Kentucky Country Day School
Department of Foreign Languages
2005-2006
Salve
Bienvenue
Bienvenidos
KCD offers students in grades JK to 12 the opportunity to study a foreign language.
In our lower school, Spanish is offered in JK-4 during two 30 minutes classes per week. The language is taught in connection with the topics being covered in the classroom.
In Middle School, students in the 5th grade take a comparative language class with a trimester of French, Latin and Spanish. At the end of each trimester, a joint celebration with the students from all three languages during which a common theme (holidays, cooking) etc is explored from the perspective of each language/culture. This class is an opportunity for students to see the close relationships among the three languages.
In 6th grade, students may continue with Spanish or may wish to start either French or Latin. 7th and 8th grade language is considered the equivalent to an Upper School level I course and receives Upper School credit.
In the Upper School, all three languages are offered including the AP levels of Language and Literature. The Foreign Language faculty at KCd employs a variety of methods to teach their respective languages. TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) is taught as well as traditional methods.
In addition to the rigorous course offerings, students participate in national competitions in their specific languages as well as the Regional and State Language Festivals. KCD students annually receive national recognition for their scores on the exams and routinely place in the top 5 at both the Regional and State Festivals.
KCD language students have many diverse opportunities offered by the Multicultural Club and are able to put their language skills to use by travel abroad. Prior trips have included Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, France and Québec. KCD French students hosted 17 students from a lycée in France during April 2005 and are now planning to visit these families during our spring break in April 2006.
Technology in the Language Classroom
KCD is very fortunate to have a computer lab dedicated to foreign language. Our 20 station lab uses Rosetta Stone software for French, Spanish and Latin. Students are able to practicing listening, reading and writing skills as well as recording their prononciation and comparing it to a native speaker’s.
The program allows the teacher to design lessons specific to each student’s needs and to track his/her progress. The Rosette Stone software is used by more schools than any language program as well as by the Defense Department. You can learn more about the program at
In addition to the computer lab, KCD also has a 20 station analog lab available for student use. This lab has a teacher console that allows the students to be paired for partner work as well allowing the student to work individually. The teacher can monitor the students and give immediate feedback through the headphones. The instructor can tape student work for review and playback at a later time and assign as many as four oral/aural activities at one time to different groups.
Because of the Smartboards in each classroom and the presence of student laptops, use of online resources has become an everyday occurrence in the foreign language classroom. Sites that are used frequently are
(for practice of verb forms)
(for practice of vocabulary, grammar—teachers can
subscribe to the site and create their own specific activities)
(reading activities on line which are designed to
measure student achievement against national standards)
(news, music, culture direct from France and the
francophone world)
KCD Foreign Language Faculty
French
Jean Amick: 33 years teaching, 8th year at KCD
BA Spalding University. MA University of Louisville
Donna Tatum-Johns, 18 years teaching, 8th year at KCD
BA Transylvania University. MA University of Kentucky
Marjorie Seely, 15 years teaching, 3rd year at KCD
BA Lafayette College. MA Boston College
Julie Riggs-Johnson, 4 years teaching, 4th yearat KCD
BA University of Louisville
Spanish
Jane Lyman, 22 years teaching, 3rd year at KCD
BA Hanover College
Glenda Gallagher, teaching, 1st year at KCD
Andrea Lowery, teaching, 1st year at KCD
Hans Peterson, teaching, 1st year at KCD
Marjorie Seely (see above)
Julie Riggs-Johnson (see above)
Latin
Dick Aylor, 41 year teaching, 38th year at KCD
BA Georgetown College
MA University of Kentucky
Kathryn Balbach, 12 years teaching, 11th year at KCD
BA University of Kentucky
Reading as the cornerstone of the KCD language program
“Students learn faster and better when they read more…70% or more of a person’s vocabulary in their native language comes through reading. In third and fourth yeas of language study, most of the vocabulary is acquired through reading. Students need to read a great deal in order to continue to acquire more vocabulary. If your students can read more, they will acquire more vocabulary, their aural and reading comprehension will improve and their accuracy in writing and speaking will too.” (Fluency through TPRStorytelling, Ray and Seeley page 99)
We firmly believe in the transformative power of reading in the foreign language classroom and with this in mind, we have been constantly working to build a large reading collection in both French and Spanish. All students receive monthly magazines and the French students can access daily newspapers for French teenagers (published on line and available through subscription) by going to the Foreign Language homepage on the KCD Upper School Academic Homepage. Two levels of newpapers are available.
Here is a sample of the reading materials used in each language.
Purchasing has begun toward building a large “free” reading library of books at all levels or interest and skill. French students have available over 300 titles in their “library” which have been acquired over the last four years.
Spanish: The Blaine Ray series of readers
Pobre Ana, Casi se muere,
Lion, the witch and the wardrobe
Harry Potter:
French: The Blaine Ray series :
Pauvre Ana, Fama va en Californie, Presque Mort, Voyage Perdu,
Le Voyage de sa Vie, Ma Voiture à Moi, Vive le Taureau,
The Petit Nicolas series
Harry Potter: L’ecole des sorciers, La chamber des secrets
Why study a second (or third !) language ?
1. Studing another language can improve your skills and grades in math and English.
2. Language study can also improve your SAT, ACT, GRE, MCAT and LSAT
scores
3. More and more businesses work closely with companies in other countries.
4. There are many Americans who speak languages other than English.
5. You can discover new worlds and connect with new cultures.
You are never too young and it’s never too late to begin!
No matter which language you choose, learning it will make a difference in how you see the world and in how the world sees you. A person who can speak two languages is worth two people! He/she can communicate and function in two arenas carrying on tasks that it would normally take two people to do. Don’t let someone else do your talking for you---learn a language and speak for yourself!!