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Global Research in Higher Education 
ISSN 2576-196X (Print) ISSN 2576-1951 (Online) 

Vol. 1, No. 2, 2018 
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/grhe 

140 
 

Short Research Paper 

Textbooks of English and Portuguese as a Foreign Language in 

Europe in the XIX Century 

Claudine Possoli Beltram1* 
1 Instituto Federal de Educação Ciencia e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul, Faculty of English, Bento 

Gonçalves, Brazil 
*Claudine Possoli Beltram, Instituto Federal de Educação Ciencia e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Sul, 

Faculty of English, Bento Gonçalves, Brazil 

 

Received: June 27, 2018       Accepted: July 10, 2018      Online Published: October 17, 2018 

doi:10.22158/grhe.v1n2p140                URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/grhe.v1n2p140 

 

During centuries, Latin was the main way of communication concerning teaching, culture, religion and 

sciences in general. That is why the first preoccupation concerning learning a foreign language arose 

from Latin. According to Crystal (2003, p. 7), Latin became an international language throughout the 

Roman Empire, but this was not because the Romans were more numerous than the peoples they 

subjugated. They were much more powerful. Later on, when Roman military power declined, Latin 

remained for a millennium as the international language of education, thanks to a different sort of 

power, the ecclesiastical power of Roman Catholicism. The international importance of the Catholic 

Church in Rome followed by the submission of a religious medieval world transformed Latin in a 

language without frontiers when culture, theology, education and sciences were concerned. The 

invention of the Press in the XV century strengthened the power of Latin by giving access to literary 

works. As Torre (1985, pp. 5-6) mentions, up to the XVI century Latin was still considered the 

language of international communication. To study Latin was indispensable for members of the 

Catholic Church, scientists and scholars to teach at universities. Later on, the result of this learning was 

a group of authors interested in publishing dictionaries and grammars aimed at learning foreign 

languages, mainly English. As a consequence, several textbooks were written by these scholars. On the 

other hand, as Protestantism arose, Latin was not considered the international Língua Franca anymore 

and vernaculars began to be seen as sources of research. During this period, vernaculars achieved a 

great prestige since Latin was no longer the international language of education. Besides that, many 

books started to be edited and published in English (See Torre, 1985, pp. 4-5). 

 

 



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The grammars published at that time were focused on memorization of rules and lists of bilingual 

vocabulary, rarely applying the language as an instrument of real communication. As a consequence, 

those grammars and their use marked the decline of Latin as an instrument of communication. However, 

Latin was going to serve as a model to teach foreign languages when the interest to learn those 

languages began. Among English grammars and dictionaries published in Portugal we observe, directly 

or indirectly, a clear inspiration on works previously published for the study of Latin (Torre, 1985, p. 

7). 

In Portugal the interest to study the language of Shakespeare started only in the XVIII century thanks to 

the educational reforms promoted by Marquis of Pombal from 1759 onwards abolishing the sole use of 

Latin in the Latin grammar classes in Portugal and its Dominions (Kemmler, 2013, p. 8). The 

institutionalization of modern language teaching in Portugal did not take place until several years after 

the expulsion of the Jesuits and the creation in 1761 of the Royal College of Nobles (Real Colégio dos 

Nobles) which was set up to teach young noblemen. The educational reform introduced by Marquis de 

Pombal, still put emphasis on the teaching of Latin and Greek. However, the Real Colégio dos Nobles 

was one of the first official institutions to introduce the teaching of French, Italian and English (Santos, 

2013, p. 64). 

Besides that, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightment, the Portuguese school system promoted the 

development of scientific learning/teaching in which the humanities and modern languages had a 

significant importance. Despite the institutionalization of foreign languages, English and German in 

addition to French as compulsory subjects at secondary level taking place during the nineteenth century, 

the foundations had been laid in the second part of the eighteenth century, based on the model of the 

Real Colégio de Nobles (Santos, 2013, p. 64). 

Each foreign language taught in the Portuguese education system during the nineteenth century (French, 

English, German) had moments of glory and institutional domination depending on several educational 

reforms. 

