Course Guide: World Languages
Graduation Requirements
2.0 credits (4 semesters) of World Language
Department Overview
The World Languages Department offers courses in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic. Entering 9th graders who have successfully completed a world language in the 7th and 8th grade can enroll in that language at the 2nd level, but a placement test may be necessary. Heritage or native speakers may be placed at advanced levels through a placement test.
The University of Washington requires a minimum of two years of a world language. Most four-year colleges and universities recommend and many require a minimum of three years in the same language. Under “Core 24” since 2008, 2.0 credits of world languages are required for college readiness.
Course Guide
Arabic
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: Students willingness, interest, and commitment to learn a World Language.
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
When the student succeeds in Arabic 1A, 1B in the first year, the student has the option to continue learning Arabic 2A, 2B for a second year, Arabic 3A, 3B for a third year, and Arabic 4A, 4B for a fourth year. The student can take the Arabic Stamp Test and earn 4 credits when passes.
Other Requirements:
This course develops the four communicative language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing through the Modern Standard Arabic. The course focuses on emphasizing the relationship between the language and culture through exposure to the Egyptian and Levantine dialects.
The course is designed for students who have never studied Arabic before and based on the Arabic Language Curriculum Map at SPS where the students explore the following topics:
- 1st year: Greetings, Letters and sounds, Numbers, Daily Routine, My name and beyond, My classroom, My family, Likes and dislikes, and fun activities with the explore to short stories.
- 2nd year: Daily Activities and Daily Routine, My home and my school, Food, Health life, Environment, Travel, Hobbies, Transportation, Sporting events, Holidays, Community life and Arabic in the US, and Short stories.
- 3rd year: Extended family, Appearance, Clothing, Sports, Music, Movies, Lifestyle choices, My summer vacation, School around the world, Education, Beauty, and Global case studies.
- 4th year: Global citizenship, Global issues and social action, Arabic around the world, Film, Art, Our planet, Future plans, Interests.
Chinese 1A, 1B
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: None
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
This course introduces Mandarin Chinese to students who have no prior experience with the language. Students learn the Pinyin Romanization system and learn to read and write basic Chinese characters. This one-year course designed for beginners will mainly include the structure and vocabulary necessary to communicate in Chinese about the following: greetings, counting, colors, likes and dislikes, fruits, animals, body parts, tableware, stationery, currency, identities of people, food and drinks, sports, family, and school. Students will develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through a variety of interactive activities. They will be able to handle simple, everyday life situations. Aspects of Chinese culture will also be addressed.
Chinese 2A, 2B
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: C or above in Chinese 1A and 1B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
This course is designed for students who have already completed Chinese I or who can demonstrate that they have acquired knowledge of the language to the required level. It will continue to put into practice the basic grammar and conversational skills learned in the beginning level. In addition to textbooks, this course uses Chinese videos, newspaper clips, photo stories, CDs and field trips to develop students’ listening and speaking ability, while individual classes provide opportunities for the students to practice their skills through the use of individual work, pair and group work. Students start to learn to comprehend and create paragraph-level language. They will be able to handle more complicated everyday life situations, such as making travel arrangements, visiting friends, making appointments, shopping, transportation and discussing school life or weather. Additionally, this course will integrate Chinese culture into the study of the language.
Chinese 3A, 3B
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: C or above in Chinese 2A/2B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
This course continues development of students’ productive and receptive skills at the paragraph level. It is designed for students who have completed two years of formal training in Chinese, or who can demonstrate that they have acquired knowledge of the language to the required level. Students’ ability in listening, reading, speaking and writing will continue to be developed and expanded through readings and short films emphasizing cultural topics. Major topics covered are family, customs, leisure time, diet and health, transportation and geography.
Chinese 4A, 4B – International Baccalaureate
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: C or above in Chinese 3A and 3B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Chinese 4 is designed for students who have completed three years of Chinese. This course will focus on developing proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing through authentic materials such as movies, newspapers, short stories, and articles. Students will also work toward understanding and appreciation of the foundations of Chinese thought and culture through simplified readings of early literature from China’s 3000 years of recorded history. Major topics covered are family and its development from traditional Chinese ideas, customs and their foundation in the past, leisure time, and geography. Students will also be able to understand and convey information about career choices, the environment, and social issues. At the end of the year students will reach a mid-intermediate level of language proficiency.
Japanese 1A, 1B
Credits: 0.5 credit/semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: None
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
In the first year of Japanese study, students learn basic expressions, terms for their homes, families, and interests, and numbers. Students learn to read and write the two phonetic Kana writing systems, and near the end of the course begin to learn Kanji, the Chinese characters used in Japanese writing. Students also study interesting aspects of Japanese culture not only from the textbook, but from enriching, authentic sources such as television, songs, and individual research projects.
Japanese 2A, 2B
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: Japanese 1A, 1B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Second-year Japanese builds on the foundation of the first-year course to increase students’ vocabulary about everyday topics and teaching more complex grammatical structures so that students can express themselves more extensively. Students also build a solid knowledge base of Kanji characters, and will have been introduced to 100-150 kanji by the end of the year. If a student has taken and passed Japanese 1A, 1B, 2A, they may take the Ab Initio IB Japanese exam to fulfill the “Group 2” requirement of the IB Diploma while enrolled in Japanese 2B.
Japanese 3A, 3B – International Baccalaureate (IB)
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: Japanese 2A, 2B
Third-year Japanese class uses the texts from Adventures in Japanese 3 as well as many excerpts from real Japanese literature, poetry, and pop culture, to further expand the vocabulary and grammatical knowledge of students. By the end of third year, students will have worked with more than 160 Kanji. Students study topics such as Kanji history, extracurricular activity culture in Japan, Japanese entertainment, and the traditional culture around Japanese houses.
