LANGUAGES

This course focuses on the development of oral, reading and written competencies through the exploration of themes such as friendship and relationships, advertising and media, travel and adventure, and finally, conservation and our planet.  Students are encouraged to demonstrate their abilities and talents through the completion of unique and creative communicative assignments and unit projects (tâche finale).  Within each unit, students are taught basic language structures, including the vocabulary necessary to communicate effectively about the topic.  Students are always encouraged to share their personal experiences and stories to enrich our learning environment and understandings.  

Japanese 10L is an introduction to the Japanese language. The main focus is on oral and written communication. Listening with understanding is also stressed.  One of the Japanese writing systems, Hiragana, will be introduced. Students will also learn some Kanji characters (pictographic, Chinese characters). The vocabulary acquired in the course will be written in Hiragana. The cultural component of the course will deal with everyday social communication and etiquette.  Various culturally related activities such as calligraphy, origami, cooking, and crafts will be introduced to stimulate an interest in Japanese culture.

This course is for grade 10-12 students with no previous knowledge of Chinese. This course offers beginner level Chinese language instruction, including pronunciation, basic conversational sentences, reading and how to type traditional and simplified Chinese characters. The cultural component includes traditional holidays, family relationships, foods and calligraphy. Speaking and listening skills are stressed.   

With a strong foundation to construct further understandings, students in the French 30 course will focus on improving their conversational French, including their vocabulary, spontaneity, and understanding of the language and its functions.  Students will develop an overall confidence using the target language.  Students  will discuss topics relevant to the units of study, events and happenings in the community, country and world, as well as other topics of interest.  This course focuses on themes such as cultures around the world, travel, law and its effect on society, media and violence, and finally, world issues.  Again, students are free to explore these topics using creative and original modes of presenting the information. 

Japanese 30L takes oral and written communication to a more advanced level and deals, in particular, with complex everyday expressions. The students will continue to learn more Japanese writing, focusing on the development of their Kanji writing. The cultural component of the course focuses on understanding and developing flexibility and sensitivity in the cultural differences between Canada and Japan.

*A placement test is available for students who have previous knowledge of Chinese education. 

This course is for grade 10-12 students with a secondary knowledge of Chinese. This course offers advanced level Chinese language instruction including sentence structures for expressing celebration and describing situations, writing formal letters and notes, understanding short stories and old sayings and being able to do translation from daily conversations. Oral comprehension including discussion and summary of texts and skits, and drama is emphasized. The cultural component includes festivals, beliefs, traditional Chinese mannerisms and knowledge of Mahjong.