（1）Principal features

As its name suggests，this method emphasizes the teaching of the second language grammar.Its principal practice technique is translation from and into the target language.

（2）Objectives

In the nineteenth centurythe G-T Method was considered by practitioners as a necessary preliminary to the study of literary works，and even if that goal was not reached.The G-T Method was regarded as an educationally valid mental discipline in its own right.The G-T Method lays little or no emphasis on the speaking of the second language or listening to second language speech；it is a mainly book-oriented method of working out and learning the grammatical system of the language.

（3）Teaching techniques

The language is presented in short grammatical chapters or lessons，each containing a few grammar points or rules that are arranged and illustrated by examples.The grammatical features that are focused upon in the coursebook and by the teacher in his lesson are not hidden or disguised.A technical grammatical terminology is not avoided.The learner is expected to study and memorize a particular rule and examples，for instance，list of prepositions or a verb paradigm.No systematic approach is usually made to vocabulary or any other aspect of the second language.Exercises consist of words，phrases，and sentences in the first language with the help of bilingual vocabulary list are translated into the target language in order to practice the particular item or groups of items.One of the features of the G-T Method introduced by Meidinger was to increase the complexity of the learning task by constructing practice sentences illustrating a number of rules simultaneously.This approach tended to make language learning appear as a matter of problem or puzzle-solving.Other exercises are designed to practice translation into the first language.As the learner progresses，he may advance from translating isolated sentences to translating coherent second language texts into the first language or first language texts into the second language.

（4）Theoretical assumptions

The target language is primarily interpreted as a system of rules to be observed in texts and sentences and to be related to first language rules and meanings.Language learning is implicitly viewed as an intellectual activity involving rule learning，the memorization of rules and facts related to first language meanings by means of massive translation practice.The first language is maintained as the reference system in the acquisition of the second language.Basing itself on a faculty psychology，this method for learning modern languages was justified like Latin and Greek had been as a mental training.