French II is a continuation of French I. Students will review the present and past tenses as well as learn the future and conditional tenses. Students will continue to practice their speaking and listening skills with a variety of activities including skits, excerpts from media and dialogues. Students will read more challenging texts in French and write short reaction pieces to them.

This first year of Chinese (Mandarin) in the Upper School is designed to develop students' basic communication in Chinese with an emphasis on the acquisition of listening and speaking skills. Reading and writing skills are gradually developed as the course progresses. Hanyu Pinyin, tones, common radicals and stroke order are introduced and reinforced throughout the year. Topics for the course of study are greetings, family, daily life and friends.

In this continuation of topics introduced in Chinese I, communication, reading and writing skills are increasingly developed through the introduction of frequently used Chinese characters, basic grammatical concepts, and a comparative study of English and Chinese languages. Students acquire reading strategies by decoding information from simple texts or street signs found in local Chinese communities. Slides, pictures and films are used to provide visual examples of the language and culture. Popular songs, arts and crafts, and other cultural activities continue at this level so as to help develop the students’ cross-cultural understanding. Major themes of the course include food, directions, health, and weather.

In Chinese III, students continue to expand their mastery of the Chinese language through more frequent practice of speaking and listening exercises, creative writing and extensive reading activities. Vocabulary and grammar concepts are presented and practiced thematically and acquired through the study of short stories. Communicative activities and creative projects are more frequent so as to increase students’ fluency. A comparative study of the East and West further develops cross-cultural consciousness. Independent reading skills are honed. Major themes of the course include food, directions, health and weather.

This fourth-year course emphasizes the development of students’ critical-thinking and effective-communication skills. Chinese IV continues the more intensive training of language skills through the introduction of authentic materials such as: housing advertisements, travel brochures, posters for sport events and health warning signs. More advanced grammatical concepts are presented and practiced through the study of short stories, contemporary and classic poetry, and different styles of writing. The major themes for this course of study are: relationships, housing, sports/health, and saying “good-bye.” Students are strongly encouraged to explore the opportunities of applying their knowledge and skills outside their class time in a Chinese-speaking community.

Chinese V focuses on the theme of education and its influence on humanity. The course aims to help students develop a higher level of language competence and a deeper understanding of China from a historic, economic and political perspective. As an intermediate-advanced level course, it encompasses more extensive vocabulary terms, phrases and cultural-geographic related readings that contribute to students' higher level of proficiency in speaking and writing. The themes include school life, education, its values, food and customs, shopping, computer technology, work and the geography of China. Students discuss and debate current events and issues in order to compare and contrast educational systems and cultures.

This Advanced Chinese course introduces students to a collection of famous works of modern Chinese literature and film that reflect socio-political and cultural practices. This study will deepen students’ understanding and broaden their perspectives of Chinese history and of the dynamics of economic and political power. In addition, articles related to US-China relations and other current events will be explored and discussed in class. Through literary analysis, students will examine texts and discuss the rising power of China and its impact on US-China relations. Students will increase their understanding of advanced vocabulary terms found in formal writing as they practice formal writing techniques. Study of this rich literature will help students improve their ability to write stories, research papers and essays by using rich and vivid expression. Exposure to and discussion of this material will strengthen students’ Chinese fluency and accuracy and build their confidence in the use of cohesive expressions. This work will also deepen their understanding of China-US relations as well as challenge students to build bridges that strengthen the relationship of these two countries and connected nations and cultures. Students will reinforce their reading, writing and communication skills through engaged discussions, debates, research and analytical comparisons.

French 1 is a beginner-level course that immerses students in French language and culture. Students learn to express themselves in the present and past tenses, in addition to learning vocabulary related to school, family, friends, food, and travel. Students will practice speaking, listening, reading, and writing in classroom activities as well as through exposure to film, short literary exerpts, and paired activities.

