Middle School Modern Languages
In order for students to acquire a new language, students need to hear, read, and understand it a lot. To achieve this, we maximize students’ exposure to Chinese, French, or Spanish through comprehensible language, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. We focus on the instruction and use of the high-frequency vocabulary, words that are the most commonly used in the language and can be used across many different situations.
Students read books and interesting articles, watch videos, co-create stories, act out stories, listen to songs, and talk about the message in the language. This way, students also learn about the culture and geography organically, using the language students know.
Incoming students rank their language choices (Chinese, French, or Spanish).
- 6th graders can take either Chinese A, French A, or Spanish A.
- 7th graders can take the A or B section
- In 8th grade, most students will take the C level of the course (or B level if they took A in 7th grade)
Want to learn more? The video below explain how we teach language and what the student experience is in all of our language courses.
Middle School Language Courses
Chinese A
Chinese A
This introductory course exposes students to Chinese through comprehensible input, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. The input-based approach to acquiring language focuses on the instruction of vocabulary in a highly contextualized manner. By keeping the conversation/story engaging and compelling, the learner is distracted from consciously trying to memorize vocabulary. Class time centers around developing fluency … and students are encouraged to use their language skills wholistically. Emphasis is placed on fluency over precision, with a focus on students being comfortable communicating in simple sentences in Chinese. Go back to the MS Modern Language page [read more]
Chinese B
Chinese B
A continuation of Chinese A, in Chinese B students continue to develop their fluency in the language. This course exposes students to Chinese through comprehensible input, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. The input-based approach to acquiring language focuses on the instruction of vocabulary in a highly contextualized manner. By keeping the conversation/story engaging and compelling, … the learner is distracted from consciously trying to memorize vocabulary. Class time centers around developing fluency and students are encouraged to use their language skills wholistically. Emphasis is placed on fluency over precision, with a focus on students being comfortable communicating in more detail in Chinese. [read more]
Chinese C
Chinese C
A continuation of Chinese B, in Chinese C students continue to develop their fluency in the language. This course exposes students to Chinese through comprehensible input, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. The input-based approach to acquiring language focuses on the instruction of vocabulary in a highly contextualized manner. By keeping the conversation/story engaging and compelling, the learner … is distracted from consciously trying to memorize vocabulary. Class time centers around developing fluency, and students are encouraged to use their language skills holistically. Emphasis is placed on fluency over precision, with a focus on students being comfortable communicating in more detail and elaborating on their ideas entirely in Chinese. [read more]
French A
French A
This introductory course exposes students to French through comprehensible input, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. The input-based approach to acquiring language focuses on the instruction of vocabulary in a highly contextualized manner. By keeping the conversation/story engaging and compelling, the learner is distracted from consciously trying to memorize vocabulary. Class time centers around developing fluency … and students are encouraged to use their language skills wholistically. Emphasis is placed on fluency over precision, with a focus on students being comfortable communicating in simple sentences in French. [read more]
French B
French B
A continuation of French A, in French B students continue to develop their fluency in the language. This course exposes students to French through comprehensible input, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. The input-based approach to acquiring language focuses on the instruction of vocabulary in a highly contextualized manner. By keeping the conversation/story engaging and compelling, … the learner is distracted from consciously trying to memorize vocabulary. Class time centers around developing fluency and students are encouraged to use their language skills wholistically. Emphasis is placed on fluency over precision, with a focus on students being comfortable communicating in more detail in French. [read more]
French C
French C
A continuation of French B, in French C students continue to develop their fluency in the language. This course exposes students to French through comprehensible input, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. The input-based approach to acquiring language focuses on the instruction of vocabulary in a highly contextualized manner. By keeping the conversation/story engaging and compelling, … the learner is distracted from consciously trying to memorize vocabulary. Class time centers around developing fluency and students are encouraged to use their language skills wholistically. Emphasis is placed on fluency over precision, with a focus on students being comfortable communicating in more detail and elaborating on their ideas entirely in French. [read more]
Spanish B
Spanish B
A continuation of Spanish A, in Spanish B students continue to develop their fluency in the language. This course exposes students to Spanish through comprehensible input, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. The input-based approach to acquiring language focuses on the instruction of vocabulary in a highly contextualized manner. By keeping the conversation/story engaging and compelling, … the learner is distracted from consciously trying to memorize vocabulary. Class time centers around developing fluency and students are encouraged to use their language skills wholistically. Emphasis is placed on fluency over precision, with a focus on students being comfortable communicating in more detail in Spanish. [read more]
Spanish C
Spanish C
A continuation of Spanish B, in Spanish C students continue to develop their fluency in the language. This course exposes students to Spanish through comprehensible input, including oral, written, and visual storytelling. The input-based approach to acquiring language focuses on the instruction of vocabulary in a highly contextualized manner. By keeping the conversation/story engaging and compelling, … the learner is distracted from consciously trying to memorize vocabulary. Class time centers around developing fluency and students are encouraged to use their language skills wholistically. Emphasis is placed on fluency over precision, with a focus on students being comfortable communicating in more detail and elaborating on their ideas entirely in Spanish. [read more]