MODERN AND CLASSICAL LANGUAGES FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT:
Spanish 3 Honors (1 Credit)
1. Students are required to take a 3-year sequence (3 years of the same language) in a foreign language at Xavier. The fourth level of the language may be taken as an elective. 2. Students who begin a second language in junior year are required to continue the second level of this language in senior year. Choices for a second language include Spanish 1, French 1, Italian 1, Latin 1, and Arabic 1.
This course is a comprehensive continuation of the Spanish 2 Honors course. Through an in-depth analysis of the language, this language immersion course completes the presentation of Spanish grammar, while at the same time emphasizing reading, writing and oral skills.
Spanish 1 (1 Credit) This course is designed to introduce students to the Spanish language. Students will develop an understanding of grammar concepts as well as knowledge of vocabulary and culture. Students are expected to speak, read and write in Spanish as much as possible. By the end of the year, students will have begun to possess the skills necessary to express themselves on a variety of topics in the target language.
Spanish 2 (1 Credit) This course is a Comprehensible Input Language course. The main goal is to help students to acquire and to learn Spanish in an immersing program format; great part of the class time is spent using Spanish. The course focuses on listening/reading and speaking/writing skills. The purpose is that all skills will come more naturally as students experience speaking and writing while listening and reading. They will learn how to creatively use a combination of new and old grammar structures instead of just knowing how to conjugate verbs or knowing a list of vocabulary. Teachers use grammatical structures in class discussions, stories and cultural explorations, and students are expected to recognize them when they read or hear them and produce them in speech and writing. This course is very interactive and requires students to work collaboratively with the teacher and with each other. The expectation is that by the end of the year students will feel more comfortable communicating in Spanish to each other and other people they come across, using the present and past tenses.
Spanish 2 Honors (1 Credit) This course is for those students who have successfully completed one year of Spanish 1 Honors. The course continues an in-depth analysis of grammar and places great emphasis on reading, oral and writing skills.
Spanish 3 (1 Credit) Spanish 3 builds on the vocabulary and grammatical structures learned in Spanish 1 and Spanish 2. Various cultural themes and grammar topics are covered in each marking period. Culture includes geography, art and history of various Spanish-speaking countries around the world. The focus of the course is the integration of the four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking through in-class activities, homework, dialogues and internet assignments.
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Spanish 4 (1 Credit) Spanish 4 is designed to be an overall review and expansion of the basic skills of Spanish. It is intended, through an indepth examination of grammar, to increase accuracy and consistency in reading, listening, and writing, and to develop oral proficiency. Students read newspaper articles, literary selections and practice letter-writing skills. Spanish and/or Latin-American films may be studied in order to introduce cultural themes and to reinforce vocabulary in context.
AP Spanish 4 (1 Credit) This is an intensive course of study designed to provide the factual knowledge, and the reading and writing proficiency needed for success in the Spanish AP Language Exam. Through a wide variety of written and oral assignments, as well as various reading selections, the students are not only trained to read, write, and speak the language in preparation for the exam, but also to master the skills that would allow them to successfully interact in a Spanish-speaking country.
Italian 1 (1 Credit) The main goal of this course is to provide students with the basic structures of the Italian language that will enable them to understand, speak, write and read about a variety of topics related to everyday life in Italy. They will study the present tense, basic grammatical rules, and acquire vocabulary relating to school, family, food, travel and home. Students will develop these skills through speaking and listening exercises, dialogues, group work, and assessments such as projects, homework, quizzes and tests. Students will also receive an overview of Italy’s culture, traditions, history and way of life.
Italian 2 (1 Credit) The main goal of this class is to provide students with the structure of the Italian language that will enable them to understand, speak, write and read about a variety of topics related to everyday life in Italy. In Italian 2, students will learn to use the past, imperfect, future and conditional verb tenses and acquire vocabulary relating to sports, leisure, food, directions, transportation, television, cinema and politics. Students will develop these skills through speaking and listening exercises, dialogues, group work and assessments such as projects, homework, quizzes and tests. Students will receive an overview of Italy’s culture, traditions, history and way of life.