French II is a continuation of French I. Students will review the present and past tenses as well as learn the future and conditional tenses. Students will continue to practice their speaking and listening skills with a variety of activities including skits, excerpts from media, and dialogues. Students will read more challenging texts in French and write short reaction pieces to them.

This course offers a review of key grammar points. The goals of French III are to increase students’ ability to communicate in French, both orally and in writing. Through poetry, readings about French culture and civilization, literary excerpts, film and daily class discussion, students have ample opportunities to practice and master the vocabulary and syntax they need to express their own ideas. The first semester focuses on French and Francophone texts and films, whereas the second semester is devoted to a close reading of Au revoir, les enfants, simultaneously studied as a text and as a film. The work’s setting, a French boarding school during several months of World War II, inspires further discussion of the themes of adolescence education, and history.

This course examines French and Francophone history and current events through the themes of revolution and immigration. This class is also an intensive review and extension of the major tenses and grammar concepts in French. During the first semester, students study North African immigration to France and how immigration impacts identity formation. They will read Le gone du Chaâba to understand the difficulties involved in navigating a dual identity. In the second semester, students read excerpts from the Encyclopédie (Diderot), L’Histoire des deux Indes, and the novella Ourika. Students present research on both the French and Haitian Revolutions. This course is designed to complement the 10th-grade History curriculum.

This course is a thematic approach to Francophone literature and culture. Works include podcasts, poetry, the novel Une vie de boy, and film. Students also review more complicated grammar structures such as the past conditional, hypothetical sentences, and the subjunctive. Students will also learn about current events in the French-speaking world through newspaper articles and podcasts. The course culminates in a final project.

This course addresses issues of identity, exile, and self-expression through the study of canonical works of French Literature from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, all structured around the theme of courtly love. It examines the historical context that informed these works, in the wake of the encounter with the Arab world in the 12th century. The course also explores the intellectual exile of American cultural others (African-American and homosexual) to Paris and how the humanist intellectual tradition of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment influenced powerful philosophical trends such as Satre's existentialism or Foucault's postmodernism. Assignments are inspired by movies and current political debates (including secularism and free speech) with key emphasis on the emergence of post-colonial identities in France, and the tensions rising between multiculturalism and universalism, within a context of economic globalization.

Students in Latin I learn the essentials of Latin by reading graded prose versions of famous myths from the Metamorphoses of the Roman poet Ovid. Each chapter uses a myth of transformation to introduce new grammar and vocabulary. Students will be reading in Latin the stories of Minerva and Arachne, Niobe and Latona, Echo and Narcissus and Pyramus and Thisbe, among others. Students teach each other about major moments in Roman history and enduring monuments of Rome by delivering a series of reports throughout the year. Additionally, students develop a stronger knowledge of English vocabulary through a study of Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes.

Continuing with the method of using Latin via Ovid to learn the essentials of Latin, students translate less and less adapted versions of the myths from Ovid. At this level, they are introduced to more advanced grammar, including the passive voice, participles and the subjunctive. The myths that students translate this year include Atalanta and Hippomenes, Midas and the Golden Touch, Orpheus and Eurydice, Jason and the Argonauts, and Theseus and the Minotaur. Learning the Greek alphabet accompanies an emphasis on Athens, Greek monuments and English words derived from Greek.

In this course, students will continue their work in the Cambridge Latin Course from Middle School and work through the third book of the series. By the end of Latin II, students will have been introduced to more advanced forms and grammar, including participles, ablative expressions, passive voice, and subjunctive mood. The translations and historical readings of Latin II focus on 1st century CE Roman Britain, where students will learn in-depth about bath complexes, magic and superstition, travel and communication, and life in the Roman army.

Translating authentic Latin prose and poetry is the goal of this course. Upon completing Part 3 of the Oxford series, students will begin their survey of Latin literature by translating original authors and selections from their works. Throughout the year students will review essential Latin forms and grammar in advance of their readings. The backgrounds and time period of each of the authors will be a platform to explore Roman culture and history of the late Roman Republic and the beginning of the Augustan period.

