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World Language 5-12

World Languages

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The vision of the World Language Department is to prepare students to be globally competent and culturally empathetic individuals with strong interpersonal communication skills in at least one of our target languages. We offer courses in Spanish, French, Latin, Italian and Chinese. In all levels of our language courses, we believe that the target language should be both the content and vehicle of instruction. Our themed curriculum is challenging and tailored to the interests and needs of our students. This provides students with authentic, real-world learning experiences that are relevant to both their personal and professional goals beyond high school.

World Language - Grades 5 & 6

World language begins in Grade 5 at Bennet Academy.  In Grades 5 and 6 students participate in semester-long novice Spanish experiences.  During this two year timeframe, students learn the fundamentals of a second language through themes that include greetings, calendars, likes and dislikes, weather and family.  The knowledge and skills acquired are very basic in nature, however, students learn and expand their knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures from year to year. During this time they also develop four fundamental communicative skills in the second language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 

 

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World Language - Grade 7 & 8

World language continues for students in Grades 7 & 8 at Illing Middle School. Spanish 1 is offered beginning in Grade 7. Students in Grade 8 can choose to take Spanish 2 or Chinese 1.

World Language - Grades 9-12

MHS Course Offerings and descriptions

Students in Grades 9-12 have the option to take the following foreign languages (and levels)

  • Spanish 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
  • Chinese 1, 2
  • French 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
  • Italian 1, 2, 3, 4
  • Latin 1, 2, 3, 4

Sequential Policy

In order for a student to remain at the same level in the following year of world language study, the student must pass the class and achieve a second semester average of C– or better. The second semester scores are used because the content covered in the second half of the year is most important for success in the following year.

Requirement

In order to graduate from MHS, students must successfully earn 1 credit in World Languages. However, most 4-year colleges require a two-to-three year sequence of study in a world language.

The CT State Seal of Biliteracy

Manchester High School is proud to offer the opportunity for students to earn the Seal of Biliteracy. Affixed on the high school diploma and transcript, the seal provides immediate recognition of a student’s language and communication skills. It recognizes students who have studied and attained proficiency in English and one or more other languages by high school graduation. We believe that the Seal of Biliteracy encourages students to continue to study and value other languages and cultures. The Seal provides employers and universities with a method of identifying high school graduates with biliteracy skills. All students are eligible to receive the Seal of Biliteracy based on evidence of achieving the designated level of proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. In the World Language Department, this is typically demonstrated through a standardized assessment given to students who successfully complete four or more years of one or more of our languages offered. MHS also offers other opportunities for native speakers of languages other than English to earn the Seal of Biliteracy.