Upper School World Languages Curriculum

This course introduces the Mandarin Chinese language and Chinese culture. Instruction emphasizes the sounds of the language through pinyin and tones, and the foundations of the writing system through Simplified characters. Students learn how radicals and etymology support character recognition and meaning.

This course builds on foundational skills and expands opportunities for communication about oneself, personal interests, and community.

This course advances students from relying on memorized phrases and practiced responses to beginning to create with the language, enabling them to express personal meaning and handle simple questions in everyday situations.

This course advances students from sentence-level communication to connected discourse, enabling them to participate in conversations, manage short social interactions, and communicate information on familiar topics with greater detail and confidence.

This course builds on foundational skills and expands opportunities for communication about oneself, personal interests, and community. Instruction focuses on developing speaking skills with continued attention to pronunciation and tones, supported by listening, reading, and writing activities using Simplified characters that explore the cultural practices and perspectives of Chinese-speaking communities around the world.

This course is one of two semester-long courses designed for students raised in households where Mandarin Chinese is the primary language. The course is tailored for students who can read and write at the Novice High level and above and are ready to explore topics related to identity and belonging in the Chinese diaspora.

This course is one of two semester-long courses designed for students raised in households where Mandarin Chinese is the primary language and emphasizes language basics, including the pinyin phonetic spelling system, recognizing and writing hanzi characters, and constructing cohesive essays.

This course challenges students to explore Chinese history from the Qin Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period through the Tang and Song Dynasties, culminating in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

This course examines early Chinese history and mythology through storytelling, cultural analysis, and comparative study.

This course explores Chinese language and culture through the lens of U.S.–China corporate relations, professional contexts, and contemporary media. 

This course investigates contemporary Chinese society through the study of technology, economic development, and China’s global role.

This course introduces the French language and Francophone cultures through basic communicative language used in everyday situations. Instruction focuses on developing speaking skills — supported by listening, reading, and writing activities using authentic texts that explore the cultural practices and perspectives of French-speaking communities around the world.

This course builds on foundational skills and expands opportunities for communication about oneself, personal interests, and community. Instruction focuses on developing speaking skills — supported by listening, reading, and writing activities using authentic texts appropriate to students’ level that explore the cultural practices and perspectives of French-speaking communities around the world.

This course advances students from relying on memorized phrases and practiced responses to beginning to create with the language, enabling them to express personal meaning and handle simple questions in everyday situations.

This course introduces the French language and Francophone cultures through basic communicative language used in everyday situations.

This course advances students from handling familiar topics to engaging confidently with contemporary themes, enabling them to participate in discussions and express extended ideas with confidence, precision, and flexibility.

This elective explores cultural themes from the global Francophone world through authentic texts, media, and inquiry-based projects.

This course explores the global Francophone world through fiction, poetry, film, journalism, and video. Instruction emphasizes sustained engagement with authentic texts and media drawn from diverse French-speaking regions.

This course examines themes of city and suburb, center and periphery, and identity across Francophone literature from the Belle Époque through the postcolonial period.

This course explores themes of social discontent through Francophone literature spanning the 17th century, the Belle Époque, and the early 20th century.

This course introduces the Latin language alongside ancient Roman history, culture, and mythology. Instruction emphasizes foundational vocabulary, grammar, and translation through readings drawn from simplified Roman sources and modern texts.

This course builds on the foundational skills introduced in Novice Latin. Instruction reinforces and expands vocabulary, grammar, and translation through continued work with adapted Roman sources and modern texts.

This course continues the study of Latin grammar with increased emphasis on interpreting and translating more complex sentences and narratives. Instruction addresses major grammatical structures and core rules of Latin syntax, supporting the transition to authentic texts.

This course emphasizes reading and translating unadapted Latin texts drawn from a range of Roman authors. Instruction expands grammatical knowledge to include advanced structures such as the subjunctive mood.

This course centers on extended reading and interpretation of authentic Latin literature across multiple genres. Instruction emphasizes sustained engagement with unadapted texts, supporting a transition from sentence-level translation to literary analysis.

This course investigates the history and culture of classical Rome through close analysis of complex Latin texts. Instruction emphasizes literature of the Imperial period as a continuation of earlier study of Republican-era sources.

This course explores the development of Latin literature beyond the classical period, from late antiquity through the medieval and early modern eras. Instruction examines how Latin evolved linguistically and adapted to new cultural, religious, and intellectual contexts.

This course introduces the Spanish language and Spanish-speaking cultures through basic communicative language used in everyday situations.

This course builds on foundational skills and expands opportunities for communication about oneself, personal interests, and community.

This course advances students from relying on memorized phrases and practiced responses to beginning to create with the language, enabling them to express personal meaning and handle simple questions in everyday situations.

This course advances students from sentence-level communication to connected discourse, enabling them to participate in conversations, manage short social interactions, and communicate information on familiar topics with greater detail and confidence.

This course advances students from handling familiar topics to engaging confidently with contemporary themes, enabling them to participate in discussions and express extended ideas with confidence, precision, and flexibility.

This course advances students from discussing familiar and contemporary topics to narrating and describing across time frames — enabling them to handle unexpected complications and express ideas with increasing ease, fluency, and elaboration in preparation for Advanced-level proficiency.

This course is designed for students raised in Spanish-speaking homes who demonstrate reading and writing proficiency at the Intermediate Mid level or higher. Positioned as a pre-ADV course equivalent to Intermediate High, instruction focuses on strengthening reading and writing while expanding formal registers of Spanish.

This semester elective explores the Spanish-speaking Caribbean through the conceptual lens of voz y movimiento, examining how music, sport, and art express identity as they circulate through local and diasporic communities. Instruction centers on cultural expression in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba, with attention to migration, transnational networks, and global visibility.

This semester elective examines Chile and Argentina through the conceptual lens of Envergadura, focusing on how history, culture, and identity carry enduring weight and impact.

This course explores contemporary global challenges such as discrimination, feminism, and immigration through the lens of the Spanish-speaking world.

This course examines contemporary societal change through focused study of education, health, and technology in the Spanish-speaking world.

This course explores the Siglo de Oro, or Golden Age, of Spanish literature, with particular emphasis on Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quijote de la Mancha. Instruction centers on close reading, literary analysis, and interpretation of texts within their historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts.

This course examines the enduring influence of the Inca, Aztec, and Mayan civilizations on language, culture, and identity in contemporary Latin America.

This course explores the cultural and linguistic impact of influential Hispanic artists, with Shakira serving as a central case study. Instruction emphasizes advanced language analysis through close examination of song lyrics, media, and cultural texts that reflect questions of identity, belonging, and representation.