The earliest G-T course for the teaching of English was written in 1793 by Johann Christian Fick（1763 1821）and published in Erlangen in south Germany.It was modelled on an earlier work for the teaching of French by the originator—Johann Valentin Meidinger（1756 1822）.The full title of Fick's book is‘Practical English Course for German of Both Sexes’，following the method of Meidinge's French Grammar.One point to notice is the use of word practical in the title.It appears time and again in the nineteenth-century，language courses had an extra meaning it would not carry today.To us‘practical’is more or less a synonym for‘useful’，but in the nineteenth century a practical course was also the one that required practice.That is，it contained exercises of various kinds，typical sentences for translation into and out of the foreign language，which were other novel features of the G-T Method.There is，of course，another reason for the emphasis on practice，namely the high priority attached to meticulous standards of accuracy which，as well as having an intrinsic moral value，was a prerequisite for passing the increasing number of formal written examinations that grew up during the century.

The G-T sentences had a second aim besides affording opportunities for practice work.They exemplified the grammar in a more concentrated and，it was hoped，clearer way than texts do.The G-T textbooks were graded，though not in the modern sense exactly，and presented new grammar points one-by-one in an organized sequence.Each step needed appropriate examples and specially devised sentences were simpler than samples from‘reputable authors’that contained extra difficulties for the pupils.This exemplificatory function was also taken over by the modern structuralists，though used to demonstrate a rather different kind of grammar.