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World Languages

Learning world languages opens many doors to personal, professional, and academic development. It provides a critical perspective through which students understand their individual identity and global community. Vistamar students are prepared to be orally proficient and culturally competent — to communicate effectively in real-life situations, and to know what language is appropriate depending on the context.

World Languages Objectives

  • Be orally proficient
  • Be culturally competent
  • Develop a broader understanding of our global community
  • Possess a deeper sense of one´s identity
  • Foster opportunities for academic, professional, and personal growth

Oral Proficiency Requirements

World Languages at Vistamar is fundamentally about teaching students to speak a new language. We believe in empowering students in their identity and learning to embrace those around us who have their respective identities. Through our World Languages program, we use language to create another gateway to other wonderful cultures and peoples that inhabit our world.

We offer Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, which make up the most spoken languages in the world along with English and Hindi. All our classes are offered in a 100% immersed experience and scaffolded based on the level of the class.  At the entry level, we work on basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS), focusing on fluency and everyday usage of the language. Students progress to a cognitive academic language proficiency(CALP) curriculum, focusing on topics they might encounter in a multidisciplinary humanities curriculum, such as literature, arts, or music, taught in the new language. 

Vistamar students study three years of a foreign language and are encouraged to take a fourth year. We offer five distinctive programs that vary depending on the students' experience, including Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Honors Mandarin Chinese, Honors Spanish, and Spanish for Heritage Speakers. The students placed in our Spanish for Heritage Speakers classes work on gap areas in the language acquisition spectrum, progressing to higher level discussion of cultural topics and exploring their identity as Spanish speakers in the US. 

Spanish & Mandarin Courses

  • Spanish (I-IV)
  • Honors Spanish II,III
  • AP Spanish Language and Culture
  • Honors Spanish III (Heritage)
  • AP Spanish Language and Culture (Heritage)
  • Honors Topics in Advanced Spanish - Literature and Film
  • Mandarin Chinese (I-IV)
  • Honors Mandarin Chinese III
  • AP Chinese Language and Culture

Meet the Faculty