Languages

You’ll soon discover that the language you choose to study, whether spoken or classical, spills far beyond the classroom—often in ways that may surprise you. Later, through school-organized exchanges and trips to Spain, France, China, Peru, and Italy, you will have the opportunity to explore the country whose culture, literature, and history are becoming second nature to you.

Our language classes teach students to understand French, Mandarin, and Spanish speakers around the world both in their native tongues and historical contexts. The same classroom discussions that hone their speaking skills introduce students to such issues as the impact of communism in Cuba, French imperialism in North Africa, socio-economics and religion in Peru, and how Latin American culture is portrayed in popular culture.

French

French 1 and 2

Vocabulary, verbs, grammar; vocabulary, verbs, grammar. Within weeks you’ll be holding short conversations and reading short texts. Using a college-level textbook, Deux Mondes, we cover French grammar in two years. Nightly oral and written homework, exercises and self-evaluations on the web, and (because classes are so small) lots of discussion and debate yield satisfying results: you’ll rapidly begin to feel at home in French. Soon we delve into stories, poems, films, newspapers, and magazines. In addition, we investigate aspects of French life—from the arts to politics. Sometimes we make crêpes or mousse au chocolat. After two years, you’ll speak, write, and understand French: you’re ready for an AP-level course. Bonne continuation!

My class at the Alliance Française in Paris the summer I was fifteen included students from a diversity of backgrounds. One day I went to the botanic gardens with a young Spanish classmate. During that walk I learned more about a country I had never visited and a language I had never learned than I would have thought possible. That the French we each had studied could serve as the crucial link in a friendship between me and Maria struck me as amazing and wonderful.

French 3

We begin an exploration of classic French literature and plunge into the technically revolutionary French cinema movement known as la Nouvelle Vague with films that include Godard, A Bout de Souffle. We read novellas and stories—Camus, L’Etranger; Perrault, Contes (frequently grim seventeenth-century versions of fairy tales you may know from childhood); Baudelaire’s poetry—and we parse songs by Edith Piaf. In other words, you’ll be doing the same sort of close reading and oral and written analysis you’re already used to in your English and history classes. At the same time, we do an in-depth review of grammar using La Grammaire à l’oeuvre in class, at home, and on the web, into which we fold work on idiomatic everyday speech.

We read a lot; we analyze a lot; we talk a lot; we write a lot. One day in the middle of the year, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t even thinking about the fact that I was doing all this in French.

French 4 Conversation

You often work in pairs or small groups to do research, create assignments, present topics, and run discussions related to current events and French culture. Since the curriculum caters to your interests, it changes constantly (i.e., you can take this class in consecutive years). We may compare auteurs (film directors) and their styles. Or look at la bouffe (food): organic and local vs. genetically modified and industrial; cooking styles: family style vs. gastronomy (with tastings!). Taking off from Sartre’s play Huis Clos and the idea that “Hell is other people,” we might discuss family relationships and the idea of “the Other.” From there we might transition to “Black, Blanc, Beur” and the legacies of immigration from the classic film The Battle of Algiers (1966), to La Haine, made thirty years later. How were social inequalities addressed—or not—in French politics? What about today? Each unit is articulated around readings, films, music, videos, and whatever else we encounter on our path.

I remember kicking back and relaxing while watching my very first black and white film, Jules et Jim, only to find out that I had to do a twenty-minute presentation of a two-minute clip the next week. (In the same way I had previously read books just for the story, I’d watched movies for plot.) So I set out to examine how the filmmaker told the story and what sorts of emotions he conveyed to the viewer through camera angles, lighting, and perspective. Essentially it was close reading with a DVD player. Now I think about all I missed in the movies I saw before!

French 4 Literature

We jump into major literary works from the medieval Tristan et Iseut to Proust’s Combray or Colette’s La Chatte. You can take this course twice because each year the readings change. For example, we might read seventeenth-century plays by Molière or Racine; Voltaire’s just pre-revolutionary Candide or Laclos’ thoroughly subversive, darkly comic Liaisons Dangereuses; novels by Balzac or Flaubert (almost always Madame Bovary). Outside the “hexagone” we may read Le gone du Chaâba by Azouz Begag, or Aimé Césaire’s Cahier d’un retour au pays natal. Often we’ll see films associated with the novels or plays. According to class interest, we read more or less poetry (often more). We read and write a great deal, and class discussions are frequently fervent and sometimes fiery. Having reached this level of language and literary sophistication, you all argue about texts with great enthusiasm!

