This course is designed for incoming freshmen who have some experience in Spanish but did not place in Spanish 2 Honors at St. Ignatius. Since these students already have some basic skills in Spanish, they will review and/or learn, at an accelerated pace, the vocabulary and grammar structures taught in a regular level one course. Significant emphasis will be placed on improving students’ speaking and writing skills. They will acquire an expanded vocabulary, a deeper understanding of grammatical concepts, increased reading proficiency, improved oral expression, increased aural proficiency, the ability to write short compositions, and further knowledge of Spanish and Latin American cultures.
Spanish 1
Spanish 1 is designed for the beginning Spanish student. No background in Spanish is expected. Comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing skills are developed simultaneously from simple to more complex sentence structures. The language skills are presented in a logical progression so that the student learns by practice both in the classroom and at home with the help of on-line tutorials. The learning process is based on the active participation of each student in a variety of formats. Students learn essential vocabulary, basic structures of the language, and cultural aspects of Latin America and Spain. By the end of the course, each student has the ability to do the following: ask questions and answer them affirmatively or negatively using present tenses; arrange proper word order; speak and write clearly; write short compositions; and use common idiomatic expressions.
Cuentos Cortos – Short Stories
In this one semester Spanish course, students will explore, use and improve their Spanish by reading outstanding short stories by some of the most successful authors of our time; Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Julio Cortázar, Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Fuentes, & Juan Rulfo, just to name a few. Students will read ONE short story per week. Students will be asked to read, understand, & analyze these short stories. For quizzes students will need to recall characters, vocabulary, and storylines and critically think about themes. Class discussions and debates will provide a forum for students to become literature critics and trade ideas with the teacher and classmates regarding the messages provided in the stories. Students will be able to strengthen their grammar, vocab and speaking skills in Spanish. In order to immerse students in the target language, the class will be conducted in Spanish and students are expected to speak Spanish at all times.
*This class will be offered pending adequate enrollment.
Language Teaching Assistant
Language Teaching Assistants provide support for the Language faculty for 1 hour/week. Teaching Assistants fulfill the following duties:
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- checking homework
- grading objective sections of tests
- doing Internet or other research
- decorating bulletin boards
- peer tutoring
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Normally, the student will help before school or after school. There will be times when some of the correcting may be taken home for delivery on the following day. Interested students may apply by requesting and completing a Teaching Assistant Contract from their teacher.
Language
INTRODUCTIONS — St. Ignatius offers four languages, other than English, which fulfill graduation requirements: French, Latin, Mandarin, and Spanish. Students are required to study two years of the same language. Second-year language is taught almost entirely in the target language. It is the goal of the department to ensure that after completion of the second year, students are able to communicate in the second language at the intermediate level (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Proficiency Guidelines) and to employ a broad understanding of the countries where the language in question is spoken. First-year students must complete level 1 in order to take the level 2 course. Second-year students must meet level 3 criteria for enrollment (a minimum semester grade of C and/or teacher approval), in order to take the level 3 course. Third-year students must meet level 4 criteria for enrollment (a minimum semester grade of C and/or teacher approval), in order to take the Level 4 course.
Honors and AP students are expected to take a more active role in their language studies than students in regular college preparatory classes. Honors language courses are designed to challenge students who have actively participated in class, mastered the grammar and vocabulary presented in the previous level, and demonstrated the ability to advance more rapidly than the average college preparatory student. Students will work at a faster pace to increase oral proficiency on a variety of topics, expand their vocabulary, read selections appropriate to honors/AP level students and improve their writing skills. The course materials are designed to stimulate and perfect students’ conversation skills including pronunciation, accent, and rhythm. Students in honors classes are on track to complete the college level Advanced Placement course.
CRITERIA FOR HONORS ENROLLMENT — All students interested in Honors and Advanced Placement courses must meet the following grade minimums to be eligible for an Honors or AP course:
- for Level 2 Honors — a minimum semester grade of A- in level 1 or 1 accelerated
- for Level 3 Honors — a minimum semester grade of B in 2 Honors or a minimum semester grade of A in regular level 2
- for Level 4 AP — a minimum semester grade of B in level 3 Honors or a minimum semester grade of A in regular level 3 or a minimum semester grade of A in regular level 4, plus current level 3 or current level 4 teacher recommendation and written/oral placement exam by Language Department Chair and current AP teacher
Students must maintain these grade minimums for two semesters.