At the same time, English was also increasing in importance, especially because of foreign policy 

focused on bilateral relations between two colonial powers. The friendship between Portugal and 

Britain, particularly after the French invasions and the support provided by the British in expelling 

Napoleon’s troops from Portugal, as well as the growing importance of English in the economic level, 

played an important role in determining the language policies reflected in the nineteenth-century 

educational reforms (Santos, 2013, p. 66). 

Along with educational reforms on modern languages, thinking on educational practice and theory was 

being developed by language teachers. The language master emerged from the tradition of the private 

tutor presented in upper-class European families, gave way to the teacher of French, English or German. 

As Santos (2013, p. 67) points out, the professional reflection undertaken by these language 

practitioners led not only to modern languages acquiring the status of an independent discipline, but 

also encouraged them to engage in the production of language teaching resources (dictionaries, 



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grammar books, textbooks, courses, etc.). The publication of teaching materials contributed to the 

advancement of knowledge in terms of developing the formal descriptions of foreign languages. 

Many experienced with developing new methodological approaches to teaching foreign languages, 

bringing together linguistic analysis and reflection on language pedagogy. Such teacher-writers became 

capable not only of analyzing the target language but also of coming up with new and innovative ways 

of teaching it as described below. 

Designed to teach Portuguese to English Learners and as an English grammar for Portuguese learners, 

the first Grammatica Anglo-Lusitania or a Short and Compendious System on an English and 

Portugueze Grammar (Justice, 1702) should be regarded as the first grammar combining both 

Portuguese and English. It was published by Alexander Justice in 1702 containing all the most Useful 

and Necessary Rules of Syntax, and Construction of the Portuguese tongue; together with some useful 

Dialogues agreeable to common conversation. With a vocabulary of useful Words in English and 

Portuguese, designed for, and fitted to, all Capacities, and more particularly, such whose Business may 

lead them to those parts, where that Language is use (Justice, 1702). It was the first grammar of English 

printed in Portugal in 1705 immersed in an environment where English classes did not exist in the 

Portuguese Educational System at the time (Kemmler, 2013, p. 89). Shortly after, a second and more 

complete edition of the same grammar was published under the title Grammatica Anglo-Lusitania: Or 

a short and Compendious System of an English and Portuguese Grammar including a chapter called 

Familiar Dialogues in English and Portugueze (Justice, 1702, pp. 157-192) and a short thematic 

vocabulary called A Vocabulary in English and Portugueze (Justice, 1702, pp. 233-264). According to 

Kemmler (2012, p. 39) the bilingual grammar of Justice is the first grammar of Portuguese and English 

languages to an audience which English is their mother tongue. This compendium was destined to 

serve as a foreign language manual to self-assessment learning. 

From then on the adoption and adaptation of foreign materials mainly the Ollendorf and Ahn methods 

adopted in Portugal were presented in a boring, theorizing and consequently less efficient way. With 

the advent of the Berlitz Method a considerable improvement in methodology occurred especially 

considering motivational content of the texts (Torre, 1985, p. 25). 

Even though dictionaries have had an undeniable importance as instruments of access to the English 

language, its importance is nothing compared to grammars because almost every grammar published at 

the time presented a bilingual vocabulary combined into vocabulary areas according to communicative 

aspects of real life communication. Secondly, grammars aimed at offering readers the general 

acquisition of the language system, which was much more useful than the access to mere disconnected 

lexicon. 

There is much coincidence among grammars published in the XVIII century. The first part is fulfilled 

with phonetic aspects of the English language. The second part is preoccupied with sentence structure 

and the third part deals with syntax. It’s worth mentioning that the quality of the language varied from 

author to author, giving us the impression that the language depended on the sources in which the 



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authors looked for to get the selection of texts used on those grammars. Either way, beneath the 

didactic point of view, the dialogs presented on those grammars constituted the functional part of 

communication. Its main objective has always been to promote oral communication of the target 

language. 

According to Torre (1985, pp. 66-67) the English grammars at that time aimed at Portuguese learners 

and speakers of English. It’s interesting to observe that in almost every grammar two languages were 

introduced; Portuguese and English providing the bilingual vocabulary support that later on were to 

replace dictionaries. 

The Grammatica anglo Lusitania & lusitano angelicas ou Grammatica Portugueza e Ingleza de J. 

