World Languages
Baylor’s World Languages department offers the broadest language choices of any area school. The curriculum includes:
- Beginning through Advanced Placement language classes in five languages: Chinese, French, German, Latin, and Spanish
- Seminars in language, culture and history
- The curriculum in modern languages follows a proficiency-based model with emphasis on the four skill areas of speaking, writing, reading and listening.
- The study of Latin is based upon a reading program that includes authentic texts from Latin literature, both in prose and poetry.
- In addition to the cultural information presented in the classroom, the World Languages Department sponsors language clubs, weekly lunch meetings, immersion days, movie nights, and a yearly celebration of International Day.
- Seeking to make the study of language relevant to students’ lives, Baylor language faculty members have, in recent years, led trips abroad to destinations including France and French-speaking Canada, Spain, Perú, Costa Rica, Panamá, China and Germany.
World Languages Requirements: Two consecutive years/credits of study in the same language in the Upper School. Students can fulfill this requirement by continuing the language(s) studied prior to enrolling in the Upper School or by beginning a new language.
CLASSES
Chinese:
Chinese I-A
This course is for beginning learners of Mandarin Chinese, the official language of China. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students acquire basic communication skills such as the ability to ask and answer questions as well as the capacity to read, write, and type basic Chinese characters. Students begin to identify some elements of the people, culture, and history of China.
Chinese I-B
This course is for middle school students who completed Chinese IA. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students progress in their listening and speaking skills as well as their ability to read basic Chinese and write and type important characters. Students begin to identify some similarities and differences between their lives and those of Chinese speakers. This course positions students to progress to Chinese II.
Chinese II
This course is for students who completed the Chinese IA/IB sequence in middle school. In this course, students learn additional characters and sentence patterns to describe themselves and others, describe their hobbies and interests, and discuss important issues, themes, and events in their lives. Students learn more about China and its people, culture, and history.
Chinese III
In this course, students speak frequently in both interpersonal and presentational modes. Students learn to read authentic and simplified authentic texts and understand the main idea of conversations or video clips in Chinese. At the end of this course, students can talk and write about themselves and their interests, others and their interests’, and many social and cultural themes from their own culture or that of Chinese-speaking people.
Chinese IV
By the end of the IV level course, students can use Chinese in a variety of real-life situations that involve all four communication skills: listening, reading, writing (both interpersonal and presentational) and speaking (both interpersonal and presentational). This course is the equivalent of a third-semester course at the college level and prepares students for the AP Chinese course.
AP Chinese
This course prepares students to sit for the Advanced Placement Chinese Language and Culture Examination in the spring. The course focuses on six AP curricular themes: beauty and aesthetics, contemporary life, families and communities, global challenges, personal and public identities, science and technology. Through these themes, students build vocabulary for understanding the listening and reading portions of the exam and master each of the four AP tasks: a persuasive essay (presentational writing), a formal email reply (interpersonal writing), informal conversation (interpersonal speaking) and cultural comparison (presentational speaking). This course is equivalent to a fourth-semester course at the college level.
French:
French I-A
This course is for beginning learners of French. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students acquire basic communication skills: asking and answering questions about their life as well as reading and writing simple texts. Students begin to identify some French-speaking countries and elements of their people, culture, and history.
French I-B
This course is for middle school students who completed French IA course. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students progress in their listening and speaking skills as well as their ability to read and write basic French. Students begin to identify some similarities and differences between their life and that of those in French-speaking countries. This course positions students to progress to French II.
French I
This course is for beginning learners of French. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students acquire basic communication skills: asking and answering questions about their life as well as reading and writing simple texts. Students begin to identify some French-speaking countries and elements of their people, culture, and history.
French II
This course is for students who completed the IA/IB sequence in middle school or French I in the upper school. In this course, students learn to describe themselves and others, describe their hobbies and interests, and discuss important issues, themes, and events in their lives. Students learn more about French-speaking countries and their people, culture, and history.
French III
In this course, students speak frequently in both interpersonal and presentational modes. Students learn to read authentic and simplified authentic texts and understand the main idea of conversations or video clips in French. At the end of this course, students can talk and write about themselves and their interests, others and their interests’, and several social and cultural themes from their own culture or that of French-speaking people.
