English as She Is Taught

Caroline B. Le Row / Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)1887

No rating yet

Chapters: 15

Summary

The full title of this book is English as She Is Taught: Being Genuine Answers to Examination Questions in Our Public Schools. It is a curious "jest book" and also a document in the history of education. It was compiled by the American teacher Caroline B. Le Row from examination answers collected from elementary school pupils over many years; all the answers are reproduced verbatim from the pupils' own handwriting, with no corrections or polishing. Asked about etymology, grammar, mathematics, geography, history, politics, music, philosophy, and other subjects, the children produced a host of bizarre, misplaced, and yet delightfully funny replies—misapplied word meanings, jumbled dates, and concepts attached to the wrong things. Mark Twain wrote a commentary for the collection, in which, half ironic and half affectionate, he poked fun at the mechanical rote learning and uncomprehending instruction of the day, treating the children's "gibberish" as the most powerful satire on rigid teaching. The second edition was published in London by T. Fisher Unwin in 1887; it has since been reprinted many times in Britain and America and is available as a public-domain e-book through Project Gutenberg and elsewhere. The book is very short and easy to read, yet it makes one think again, after the laughter: how should language and knowledge actually be taught?

Editor's review

一本薄得可以一口气读完的小书，却是英语世界流传一百多年的“名场面合集”。它的看点有两层：表层是孩子们千奇百怪的答案，错得离谱又错得可爱，读来常常让人忍俊不禁；里层是马克·吐温那支刻薄又温和的笔。他没有嘲笑孩子，反而把矛头指向让孩子死记硬背的教育机器。对英语学习者来说，这本书还是一份生动的反面教材：那些混淆词义、误用术语的例子，恰好提醒我们，语言不是背诵条文，而是理解与运用。书中的答案皆为真实试卷原文，因而也具备教育史的史料价值。建议读者把它当作一本轻松的语言闲书，而不是系统教材。

Who it's for

A good fit for

对马克·吐温作品感兴趣的读者，可看到其讽刺随笔的一面
英语教师与教育工作者，可作为反思教学方式的轻松读物
喜欢语言笑话、文字游戏与冷幽默的读者
想找短篇英文读物练阅读的英语学习者

Not a good fit for

期望系统学习英语语法、需要循序渐进的教材的读者
偏好长篇叙事、情节小说，对随笔与史料无兴趣的读者
低龄儿童，书中答案的笑点依赖对英语与常识的了解

Reading tips

先读马克·吐温的评注，再看学生答案，笑点与讽刺会更清楚
把它当成碎片化读物，每次读一两章，不必追求通读
遇到有趣的错答，不妨先自己想正确答案，再对照体会错在哪里
可配合19世纪美国公立教育的历史背景阅读，理解其时代语境

Etymological
Grammatical
Mathematical
Geographical
Original
Analytical
Historical
Intellectual
Philosophical
Physiological
Astronomical
Political
Musical
Oratorical
Metaphysical

FAQ

这本书是马克·吐温写的吗？

不是全部由他写作。书中学生答案由教师卡罗琳·B. 勒罗（Caroline B. Le Row）收集汇编，马克·吐温为其撰写了评注和评论文章，因此本书通常标注“勒罗编，马克·吐温评注”。

书中的答案是真的吗？

据原书说明与马克·吐温的评论，这些答案是公立学校学生考试答卷的原文，未经修改或加工。也正因真实，才成为有趣的教育史料与语言笑话素材。

有中文译本吗？

目前流传最广的是英文原版及古登堡计划等提供的公版电子版，未见权威记录显示有通行的简体中文译本，中文读者多以英文原版阅读。

篇幅长吗，适合用来学英语吗？

原书篇幅很短，收录约二十来页的答案选编。它更像语言闲书，可作短篇阅读材料，但结构不系统，不宜作为主要英语教材。

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Caroline B. Le Row Author

Caroline B. Le Row is an English-language author about whom little biographical information is available; her nationality, dates of birth and death are not definitively recorded. She is known to some readers as the compiler of English as She Is Taught, the only work by her held in this collection. Judging from the title and its common classification, the book is an English-language original edition dealing with the teaching and learning of English, and it most likely gathers materials related to classroom English, student usage, or the realities of instruction. Such subject matter often carries a light, satirical tone, presenting through authentic or semi-authentic language samples the various ways English is taught and acquired, and it therefore holds some appeal for readers interested in English education, language curiosities, and original-language editions. Because public information is limited, her full life, other writings, and overall writing career remain to be further examined.

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Author · American · 1835–1910

Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, in 1835 and died in Redding, Connecticut, in 1910, was an American humorist, novelist, and lecturer. Known for his humor and satire, he is regarded as one of the founders of American literature. His representative works include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter following the young Huck and Jim on their journey down the river, with vivid language and sharp irony. This library holds 59 of his works, including different editions and translations of these two classics and the short-story collection Running for Governor, mostly classified under foreign literature.