The modern world language department at St. Andrew’s offers various levels of four languages. In each language and at each level, emphasis is placed on oral/aural communication. Students develop proficiency in communication, culture, connections, comparisons, and communities, while meeting the National Standards for Foreign Language Education.
Spanish I
Spanish I is an introduction to the fundamentals of the Spanish language. Students learn to express themselves with confidence both in oral and written work. Students are exposed to the culture of Spanish-speaking people through readings, music, and videos that introduce them to the different accents, geography, and history of countries where Spanish is spoken. An interactive audio program is used as an important tool to help the students acquire proficiency in Spanish.
Spanish II
This course builds on Spanish I and continues developing the four major language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students learn to use more advanced language functions such as expressing attitudes, opinions, and feelings and talking about current events. Constant practice is achieved through class discussion and regular writing of paragraphs. Projects and readings advance cultural knowledge.
Spanish III
Spanish III is conducted almost entirely in Spanish. Students continue to develop their skills by hearing and speaking Spanish in class, studying authentic texts, doing internet research, writing essays, seeing videos, corresponding with Spanish speakers, and listening to guest speakers. Students improve their vocabulary and more advanced language functions, including persuasion, are introduced.
Spanish IV
This is a proficiency-based course designed to develop fluency. Emphasis is placed on oral production, auditory comprehension, reading and writing. Spanish IV reviews grammar while introducing more advanced structures and usages. Students update their knowledge of Latin America and explore the culture of Spanish-speaking countries to enhance their study of the language.
Spanish V
This course continues the emphasis on oral production, auditory comprehension, reading and writing. Students are encouraged to acquire knowledge and skills to communicate effectively in both formal and informal settings. Activities in the classroom, projects, and assignments expose students to communicative situations that promote the practice of grammar, idiomatic expressions, pronunciation, and vocabulary in context. Students continue to explore the culture and history of Spanish-speaking countries.
AP Spanish
(admission by teacher and departmental recommendation)
This course prepares students for the AP Spanish Language Examination. Classroom activities expose students to a variety of communicative situations to familiarize them with different nuances of the language and to promote the integration of the four language skills. The exercises, AP sessions, and evaluations provide practice to help the students improve test-taking techniques.
The Spanish-speaking World through Film
This semester course is open to advanced level students who, having taken Spanish V or AP Spanish, wish to further develop proficiency in the language while learning more about the cultures in which Spanish is spoken. Students analyze the major themes in the films, using the language as a medium for learning content and using content as a way of improving their language skills.
French I
Students are introduced to the French language and culture, and through daily active use of the language, master basic vocabulary and syntax. Equal emphasis is placed on listening, speaking, and writing. Dialogue mastery is reinforced through drills in class and grammatical principles are reinforced through daily homework. Oral presentations, writing assignments, and active role-playing are an integral part of the course.
French II
This course reinforces and expands on concepts learned in French I, with an emphasis placed on verbal accuracy and French spoken almost exclusively in the classroom. There is additional emphasis on reading and writing, expanding the student’s academic, cultural, and creative experience.
French III
This course provides an increased emphasis on aural comprehension and oral production. Course content places equal importance on increased reading of authentic materials (with cultural content) and an introduction to writing French compositions. Classes are conducted mostly in French.
French IV
This course is designed to promote increased accuracy and competence both orally and aurally. The course content demands that the student understand main ideas and supporting details in increasingly complex situations, be able to process information in a logical and sequential manner, and be able to predict and hypothesize in the present, past and future tenses. Increased emphasis is placed on the ability to analyze, paraphrase, summarize, and express ideas defending opinions and positions in social, cultural, and political contexts.
French V
The French IV course is comprised of a variety of specialized topics designed to continue the development of the five areas of the National Standards for Language Study. The course is an alternative to the Advanced Placement course in French Language.
AP French
This is a comprehensive and intensive preparation for the AP French Language exam. The focus is on strengthening the student’s competency in the required areas of the AP exam, including reading comprehension, speaking, writing, and grammar.
Mandarin I
This is basic course designed for students who have no formal background in learning Chinese. Mandarin I introduces the Chinese (Mandarin) phonetic system, basic grammatical structures, and functional daily language use, covering about 200 characters and associated phrases. The course emphasizes the training of all four language skills – listening, reading, speaking, and writing – as well as an understanding of the socio-linguistics and socio-cultural factors that are important to cross-cultural communication.
Mandarin II
Mandarin II continues to focus on the introduction to the Chinese language grammatical system as well as the functional use of the language. This course develops students’ communicative competence from general description of events to specific descriptions, from sentences to discourses with contexts, from simple expressions to complex structures. The learning activities encourage cooperative learning, use of information technology, and creative thinking.
Latin
The study of Latin at St. Andrew’s is intertwined with the study of the multi-cultural Roman civilization. Students studying Latin will derive an understanding of the history and culture from which our own civilization is produced. The beginning courses emphasize Latin grammar. The upper courses develop translation skills and critical thinking through reading such authors as Catullus, Horace, Vergil, Ovid, and Cicero. St. Andrew’s offers two different Latin Advanced Placement courses. Students may choose to begin Latin in the seventh grade and may carry this choice through a four- to five-year study of the language. Alternately, students may choose to begin Latin in the ninth grade and study the language for three years in the Upper School. The department also conducts an Italy study program for its students.
Latin I
The first-year study emphasizes pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, and English vocabulary derived from Latin. Translation skills are developed by reading Latin stories about Pompeii, Rome, and the larger Roman world. Students also study the culture and geography of the ancient world and may present research projects.
Latin II
The course begins with an extensive review of Latin I and builds on these skills to complete the study of grammar emphasizing the subjunctive mood. Students build their translation skills through reading more complex Latin stories and acquiring an extensive Latin vocabulary. The course also focuses on English derivatives and Roman history, culture, and geography.
Latin III
The course begins with an extensive review of all Latin grammar. Students learn about significant Roman writers and read selections from the works of Cicero, Horace, Ovid, Catullus, and Vergil. The most important part of Latin III is learning to translate well by reading original works and acquiring the essential vocabulary and grammar necessary for this skill. Students continue their study of Roman culture and geography.
Latin IV and V
Students continue to read the primary Roman writers such as Cicero, Horace, Ovid, Catullus, and Vergil. Students gain an extremely high level of translation and vocabulary skills, and discuss and write significant literary essays about the works they are reading and the culture from which these works grew.
AP Latin IV and V
Students in the Advanced Placement Latin courses read extensively from Vergil or alternately from Catullus/Horace, Cicero, or Ovid according to the dictates set by the curriculum. The students translate, write literary criticism, scan poetry, and study the culture that produced these works.
World Mythology
This course focuses on the mythology of various cultures and includes myths, legends, and fairy tales that represent central cultural and moral values. Students read and analyze basic Greco-Roman, Norse, African, Christian, Egyptian and Native American mythology and trace parallel elements found in the myths. Students also explore the basic relationships between myths and the people who produced them through literature, film, art, architecture, and music. Students gain a better understanding and appreciation of different cultures and a familiarity with mythology’s vast influence on language, literature and lifestyle.
Italian Language and Culture
(open to seniors)
Students develop skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking within a cultural frame of reference. The study of grammar is interwoven with the rich Italian cultural context. Students use a college textbook and may subsequently enroll in a 200 level Italian course in college if they so choose. Students may also choose to participate in an optional spring break study in Italy, which includes both classroom and field lessons in Italian usage and culture.