SAS offers a foreign language program in four languages: French, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, and Japanese. The program is based on a competency approach to language learning, which states that students will learn to perform a variety of language functions in relevant contexts with reasonable accuracy. Listening and speaking skills are stressed during the first two years, as well as an appropriate level of grammatical accuracy. There is greater emphasis on discussion and the development of reading skills in the third year, with additional grammatical structure and the writing of compositions. Regular systematic practice and drill for proper pronunciation, intonation, and accentuation continue to be provided. Courses are taught in the target language beginning in Level One. The percent of target language used increases as the level and expectations of the course increase.

Students who have learned one of the four languages offered at SAS at home or as a second language in a target-language country will be carefully assessed and potentially advised to maintain the language on their own. For these students, the skill level in the foreign language must be comparable to that of our ESOL students in ESOL classes. Just as we would not consider placing a native speaker of English in an ESOL class even if the student had weak English skills, it would be inappropriate to place a native language speaker in one of our foreign language classes.

Two years of study of the same foreign language or the equivalent proficiency is the minimum graduation requirement. Since most colleges and universities require language study as an admission requirement, students are advised to have proficiency at level III or higher.

Level I

Throughout Level One language instruction, a functional approach is used to emphasize communication skills in everyday life. Instruction focuses on situations such as greeting others, inviting friends, expressing emotions and opinions, and seeking information. Students are engaged in motivating activities that develop their ability to use the language authentically. Exercises focus on self-expression through creative thinking, speaking and writing. The program depicts everyday life, such as family and peer relations, and social customs in the countries and culture of the target language. A variety of exercises and activities, designed with an emphasis on using the language over learning about the language, are based on common situations and help students build proficiency in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

French I

Number: 45002       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Chinese I

Number: 45006       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Note: All Chinese courses are taught using simplified characters.

Spanish I

Number: 45011       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Japanese I

Number: 45017       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Level II

During Level II language instruction, the program of the previous level is expanded using the same techniques to further develop communication skills and authentic use of the language. Although the emphasis throughout is on fostering genuine communicative ability, there is a transition in guiding the student from structured introductory practice to more open-ended and personalized communication. Students are expected to respond freely and to be involved in spontaneous language exchanges. There continues to be a focus on the cultural heritage and issues of countries of the target language.

French II

Number: 45003       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: French I or equivalent

Students entering French II should already be able to comprehend written and spoken French and should be able to speak and write French within the constraints of a simple sentence (Subject + Verb + Object Noun, including appropriate modifiers), using the present (regular verbs and être, aller, avoir, faire), near future, and past (passé composé) regular “er” verb tenses. Students should also be able to comprehend and formulate simple interrogative expressions.

Chinese II

Number: 45007       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Chinese I or equivalent

Note: All Chinese courses are taught using simplified characters.

Students entering Chinese II should already be able to comprehend written and spoken Chinese and should be able to speak and write simple Chinese sentences (Subject + Verb + Object Noun, including appropriate modifiers). In addition, they should know the Chinese measure words and should be able to write approximately 350 Chinese characters.

Spanish II

Number: 45012       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Spanish I or equivalent

Students entering Spanish II should already be able to comprehend written and spoken Spanish and should be able to speak and write simple Spanish sentences (Subject + Verb + Object, including appropriate modifiers and connectors), using the present (regular -ar,-ir,-er verbs and commonly used irregular verbs), present progressive, and near future tenses, and have contact with commonly used past tense verb forms. Students should be able to apply grammar skills in a variety of contexts and use contextual clues to comprehend written and spoken information. Students should also be able to comprehend and formulate interrogative expressions.

Japanese II

Number: 45018       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Japanese I or equivalent

Students entering Japanese II should already be able to read and write Hiragana, Katakana and about fifty Chinese characters and character combinations. They should be able to comprehend written and spoken Japanese and should be able to speak and write simple Japanese sentences (Subject + Object + Verb, including appropriate modifiers and connectors), using the present, past and future tenses. They should understand the proper use of particles in a Japanese sentence. Students should also be able to comprehend and formulate interrogative expressions.

Level III

In Level III language instruction, students acquire language proficiency while reviewing and broadening their grammar foundations. Level III courses also aim to increase the students’ knowledge and appreciation of the target culture. The program is based on a communicative approach in which students develop higher level thinking skills to express themselves, ultimately leading students to function with increasing proficiency in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

French III

Number: 45004       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: French II or equivalent

Students entering French III should already be able to comprehend written and spoken French and should be able to speak and write French within the context of a simple sentence that will include object pronouns and relative pronouns (qui/que), using present, near future, and past (passé composé) of all regular verbs, including reflexive, and about eight to ten of the most common irregular verbs. Students should also be able to comprehend and formulate interrogative expressions.

Chinese III

Number: 45008       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Chinese II or equivalent

Note: All Chinese courses are taught using simplified characters.

Students entering Chinese III should already be able to comprehend written and spoken Chinese. They should understand and be able to use optative verbs (neng, keyi, etc.), complements of degree, the time/measure complements, and the adverbs zai and you. They should be able to write sentences which indicate an action is going to take place and to use the particle guo, indicating experience.

Spanish III

Number: 45013       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Spanish II or equivalent

Students entering Spanish III should already be able to comprehend written and spoken Spanish. Students should be able to read, speak and write sentences using irregular present tense verbs, stem-changing verbs in both the present and past tenses in all three conjugations (-AR, -ER, -IR), regular and irregular verbs in the preterit and imperfect tenses, affirmative tú commands, and equal and unequal comparisons.

