MHS to Hold World Language Open House
World Languages Department invites community view French, Spanish, Chinese, Italian and Latin classes.
The Millburn High School World Languages Deptartment will welcome members of the community during the week of Dec. 12 to catch a brief glimpse of several language classes during a typical school day.
The department will also hold an official ribbon cutting for its new computer lab during that week to thank school district administrators, the education foundation, the Millburn High School PTO and others whose support made the lab possible.
Community members are encouraged to follow this link to select a day and a time to visit from the given options.
Visits will occur during select class periods and language sections, each day during the week.
During the open house, some of the World Languages students will meet parents in the high school's main lobby five minutes before the start of each tour. These students will serve as escorts throughout the visits, which will consist of observing three, four or five language courses within one 43-minute class period.
MHS offers instruction in five different world languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin Chinese and Latin.
The classes are taught at various levels of difficulty:
- Advanced Placement, for the highly motivated students whose goal is to master the language in preparation for the nationally administered AP exam in May. Workload is rigorous and expectations for language mastery in reading, writing, speaking, and listening are high. AP classes are modeled after third-year university seminars.
- Accelerated, for the motivated students looking to go beyond average instruction. With higher expectations and a fast-paced curriculum featuring more oral presentations, listening exercises, writing prompts and short-story reading, accelerated classes in this department are generally challenging.
- CPA (College Prep), for students looking to achieve a typical college-preparatory course in the respective language. CPA courses have high academic demand.
- CPB (College Prep), for interested students seeking more general-interest education in the respective language. CPB courses have academic demands less than those of CPA courses.
In addition to general language classes, the MHS World Language Department offers special interest classes such as AP Spanish Literature, French Film, Spanish Business and French Business.
For cancellations or questions, please email Department Chair Abigail Crespo at abigail.crespo@millburn.org
bettydupre
6:08 am on Saturday, December 3, 2011
In the world today, a young lady who does not have a college education just is not educated. Especially with our busy life who has time but look for High Speed Universities for faster education at your leisure
Susan1
11:10 am on Saturday, December 3, 2011
Mark, many people are upset that the elementary world language program fell victim to budget cuts. But calling Dr. Crisfield a liar is unfair. He was forced into a situation at the last minute and he decided to take some time and get the new program right. I can't really argue with his cautious and thoughtful approach.
MarkDS
1:00 pm on Saturday, December 3, 2011
Then why did he not say that in the spring. What he said was:
"Superintendent Jim Crisfield said the program would be Rosetta Stone or some similar language development program.
“We feel we can get better at providing World Language more times every day with a this kind of program than with one person meeting with students once a week,” he said. “It can be taught more efficiently each day, even if it’s in shorter sessions.”
http://millburn.patch.com/articles/boe-budget-ends-elementary-world-language-curriculum
That was his consistent take throughout - that it would be replaced by another program. And that statement was a lie because this year there is NO program.
MarkDS
1:01 pm on Saturday, December 3, 2011
So, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Therefore unfortunately I will not be able to believe anything he says in the upcoming budget season.
LDSF
6:16 pm on Saturday, December 3, 2011
Retrospective studies that assessed students in high school who had been in language programs in elementary school have yielded results favoring bilingual education. Learning Mandarin in high school is tough without perquisite experience.
Gene Singleton
6:31 pm on Sunday, December 4, 2011
That's true! However, there are many tools that teachers and families can use. Our kids have been learning Chinese for the past three years. For our family that has virtually no background of Mandarin Chinese, except a few words like NiHao, it's been difficult for the kids. Since this summer, at the suggestion of their Mandarin teacher, the kids have been learning Mandarin Chinese from dubbed movies, movies such as Mulan, Toy Story, The Sound of Music, the American movies, however, dubbed in Mandarin Chinese. The good thing about these movies is the kids already knows these stories, and with Mandarin Chinese conversation, AND English subtitles, kids can learn very fast. There are also other audio / subtitles options as well. When they learn more effectively with English subtitles and Mandarin Chinese conversations, kids gain more confidence in learning. Our kids have built a 50 Mandarin Chinese dubbed movies library since this summer. Anyone learning Chinese should use such tools to their advantage. There are a few web sites that specialize Mandarin Chinese movies. Make sure that you order from some sites that are US based, like http://www.ChineseDubbed.com, which delivers movies in 2 - 3 business days, compared with some overseas sites that deliver in 20 - 30 business days, and NOT even guarantee you will receive them. Their goods are all US Customs cleared goods delivered with tracking information and delivery confirmation, so you are guaranteed to receive them.