There was a time when instruction in modern languages followed the methods used in studying Greek and Latin, with an excessive emphasis on knowledge of grammar and a corresponding neglect both of the finer points of usage and the ability to read fluently. The old joke that the object of learning the classical languages was to be able to distinguish the different uses of the genitive case was true only when scholars ceased using Latin as a medium of communication. While this was a passing phase, it left its mark on the study of modern languages. The Slavic languages, from their inception as subjects of university study, have been subject to this temptation. But even before the application of so-called modern methods, there was a larger proportion of serious students able to express themselves satisfactorily in the Slavic languages than there was in the more common tongues, such as French and German. On the other hand, the great increase of interest in Slavic languages came during World War II and this left its imprint on the methods of instruction. For military and governmental purposes, speaking knowledge was very important and became even more so when the schools were charged with training men for intelligence work. The emphasis on a speaking knowledge of Slavic languages was important in World War II because the number of young Americans who knew these languages well was seriously declining. Thirty years before, there were many young Slavs who had but recently migrated to the United States or were the children of parents who spoke their native languages fluently though grammatically incorrectly. The children of these people, trained in American schools, have lost most of their facility in their fathers’ tongues and need fundamental training. At the same time the slow but persistent strengthening of the Iron Curtain and the refusal of the Soviet government to allow free emigration of its citizens has reduced the number of young instructors available. The majority of competent instructors in America have lived in this country since the close of World War I and many of them are unfamiliar with the latest turns of the language as used in the Soviet Union. The difficulty of obtaining instructors is counterbalanced by the great improvement in methods of recording and reproducing sounds. It is now possible in almost all institutions to give students accurate and well rendered records and tapes of the leading Russian dramas and speeches as recorded and broadcast by the Soviet authorities themselves. It is also possible for the students to record their own pronunciation and compare it with the accepted standards. The use of these modern scientific and technical aids is undoubtedly improving pronunciation, though it is by no means certain that it is equally satisfactory in teaching fluency when the student is called upon to express his own thoughts.