MODERN LANGUAGE COURSES

CHINESE 1
This course is an introduction to Chinese. The grammatical structures, vocabulary, pronunciation, tones, and writing system of Chinese are presented together in an integrated, communication-oriented curriculum. Students will learn Pinyin Romanization and simplified characters. College-level texts are used and some 400 characters and vocabulary items are learned by the end of Chinese 1. Aural-oral proficiency and mastery of basic grammar are stressed. Both inside and outside the classroom, the speaking, listening, reading and writing of Chinese are reinforced through multimedia technology, cultural activities and projects.

CHINESE 2
Grammar patterns, vocabulary, good pronunciation, and the learning of characters continue to be stressed. Students will now be familiar with most of the basic sentence patterns and will have doubled their vocabulary and character knowledge. Oral proficiency is developed through in class discussion, role-playing, presentations, and group projects, movies, and videos. Students will focus on the ability to communicate in varied contexts. Increasing cultural knowledge is approached through various media.

CHINESE 3
Speaking, listening, reading and writing continue in a communication-oriented classroom, while the reading of intermediate-level texts, using a Chinese dictionary, begins. Increasing vocabulary and developing reading and decoding skills are primary goals, as is improving writing and composition ability. The course emphasizes self-expression through classroom discussion and communication activities. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of media and linguistic forms to broaden their familiarity and comfort with Chinese language and culture.

CHINESE 3 HONORS
This class is a pre-Advanced Placement-level course that reinforces students’ listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Students are required to speak the target language in strings of sentences and paragraphs when spoken to; there is a strong focus on conversational proficiency. Level appropriate literacy in reading and writing of Chinese characters is also required. Web-based online aural and oral training programs will be employed for speaking- and listening-comprehension training purposes. Students will be expected to do independent research on projects using a hard copy or online dictionary or other resources.

CHINESE 4 AP
The AP Chinese Language and Culture course is designed to be comparable to fourth-semester college/university courses in Chinese (approximately 250 hours of college-level classroom instruction). The goal of the course is to further develop communicative skills in Chinese across the three communicative modes (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational), in preparation for the Advanced Placement Chinese exam. Students will read a wide variety of authentic texts ranging from works in the literary form to more colloquial and modern writings. Writing and composing in the presentational mode will take on a greater role, and as the AP exam is entirely internet based, students will be required to submit most of their written work and communications via computer. The AP exam also has sections evaluating listening and speaking, so the course will include a variety of activities to improve all of the communicative areas. Cultural knowledge and awareness is also a key component of the course. This course is open to students who have displayed strong ability in Chinese 3, or with the permission of the instructor.

FRENCH 1
French 1 is for the student who is beginning the study of French for the first time or who needs review. From the time they cross the threshold into the French classroom, students will be immersed in the French language. This is a four skills course: students will work on listening, speaking, reading, and writing French as they learn about the French-speaking world. This is an active class in which students create and act out dialogs in small groups from the first day. Students will learn vocabulary related to greetings, introductions, courtesy, school life and everyday activities, telling time, family, friends, pets, and occupations, activities in town, cafés, sports, leisure, and weather. French 1 students will learn to communicate effectively in basic French in the present tense and in the near future. Structures: Verb studied will include present tense regular –er, -ir verbs, irregular –ir verbs, spelling change –er verbs, être, avoir, aller, prendre, boire, and faire. Grammatical structures will include nouns, articles, questions, interrogatives, negation, descriptive and possessive adjectives, personal and disjunctive pronouns, prepositions of location and partitive articles. Culture: Students will learn about Paris and study brief units on the French regions of Normandy, Brittany, Provence-Alpes, l’Alsace et la Lorraine, Provence, Côtes d’Azur, Rhône-Alpes , and La Loire. They will learn about North Africa and Corsica as well. Students will hear popular folk and classical music by French composers.

FRENCH 2
In French 2, students will build upon the vocabulary, verbs, and structures they learned in French 1 and apply this knowledge in new contexts. From the time they cross the threshold into the French classroom, students will be immersed in the French language. We will work to strengthen listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Students will create and act out dialogs in small groups and give short oral presentations. Students will learn vocabulary related to clothing, celebrations, travel, hotels, homes, chores, food, shopping, cooking, meals, health, and healthy daily routines. Structures: Verbs studied will include regular and irregular –re verbs, reflexive verbs, savoir, connaître, devoir, vouloir, and pouvoir. Students will learn to talk about the past with the passé recent with venir de, the passé composé with avoir and être and the imparfait. Grammatical structures will include demonstrative adjectives, direct and indirect object pronouns, double object pronouns, adverbs, comparative and superlative of adjectives and adverbs, and the pronouns y and en. Culture: Students will learn about Québec and Montréal, Versailles, the French region of Bourgogne, and the francophone countries Haiti and Martinique. Students will listen to popular folk and classical music by French composers.