Students devote most of the year to the expressive poetry of Catullus. In the spring the work of a second author, such as Cicero, Horace or Ovid, will be introduced for literary and historical comparison. In this course students will begin to go beyond literal translating to "reading between the lines" as they work out deeper meaning in the text and appreciate the artistry of the composition. Students will learn how to scan several types of poetic meter and identify the poetic/rhetorical devices employed to achieve particular effects. Focus is placed on the writers and their works within their historical context and within the larger Roman and Greek literary tradition.

This course is devoted to the most prominent Latin poet of the Golden Age of Latin
Literature. Prior to reading selections from Vergil’s masterpiece, the Aeneid, students will begin their study of the author by translating short selections from his two earlier works the Eclogues and the Georgics, including the earliest full account of Orpheus and Euridice. The majority of the year will then be devoted to the Aenid, from which students will translate from Book I, Book II, and Book IV. sources of fullest poetic account of the fall of Troy and the famous affair between the Trojan hero Aeneas and the Carthaginian Queen Dido. An important feature of this class will be sight-reading lines from the Aenid to increase reading fluency. Discussion will center on the literary and historical context of Vergil's poetry in the age of Augustus and on the central themes and images that appear in our readings.

This course provides an introduction to Spanish for beginning students. Basic vocabulary that includes greetings, the classroom and school life, days of the week, months of the year, pastimes, travel and vacation, season, weather and family members is presented and then practiced through a variety of oral and written exercises. Students learn the conjugations of regular and irregular verbs, the use of descriptive, possessive and demonstrative adjectives, and the differences between the verbs ser and estar. Throughout the year students use and develop the four main language acquisition skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Cultural readings allow students to learn about history, geography, art, customs, music and traditions of different countries in Central America, South America, Caribbean Islands and Spain, as well as of Hispanic and Latino people living in the United States.

Students learn new grammatical structures such as reflexive verbs, direct and indirect object pronouns, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns and the preterite tense, including regular and irregular verbs. Students also continue to expand their vocabulary through thematic units. At this level, students are expected to express their opinions in the target language. They also write short paragraphs and skits in order to further develop their communicative skills. Finally, students deepen their understanding of the cultures of Spanish speaking countries through readings, videos, and student-generated projects.

Spanish III teaches students to communicate with accuracy and fluency at an intermediate level. The course begins with a detailed review of previously learned material, such as the present and preterite tenses, and then introduces more advanced grammatical topics. By the end of the year, students finish learning the indicative mood, including uses of the imperfect, present perfect, pluperfect, future, future perfect, and conditional tenses. Some of the thematic vocabulary units relate to the arts, professions, health and well-being. Oral presentations and writing assignments are based on various topics of interest. Participation at a more advanced level is expected in this class.

Spanish IV is an intermediate-level class. Students in this course review different grammatical structures learned in Spanish III and are introduced to the subjunctive mood. They continue to expand their vocabulary by learning about the media, city life, nature and the environment, law, types of government, and civil and human rights. Critical and literary readings from Spain and Latin America help students to practice their speaking and writing skills through engagement in class discussions and written assignments.

In this course, students discuss contemporary social and political topics such as education, public and private entities, social media and grassroot activism while reviewing grammatical structures for written and oral expression. Critical readings of articles from magazines or newspapers are an essential part of the class work. Compositions, oral presentations and ongoing grammar activities are included during class time to help students continue to improve their writing and speaking skills.

Advanced Spanish is a course in which students read and discuss complete works of literature by authors from Latin America, Spain, and the Diaspora. A deeper knowledge and use of skills are expected at this level. Students discuss and analyze short stories, novels, poetry, essays, plays, articles, films and art of the Spanish-speaking world. Guided and open-ended discussions, oral presentations, compositions, and ongoing grammar activities help students sharpen their writing and speaking skills