Languages

welcome to the hc languages department

The Language Department is excited to share their love of languages and communication with our students. We offer Core French 8 to 12, and Introductory Spanish 11. The goal of our courses is to have students communicate in the target language using a variety of activities and methods. While we use the AIM program in grades 8 and 9, in all levels we collect resources to give our students a rich experience of language and culture.

Students experience a variety of activities that give them the opportunity to speak and write in the target language, in a variety of tenses, about increasingly more complex topics. In grade 8 they begin by describing themselves and their families, and learning basic structures, and performing the play “Salut Mon Ami”. In grade 9 they also perform “Veux-Tu Danser” and add past tense to their repertoire. Grade 10 deepens their understanding of the past tenses while discussing jobs and memories.

Grade 11 expands their ability to express themselves in conditional tenses, as well as giving more subtlety to their expression of future and past tenses. They practice these new skills while discussing social justice issues, future plans, and relationships. In French 12, students discuss art and beauty, learn about legends and Gap Years, and finish with a novel study of Le Petit Prince. They challenge themselves with literary tenses and refine their use of all their previous learning. Introductory Spanish covers the present tense, introducing vocabulary to describe themselves, people around them, preferences, and to discuss school and food.