CPS World Languages Curriculum

The Language Department offers instruction in four languages: French, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish.

The French program is one of intense immersion; students are taught to listen, speak, read, and then write, in ways similar to how they learn their mother tongue. During the first two years students are taught the fundamentals of grammar and acquire essential vocabulary for basic conversation. Diversity within the French cultures is discussed as well. After students complete the second year, literature is introduced, and France and the francophone world are studied in greater depth. During the first three years teachers put together a video showing examples of the student’s spoken work. They present this video to the student at the end of French III or IV.

After completing three years of French, students become eligible to select from a variety of seminars. Literary analysis, sociological interpretations of French society, essay writing, idiomatic usage, conversation and fine points of grammar and style are integral parts of all these classes; end-of-year independent projects are often required. To supplement formal study in all classes, teachers show movies during the year and schedule occasional trips to French plays, films and restaurants.

French I
1 Unit

New material is learned first orally, and then in written form, with students exercising their skills in original compositions at the end of each lesson. Different activities such as skits, fashion shows and cooking allow the students to use what they have learned in fun and exciting ways. Multimedia activities using videos, cassettes, CD's, and the internet are used to enhance the learning process. The goals of this course are to master the basic syntax of the language and build confidence and skills needed to use the language correctly in both the spoken and written form.

French II
1 Unit

Using the communicative approach of French I, students master advanced vocabulary pertaining to everyday situations and the precise use of the many verb tenses. The use of pronouns is studied in detail. In addition to oral and written exercises, skits and activities, students write more elaborate and creative essays, applying new vocabulary and structures. In the second semester they begin to read short stories. As in French I, multimedia activities are used to strengthen listening comprehension, and spoken and written language.

French III
1 Unit

In this course, students transition from acquiring language skills to applying these skills to the study of the literature and civilizations of the French-speaking world. Cultures are explored through a variety of readings (poetry, short stories, a novel) and multi-media resources (videos, CD-ROMS, audio CD’s, the Internet). The first semester is devoted to mainland and overseas France and the second semester to French-speaking countries and regions elsewhere in the world. Communicative competence continues to be improved by enriching skills in all areas involved in language learning: oral comprehension and expression, grammar, idiomatic vocabulary, reading, writing, and creative usage of the language. Students are prepared to take the French SAT II examination during this course. This course has been designated an Honors course by the University of California.

FRENCH SEMINARS

Typically, two different seminars are offered. Both have been designated Honors courses by the University of California. These classes are organized in such a manner as to strengthen speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills, as well as to interpret the specific topic under study. Students prepare for the French Language Advanced Placement Examination but are not required to take it. Past offerings have included: The Short Story, Women in French Literature, Comic Masterpieces, Advanced Conversation and Composition, Twentieth-Century Theater, and Contemporary French Society. Students are encouraged but not required to take these seminars for two semesters.

The following French IV/V (AP) seminars are offered in 2004-5:

La France d’aujourd’hui
1/2 Unit per semester

Various aspects of French society will be explored in order to provide students with a thorough understanding of present-day France. Sources of information will be a civilisaton text, a grammar review text, novels (e.g., Les Petits Enfants du Siecle), the Internet, news briefs from the French daily news and different video series (France Within, France Panorama, and Hexagone), radio news from the Champs Elysées series, films (La vie est un Long Fleuve Tranquille, La Bataille d’Algiers, La Haine), articles from French newspapers and magazines (e.g., Journal Français d’Amerique and L’Express) and popular songs. Our focus on many of the differences between France and the United States (be they in the relationship between the people and their government, or in the school system, or in the immigrant situation, or in the approach to health care) will allow us to appreciate the fact that there is not just one answer or one way to create and sustain a modern society. Activities will be based on discussions and presentations. Each student will do an independent project at the end of the second semester. Students are free to choose a topic that deals with an aspect of French society today. Each topic must have a listening/speaking component and a literary research component and is presented to the class in place of a final examination. Work is also done to prepare students to take the Advanced Placement French Language Examination.