FRENCH 3 HONORS
In French 3, students will continue to build more sophisticated language skills and broaden their understanding of the diverse cultures of the francophone world. From the time they cross the threshold into the French classroom, students will be immersed in the French language. Curriculum focuses on listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students will learn vocabulary related to technology, computers, cars, errands, giving and getting directions, the office environment, professions, phones, the environment, nature, performance and literary arts, TV, and movies. Structures: Verbs studied will include ouvrir, offrir, voir, recevoir, apercevoir, and croire. Students will learn the conditional and futur simple tenses and they will learn and use the subjunctive mood. Grammatical structures will include prepositions with the infinitive, negative and affirmative expressions, lequel, si clauses, the relative pronouns qui, que, dont, and où, demonstrative pronouns, comparative and superlative of nouns, and possessive pronouns. Culture: Students will learn about Switzerland, Belgium, Morocco and Tunisia. Students will do short readings by Baudelaire, Jean de la Fontaine, Saint-Exupéry, Miriama Mbengue Ndoye. Students will hear popular folk and classical music by French composers.

FRENCH 4 HONORS
In French 4, students will continue to build ever more sophisticated language skills and broaden their understanding of the diverse cultures of the francophone world. From the time they cross the threshold into the French classroom, students will be immersed in the French language. Curriculum focuses on listening, speaking, reading and writing. Units are not developed around grammar and vocabulary; rather, grammar and vocabulary units will be developed around organic themes of interest to teens, including self-identity and cultural identity, self-expression; change, conflict and cooperation; creativity and influence; individual and mass expression; liberty and dictatorship; immigration; societal changes and challenges; entrepreneurship; profession and identity; environmental protection and systems. Students will complete a project that links French to another area of academic/creative interest. Grammar: In French 4 students will systematically review the French grammar they have learned, adding depth and breadth to their skill range. We will focus on past tenses including plus-que-parfait and we will pay particular attention to the many uses and varied structures of the subjunctive.  We will focus on prepositions with geographical names as students study a particular francophone country in depth. Students will be exposed to past subjunctive and past conditional and will do intensive review of the uses of definite, indefinite and partitive articles and of prepositions preceding infinitives. Culture: Students will read 19th century French and 20th century Francophone poets. Students will study French speaking African countries, Québec, French inner cities, and Martinique. Students will hear popular folk and classical music by French composers.

HEBREW

This course will focus on the Hebrew alphabet, grammatical patterns, and basic communication skills using college-level text materials. We will use print and electronic media to study and use Hebrew grammar. Students will grapple with authentic sources such as newspapers, books and music to focus on reading, writing, listening and speaking. Students will develop skills in basic conversation so that they can sustain discussions about daily life. Students will study the lyrics of contemporary songs in Hebrew and will translate songs and Biblical texts into English.

SPANISH 1
The Spanish 1 curriculum provides a preliminary understanding of the Spanish language and introduces students to the cultures of the contemporary Spanish-speaking world. Students will develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills as they engage in a range of activities. Students will focus mainly on the foundation of the language, including present indicative and present progressive tenses, gender-number agreements, pronouns, and other grammatical structures. Toward the end of the year, students will also study the preterit tense and explore more analytical concepts, such as the difference between the verbs ser and estar. At the end of the year students will be able to talk and write about their daily life activities, classes at school, friends, and the things they like and dislike. Students will engage in written and spoken language through a project-based interdisciplinary approach to learning.

SPANISH 2
This course is for students who have covered Spanish level 1 and want to advance in the language. In the second year students will refine the use of the present tense and will learn to talk and to tell about the past. This class focuses mainly on the past tenses. Students will talk about their childhood, will write and read short stories, fairy tales and compositions about past times and their childhood activities. Students will be introduced to the cultures of the contemporary Spanish-speaking world as they develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through a variety of activities and projects. Students will engage in written and spoken language through a project-based approach to learning. Projects and materials will also be engaged through an interdisciplinary method.

 SPANISH 3 HONORS

The Spanish 3 curriculum builds upon the first two years of the language and expands into the more complex areas of the language, including the use of combined verb tenses and the simple future. Emphasis is also placed on beginning to appreciate and internalize the nuances of the language through grammar and pronunciation. The course is designed to rigorously prepare students for the AP Spanish Language course and, while some basic literature is covered in levels 1 and 2, a more in-depth study of the literature of Spain and Latin America is explored in the target language. The writing also reflects this as we move from the expository writing that is the focus of the first two years, into more exploratory and analytical writing and speaking. Oral assessments are a staple in this course, both through individual interviews as well as through multiple individual and group presentations. Students use debate and position essays in order to deliberate on a variety of topics, providing opinions, suggestions and demands in order to not only inform but also persuade.  Students will also speak about specific events that have taken place in the past by using the past tenses in unison.