§1.1.25obstat hoc agnitioni earum non intendentibus mox animum ad ipsos ductus, dum antecedentem memoriam sequuntur.
This hinders the recognition of them for those who do not immediately turn their mind to the strokes themselves, while they follow their prior memory.
quae causa est praecipientibus, ut etiam, cum satis adfixisse eas pueris recto illo quo primum scribi solent contextu videntur, retro agant rursus et varia permutatione turbent, donec litteras qui instituuntur facie norint non ordine.
This is the reason why instructors, even when the letters seem to have been sufficiently fixed in the children's minds in that straight order in which they are first accustomed to be written, trace them backward again and throw them into confusion by various permutations, until those who are being instructed know the letters by their appearance, not by their order.
quapropter optime sicut hominum pariter et habitus et nomina edocebuntur.
Wherefore, it will be best for them to be taught both their appearance and their names at the same time, just as with people.
§1.1.26sed quod in litteris obest, in syllabis non nocebit.
But what is a hindrance in letters will not be harmful in syllables.
non excludo autem, id quod est inventum irritandae ad discendum infantiae gratia eburneas etiam litterarum formas in lusum offerre; vel si quid aliud, quo magis illa aetas gaudeat, inveniri potest, quod tractare, intueri, nominare iucundum sit.
However, I do not exclude offering even ivory shapes of letters for play, which was invented for the sake of stimulating infancy to learn; or if anything else can be found in which that age may rejoice more, which it is pleasant to handle, look at, and name.
§1.1.27cum vero iam ductus sequi coeperit, non inutile erit eas tabellae quam optime insculpi, ut per illos velut sulcos ducatur stilus.
But when he has already begun to follow the strokes, it will not be useless for them to be carved as well as possible into a tablet, so that the style may be drawn through those as if they were furrows.
nam neque errabit, quemadmodum in ceris (continebitur enim utrinque marginibus neque extra praescriptum egredi poterit) et celerius ac saepius sequendo certa vestigia firmabit articulos, neque egebit adiutorio manum suam manu superimposita regentis.
For he will neither go wrong, as on wax tablets (for he will be contained on both sides by the edges and will not be able to go outside the prescribed path), and by following certain tracks more quickly and more frequently, he will strengthen his joints, nor will he need the assistance of someone ruling his hand with a hand placed over it.
§1.1.28non est aliena res, quae fere ab honestis negligi solet, cura bene ac velociter scribendi.
The care of writing well and rapidly, which is usually neglected by respectable people, is not an irrelevant matter.
nam cum sit in studiis praecipuum, quoque solo verus ille profectus et altis radicibus nixus paretur, scribere ipsum, tardior stilus cogitationem moratur, rudis et confusus intellectu caret; unde sequitur alter dictandi, quae transferenda sunt, labor.
For since writing itself is paramount in studies, and by it alone that true progress resting on deep roots is prepared, a slower style delays thought, and a rude and confused one lacks intelligibility; whence follows the other labor of dictating things that are to be transcribed.
§1.1.29quare cum semper et ubique tum praecipue in epistolis secretis et familiaribus delectabit ne hoc quidem neglectum reliquisse.
Therefore, as always and everywhere, so especially in secret and familiar letters, it will delight that one has not left even this neglected.
§1.1.30syllabis nullum compendium est; perdiscendae omnes nec, ut fit plerumque, difficillima quaeque earum differenda, ut in nominibus scribendis deprehendantur.
For syllables there is no compendium; all must be thoroughly learned, and, as usually happens, the most difficult of them must not be deferred, so that children are caught off guard when writing names.
§1.1.31quin immo ne primae quidem memoriae temere credendum; repetere et diu inculcare fuerit utilius, et in lectione quoque non properare ad continuandam eam vel accelerandam, nisi cum inoffensa atque indubitata litterarum inter se coniunctio suppeditare sine ulla cogitandi saltem mora poterit.
Nay indeed, not even the first memory should be trusted rashly; it will have been more useful to repeat and long inculcate, and in reading also not to hasten to continue or accelerate it, except when an uninterrupted and undoubted combination of letters with one another can be supplied without any delay, at least of thinking.