What people say in class sometimes makes me see something in a new light or refines one of the ideas I have. Often the most successful classes are fueled by people’s riffing off of each other’s comments and ideas.

Latin

Latin 1 and 2

In two years, Commonwealth’s Latin program completes all the grammar you will need to read the classics of Roman poetry and prose, not to mention medieval and Renaissance literature.

Refusing to be outdone by schoolmates who study “living languages,” students from Latin 1 and 2 have been known to sing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in Latin at our Winter Assembly. From the very start, you will be reading simplified snippets of real Roman literature, and later longer authentic stories, often by authors or about figures you encounter in our Ancient History course. Famous stories include the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus and the assassination of Julius Caesar. (But do you know who Cincinnatus or the Gracchi were?) We read classic passages by Cicero and Ovid, and snarky poems by Catullus addressed to his lover’s husband as well as his literary critics.

Along the way you will also pick up other bits of knowledge—about the history of the Latin language, about the English language, and, just for fun in Latin 2, about how Western languages work in comparison with Eastern ones.

When I was applying, I was interviewed by a Latin teacher. He talked about Saturnalia, the famous role-reversal holiday of the Romans, and its relevance to modern religious traditions. I walked away completely convinced that this was the school for me. In fact, I decided on the spot to take Latin the following year.

Latin 3

Latin might be a dead language, but in Latin 3 we begin to read real, live Latin texts! After quickly sampling a pair of rather obscure, early historians—Cato the Elder and Quadrigarius—we linger on Cicero and Sallust, analyzing the mechanics of their style and rhetorical technique, before graduating to the more stylized prose of the early empire: excerpts of Petronius’ outrageous Satyricon; Suetonius’ outlandish account of Nero’s assassination of his own mother; or the letter in which Pliny the Younger’s describes his uncle’s effort to save the refugees of Vesuvius. As we study these prose authors, we will also review Latin grammar systematically, with an eye to subtleties glossed over in the first two years of Latin. In the winter, we transition to poetry: by now you’ve heard of Catullus, the racy Roman poet who chronicled his loves and hates in shockingly sordid (and often untranslatable) terms. We’ll revel in all his hilariously puerile antics, but always with an eye toward the profound artistic vision underlying this trifling “play.” For as one of the “New Poets,” Catullus adopted the Alexandrian Greeks’ ambition to craft poems of unprecedented perfection—very short works that cannot be appreciated without scrupulous
attention to every word. Then we’ll investigate how Ovid, two generations later, incorporates into his epic Metamorphoses not only Catullus’ poetics of the intricately-wrought poem, but also his obsession with the beauty and terror of human desire.

Though I was not having a good day, I realized that doing Latin with my class would cheer me up far more than most anything else I could do with those forty minutes. Sure enough, by the end of the period my dark mood was crowded out by lively discussions of folk motifs in Vergil. I left Latin feeling buoyed up and refreshed.

Latin 4

In the first semester of this college level course, we will read selections from Vergil’s Aeneid, part homage to Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, part lamentation on the human cost of empire. Shall we, like Saint Augustine before us, grieve the death of Queen Dido for love of pitiless Aeneas? Or pity Aeneas, the man of grief destined to found the race that will vanquish all nations? Whether the tragedy of star-crossed lovers, or Rome’s grim history, the same war in heaven is the cause. This is what we’ll discover as we relish the heartbreaking beauty of Rome’s national epic. After that, we’ll delve into other genres of the Roman poetic tradition, exploring writers such as Horace, Propertius, and Catullus, and examining the dialogue between the works of these lyric poets with Vergil’s epic vision.

To understand a text critically, to formulate my own thoughts, and to express them clearly through writing or speaking up in the classroom, that was my goal. Taking risks with my own opinion about a passage in Latin became an exciting daily challenge.

Advanced Latin

Mandarin

Mandarin 1 and 2

In all Mandarin classes, we work on the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading comprehension, and writing. If you have little or no experience with the language, Mandarin 1 is the course for you. We study Pinyin—the phonetic system of Mandarin Chinese. You will learn to read and write some 120 Chinese characters that form about 150 words. By the end of the first year, you’ll find yourself using greetings properly and talking to classmates about yourselves and your families. You’ll be able to understand and discuss (simply) topics centered around daily life: school life, weather, and shopping.