Japanese III

Number: 45019       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Japanese II or equivalent

Students entering Japanese III should already be able to comprehend written and spoken Japanese and should be able to speak and write Japanese within the context of a simple sentence that will include object pronouns and relative pronouns, using present, future, and past of all regular verbs, and should be able to differentiate among the three groups of verbs. They should also have some ability to conjugate verbs into five different forms and should be able to write about 150 Chinese characters and character combinations. They should understand the proper use of particles in a Japanese sentence. Students should also be able to comprehend and formulate interrogative expressions.

Level IV

The emphasis in Level Four language instruction is on encouraging spontaneous expression through extensive oral and written practice via authentic documents (newspapers, magazines, advertisements) and literature. Extended discussion and personal reactions or opinions serve to increase correctness of expression. As much current cultural material as possible is integrated into the course to reinforce student proficiency and to help prepare for achievement and proficiency tests as required by some colleges.

French IV

Number: 45005       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: French III or equivalent

Students entering French IV should already be able to comprehend written and spoken French and should be able to speak and write French within the context of more complex sentence structures that will include relative pronouns (qui/que/dont) and more complex conjunctions (conjunctions of time, consequence, condition), using the present, near future, past (passé composé), imperfect, future, and conditional tenses of all regular verbs and about twenty irregular verbs. Students should also be able to comprehend and formulate more complex interrogative expressions.

Chinese IV

Number: 45009       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Chinese III or equivalent

Note: All Chinese courses are taught using simplified characters.

Students entering Chinese IV should already be able to comprehend written and spoken Chinese and should be able to speak and write Chinese within the context of more complex sentence structures that include comparisons, complements and conjunctions (conjunctions of transition, hypothesis, condition, time and consequence). They should be able to express themselves in past, present, near future and perfect tenses and to describe the continuation of an action or a state. They should understand the three structural particles (de), the adverbs hai, jiu, and cai, the resultative complement, compound construction, the complements of quantity, and ba sentences. Students should be able to identify four different tones by sound.

Spanish IV

Number: 45014       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Spanish III or equivalent

Students entering Spanish IV should already be able to comprehend written and spoken Spanish and should be able to speak and write the language within the context of more complex sentence structures that include relative pronouns (que, quien, donde), more complex conjunctions (those of time, consequence and condition), and the present, past (preterit and imperfect, present perfect and pluperfect), future and conditional tenses of regular and irregular verbs. They should also be quite familiar with the subjunctive mood. In addition, students should be able to comprehend and formulate more complex interrogative expressions.

Japanese IV

Number: 45020       Grade: 9-12         Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Japanese III or equivalent

Students entering Japanese IV should already be able to comprehend written and spoken Japanese and should be able to speak and write Japanese within the context of more complex sentence structures that will include relative pronouns and more complex conjunctions (conjunctions of time, consequence, condition), using the present, future, past tenses, and conditional tenses and expressions. They should be familiar with 250 to 300 Chinese characters. Students should also be able to comprehend and formulate more complex interrogative expressions.

Advanced Language Instruction

SAS offers advanced, university-level instruction in French (AP French Language), Spanish (AP Spanish Language) and Chinese (AP Chinese Language and Culture). Students entering an advanced language course should be well grounded in the major points of grammar of the target language (including forms in the present, past, and future tenses in both the indicative and subjunctive moods) and should be able to express themselves orally and in writing using fairly complex sentence structures.

AP French Language

Number: 45023       Grade: 11-12       Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: French IV or equivalent

Advanced Placement French Language emphasizes the use of language for active communication. Students will hone their ability to comprehend formal and informal conversation and to express ideas orally with accuracy and fluency; acquire the vocabulary and grasp of structure necessary for easy, accurate reading of newspapers, magazines, and modern literary works; and strengthen their ability to compose expository passages.

AP Spanish Language

Number: 45024       Grade: 11-12       Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Spanish IV or equivalent

Advanced Placement Spanish Language emphasizes the use of language for active communication. Students will hone their ability to comprehend formal and informal conversation and to express ideas orally with accuracy and fluency; acquire the vocabulary and grasp of structure necessary for easy, accurate reading of newspapers, magazines, and modern literary works; and strengthen their ability to compose expository passages.

Chinese V

Number: 45010       Grade: 10-12       Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Chinese IV or equivalent

Note: All Chinese courses are taught using simplified characters.

Chinese V focuses on the continued development of communicative competence in Chinese language and understanding of the Chinese culture. Students gain increased confidence in recombining learned material, creating in Chinese to express their own thoughts, interacting with other Chinese speakers, understanding oral and written messages in Chinese, and making oral and written presentations in Chinese. They manipulate more complex features of the language.

AP Chinese Language and Culture

Number: 45025       Grade: 11-12       Length: Year               Credit: Language

Prerequisite: Chinese V or equivalent

Note: All Chinese courses are taught using simplified characters.

The AP Chinese Language and Culture course is designed to be comparable to fourth semester (or the equivalent) college/university courses in Mandarin Chinese. The AP course prepares students to demonstrate their level of Chinese proficiency across the three communicative modes (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational) and the five goal areas (communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities). Its aim is to provide students with ongoing and varied opportunities to further develop their proficiencies across the full range of language skills within a cultural frame of reference reflective of the richness of Chinese language and culture. Instructional materials and activities are carefully and strategically adapted from authentic sources to support the linguistic and cultural goals of the course. The course engages students in an exploration of both contemporary and historical Chinese culture.