Japanese 4A, 4B—International Baccalaureate (IB) SL or HL
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: Japanese 3A, 3B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Japanese IV will build grammar, vocabulary, and Kanji learned in Japanese III by using the text Adventures 4, as well as other authentic materials such as Japanese short stories, Haiku, Tanka, and film. Class will be conducted mainly in Japanese, with English used for clarification of difficult concepts and grammar. Class projects will include essays, letters to friends and family, and job application cover letters. By the end of this course, students should have mastered at least the 160 IB Ab Initio Kanji, and will have added knowledge of Keigo (honorific speech) to their conversational Japanese. This class is required for students wishing to take the Standard Level (SL) International Baccalaureate Exam.
Japanese 5A, 5B – International Baccalaureate (IB) HL
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: Japanese 4A, 4B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Japanese 5 offers an opportunity for higher-level immersion study, as students will be assigned real-world projects and study of authentic literature in Japanese. Instruction will be almost entirely in Japanese, and students are encouraged to express themselves only in Japanese. This class is recommended for students attempting the IB Standard Level exam, and required for students attempting the Higher-Level exam.
Japanese 6A, 6B – International Baccalaureate (IB) HL
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: Japanese 5A, 5B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Japanese 6 A/B is continuation of International Baccalaureate HL study for students coming from a dual-language program. The course content will focus on study of Japanese literature as well as student-centered topics of interest, and will aim for ACTFL proficiency level of Intermediate-High communication.
Spanish 1A, 1B
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: None
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Other Requirements: Ven Conmigo 1 workbook required.
This course explores basic spoken and written expression in the Spanish language. Structures and vocabulary are practiced in listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. Students often work in groups and speak in front of the class to practice communicative skills. The first semester focuses on basic conversation, telling time, talking about likes/dislikes, and basic verb conjugation. During the second semester, students learn how to describe their families, have telephone conversations, talk about food, and use shopping vocabulary. Students take a comprehensive oral and written exam at the end of each semester.
Spanish 2A, 2B
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 9, 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: “C” or above in Spanish 1A, 1B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Other Requirements: Ven Conmigo 2 workbook required
The emphasis is on developing skills of communication through question and answer processes and simple face-to-face conversation. Students will review grammatical concepts from the previous year and then work on developing skills of communication through describing and giving information. In addition, the goal is to increase the student’s level of confidence in reading, speaking and writing Spanish. By the end of the year students should be able to communicate in the present and past tense in Spanish. Also, there will be an emphasis on vocabulary development and verb conjugations to help students develop proficiency.
Spanish 3A, 3B
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: “C” or above in Spanish 2A, 2B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Other Requirements: If pursuing the five (5) UW credits, tuition is approximately $305.
Spanish 3 is a course that will broaden the student’s experience with the language. In line with recent advances in language teaching, this course is informed by two principles of communicative language teaching: 1) Learners need to focus on the message contained in sentences and discourse, and 2) Proficiency requires that the target language be used consistently. Students will expand on Spanish vocabulary and structures and will listen to a great deal of real-life spoken Spanish. They will learn information about the world around them and the Spanish-speaking world. In addition, students will have the option to receive five college credits for this course through the University of Washington. This course is equivalent to Spanish 103 at the University of Washington.
Spanish 4A, 4B – International Baccalaureate (IB)
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: “C’ or above in Spanish 3A, 3B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Other Requirements: IB Exam Fee; Repasa Workbook required.
Spanish 4 is an International Baccalaureate or IB course created to broaden the student’s experience with the language. Throughout the course students will be exposed to a high level of Spanish vocabulary, literature, listening and visual materials designed for native speakers. Students will be expected to write compositions of 100 – 250 words understand and explore the world from a variety of perspectives, communicate daily through dialogues, and complete oral presentations in class. These activities will enhance their ability to use the language with clarity and precision and will develop the language skills needed to engage in sustained conversations and discussions to understand and evaluate information. In addition, students will read diverse materials for both study and pleasure and write clearly and effectively. Students will also have opportunities to develop an international perspective of the language and culture through research and exploration of Latin American countries.
Spanish 5A, 5B – International Baccalaureate (IB)
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: “C’ or above in Spanish 4A, 4B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Other Requirements: IB Exam Fee; Workbook required.
Spanish 5 is a continuation of Spanish 4, with more emphasis on individual communication and the use of film to enhance language skills. There is a focus on specific themes each semester in this course. Students are expected to write weekly essays in class and present weekly oral presentations. Both these activities are supplements to continued grammatical development as well as to ensure those taking the IB exam in the spring are well prepared. Students will read a literary book of their choosing and use the book as a springboard to develop written and verbal skills. Students will have independent work projects throughout both semesters. If the student did not buy the workbook Repaso in Spanish 4, s/he needs to purchase a workbook for Spanish 4/5 for $30.
Spanish 6A, 6B – International Baccalaureate (IB)
Credits: 0.5 credit / semester
Grade(s): 10, 11, 12
Length of Course: Two Semesters
Prerequisite: “C’ or above in Spanish 5A, 5B
Graduation Requirement Satisfied: Elective
Other Requirements: IB Exam Fee; Workbook required.
Spanish 6 is a continuation of Spanish 5, with more emphasis on individual communication and the use of literature to enhance language skills. Students will read and write in literary journal, focusing on language structure and adapting these structures to their written assignments. There is a focus on specific themes each semester in this course. Students are expected to write weekly essays in class and present weekly oral presentations. These activities are supplements to continued grammatical development as well as to ensure those taking the IB exam in the spring are well prepared. Students will have independent work projects throughout both semesters.