Tunc ipsis syllabis verba complecti et his sermonem connectere incipiat.
Then let him begin to grasp words by the syllables themselves and to connect speech with these.
§1.1.32incredibile est, quantum morae lectioni festinatione adiiciatur.
It is incredible how much of a delay is added to reading by haste.
hinc enim accidit dubitatio, intermissio, repetitio plus quam possunt audentibus, deinde, cum errarunt, etiam iis quae iam sciunt diffidentibus.
For from this happen hesitation, interruption, and repetition to those who dare more than they are able, and then, when they have erred, distrust even of those things which they already know.
§1.1.33certa sit ergo in primis lectio, deinde coniuncta et diu lentior, donec exercitatione contingat emendata velocitas.
Therefore, let reading first be certain, then connected, and for a long time slower, until by practice errorless speed is attained.
§1.1.34nam prospicere in dextrum (quod omnes praecipiunt) et providere, non rationis modo sed usus quoque est; quoniam sequentia intuenti priora dicenda sunt, et, quod difficillimum est, dividenda intentio animi, ut aliud voce aliud oculis agatur.
For to look forward to the right (which everyone directs) and to foresee is a matter not only of theory but also of practice; since while looking at the following, the prior must be spoken, and, what is most difficult, the attention of the mind must be divided, so that one thing is done with the voice, another with the eyes.
illud non paenitebit curasse, cum scribere nomina puer (quemadmodum moris est) coeperit, ne hanc operam in vocabulis vulgaribus et forte occurrentibus perdat.
It will not repent one to have cared for this, when the boy begins to write names (as is the custom), lest he lose this labor on vulgar and chance-occurring words.
§1.1.35protinus enim potest interpretationem linguae secretioris, quas Graeci γλώσσας vocant, dum aliud agitur, ediscere et inter prima elementa consequi rem postea proprium tempus desideraturam.
For he can immediately learn the interpretation of the more recondite language, which the Greeks call "glossae", while something else is being done, and achieve among the first elements a matter that would afterwards require its own time.
et quoniam circa res adhuc tenues moramur, ii quoque versus, qui ad imitationem scribendi proponentur, non otiosas velim sententias habeant sed honestum aliquid monentes.
And since we are still lingering around slight matters, I would wish that those verses also, which are proposed for the imitation of writing, should not contain idle maxims, but things warning of something honorable.
§1.1.36prosequitur haec memoria in senectutem et impressa animo rudi usque ad mores proficiet.
This memory follows into old age, and, impressed on the untrained mind, will profit even unto morals.
etiam dicta clarorum virorum et electos ex poëtis maxime (namque eorum cognitio parvis gratior est) locos ediscere inter lusum licet.
It is allowed also to learn by heart, amid play, the sayings of illustrious men and passages selected especially from the poets (for their knowledge is more pleasing to the little ones).
nam et maxime necessaria est oratori (sicut suo loco dicam) memoria, et ea praecipue firmatur atque alitur exercitatione, et in his, de quibus nunc loquimur, aetatibus, quae nihildum ipsae generare ex se queunt, prope sola est, quae iuvari cura docentium possit.
For memory is both highly necessary for an orator (as I shall say in its proper place), and it is especially strengthened and nourished by practice, and in these ages of which we now speak, which can as yet generate nothing from themselves, it is almost the only thing that can be assisted by the care of teachers.
§1.1.37non alienum fuerit exigere ab his aetatibus, quo sit absolutius os et expressior sermo, ut nomina quaedam versusque adfectatae difficultatis ex pluribus et asperrime coeuntibus inter se syllabis catenatos et velut confragosos quam citatissime volvant; χαλινοί Graece vocantur.
It will not have been out of place to demand of these ages, in order that the mouth may be more perfect and the speech more distinct, that they should roll as rapidly as possible certain names and verses of affected difficulty, chained and as it were rugged with multiple and very harshly joining syllables; they are called "chalinoi" in Greek.
res modica dictu, qua tamen omissa multa linguae vitia, nisi primis eximuntur annis, inemendabili in posterum pravitate durantur.
A matter small to speak of, which however being omitted, many defects of speech, unless they are removed in the first years, are hardened into an incorrigible deformity for the future.