World Language

Advanced Placement Chinese Language is equivalent to intermediate, high or advanced low-level university courses. It is designed to equip students to be able to communicate with ease and confidence in the interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes in a variety of contexts of real-life situations. Students acquire, exchange and present information in the target language on factual topics of public interest and general academic content across disciplines. In addition, students are introduced to the works of selected literary authors and further develop critical thinking and analytical skills in Mandarin. Students are expected to take the AP Chinese Language and Culture exam at the end of the year. The course is conducted entirely in Mandarin.

Advanced Placement French Language is equivalent to intermediate-high or advanced low-level university courses. It is designed to equip students to be able to communicate with ease and confidence in the interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes in a variety of contexts of real-life situations. Students acquire, exchange and present information in the target language on factual topics of public interest and general academic content across disciplines. In addition, students are introduced to the works of selected literary authors and further develop critical thinking and analytical skills in French. Students are expected to take the AP French Language and Culture exam at the end of the year. The course is conducted entirely in French.

Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture is equivalent to intermediate, high or advanced low-level university courses. It is designed to equip students to be able to communicate with ease and confidence in the interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes in a variety of contexts of real-life situations. Students acquire, exchange and present information in the target language on factual topics of public interest and general academic content across disciplines. In addition, students are introduced to the works of selected literary authors and further develop critical thinking and analytical skills in Spanish. Students are expected to take the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam at the end of the year. The course is conducted entirely in Spanish.

 

The French Cinema course further develops the students’ ability to communicate in major time frames in the interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes, while strengthening the overall knowledge of French culture. Students learn to analyze through a critical lens the diverse perspectives and distinctive viewpoints presented in selected feature and short films from around the francophone world. In addition, works of literature, film criticism and other advanced-level readings prompt students to discuss, compare and hypothesize about French-speaking products, perspectives and practices and how they change when cultures come into contact. Classes are conducted exclusively in French. This course is designed to be taken in consecutive years, as the films and the rest of the curriculum alternate every other year. 

In this introductory course, students start developing cross-cultural appreciation by learning about products, practices and perspectives of the French-speaking world. Students also begin to develop linguistic competency in all modes of communication—interpersonal, presentational and interpretive—to be able to express information about themselves and their community. Students learn to convey basic needs related to everyday activities, express their likes and dislikes, and react to those of others. The class is conducted in both English and French to ensure understanding of explanations and structures, and to develop the aural-oral competency of students.

French II builds upon the skills already acquired in level I and further develops students ́ cross-cultural appreciation of the French-speaking world. Students learn to identify similarities and differences among familiar, common daily products, practices and perspectives in francophone cultures and their own. Students are able to communicate in contexts relevant to themselves and others and to their immediate community in all modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal and presentational. The class is conducted entirely in French except when complex structures require clarification in English. 

This course incorporates the skills developed in level II and expands upon them to enable students to communicate in major time frames on most informal and formal matters of general public interest. Students learn to interpret language, make simple presentations, and interact in culturally-appropriate ways on transactional and informal topics. In addition to this, using authentic francophone materials, students identify diverse perspectives and distinctive viewpoints on issues related to themselves and their environment. The class is conducted entirely in French.

This course is designed to build upon the skills already acquired in previous levels to equip students to interact with cultural competence in most informal and formal settings. Students deepen their cultural and linguistic understanding. The French language is used as a vehicle to learn about history, literature, music, current affairs, art, the environment and social issues of the francophone world. Students work at a faster pace than in a non-honors course, and they are expected to interact in all modes of communication—interpersonal, presentational and interpretive—in culturally-authentic, real-world and academic contexts. The class is conducted entirely in French.

Students who take this course have a strong knowledge of the language and culture of French-speaking countries and have attained considerable proficiency in three modes: interpretive, interpersonal and presentational. Those who qualify for this course must have the energy and the determination to carry out independent work and research. This course aims to further develop students’ critical reading and analytical writing skills in French as well as their ability to make interdisciplinary connections and explore linguistic and cultural comparisons. French literary texts, in a variety of oral and written formats, are presented and discussed within their different historical, socio-cultural and geopolitical contexts. This class is conducted entirely in French.

2 semesters, 1 credit
Prerequisite: none 

In this introductory course, students start developing cross-cultural appreciation by learning about products, practices and perspectives of the Chinese-speaking world. Students also begin to develop linguistic competency in all modes of communication—interpersonal, presentational and interpretive—to be able to express information about themselves and others. Students learn to convey basic needs related to everyday activities, express their likes and dislikes, and react to those of others. Emphasis is placed on mastering the pinyin Romanization system, developing skills for character writing and acquiring basic sentence structures for daily communication. Most of the class is conducted in Mandarin to develop the aural-oral competency of students.