Castro, teacher and translator of both languages, published in London in 1751 is considered the first 

attempt to teach Portuguese as a foreign language. As Cardim (1929, p. 169) points out, this grammar 

forms one volume with a second edition of the English-Portuguese Grammar of 1731. This grammar 

aimed at giving credit to the relation between Portuguese and English languages. As Torre (1985, p. 58) 

mentions, its most important theme were the commercial relations due to the proximity between 

Portugal and England at the time. Besides that, J. Castro grammar must have been applied to teach 

English to Portuguese students and Portuguese to English students. 

This grammar aimed at giving credit to the relation between Portuguese and English languages. The 

English Grammar of J. Castro introduces the English Alphabet; explaining the sound of each letter and 

establishing rules. It explains prosody, parts of the sentences and concludes with small dialogues 

translated word by word and also by a selection of English and Portuguese verbs to exemplify everyday 

actions. Torre (1985, p. 59) wisely mentions that the presence of dialogs at the end of grammars in the 

XVIII and XIX centuries may indicate an attempt to search for a better functionality when teaching the 

English language, which meant, at the time, repetition and memorization of sentences talking about 

greetings, meals, clothes, climate, shopping, games, trips, money exchange and laws in England. All 

those sentences were memorized and repeated by students. 

J. Castro also worried about oral communication presenting Familiar Dialogues. All dialogues were 

based on a conversation between two people performed as a quiz game of questions and answers and a 

topic at random.  

Again Torre (1985, p. 64) refers to the way classroom situations were presented to students. All 

learning situations were created having in mind adults even when the themes were more appropriate to 

children or teenagers reality. Its main objective though was the use of oral skills. 

It is observed that the themes highlighted by Castro (1759, p. 355) for example expressions to consent, 

deny or appreciate were of great use in the Pequenos Dialogos para Principiantes which were 

everyday conversations with prosaic topics. As Torre (1985, p. 56) demonstrates these dialogues seem 

to have the objective of carry out “communicative functions in typical situations by the time they were 

written”. 

 



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Castro produced a brief anthology having in mind the spread of English as a second language in 

Portugal and always placing the commercial context of the language. 

The Grammatica ingleza ordenada em portuguez por Carlos da Silva Teles de Menezes (1762) is a 

very poor work, widely and incorrectly based on French models. See Castro (1759, p. 173) for more 

details.  

The Brief anthologies of the XVIII century followed the Grammar Translation method. Torre (1985, p. 

67) also mentions that the XIX century will be characterized by a strong presence of translation as a 

solution to apply grammar rules that the grammars provided. The grammar-translation derived from the 

teaching of classical languages and the materials included a few books of prose and unseen translations, 

a few anthologies but mostly, grammar books (Santos, 2017, p. 68). The most well-known authors from 

the XIX Century were Ahn, Ollendorf and Berlitz whose methods were adopted and adapted in 

Portugal by Jacob Bensabat with great popularity in Portugal. The study of this period is indispensable 

to the complete history of teaching English in Portugal. 

Santos (2017, p. 68) illustrates that in Portugal foreign language teaching at secondary level in the 

nineteenth century was provided by teachers with limited academic and pedagogic training. 

Nevertheless, anthologies, versification guides and language methods such as the Ollendorf method and 

the Ahn method became an important part of Portuguese educational publishing for French, English 

and German and contributed to the promulgation of a number of foreign languages all across Portugal, 

in public and private education and also outside the school system (Santos, 2009). 

Some of the forerunners in the XIX century sprang up in Germany: Franz Ahn (1796-1865) and H. G. 

Ollendorf (1803-1871), and the USA: Maximilien D. Berlitz (1852-1921). Their revolutionary methods 

or textbooks are the following: 

- Ahn, F. (1834). Praktischer Lehrgangzurschnellen und leichten Erlennung der französischen 

Sprache. Cologne, Dumont-Schauberg. 

- Ollendorf, H. G. (1835). Nouvelle Méthode pour apprendre á lire, á écrire, et a parler une 

langue em six moins, appliquée á l´Allemand. Paris, the Author. 

- Berlitz, D. M. (1882). Méthodepourl´enseignement de la langue françaisedanslesecóles Berlitz. 

Boston: Schoenhof. With E. Dubois. 

