Forgeign Language
Language students at Pacifica may study either Spanish or Latin. Through language study, students not only acquire skills, but also the target language within the context of its respective culture. For example, students of Latin learn to read Latin literature and also to understand and value Roman contributions to civilization. The program creates oppportunities for students to experience and acknowledge different patterns of throught and other value systems. Through the department's interdisiciplinary approach, students better understand their own language and culture, as well as develop a sense of responsbilbity and commitment as world citizens.
Graduation requirement: 2 years of high school language other than English (LOTE). Students must study both years in the same language in succession.
SPANISH
Spanish 1 – (Year Course)
This college preparatory course introduces basic grammar, speech patterns, sentence structure, and common vocabulary used in daily interchange. By the end of the course, students will be able to engage in introductory/simple conversations, using present tense verbs. Spanish linguistics are introduced so that students can begin to develop their pronunciation skills correctly.Students are also given an introduction to the art, culture, and geography of Spanish-speaking countries.
Spanish 2 – (Year Course)
Spanish 2 places a continuing emphasis on oral comprehension, speaking, pronunciation and vocabulary. This college preparatory course will help students use more complex structures in daily conversations. Students will learn how to use a wide array of verb tenses, beginning with a review of the present tense and moving on to the past tense, progressive tenses, subjunctive, and commands. Students will also read and discuss short stories and poems of prominent Hispanic authors and will focus on developing their writing skills. Spanish 2 will also expose students to more Spanish-speaking countries and teach the students more culture and geography.
Spanish 3 – (Year Course)
After an intensive grammar review, listening and speaking skills are closely monitored and tested through quizzes and class conversations. Remaining verb tenses are learned in this year of Spanish language. Students should be able to write compositions in the target language and carry on meaningful conversations. Reading comprehension will be covered as the students read excerpts from more advanced literary works of prominent Hispanic authors. Spanish is the classroom language, and conventional fluency is the major goal.
Spanish 4 AP: Advanced Placement Spanish Language– (Year Course)
AP Spanish is a preparation course for the AP examination. It engages students in reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities in order to promote fluency in the Spanish language, as well as equip the students with the skills necessary to pass the AP Spanish Language exam. All students are required to take the Advanced Placement exam in May. This course will require meetings outside of the normal class time which will be arranged by the teacher.
Spanish 5 AP: Advanced Placement Spanish Literature– (Year Course)
AP Spanish Literature is a literature course, which precludes a fluency in Spanish and promotes the study of the language’s literature uses. The class studies numerous authors from various Spanish cultures and prepares students for the AP Spanish Literature Examination. All students are required to take the Advanced Placement exam in May. This course will require meetings outside of the normal class time which will be arranged by the teacher.
LATIN
Latin 1 – (Year Course)
This course begins to develop students’ abilities to understand, analyze, and produce written and spoken Latin. Students become familiar with many stages in the life of Latin, from the early Roman period through the Classical, medieval, and Renaissance periods, right up to the rich traditions of post-Renaissance Latin, including Neo-Latin and Living Latin. Along the way, students learn and analyze some of the political, cultural, social, and linguistic factors that have contributed to the development both of Latin and of the cultures that have used Latin in the last 2500 years. Students build fluency in Latin by way of a natural, immersive method, engaging in a variety of oral and text-based activities that build students’ mastery of vocabulary, grammar, idiom, reading strategies, and discursive conventions. Readings include the first third of Ørberg’s Familia Romana, as well as—keeping in mind that the vast majority of extant Latin texts are post-Roman—selections from medieval and post-medieval works, especially poems, songs, and tales.
Latin 2 – (Year Course)
This course continues to develop students’ abilities to understand, analyze, and produce written and spoken Latin. Students become familiar with many stages in the life of Latin, from the early Roman period through the Classical, medieval, and Renaissance periods, right up to the rich traditions of post-Renaissance Latin, including Neo-Latin and Living Latin. Along the way, students learn and analyze some of the political, cultural, social, and linguistic factors that have contributed to the development both of Latin and of the cultures that have used Latin in the last 2500 years. Students continue build fluency in Latin by way of a natural, immersive method, engaging in a variety of oral and text-based activities that build students’ mastery of vocabulary, grammar, idiom, reading strategies, and discursive conventions. Readings include the middle third of Ørberg’s Familia Romana, selections from the Vulgate, as well as—keeping in mind that the vast majority of extant Latin texts are post-Roman—selections from medieval and post-medieval works, especially poems, songs, and tales. In addition to writing and conversing, critically and reflectively, in Latin and in English, about the above texts and topics, students begin to make their own creative contributions to the store of Latin writing, composing dialogues, stories, letters, and other forms.
Latin 3 – (Year Course)
This intermediate course continues to develop students’ abilities to understand, analyze, and produce written and spoken Latin. Students increase their familiarity with the many stages in the life of Latin, from the early Roman period through the Classical, medieval, and Renaissance periods, right up to the rich traditions of post-Renaissance Latin, including Neo-Latin and Living Latin. Along the way, students learn and analyze some of the political, cultural, social, and linguistic factors that have contributed to the development both of Latin and of the cultures that have used Latin in the last 2500 years. Students continue to build fluency in Latin by way of a natural, immersive method, engaging in a variety of oral and text-based activities that build students’ mastery of vocabulary, grammar, idiom, reading strategies, and discursive conventions. Readings include the final third of Ørberg’s Familia Romana, as well as—keeping in mind that the vast majority of extant Latin texts are post-Roman—selections from the medieval Scholastics, medieval Gesta and songs, Renaissance fables, and post-Renaissance theological, scientific, and poetic works. In addition to writing and conversing, critically and reflectively, in Latin and in English, about the above texts and topics, students make their own creative contributions to the store of Latin writing, composing dialogues, stories, letters, and other forms.
Latin 4 – (Year Course) This advanced course continues to develop students’ abilities to understand, analyze, and produce written and spoken Latin. Students increase their familiarity with the many stages in the life of Latin, from the early Roman period through the Classical, medieval, and Renaissance periods, right up to the rich traditions of post-Renaissance Latin, including Neo-Latin and Living Latin. Along the way, students learn and analyze the political, cultural, social, and linguistic factors that have contributed to the development both of Latin and of the cultures that have used Latin in the last 2500 years, especially in the many cases in which the Latin language itself has been an inextricable part of a social institution or practice, such as Roman satire, the medieval church, Scholasticism, Humanism, and Western education and science. Readings include Plautus’s Amphitryo in its entirety and extended selections from Cato, Cicero, Martial, Horace, Ovid, Pliny, Tacitus, Phaedrus, and the Vulgate, as well as—keeping in mind that the vast majority of extant Latin texts are post-Roman—the medieval Scholastics, medieval Gesta and songs, Renaissance fables, and post-Renaissance theological, scientific, and poetic works. Students study and participate in the dialogue tradition, becoming familiar with those of Pseudo-Dositheus, Cicero, Erasmus, and several historical textbook traditions, as well as the modern dialogues of Traupman and Berard. In addition to writing and conversing, critically and reflectively, in Latin and in English, about the above works and topics, students make their own creative contributions to the store of Latin writing, composing dialogues, stories, letters, and other forms.