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Languages ― Spanish
To provide a well rounded education and prepare our students for a world that is constantly changing, Merrol Hyde Magnet School requires the study of a foreign language every school year. Besides being a practical thing to do, the study of foreign languages has improved student scores on college entrance exams.
Learning a foreign language is difficult. Learning it well enough to communicate with others is usually not attempted in our schools because of the immensity of the task. Therefore, schools often emphasize the acquisition of grammar, with the hope that communication will eventually come. However, if the proper approach is taken, language can be taught in such a way that the students can both communicate with others and succeed on exams.
It is our intention to provide a program, which if followed for four years, will allow our students to obtain a fluency in the language and achieve success in both the National Spanish Exam and the College Advanced Placement Test. We will mix Total Physical Response, TPR Storytelling, culture, practical language situations, and literature studies to provide a holistic and natural approach for learning Spanish.
So often foreign language is presented in such a way that it is demoralizing and apart from the student's reality. It is our desire to present language learning in a positive, relevant, and natural way. As children, we learned our native language before going to school in ways that were not intimidating. We will provide the same opportunities and we will add higher cognitive approaches that will enrich and deepen their Spanish.
Already, our approach has received many positive responses! Already, our students are able to communicate in sentences! A bright future awaits those who commit themselves to our communicative approach to Spanish! |
