WORLD LANGUAGE

We are the only elementary school in the area to offer three world languages: French, Mandarin and Spanish.

In kindergarten, students sample each language for 12 weeks in turn over the course of the year. Beginning in 1st grade, students study one language continuously throughout their time at Evergreen. Through 4th grade, language classes meet for 45 minutes three times a week, and increase to four times weekly from 5th grade on.

Our World Language program is designed to help students develop an awareness and appreciation of other cultures, at the same time that they are:

• acquiring skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing;

• reinforcing learning of our general curriculum;

• demonstrating critical thinking as they analyze, synthesize, and produce oral and written expressions in the target language; and

• ultimately, becoming enthusiastic lifelong language learners.

Although it takes many hours of intense study to learn a second language, early learning programs like ours help students begin that long journey toward proficiency. The earlier students begin learning a language, the better the cumulative effect of instruction is over time. Research shows that students who study a language when they are young have higher rates of proficiency in high school.