The World Languages Department at SIS strives to provide a strong program in languages, with the belief that students learning an additional language often show an increased strength in all their language studies. We currently offer Spanish and Chinese under the guidance of our international teachers.

It is department policy that students take classes sequentially as the curriculum is designed to build on skills acquired at each level. Both the Spanish and Chinese programs at SIS are articulated across five levels: I, II, III, IV, followed by AP. With the inclusion of Spanish and Chinese I at the 8th-grade level, students are now able to take all five years of language offerings during their career at SIS.

Per school policy, students are not allowed to substitute a course offered at SIS with private study. In order to enroll in the AP course, students must successfully complete levels I, II, III and IV. Students will be promoted to level II with a final mark of 65% or higher in level I. The minimum final mark for promotion to levels III and IV is 85%. Students are admitted into AP classes by instructor permission.

 

Spanish

Chinese

Prerequisites: None

Credit: 1

A course for BEGINNERS which develops the student's ability to communicate in the language through listening and speaking, reading, and writing. Students learn to use the indicative mood to speak and write about themselves and others, and to acquire historical, cultural, and geographical information. Students acquire basic vocabulary and the present indicative and preterit (past) of regular and irregular verbs. Concepts such as subject/verb agreement, subject/adjective agreement and the formation of statements, commands and questions in regard to the position of specific parts of speech are heavily stressed.

Textbook:

Boyles, Peggy Palo, et al./Realidades 1/Boston, Ma: 2008./ISBN 0-13-134091-3

Workbook

Prerequisite: Spanish I or equivalent

Credit: 1

In the second course students further develop the ability to communicate in the language through listening and speaking, reading and writing. Students continue to use the indicative mood to speak and write about themselves and others, and to acquire historical, cultural, and geographical information. The preterit and imperfect tenses are fully explored and practiced.

Textbook:

Boyles, Peggy Palo, et al./Realidades 2/Boston, Ma: 2008./ISBN 0-13-134092-1

Workbook

Prerequisite: Spanish II or equivalent

Credit: 1

A third-level course designed for reviewing grammatical concepts, introducing more advanced structures and vocabulary, and acquainting the student with historical, cultural, and geographical information about Spanish-speaking countries through listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. Grammatical proficiency will be acquired in the use of the preterit, imperfect, future, present perfect, past perfect and conditional tenses. Considerable attention is also given to the subjunctive mood.

Textbook:

Boyles, Peggy Palo, et al./Realidades 3/Boston, Ma: 2008./ISBN 0-13-134094-8

Workbook

Prerequisite: Spanish III or equivalent

Credit: 1

Textbook:

Díaz, José M/AP Spanish Preparing for the Language Examination/Boston, Ma: 2007./ISBN 0-13-166094-2

Prerequisite: Spanish 4 or equivalent, or Spanish 3 with approval

Credit: 1

This course is designed to provide a university-level Spanish curriculum that focuses on mastery of grammar and production of oral and written Spanish. The grammar from Spanish 4 is reviewed and mastered. Emphasis is placed in contextual speaking and listening activities such as debates and presentations as well as extensive reading, interpreting and discussing novels. Upon termination of this class, the students take the Advanced Placement examination.

Textbook:

Gordon, Ronni L and Stillman, David M./The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice/Chicago, IL: 1999./ISBN 0-658-00075-6

Prerequisite: None

Credit: 1

This course is an introduction to Mandarin Chinese and Chinese Culture. It provides students with the opportunity to develop communicative skills at a basic level. An interactive approach will be followed in order to give students a foundation in spoken and written Chinese.

Textbook:

Ni Hao 1/Publisher: ChinaSoft/ISBN 1-876739061

Workbook

Prerequisite: Chinese I

Credit: 1

This course continues the approach of Chinese I, integrating the acquisition of speaking, reading, writing, and comprehensive skills. The unit present topics through which students further develop their vocabulary, repertoire, grammar and language structures to communicate with friends and people around them. Various cultural activities will be integrated into the curriculum as part of the language study.

Textbook:

Ni Hao 2/Publisher: ChinaSoft/ISBN 1-876739126

Workbook

Prerequisite: Chinese II

Credit: 1

This course requires the learner, first of all, to be committed to become a critical thinker, risk taker and team player in all learning activities. Students will continue to extend their knowledge of the language (vocabulary and sentence structures) along with the growth of the knowledge of culture, including cuisines, main festival, customs, geography features and beliefs, etc. Students will build a solid base to develop listening and reading skills through a variety of different types of texts, for example, 3D map, restaurant online-search site, flight schedule, itinerary, recipes and many picture stories, etc. Students will further develop speaking and writing skill in different ways and practice them independently to be able to speak and write in communicative and interactive settings.

Textbook:

Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 2/Cheng & Tsui Publications/ISBN 0887274765

Prerequisite: Chinese III

Credit: 1

This course requires the learner to be committed to become a critical thinker, risk taker and team player in all learning activities. Students will continue to extend their knowledge of the language with more specific and accurate word choice, more sophisticated modifiers, along with the growth of the knowledge of culture, including life styles, festivals, media influence, sportsmanship, environment issues and gender equality issues, etc. Students will build a solid base to develop listening and reading skills through a variety of different types of texts, for example, sports news, university course schedules, survey, live yoga instruction and many picture stories, etc. Students will further develop speaking and writing skill in different ways and practice them independently to be able to speak and write in communicative and interactive settings. Upon termination of this class, the students take the Advanced Placement examination.

Textbook:

Integrated Chinese Level 2/Cheng & Tsui Publications/ISBN O887274803