World Languages Courses
- Spanish 1
- Spanish 2
- Spanish 3
- Spanish for Native Speakers
- AP Spanish Language
- AP Spanish Literature
- French 1
- French 2
Spanish 1
The thematic and lexical categories are as follows:
- Greetings and salutations
- Geographical areas where the language is spoken
- Numbers, calendar, dates, times of day
- Seasons and weather
- Home, Family and friends; identifying and describing
- School Activities and classroom objects
- Recreation
- Likes and dislikes; preferences
- food and beverages; mealtime customs
- Clothing, sizes and colors, shopping
- Occupations and professions
- Sports
Grammatical concepts appropriate to the course are the following:
- Phonology: Distinguishing grammatical categories such as gender and number in comprehending and producing speech.
- Gender and number and where applicable, case forms, noun markers, and adjectives.
- Subject (noun/pronoun) and verb inflection agreement; present tense, affirmative and negative, of common regular and irregular verbs.
- Prepositions and, where applicable, noun-preposition agreement.
- Word order.
- More specifically, with appropriate attention to students' learning styles, the course will:
- Provide practice in following commands as the initial step in training the student to comprehend the spoken language.
- Provide practice in reacting to a variety of voices in the foreign language.
- Provide practice in listening and speaking activities in a communication context utilizing brief dialogues and narratives related to activities in school, home, and community.
- Stress the importance of practicing acceptable pronunciation and intonation of all phonemes of the language.
- Provide practice in correct use of elementary basic language structures.
- Provide practice in reading and writing of familiar materials.
- Develop the appreciation of traditions and customs of the given country or countries, as related to family life, school, daily activities and recreation, and the impact of those traditions and customs on American life.
- Offer information about the geography and places of interest of the country or countries.
- Underscore the relevance of foreign language study to other school subjects and occupational choices.
Spanish 2
The initial emphasis of this course is to provide the student with a smooth, anxiety-free transition from the first level to the second level of foreign language study, while continuing to develop communication skills begun in Level 1AB.
The major themes of Level 1AB are continued and expanded in the second level as vocabulary is increased. The following thematic categories are representative of those to be introduced in Level 2AB:
- Health; parts of the body
- Travel: air, auto, rails, bus,etc.
- Cultural customs: birth, marriage, death, religious observances, folk celebrations
- Selecting and obtaining employment
- Flora and fauna
- Comparing and contrasting customs in various countries where the same foreign language is spoken.
Communication-based activities continue to enable the student to reinforce the grammatical applications introduced in Level 1AB. The following topics are representative of those that are appropriate to Level 2AB:
- Controversial past and perfect tenses of regular and irregular verbs
- Forms and common uses of the following verb tenses and modes: Imperfect, Future, Conditional, Progressive, Subjunctive, Imperative.
- Constructions: Reflexive, Adverbs, Stressed forms, Possessive, Demonstrative
- Affirmative and negative indefinite pronouns and adverbs
- Written language contrasted with conversational usage
Spanish 3
The major emphasis of the course is to provide the student with greater opportunities to fine-tune the communication skills acquired in Levels 1AB and 2AB.
Thematic and lexical topics are an extension of those of the first two levels of foreign language study. The sphere of concentration, however, is broadened to include aspects of public life, including the social political, scientific, and cultural, of the countries where the foreign language is spoken. To this end, the course provides:
- Opportunities to develop further aural-oral facility in the given language.
- Additional opportunities to listen to native speakers via audiovisual means.
- Practice in reading foreign language newspapers, magazines, and materials on the history and civilization of the given country or countries.
- Practice in writing compositions and summaries.
- Information on famous persons and their contributions in the fields of art, music, public affairs, literature, and science.
- An introduction to the literary tradition represented in the foreign language.
Reinforcement of the application of grammatical topics practiced in Levels 1AB and 2AB is accompanied by the introduction of concepts which include the following:
- Concordance of verb tenses in complex sentences: Present/Future, Imperfect/Conditional, Subjunctive usage in past tense, Narrative past forms, Literary versus Conversational Syntax.
Spanish for Native Speakers
Spanish 1 for Native Speakers
In this course the students will develop and improve their vocabulary, reading, writing, and grammar skills in their native language while learning to appreciate the depth and diversity of Latin American culture. This course is also a study of the Hispanic language, literature and culture. Special attention will be given verb conjugation in the simple tenses of the indicative mode, spelling, accents, grammar and vocabulary of standard Spanish.
Spanish 2 for Native Speakers
AP Spanish Language
Is a comprehensive review of all previous knowledge pertaining to the Spanish language. The class builds upon the skills developed in introductory and intermediate Spanish classes by applying each skill to a specific contemporary context (health, education, careers, literature, history, economy, family, relationships, and environment being common themes). Students develop proficiency in Spanish across three communicative modes – interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational. Instructional materials include a variety of authentic written texts, as well as audio and video recordings to develop student’ listening ability. The course covers oral and written communication; the study of various Spanish-speaking cultures and their connections, comparisons and communities. The course prepares students for success on the AP Spanish Language exam.
The major emphasis of this course is to:
- Provide the lexical, grammatical, and reading content of Advanced Placement Language AB, as defined in the yearly announcements of the program by the College Entrance Examination Board.
- Develop further aural comprehension, fluency in speaking and the ability to read at sight with comprehension.
- Encourage students to express personal reactions and opinions in speech and writing.
AP Spanish Literature
Covers the the major movements in Hispanic literature from the Medieval period through the latest literary trends. It breaks down the barriers of national literature to illustrate the ties that exist between the cultural production of both sides of the Hispanic world. The literary text is taught not as an end in itself but as a cultural and historical construct from which we can glean many aspects of Hispanic studies – from simple customs to basic values. The goal of the course is to teach students the tools of analysis in order to extract this vital information from a given text. The five general objectives: learn the major Hispanic literary movements.
The major emphasis of this course is to:
- Provide the lexical, grammatical, and reading content of Advanced Placement Literature AB, as defined in the yearly announcements of the program by the College Entrance Examination Board.
- Develop further aural comprehension, fluency in speaking, and ability to read at sight, with comprehension, prose and verse passages of moderate difficulty and mature content; and to provide opportunities for reading and analysis of selected major works representative of the principal genres and major trends and periods in literature.
- Provide for discussion of literary values and to offer an opportunity to express reactions and opinions in speech and writing.