In Mandarin 2 we further emphasize aural comprehension and oral expression. With support from our textbooks (we start with Ni Hao, Vol. 3, and soon move on to the college- level Integrated Chinese), you broaden your knowledge of simplified Chinese characters (the system used in mainland China), practicing strokes, stroke order, and radicals. In addition, we read simple poetry and folktales, listen to music, and learn about festivals and holidays. And throughout your Mandarin studies, you get to make and sample extraordinary food.

The non-alphabetical system is so different. It’s the most difficult part, but it’s the most interesting. The characters can be like a beautiful block.

Mandarin 3

We take the plunge and conduct the class entirely in Mandarin, continuing to work hard at the requisite four skills. We also incorporate authentic material into the curriculum—short videos (for example, a Chinese sitcom about an American girl in China), Mandarin songs, poems. With classmates, you get to make up and present original skits that deal with everyday problems, from arguments with your parents to explaining your food allergy in a restaurant.

Our xiăo kăo shì (‘little tests’) comprise everything we have learned over the whole year. ‘But that makes it easy,’ [my teacher] says. ‘No surprises!’

Mandarin 4

You’ve become fearless enough to try to use the language creatively. Sometimes it doesn’t come out exactly right, but even so, you can be easily understood. We still do intense oral/aural and written drills, but you also hold conversations, present material to others, and talk interpretively about a text, film, or video. And you’ll see results: by the end of the year, when you watch The Blue Gate, a film made in Taiwan, you no longer need subtitles. Class discussions often turn to social issues, comparisons of culture, or politics.

Our teacher told us once, ‘If I could airdrop my students into China, I would want them to be able to survive.’ I think if she did that now, we could!

Mandarin 5

Mandarin 6

In this advanced course, students continue to develop their Mandarin skills. This course will be offered as a full-credit or half-credit literature course depending on student interest. Students should discuss their particular interests with the instructor to help determine the focus of the course and the material used. Prerequisite: Mandarin 5 or permission of the instructor.

Mandarin Literature

In this literature course, students continue to develop their reading and writing skills in Mandarin. Students will read classical prose and poetry as well as modern and contemporary literature works. Students will write poems, stories, and essays. This course is offered as a full-credit or a half-credit course depending on student interest. Students should discuss their particular interests with the instructor to determine the focus of the course and the material used. Prerequisite: Mandarin 5 or permission of the instructor.

Spanish

Spanish 1 and 2

We plunge immediately into the study of the four basic language skills (speaking, reading, writing, comprehension)—no English in class! Literary or journalistic texts and videos will give you a glimpse of the vast world of Spanish and Latino culture. In addition, you often write stories and essays, or skits that you present to your class.

In Spanish 2, the main subject of study is the country of Spain, with a particular focus on the autonomous community of Andalucía. The cultural sourcebook (compiled by a Commonwealth Spanish teacher) lets us work with a rich and increasingly sophisticated selection of literary, historical, political, and illustrated art-historical articles. We look at dance and films; we listen to music.

Early in Spanish 2, we also begin preparation for our March trip. You write blogs and correspond with the Spanish student who will be both your guest and your host.

My favorite debate I had with my family at dinner was about teenagers spending most of their time on social networks rather than doing something educational, like reading a book. And we were arguing in Spanish!

Spanish 3

In this course, literature and history spur discussion as students reinforce, extend, and enrich their fluency and pronunciation. The course is based on the culture and literature of Peru. Students will read pieces by Mario Vargas Llosa, José María Arguedas, and César Vallejo, among others, and be exposed to different writing styles and cultural backgrounds. Students will also read newspaper articles and essays on the economics and politics of Peru.

Our discussion topics have included immigration, the Cuban revolution, dictatorships (Dominican Republic, Chile Argentina, Cuba), sexuality and society, music—to sum it up, just about anything you can fruitfully talk and argue about.

Spanish 4 Literature: Magical Realism

This course introduces students to Latin American authors who explore two genres: magical realism and fantastic literature. Students will read and analyze various stories and short novels, as well as write critical essays. Our principal goal is to strengthen students’ command over the Spanish language, in both oral and written use, and also to use literary criticism to deepen students’ understanding of a text. Some of the authors we will study in class are: Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia), Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina), Bioy Casares (Argentina), Felisberto Hernández (Uruguay), Leopoldo Lugones (Argentina), Mario Benedetti (Uruguay), and Carlos Fuentes (México).

Spanish 4 Literature: Women’s Voices in Latin America

After four years of working with words that once sounded clunky, when I read Spanish literature now, I think in the language. The same transformation can occur in every discipline. You can learn to think in the language of science or the language of history. When this happens, you see things fit together in a beautiful harmony, and the field belongs to you.

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