most definitely different from the means.