French Literature and Film
1/2 Unit per semester

This seminar offers a taste of classic and modern works of literature from the French-speaking world enhanced by rich screen adaptations when available. It aims at at developing literary analysis skills, which will find concrete expression in several creative, hands-on writing projects flowing out of the readings and class discussions. Full length works include Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, L’Étranger by Albert Camus, L’enfant noir by Camara Laye, Le médecin malgré lui by Molière, Huit-clos by Jean-Paul Sartre; short stories by Guy de Maupassant, Alphonse Daudet, and Michel Tournier; and poetry by Guillaume Apollinaire, Charles Baudelaire, Joachim Du Bellay, Arthur Rimbaud, Léopold Senghor, and Paul Verlaine. Excerpts from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, and the classic writings of Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Victor Hugo, Georges Perec, Marcel Proust, Marcel Pagnol, Raymond Queneau, François Rabelais, George Sand, Nathalie Sarraute, and Emile Zola will also be discussed.

Students will work on an independent project each semester. In the Fall it will involve a piece of creative writing, which they will share with East Bay French-American School students in December. At the end of the spring semester their project will involve choosing a novel to read, watching a screen adaptation, and writing up a comparative analysis of the two. In the oral presentation of their work, students will read excerpts of the novel out loud to the class and share pertinent clips from the movie adaptation.

The seminar also prepares students for the AP French Language exam and develops language skills using the textbook En bonne forme by Simone Renaud Dietiker and Dominique van Hooff.

Four hundred years ago, the Portuguese came to Japan and described Japanese as the devil’s language. In those days, each social class and each gender used its own version of spoken and written Japanese. However, today’s Japanese people speak and write a unified modern Japanese language, and CPS students learn the general Japanese which is used among educated Japanese in the Tokyo area. Japanese is unique in its phonemics system, syntax, and conjugation. Although it is usually considered a difficult language, there are some logical features that make it surprisingly systematic and easy to study.

The Japanese program is based on the communicative approach with eclectic methods. Students practice listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in three writing systems: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Throughout the program, important aspects of Japanese history and culture are studied and discussed. Calligraphy is occasionally practiced in class.

Japanese I
1 Unit

In the first year of Japanese, students learn the basic structures essential for communication through kinetic exercises, skits and cultural activities. The class seeks to master Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji (at this level, recognition is emphasized), while reading and writing extensively. They also learn to use a Japanese word processor.

Japanese II
1 Unit

In the second year of Japanese, students continue to learn basic structures essential for communication, while adding more compound and complex expressions. The class creates skits and a cooking video, studies culture and reads Japanese stories. Students continue to master Kanji, while reading and writing extensively.

Japanese III
1 Unit

In the third year of Japanese, students learn respectful and humble expressions in addition to basic compound and complex sentence structures essential for communication. More advanced adjective and verb forms are mastered. Students prepare speeches and video projects. The class continuously studies culture, reads authentic Japanese material, and continues to master Kanji, while reading and writing extensively. This course has been designated an Honors course by the University of California.

Japanese IV & V
1 Unit

In the fourth and fifth years of Japanese, students continue to fine-tune their grammatical, reading, and writing skills. At the same time, communicative skills are greatly emphasized. In the first semester, the class focuses on Japanese literature and film; examples include Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa and Mononoke-Hime by Hayao Miyazaki. In the second semester the class turns to the history, geography and culture of Japan. Students read authentic Japanese materials, and produce and present a either a power point project or a video commercial in Japanese. These projects strengthen the students’ comprehension of and fluency in Japanese. This course has been designated an Honors course by the University of California.

