Intermediate Language Lessons

The 301 lessons on Emma Serl's Intermediate Language Lessons remain classics today, largely due to their ability to teach the intricacies of the English language (and, along the way, the basic moral habits of a good member of the community) by appealing to the imagination of the young student. 


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Sample Lesson: The Stone in the Road 


There was once a king who lived in a beautiful palace near a little village. He loved the people in the village and tried in many ways to help them. 


But the people were selfish and did not try to help one another. The good king wished to teach them a lesson, so he arose early one morning and placed a large stone in the road which led past his palace. Then, hiding himself near by, he watched to see what would happen. 


Soon a woman came along driving some goats to pasture. She scolded because the stone was in the way, and stepping over it she went on up the road. 


By and by a man came, riding a donkey. He complained about the stone but drove around it and went on his way. 


Other people came and went. Each remarked about the stone, but no one tried to move it. 


At last, when the day was almost ended, the miller’s boy came down the road. Seeing the stone he halted and put down the bundle he was carrying. 


“This stone should not be here,” he said. “Some one might fall over it. I will move it out of the way.” 


The stone was heavy, and the boy could scarcely lift it. But by repeated efforts he at last pushed it from its place and rolled it to one side. As he turned, to continue on his way, he saw that in the place where the stone had been there was a bag upon which something was written. Bending closer he read these words: “This bag of gold belongs to the one who helps others by removing the stone from the road.” 


The miller’s boy carried his treasure homeward with a happy heart, and as the king returned to his palace he said, “I am glad that I have found some one who is unselfish enough to think of the comfort of others.” 


Tell the story, from the following outline: 


The king. 

The people. 

The stone in the road. 

The people who passed. 

The miller’s boy. 

The bag of gold. 


Read, in the last part of the story, what the king said. 


With what kind of letter is the word I always written? 


Make a rule for this use of the capital letter.