252 The Study of Living Languages, [no. 4, ^'EAV series, 
known general principles, which show so plainly how entirely un- 
digested the subject still is, and how people in general are still 
acting upon notions that they have never examined, and which 
will not bear the least examination. 
In the book which is prefaced by these rules, the materials pro- 
vided to assist the learner of Tamil are all prepared upon the usual 
false principles : — 
1st. An unlimited vocabulary is used, so that every word must 
be learnt and forgotten a hundred times over. 
2nd. All sorts of words are introduced, words perfectly useless 
to a beginner, words derived from Sanscrit and s'^arcely ever used 
in conversation, words used only in books translated from Eng- 
lish by Englishmen, Sec. 
3rd. The sentences are certainly not all written by a Native, so 
that the learner takes up the book with the encouraging feeling 
that he does not know which are true Tamil sentences and which 
are not. 
4th. Almost all the sentences are much too long for a beginner. 
5th. Many of the sentences are such as it is quite useless for a 
beginner to learn. 
6th. English sentences are given without the corresponding Ta- 
mil. How is the learner to discover what the proper Tamil would 
be unless he is told r 
7th. The same with the Tamil sentences. What can be the use 
of leaving the learner to guess what the English meaning is, know- 
ing that when he has guessed it, it may be either right or wrong. 
Suppose a Tamil man were learning English, how could he find 
out the expression we use when we ask who a certain person is ? 
How could he ever guess the expression, Who's thai? Or could 
he find out of himself these expressions. What's the matter ? 
Where has he been ? Come away. Fd rather not. Never mind 
Whether or not. I can't help it. You might as well set a man to 
guess, at the words of a language as at its common expressions. 
When I put this book into a Moonshee's hand, the first thing 
he said, was. Many of these sentences are not common Tamil ex- 
pressions, and many of the words are not commonly used in con- 
versation. 