The Latin program is designed to give students a facility in reading Latin and an understanding and appreciation of Roman civilization. Throughout the four years of Latin offered at CPS, emphasis is placed on Roman language, literature, history, and culture. CPS has a chapter of the California Junior Classical League, and students attend the Bay Area Ludi Octobres in the fall and the state convention in the spring. All Latin students take the National Latin Exam in March.

Latin I
1 Unit

The Cambridge Latin Course has been adopted for the first two years of Latin instruction at CPS. This reading approach offers the student the opportunity to study Latin inductively: meanings of words and syntax are first presented in model sentences or reading selections. Students are then given extensive practice with the grammatical structures and with vocabulary reinforcement. Cleverly and carefully integrated into the language presentation are the cultural material and historical content. Students first explore the daily life and activities of a family in ancient Pompeii of the first century. A family member survives the destruction of Pompeii in AD 79, and the class follows him to Roman Alexandria, Roman Britain, and finally Rome. Student projects center on the cultural material of the course.

Latin II
1 Unit

Students continue learning vocabulary and the grammar needed to read Latin authors. Using the Cambridge Latin Course, students get extensive practice with subjunctive usages and verbals, including indirect statement and ablative absolute. Cultural material includes more study of Roman Britain (the Roman baths at Bath and the Roman army) and of first century A.D. Rome itself. Students read a piece of Roman historical fiction and make mythology posters.

Latin III
1 Unit

The “Roman Character” is the focus of study in Latin III. The typical Roman of the Republican Era, as met in stories by Livy, is contrasted with the first century A.D. character of Trimalchio in the Millionaire’s Dinner Party. Second semester is devoted to the personalities of Catiline and Cicero, who are met in selections from Sallust’s Bellum Catilinae and Cicero’s In Catilinam I, and of the poet Catullus. Roman Republican history and political institutions are studied through readings in English and slides. Students study the Roman Forum and make models of a Roman Forum building, as well as undertake an intensive grammar review for the SAT II. This course has been designated an Honors course by the University of California.

Latin IV/V (AP)
1 Unit

In 2004-2005 Latin IV/V students will read the lyric poetry of Horace and Catullus. Students discuss the poets’ modes of expression, composition of poems, motifs, themes, and meter and are prepared for the Advanced Placement Latin Literature Examination. This course has been designated an Honors course by the University of California
In 2005-2006 Latin IV/V students will read from Vergil’s Aeneid I, II, IV, VI, X and XII. The remainder of the Aeneid is read in English and the Augustan Era studied through related readings. Students are prepared for the Advanced Placement Vergil Examination.

In number of speakers, Spanish, with over 330 million speakers worldwide, is second only to Chinese. The language is spoken in more than 21 diverse countries and territories. All Spanish classes incorporate activities that draw on this wealth of culture and linguistic variation. Spanish is learned with an active approach, through conversing, problem-solving, debating, composing, acting. Students are given the opportunity to develop all language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. They study and apply vocabulary and grammar incrementally. After the third year of Spanish, students may take Spanish seminars.

Spanish I
1 Unit

In Spanish I some students start with no knowledge of the language and others have learned some Spanish before. That difference in knowledge becomes less noticeable as the weeks go by. The students are encouraged from the beginning to use the language in class as much as possible. Grammar and vocabulary are practiced through a variety of activities that include play acting, presentations, videos, songs, tongue twisters and own life experiences. This class also introduces the students to the varied Spanish speaking world and acquaints them with the different accents, customs, foods, music, etc. During the first semester the students watch a feature film and during the second semester a 14 episode series.
Students are encouraged to listen to Spanish outside the class on the radio and watch Spanish programs. The philosophy behind this class is that the more exposed the brain is to Spanish, the faster it can be learned.

