To learn German, Gouin resorts to the classical process of ...

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          Francois Gouin wanted to learn German, and decided that a year in Germany would be just the thing. At the time of his trip to Germany, you would have found a rather well-prepared, confident Francois Gouin who, despite his young age, is already a gifted Latin and Greek professor.

      With language learning already part of his career, he is encouraged by his advisors at the College of Caen (Normandy, France) to follow his pursuit of German and deepen his studies at the University of Berlin. Excited with his prospects, Gouin takes his determination and suitcases, and sets off for Hamburg.

     Once in beautiful Hamburg, with its countless shops and bustling academic centers, Gouin unpacks his suitcases, and immediately begins his language journey. He spends the first 10 days in seclusion studying in his room. With him, he has a grammar book and a dictionary. He believes languages are learned using “the classical process”, a process he says he used for mastering Latin and Greek. To Gouin, the classical process is the study of language through “an acquaintance of its forms.” In other words, to learn a language, he feels it best to faithfully study grammar and vocabulary!

      After ten days of seclusion, he feels supremely confident, and is anxious to try out his skills. To experiment with his new knowledge, he decides to visit some university classes. Any guesses how that went? Well, Gouin is in for a surprise. Here are his own words: “But alas! In vain did I strain my ears; in vain my eye strove to interpret the slightest movements of the lips of the professor; in vain I passed from the first classroom to a second; not a word, not a single word would penetrate to my understanding.”

(Shane Dixon. The language learner guidebook: powerful tools to help you conquer any language. [S.l.]: Wayzgoose, 2018.)