This course is designed to build upon the skills already acquired in previous levels to equip students to deepen their cultural and linguistic understanding. Students learn to interpret language, make simple presentations, and interact in culturally-appropriate ways on transactional and informal topics. In addition to this, students identify diverse perspectives and distinctive viewpoints on Chinese cultural issues related to themselves and their community. The class is conducted entirely in Mandarin.

This course is designed to build upon the skills already acquired in previous levels to equip students to deepen their cultural and linguistic understanding. Students learn to interpret language, make simple presentations and interact in culturally-appropriate ways in all three modes on transactional and informal topics. In addition to this, students identify diverse perspectives and distinctive viewpoints on Chinese cultural issues related to themselves and their community. Students work at a faster pace and in more complex contexts than in a non-honors course. The class is conducted entirely in Mandarin.

This course is designed for students who have successfully completed Mandarin III or beyond and would like to further their knowledge of Chinese and the Chinese-speaking world. The goals of this course are to further develop students’ proficiency across the full range of language skills, advance their critical thinking ability, and enhance their cultural and global awareness. In this course, language proficiency is interwoven with level- and age-appropriate cultural studies. Instructional materials and activities are carefully and strategically adapted from authentic sources to support the linguistic and cultural goals of the course. This class is conducted exclusively in Mandarin.

This honors course is a continuation of Mandarin III Honors and moves at a faster pace than the Mandarin IV course. In addition to using the textbook, students read more extensively from various resources including newspaper articles, short stories, and other documents and literary selections appropriate to the level of study. Students learn to differentiate between the formal and informal registers in both speaking and writing. The goals of this course are to continue to develop students’ proficiency across the full range of language skills, to advance their critical thinking ability and to strengthen their cultural knowledge and global awareness. In this course, materials and activities are designed to help students master more advanced-language structures, expressive styles and conventions of communication. These concepts are gleaned from topics and resources reflecting multiple aspects of Chinese society and culture and the use of various authentic multimedia materials in different linguistic registers. This class is conducted exclusively in Mandarin.

The Spanish Cinema course further develops the students’ ability to communicate in major time frames in the interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes, while strengthening the overall knowledge of Spanish culture. Students learn to analyze through a critical lens the diverse perspectives and distinctive viewpoints presented on selected feature and short films. In addition, works of literature and other advanced-level readings prompt students to discuss, compare and hypothesize about Spanish-speaking products, perspectives, and practices and how they change when cultures come into contact. Classes are conducted exclusively in Spanish. This course is designed to be taken in consecutive years, as the films and the rest of the curriculum alternate every other year.

2 semesters, 1 credit 
Prerequisite: Spanish II or Spanish IIB (Middle School) with a minimum grade of C
 

This course incorporates the skills developed from level II and expands upon them to enable students to communicate in major time frames on most informal and formal matters of general public interest. Students learn to interpret language, make simple presentations and interact in culturally-appropriate ways on transactional and informal topics. In addition to this, students identify diverse perspectives and distinctive viewpoints on issues related to themselves and their environment in the target language from authentic materials from the target cultures. The class is conducted entirely in Spanish.

2 semesters, 1 credit 
Prerequisite: Spanish II or Spanish IIB (Middle School) with a minimum grade of B+; Spanish III with a minimum grade of B and/or department recommendation 

This course is designed to build upon previously acquired skills and equip students to interact with cultural competence in most informal and formal settings. Students deepen their cultural and linguistic understanding, and language is used as a vehicle to learn about history, literature, music, current affairs, art, the environment and social issues of Spain and Latin America. Students work at a faster pace than in a non-honors course, and they are expected to interact in all modes of communication—interpersonal, presentational and interpretive—in culturally-authentic, real-world and academic contexts. Successful completion of this course prepares the student for the AP Spanish Language and Culture Honors course.The class is conducted entirely in Spanish.

The emphasis of this course is the continual development of communicative competence in the interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes in meaningful and culturally appropriate contexts. Language is used as a vehicle to learn about history, literature, music, art and current events in the Spanish-speaking world. Students apply 21st-century skills to research and analyze diverse perspectives on topics of general public interest in Spanish using authentic materials. Students analyze the relationships among products, practices and perspectives as they relate to the Spanish-speaking world and the students’ own cultures. This course is conducted entirely in Spanish.

This class is equal to a college-level course in Latin American, Peninsular and U.S. Latino literature and culture. Students who take this class have a strong proficiency level in all linguistic skills and high cultural competency of the Spanish-speaking world. Students also have the energy and determination to carry out significant independent work and research. This course aims to further develop students' critical reading and analytical writing skills in Spanish, as well as their ability to make interdisciplinary connections and explore linguistic and cultural comparisons in creative and meaningful contexts. Spanish literary texts, articles, art and films are analyzed and discussed within their different historical, sociocultural and geopolitical contexts. This class is conducted entirely in Spanish.