Shinichi Suzuki has been described as a humanitarian as well as an educator and musician. As a young man, he observed that children absorbed their spoken language based on their environment. This led him to adapt his teaching of music to the same method, that which is called the Mother Tongue Approach." Through listening to the sound of music, very young children soon imitate the tones they hear. Suzuki believes that talent is not inherited, but is a product of environment, and that every child can perform music just as he or she has learned to speak, if the proper teaching approach is used. Revised in 1995, The Man and His Philosophy contains many new photos, some of them depicting the many "firsts" in the Suzuki world, such as Dr. Suzuki with his first students, plus many more. This is a complete history of the Suzuki movement, in words and pictures, from its beginnings to the present day."