Spanish II
1 Unit

In Spanish II the students begin with a review of tenses and contexts learned in level I and continue to hone the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening)and expand their vocabulary. They also learn yet more about the diverse Hispanic cultures. The text material for practicing these skills is contextual and follows a unifying theme: Cities and their inhabitants, the home, the professions, etc. Grammar is presented toward the beginning of each unit, practiced via a variety of written and oral exercises and then reviewed again toward the end of the unit before its exam. Besides extensive work with contrasting tenses in the past tense and review of present and future, grammar in Spanish II includes extensive work with the complete gamut of command forms (including those with double object pronouns) to prepare students for advanced work with the subjunctive in Spanish III. Students read two short novels, view at least one full-length film and work with an ongoing video series, all of which are supported with vocabulary aids and oral and written exercises. There is a second semester project in which student pairs conduct an interview with a native Spanish speaker.

Spanish III
1 Unit

This course has been designated an honors course by the University of California.
As students review the grammar, structures and vocabulary studied in levels I and II, they complete learning verb tenses such as the Past Subjunctive and Conditional, apply more complex structures, and incorporate new vocabulary and idiomatic expressions. Through a “task-based” methodology, they progress in the acquisition of the language as it is truly spoken today. Students learn by using the language in context by doing a variety of activities and creative projects such as video making, mystery solving, debates, songs, skits and other hands-on experiences. Films and audio recordings are used to increase listening skills; two short novels, a variety of poems and stories, and the book La Casa en Mango Street serve as readers; and regular assignments promote their writing abilities.
Continual appreciation for the geographical, socio-political, and cultural diversity of the Spanish-speaking universe is encouraged throughout the year, and particularly in
the spring semester when students do a research project on a country or Spanish-speaking region and present it to the class using audiovisual aids.

SPANISH SEMINARS

The department offers a selection of seminars, emphasizing the improvement of oral, written, and comprehensive skills in Spanish at an advanced level. Grammar is reviewed periodically. Students prepare for the Advanced Placement Spanish Language Examination but are not required to take it. Courses such as The Short Story, Current Events in the Hispanic World, Perspectives on Hispanic Culture, Magic Realism and a literary survey have been offered in the past.

The following Spanish IV/V (AP) seminars are being offered in 2004-05:

Culture & Current Events in the Spanish-Speaking World
1/2 Unit per semester

This year-long, advanced-level course will emphasize the improvement of oral, written and reading comprehension skills in Spanish. Grammar will be reviewed as needed. We will explore, analyze and discuss topics related to the Spanish-speaking world and its history. A class reader, films, Spanish television and radio programs, magazines, newspaper articles, daily news, literary extracts, music, and guest speakers will be used as sources of information for class discussions, papers and oral presentations. The reader contains various reading selections: history, debates on linguistic and structural themes, readings in Ladino, Basque, Catalan, Gallego, Romano, Kalo, short stories, excerpts from works by Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Xabier Rubert De Ventos and others, articles on Spanglish, bilingualism, and current events, lyrics of songs, questions about films, etc. The students have the option of helping bilingual teachers in local bilingual programs, as well as interviewing Spanish speakers. Trips to cultural events outside class time will be offered but not required. One day a week will be dedicated to preparation for the Spanish AP Examination.

Advanced Conversation, Literature and Creative Writing
1/2 Unit per semester

The objectives of this year long course are: 1) to acquire, refine and practice conversational skills necessary to communicate effectively in different social and cultural situations; 2) to cultivate students’ knowledge of and appreciation for the Hispanic language and culture through a variety of selected readings which range from pre-Colombian creation myths to contemporary movements such as Modernism, Surrealism and Magic Realism. Writing assignments are primarily creative in nature. Students are encouraged to experiment with specific literary devices and their own imaginations as means of understanding more fully the way literature works to convey ideas. An independent project is required at the end of each semester. Class activities include: discussions and debates on current and controversial issues, oral presentations, roll playing, literary readings, grammar reviews and the viewing of some films in Spanish. Once a month the class works at a local bilingual school with Spanish speaking kids. Other field trips may be scheduled as well. Students who plan to take the Advanced Placement Examination in Spanish Language have assigned time to prepare for it.