Students will acquire Spanish language skills through reading, writing, speaking, and listening with their classmates and teacher, and by reading about other cultures. Students will learn language the way we learned our first language: by listening and practicing with little to no memorization.

Spanish class will arm you with language and intercultural competency skills that you can apply to future situations. Additionally, students explore how your language and culture shape your ways of thinking and being.

In our language classes we are measuring students’ ability to use the language, not what answers they get “right” or “wrong,” what words are memorized/forgotten, or which mistakes are made. Proficiency based instruction promotes and assess students’ ability to understand and use the language to accomplish a task. This does not measure memorization of specific words, but rather asks students to use whatever they know. 

“Proficiency describes what a language learner is able to do at any time, anywhere, under any circumstances. Performance describes what a student is able to do with language that they have learned and practiced. Performance is based on classroom instruction, practiced, and stays within familiar content and contexts.” (Wayside Publishing 2024