Chinese (Mandarin) I

This is a beginning level course that will introduce the student to a variety of areas of Mandarin Chinese (simplified). In this course, the student will learn listening, speaking, reading and writing skills through activities that are based on pedagogically proven methods of foreign language instruction. Grammar is introduced and practiced in innovative and interesting ways with a variety of learning styles in mind. Culture is sprinkled throughout the course in an attempt to help the learner focus on the Chinese speaking world and their culture, people, geographical locations and histories. This course is aligned to national Foreign Language standards. Students are introduced to the simplified Chinese writing system in this class. No text required. Syllabus

Chinese II

This course is a continuation of a beginning level course that will introduce the student to a variety of areas of language learning. In this course, the student will learn listening, speaking, reading and writing skills through activities that are based on pedagogically proven methods of foreign language instruction. Throughout the five units of material (Daily Routine, Animals, Hobbies, The Body and Descriptions), students learn to express themselves using an ever increasing vocabulary, present-tense verbs, articles, and adjectives. Grammar is introduced and practiced in innovative and interesting ways with a variety of learning styles in mind. Culture is sprinkled throughout the course in an attempt to help the learner focus on the Chinese speaking world and their culture, people, geographical locations and histories. The course is aligned to the national Foreign Language standards. No text required. Syllabus

Prerequisite: Chinese I

Japanese I is a two semester course has been carefully designed to meet the standards of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). These standards call for a method of teaching that focuses on successful communication through speaking, writing, reading, and listening, as well as a thorough grounding in aspects of culture. Each unit embodies all of these standards in accordance with the theories described in this document. Unit activities blend different forms of communication and culture to ensure that the student meets all standards. Course strategies include warm-up activities, vocabulary study, reading, threaded discussions, multi-media presentations, self checks, practice activities and games, oral and written assignments, projects, quizzes, and exams. Learning activities in each unit are focused upon a specific theme. No text required. Syllabus

Japanese II

Japanese II is a two semester course that has been carefully designed to meet the standards of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). These standards call for a method of teaching that focuses on successful communication through speaking, writing, reading, and listening, as well as a thorough grounding in aspects of culture. Each unit embodies all of these standards in accordance with the theories described in this document. Unit activities blend different forms of communication and culture to ensure that the student meets all standards. Course strategies include warm-up activities, vocabulary study, reading, threaded discussions, multi-media presentations, self checks, practice activities and games, oral and written assignments, projects, quizzes, and exams. Learning activities in each unit are focused upon a specific theme. No text required. Syllabus

Prerequisite: Japanese I

Spanish IV

French I

Using a variety of audio, reading, pictorial, and written exercises, students quickly learn to recognize targeted vocabulary and start incorporating basic grammatical concepts: articles, plurals, and noun/adjective gender agreement; vowel and consonant pronunciation; sentence patterns; numbers and counting; introductions and greetings, directional symbols, body parts, geography, and other vocabulary. In every lesson, students practice reading and comprehending French text, and then use the vocabulary from those readings to increase their speaking fluency.  Syllabus

French II

Building on what they learned during the first year, students will increase their speaking confidence, vocabulary, reading comprehension, sentence construction skills, cultural knowledge, and their grammar, including: object and reflexive pronouns, natural vs. arbitrary gender, and past and present verb tenses. By the end of the course, they should be able to rewrite the ending to a story, use simple phrases to expand conversations, and follow a story line with full comprehension. Syllabus

French III

This third year French course is a continuation of the first two years. The student will continue to improve listening, speaking, reading and writing skills through activities that are based on pedagogically proven methods of foreign language instruction. Throughout the five units - Feelings, Transportation, Work, Countries and Future - students build on previous knowledge with additional vocabulary, verb tenses, and grammatical structures appropriate to their level. Grammar is introduced and practiced in innovative and interesting ways with a variety of learning styles in mind.Exposure to the culture of France and French-speaking countries can be found throughout the course in order to help students understand French in its context, as a truly dynamic language used for communication by millions of people throughout the world. The course is aligned to the national Foreign Language standards and provides a way to focus on the five important aspects of foreign language instruction: communication, culture, connections, comparisons and community. These are the "Five C's of the Foreign Language Education" as outlined in Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century. Syllabus

