January 30,  2018

Dear Parents of Students Entering Grade Seven:

All students in seventh grade begin formal study of a world language.  Level I is a two-year program that spans grades 7 and 8. In 9 th grade, students move to Level II and may in fact progress to a Level V language class in their senior year, thus establishing solid preparation for college language study as well as for Advanced Placement testing.  After completing Level I in 8 th grade, some students may choose to begin a new language in 9 th grade.  In either case, selecting a world language is an important decision and one that should be made carefully.

In very general terms, Spanish is taught in the oral/aural method, using a comprehensible input storytelling approach.  Students who are auditory learners will do well in this language.   Latin is a good choice for students who are comfortable with abstract and analytic thought processes; now speaking and listening, as well as reading and writing, are emphasized. As a tonal language with an alphabet completely distinct from English, Mandarin is an exciting language of growing importance globally; it is also taught using the oral/aural approach, and will introduce students to a new writing system. Due to the complexity of the language, students who select Mandarin should be strong visual as well as auditory learners.

While we make every effort to accommodate each student's preference, if the selected course has been filled to capacity, the student may be enrolled in his/her second choice.  

Please click on the link to indicate your choices :  Language Choices for 7th Grade
by Wednesday February 28 .  If you have questions, or if you would like to discuss the language options, please contact either me, via email ( annej@friends-select.org ) or Peter Cline, MS Director, at 215-561-5900, extension 123 or via email ( peterc@friends-select.org ).

Sincerely yours,

Anne Wentling