French IV
By the end of the IV level course, students can use French in a variety of real-life situations that involve all four communication skills: listening, reading, writing (both interpersonal and presentational) and speaking (both interpersonal and presentational). At the end of this course, students can talk and write about many social and cultural themes from their own culture or that of French-speaking people. This course is the equivalent of a third-semester course at the college level and prepares students for the AP French Language course.
AP French
This course prepares students to sit for the Advanced Placement French Language and Culture Examination in the spring. The course focuses on six AP curricular themes and how they function in the French-speaking world: beauty and aesthetics, contemporary life, families and communities, global challenges, personal and public identities, science and technology. Through these themes, students build vocabulary for understanding the listening and reading portions of the exam and master each of the four AP tasks: a persuasive essay (presentational writing), a formal email reply (interpersonal writing), informal conversation (interpersonal speaking) and cultural comparison (presentational speaking). This course is equivalent to a fourth-semester course at the college level.
German:
German I-A
This course is for beginning learners of German. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students acquire basic communication skills: asking and answering questions about their life as well as reading and writing simple texts. Students begin to identify German-speaking countries and elements of their people, culture, and history.
German I-B
This course is for students who completed the IA course. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students progress in their listening and speaking skills as well as their ability to read and write basic German. Students begin to identify some similarities and differences between their life and that of those in German-speaking countries. This course positions students to progress to German II.
German II
This course is for students who completed German IA/IB sequence in the middle school. In this course, students learn to describe themselves and others, describe their hobbies and interests, and discuss important issues, themes, and events in their lives. Students learn more about German-speaking countries such as Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and their people, culture, and history.
German III
In this course, students speak frequently in both interpersonal and presentational modes. Students learn to read authentic and simplified authentic texts and understand the main idea of conversations or video clips in German. At the end of this course, students can talk and write about themselves and their interests, others and their interests’, and several social and cultural themes from their own culture or that of German-speaking people.
German IV
This course is for students who have completed German III and thus can already listen, read, speak, and write at relative length in the target language. By the end of the IV-level course, students can use German in a variety of real-life situations that involve all four communication skills: listening, reading, writing (both interpersonal and presentational) and speaking (both interpersonal and presentational). At the end of this course, students can talk and write about many social and cultural themes from their own culture or that of German-speaking cultures. This course is the equivalent of a third-semester course at the college level and prepares students for the AP German Language course.
AP German
This course prepares students to sit for the Advanced Placement German Language and Culture Examination in the spring. The course focuses on six AP curricular themes and how they function in German-speaking world: beauty and aesthetics, contemporary life, families and communities, global challenges, personal and public identities, science and technology. Through these themes, students build vocabulary for understanding the listening and reading portions of the exam and master each of the four AP tasks: a persuasive essay (presentational writing), a formal email reply (interpersonal writing), informal conversation (interpersonal speaking) and cultural comparison (presentational speaking). This course is equivalent to a fourth-semester course at the college level.
Latin:
Latin I-A
This course is for beginning Latin students. In this course, students acquire basic grammar, build a working vocabulary, and are exposed to history, mythology, arts, and everyday life in the ancient Roman world.
Latin I-B
This course is for students who completed Latin IA. In this course, students build on the grammar, vocabulary, and cultural topics they learned in Latin IA. This course positions students to progress to Latin II.
Latin I
This course is for beginning Latin students. In this course, students acquire basic grammar, build a working vocabulary, and are exposed to such cultural topics as history, mythology, arts, literature, and everyday life in the ancient Roman world.
Latin II
In this course, students build on the basic grammar, vocabulary, and cultural topics they learned in Latin I or the IA/IB sequence. By the end of Latin II, students can read abridged Latin prose passages and apply their knowledge and skills to identify and work with the grammar and syntax in these passages.
Latin III
In this course, students build on the grammar and vocabulary they acquired in their first two years of language study while learning more complex grammatical constructions. Students read lengthier abridged prose than in the second year as they progress toward genuine Latin readings.
Latin IV
This course builds upon the grammar, vocabulary, and rhetoric introduced in Latin III, while also introducing students to poetics and meters. Readings include selections from Ovid, Virgil, and Martial. This course is the equivalent of a third-semester course at the college level and prepares students for the AP Latin course.