French IV

This course is a continuation of the beginning level courses that will help the student continue learning the French language. In this course, the student will learn listening, speaking, reading and writing skills through activities that are based on pedagogically proven methods of foreign language instruction. Throughout the five units of material (People, Achievements, Desires, Activities, Celebrations, Possibilities, The Past, The Arts, Now, It’s over!), students learn to express themselves using an ever increasing vocabulary, present, past, future and conditional-tense verbs, articles, adjectives and increasingly complex grammatical structures. Grammar is introduced and practiced in innovative and interesting ways with a variety of learning styles in mind. Culture is sprinkled throughout the course in an attempt to help the learner focus on the French speaking world and their culture, people, geographical locations and histories. The course is aligned to the national Foreign Language standards. No text required. Syllabus

German I

First year German students start out by learning introductions, greetings, and the days of the week, words and phrases to find out information, vowel pronunciation, and how to use articles, plurals, and noun/adjective agreement with gender. From there, they begin to incorporate their new vocabulary through rhythm and cadence, recognize sentence patterns and build comprehension skills, increase their fluency, practice counting and simple math, learn to form plurals with greater accuracy, use infinite verbs, and form question statements. Syllabus

German II

The second year of German expands students’ written and spoken fluency, placing a continued emphasis on reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Students learn to understand and use small talk, and they practice using new vocabulary in conversations and stories. They master object pronouns with finite and infinite verbs, learn geography vocabulary, study pronouns and past and present tenses, identify and describe objects, use genitive plural and singular forms, expand their cultural knowledge, and build fluency through repetition. Syllabus

German III

German III has been carefully designed to meet the standards of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). These standards call for a method of teaching that focuses on successful communication through speaking, writing, reading, and listening, as well as a thorough grounding in aspects of culture. Each unit embodies all of these standards in accordance with the theories described in this document. Unit activities blend different forms of communication and culture to ensure that the student meets all standards. Course strategies include warm-up activities, vocabulary study, reading, threaded discussions, multi-media presentations, self-checks, practice activities and games, oral and written assignments, projects, quizzes, and exams. Learning activities in each unit are focused upon a specific theme. Syllabus

German IV

This fourth year of German builds upon the first three levels. Students will continue to sharper their reading, writing, and listening skills as well as learn skills to think critically and express themselves on topics relevant to German culture. This fourth level will include authentic texts, current culture, and literature from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Every two units will be a special focus on a particular region or city from these areas; these will include such things as culture, tourism, and current events. Students will learn vocabulary, grammar skills, and cultural competency to express themselves on a variety of topics in German. Cultural topics include: contemporary and classical music, expressing opinion, German history, transportation, family, weekend travel, free time activities, youth and technology, multiculturalism, holidays, education, career, and travel in a foreign country. This course is aligned to the national ACTFL Foreign Language standards and provides a way to focus on the five aspects of foreign language instruction: communication, culture, connections, comparisons, and community. These are the “Five C’s of the Foreign Language Education” as outlined in Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century. No text required. Syllabus

Latin I

Latin 1 is an introduction to the basics of Latin grammar. It is intended to help you develop the skills necessary to translate basic sentences from Latin to English and English to Latin, and for reading simple connected passages of Latin prose and poetry. In the first semester, we cover the first 10 chapters of Wheelock's Latin grammar. In the process, you will learn how verb conjugations and noun declensions work in a highly inflected language, how to analyze the structure of Latin sentences and translate English sentences into well-formed Latin equivalents, and you will begin to read connected excerpts from ancient authors.

In the second semester, we cover chapters 11 though 20 of Wheelock's Latin grammar. In the process, you will learn how verb conjugations and noun declensions work in a highly inflected language, how to analyze the structure of Latin sentences and translate English sentences into well-formed Latin equivalents, and you will begin to read connected excerpts from ancient authors. No text required. Syllabus

Latin II

Latin 2 is the continuation of Latin grammar and a deeper study of Roman Mythology and history. The grammar in Latin 2 reviews topics from Latin 1 with expanding use of declensions, adjectives, adverbs, and cases. These skills will be used to translate longer Latin texts to English that require more knowledge of grammar rather than just vocabulary recall. The culture part of the course is an in-depth study of The Odyssey, the underworld, the rulers and kings of Rome, and entertainment. Syllabus

World Language Survey (one semester course)

In this world language course, students will be introduced to 6 different languages within 18 weeks. The languages include Spanish, French, German, Latin, Chinese and Japanese. Each language will be taught in a period of 3 weeks.  This multilingual course is designed to give students an opportunity to gain understanding of a language that they might want to further study in the future. The course takes a multi-perspective approach for teaching the culture of the people that speak the language, along with fundamental communication skills in the target language. Activities that engage students and make language learning exciting and fun will be incorporated to build acquisition. The language will be taught using the communicative method which combines listening, speaking, reading and writing in the target language with the use of multimedia resources. Syllabus