In order to provide a clear picture of their methods, two secondary sources have been consulted: 

Howatt and Widdowson (2004, pp. 159-162) for Ahn and Ollendorff and Rius (2010, pp. 78-79) for 

Berlitz. 

Ahn’s Method was presented as a new and easy method. The use of the grammar-translation method 

was more consistent and self-effacing. His principal market was the private learner for whom a 

grammatical description and a bilingual approach were essential. There was a brief introduction to 

pronunciation and a grammar summary, usually in the form of a paradigm, and about a dozen new 

vocabulary items, followed by a set of sentences to translate into the mother tongue. There were also 

sentences to translate into the foreign language, and no new teaching points. Ahn’s grammatical notes 



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required only a minimum knowledge of grammar terminology: singular, plural, masculine, feminine, 

etc. It provided useful vocabulary on the whole. The practice sentences were short and easy to translate. 

Ollendorff’s Method promised to teach a language in six months. His books were massive, two-volume 

manuals. Exercise examples were always given in the learner’s mother tongue for translation into the 

foreign language. His method offered two original features of interest: a system of interaction on which 

he based all his exercises (question/answer) and a system of linguistic grading. 

Questions and answers were in the learner’s mother tongue for translation into the foreign language. 

Berlitz’s Method was an intuitive and essentially practical method. It offered a maximum stress on the 

oral language and a systematical rejection of translation. No grammar explanations were given before 

learners reach a minimum knowledge of the new language. It gave priority to the question-and-answer 

technique and to conversation. Besides that, native teachers were requested to teach the language and 

teachers were provided with an accessible and easy guide to use. 

From the above descriptions, one can deduct that the then Grammar-Translation Method was facing 

some new versions as in the Berlitz Method. All but Berlitz regard translation as the main basis to learn 

a foreign language. All the others would fit into the translation-grammar typology. That is to say, 

translation exercises as the required practice to learn a language (Caparrós, 2015, pp. 97-98). 

In relation to Foreign Language Teaching materials (FLT) there were significant changes with the 

previous centuries: Phrasebooks disappear and were converted into language guidebooks which 

became very popular among travelers, especially in the second half of the XIX century. The market 

diversified learning materials (graded course books towards the end of the XIX century, pronunciation 

manuals, literary anthologies and translation or practice books). 

According to Caparrós (2015, pp. 105-106), ELT further developed through the XIX century in Europe 

and English teaching materials evolved towards a more practical turn (see Ahn, Ollendorf description 

of methods above), where translation was a fundamental part of the teaching and learning process. 

 

References 

Caparrós, A. L. (n.d.). The Historiography of English Language. 

Cardim, L. (1929). Estudos de Literatura e de Linguística. Porto: Faculdade de Letras. 

Castro, J. (n.d.). Grammatica Anglo-Lusitanica & Lusitano-Anglica: Ou, Gramatica. 

Crystal, D. (2003). English as a Global Language. Cambridge Univeristy Press. 

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486999 

Crystal, D. (2005). La Revolución del Lenguage. Madrid: Alianzaensayo. 

Howatt, A. P. R., & Widdowson, H. G. (2004). A history of English language teaching. Oxford: Oxford 

University Press. 

Justice, A. (1702). Grammatica Anglo-Lusitania: Or a Short and Compendious system of an English and 

Portugueze Grammar containing All the most useful and necessary rules of the Syntax and 

Construction of the Portugueze Tongue. In Together with some Useful Dialogues and Colloquies, 



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agreeable to common conversation with a vocabulary of Useful words in English and Portugueze 

Designed for, and fitted to all capacities, and more especially such whose Chance or Business may 

lead them into any part of the World, where that language is used or esteemed.  

Kemmler, R. (2012). A primeira Grammatica Anglo-Lusitania (Londres, 1701) eas suas edições. BSEHL, 

8(2012), 23-42. 

Santos, A. C. (2018). A history and historiography of foreign languages teaching and learning in 

Portugal. The Language Learning Journal, 46(1), 62-70. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2017.1382057 

Torre, M. G. (1985). Gramáticas inglesas antigas: Alguns dados sobre aHistória dos estudos ingleses 

em Portugal até 1820. Trabalho complementar a dissertação de doutoramento apresentado à 

Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, Porto. 

 

 