AP Latin
This course prepares students to take the Advanced Placement Latin examination. This course focuses on two of the greatest works in Latin literature: Virgil’s Aeneid and Caesar’s Gallic War. Students translate the readings and place the texts in a meaningful context, developing critical, historical, and literary sensitivities. Students must read The Aeneid in English during the summer to prepare for this course. This course is the equivalent of a fourth-semester course at the college level
Spanish:
Accelerated Spanish
This Spanish language arts course is designed for middle school students who are bilingual in Spanish. Students grow as speakers by speaking entirely in Spanish and make frequent presentations about topics in the Spanish-speaking world and beyond. Students grow as readers by practicing reading strategies, examining several genres of literature and nonfiction, discussing the materials they’ve encountered, and reading independently. Students grow as writers by writing regularly and addressing a variety of written forms from journal prompts to advertisements to emails to short essays.
Spanish I-A
This course is for beginning learners of Spanish. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students acquire basic communication skills: asking and answering questions about their life as well as reading and writing simple texts. Students begin to identify some Spanish-speaking countries and elements of their people, culture, and history.
Spanish I-B
This course is for students who completed the Spanish IA course. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students progress in their listening and speaking skills as well as their ability to read and write basic Spanish. Students begin to identify some similarities and differences between their life and that of those in Spanish-speaking countries. This course positions students to progress to Spanish II.
Spanish I
This course is for beginning learners of Spanish. Through comprehensible input teaching methods, students acquire basic communication skills: asking and answering questions about their life as well as reading and writing simple texts. Students begin to identify some Spanish-speaking countries and elements of their people, culture, and history.
Spanish II
This course is for students who completed Spanish I in the upper school or the Spanish IA/IB sequence in middle school. In this course, students learn to describe themselves and others, describe their hobbies and interests, and discuss important issues, themes, and events in their lives. Students begin to identify some similarities and differences between their life and that of those in Spanish-speaking countries. Students learn more about Spanish-speaking countries and their people, culture, and history.
Spanish III
This course is for students who completed Spanish II. In this course, students speak frequently in both interpersonal and presentational modes. Students learn to read authentic and simplified authentic texts and understand the main idea of conversations or video clips in Spanish. At the end of this course, students can talk and write about themselves and their interests, others and their interests, and some social and cultural themes from their own culture or that of Spanish-speaking people.
Spanish 350
This course is for students who completed Spanish II while consistently demonstrating extraordinary language proficiency. This course allows students to master the content of Spanish III and IV in one year, so as to be able to complete the full sequence of AP Spanish Language and Literature courses. In this course, students read authentic texts from the Spanish-speaking world. At the end of the course, students can talk and write about themselves and their interests, others and their interests, and many social and cultural themes from their own culture or that of Spanish-speaking people.
Spanish IV
This course is for students who completed Spanish III and thus can already listen, read, speak, and write at relative length in the target language. By the end of the IV-level course, students can use Spanish in a variety of real-life situations that involve all four communication skills: listening, reading, writing (both interpersonal and presentational) and speaking (both interpersonal and presentational). This course is the equivalent of a third-semester course at the college level, and it prepares students for AP Spanish Language.
AP Spanish Language
This course is for students who completed either Spanish 350 or Spanish IV. This course prepares students for the Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture examination in the spring. The course focuses on six AP curricular themes and how they function in the Spanish-speaking world: beauty and aesthetics, contemporary life, families and communities, global challenges, personal and public identities, science and technology. Through these themes, students build vocabulary for understanding the listening and reading portions of the exam and master each of the four AP tasks: a persuasive essay (presentational writing), a formal email reply (interpersonal writing), informal conversation (interpersonal speaking) and cultural comparison (presentational speaking). This course is equivalent to a fourth-semester course at the college level.
AP Spanish Literature
Students who have completed AP Spanish Language may take this course, which prepares students for the Advanced Placement Spanish Literature examination. Students learn to read, analyze, and discuss critically literary texts pertaining to all genres of Spanish literature. The list of required authors and works, determined by the AP examining board, includes works from the medieval period through the 20th century, encompassing both peninsular and South American literature. This course is equivalent to a fifth-semester course at the college level.