According to Claude Germain, Professor Emeritus at the University of Quebec at Montreal, people in the 18th century opted to learn other languages using the original translation technique of word by word, which went from the foreign language (L2) to an exact translation in their native language (L1). This made more sense to them to translate the foreign language (L2) this way because of their knowledge of their own language.
It allowed them to understand the foreign language (L2), but it did not make sense when they tried to speak the language themselves, because of the lack of knowledge they had outside of the grammar rules in the foreign language (L2). It made it very difficult to be understood. This was known as grammar-translation. More recently, Jean-Pierre Cuq claimed that pedagogical translation would be better known as the traditional translation method because it tests comprehension and knowledge of the foreign language (L2).
It does this by using both the L1 and L2 to accelerate the learning process. A lot of times this includes both, oral and written skills, and translation activities can be carried out either in L1 or L2 or both at the same time.
The biggest difference between pedagogical translation and grammar-translation is that pedagogical translation allows learners to “code-switch” between the L1 and L2 to make sure they understand and can communicate well, not just memorize words and grammar rules.
Teaching Methods 