"Now, this is the first declension. You take the word's stem (which is self-evidently the same in both the nom. and gen. forms) and attach endings to it."
"By the way -- when you get to the third declension you will need to use the genitive stem, because it's different from the nominative stem.
"Hi, welcome back! Today we're going to talk about the second declension ... By the way ---" etc.
The third declension fell about halfway through the semester. What did they do? Wait for it ...
Over and over again, they took a few (randomly selected) letters off the end of the nominative stem and attached the third declension endings to it.
Readers, I introduced this new (but not unheard-of) concept so carefully. We looked at the endings and the new nouns separately. Then together. We discussed common patterns in third declension nouns. We drilled. We looked for third declension nouns in readings.
After we had reviewed about four times, it seemed clear that my students were going to have as much difficulty with it the seventh time as they did the first time.
I am told that this is a not uncommon reaction to the third declension, and I'm baffled. Would it be better to introduce this declension first? Is there a textbook that does that?
3 comments:
YES! I have thought for years that the third declension should be taught first. My colleagues and I have talked about writing that textbook, but we probably never will. Someone certainly should, though.
I don't know of a text which introduces the third first, but it wouldn't be a bad idea if done right. I used to teach using the Cambridge series. My biggest problem with that series was the fact it didn't provide or mention the genitive until the second book.
As far as my classes go, I teach students that the nominative and genitive are two separate forms that you must learn and then use the genitive to create the stem for all other cases. For that reason, I present students with second declension nouns ending in "r" on the same day that I introduce the second declension. I still have several who insist on just the last few letters of the nominative, but not too many.
Scott, I teach about using the genitive for all other cases, regardless of the declension. I run into a problem when it looks (to students) like a silly rule for half of the first semester. Emphasizing second declension nouns in -r more than I already do may help, though.
As I'm writing this, I'm wondering about introducing the third declension early (at the same time as the 1st and 2nd) and offering a few extra credit points to those who can successfully decline it on a quiz. Something to think about for next year. Thanks for your thoughts on this.
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