Reply to What's covered/what proficiency is reached at each level of Spanish (or other languages)?

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Reply to "What's covered/what proficiency is reached at each level of Spanish (or other languages)?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I can't find this written up anywhere (please point me to it if it exists!)-- would folks be willing to share brief descriptions of roughly what each level of MCPS Spanish looks like?

It would be super helpful to know generally what kinds of things they do/learn each year, and what a kid is expected to come out of the year with in order to be prepared for the next level.  I'd also be interested to hear what kinds of things kids *are* able to do at what level even if it's not related to school success and what their level of proficiency looks/feels like (things like, at what level a kid might be able to mostly follow a Spanish language movie or TV show with Spanish subtitles on?  Read a graphic novel on Spanish? Get by during travel in a Spanish-speaking country? Etc). If you are familiar with formal proficiency ratings like CEFR/DELE or ACTFL, please feel free to use those to describe, if it's easier.

I know this is kind of a big ask so feel free to just describe one or two levels if you're not up for all of them!  And feel free to share info from other languages besides Spanish...[/quote]

My kid is in AP Spanish Lit and can do everything you described. She can translate in both directions, volunteered over the summer at a job speaking Spanish exclusively, and got a 5 on her Spanish Lang AP last year. She's conspicuously caucasian and neither of her parents are fluent in Spanish (one passed an AP forever ago and rarely uses it, but has some understanding; the other has literally no education here). She has traveled without any trouble; even several years ago, she was able to converse with strangers in decent-enough Spanish to be easily understood, and had no trouble reading signs or having conversations. She has friends who are native speakers and no issues socializing exclusively in Spanish.

We put the subtitles on the switch in Spanish, listen to music in Spanish, and make a point of watching shows in Spanish (now with Spanish subtitles, not English), but she's not getting drill and kill at home. She definitely didn't get her skills from her parents; she surpassed our abilities a long time ago! She's a smart kid, so that helps, but I think her abilities show that the program definitely works if your kid pays attention and tries to actually use the language. She has actively looked for ways to practice; I think that's essential.[/quote]

This is precisely it. Your kid has engulfed themselves in their language, has practiced outside and even watched tv in Spanish. Most kids don’t do this and parents believe that a 45 mins a day is enough for a kid to acquire a language.[/quote]

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