World Languages

York’s World Languages programs develop communicators, linguists, and aficionados of world cultures both past and present. We value training students to understand how languages work but emphasize language as a communicative tool in performing interpretive, presentational, and interpersonal tasks. Such skills are not, however, gained in a vacuum of language study. To communicate effectively, our students also gain insight into and appreciation for the cultures of the people who speak Chinese, French, and Spanish. A York World Language graduate will learn to communicate in cultures that offer surprising differences and share striking similarities to their own cultures.

The York World Language requirement allows students to choose among Chinese, French, or Spanish and complete three years in Grades 9-12, including at least the third level of one of these languages. By means of our interactive programs, students are immersed in the language and are engaged in using it in meaningful, authentic real-world contexts, where grammar and vocabulary are acquired with the goal of achieving proficiency in communication.

Requirements. In Grades 9-12, students are required to complete three years of a world language, either Chinese, French, or Spanish, through at least level III of that language.

French III

The students starting French III have previously gained proficiency that allows them to communicate their personal experience and take part in the daily interactions common to all cultures. Their goal in this course is to add some sophistication to their linguistic prowess and topics of conversation. Among the themes explored are environmental concerns, the structure of governments, the workplace, emergency services, and the press. In French III, students are introduced to two classic works of fiction edited for learners -- La planète des singes (The Planet of the Apes) and Cyrano de Bergerac. A unit on Francophone African fables provides the students with the opportunity to compare and contrast literary traditions of Western Europe and nations of Africa. Fun French-speaking projects include the publishing of a C.V., the creation of a found artifact to complement an analysis of The Planet of the Apes, and a current events and news television broadcast.
French III Honors

The students starting French III have previously gained proficiency that allows them to communicate their personal experience and take part in the daily interactions common to all cultures. Their goal in this course is to add some sophistication to their linguistic prowess and topics of conversation. Among the themes explored are environmental concerns, the structure of governments, the workplace, emergency services, and the press. In French III, students are introduced to two classic works of fiction edited for learners -- La planète des singes (The Planet of the Apes) and Cyrano de Bergerac. A unit on Francophone African fables provides the students with the opportunity to compare and contrast literary traditions of Western Europe and nations of Africa. Fun French-speaking projects include the publishing of a C.V., the creation of a found artifact to complement an analysis of The Planet of the Apes, and current events and news television broadcast. French III Honors covers linguistic and cultural topics in greater depth, its scope is also much broader and includes numerous abstract and challenging enrichment topics. As a result, French III Honors is intended for students who have a strong interest and aptitude for language learning, and who are ready, willing, and able to do the work necessary to tackle demanding communication tasks at an accelerated pace.
French IV

French IV students not only fine-tune and polish their communication skills, but they also now use French as a tool to explore topics common to the human experience. We keep current with news in the Francophone world by watching news clips and reading articles designed for native-speaking adolescents. Through the lens of film, novel, and short story, our students encounter celebrated French language histoires d'adolescence (child and adolescent protagonists). Students analyze, debate, produce art, and write their own stories as they encounter themes of building independence, finding one's voice, falling in love, owning mistakes, building friendships, and just plain living the teenage dream. A capstone project has the students interview and immortalize a story of one of the Monterey Peninsula's local French speakers.
French IV - YAS

French IV-YAS students not only fine-tune and polish their communication skills, but they also now use French as a tool to explore topics common to the human experience. We keep current with news in the Francophone world by watching news clips and reading articles designed for native-speaking adolescents.Through the lens of film, novel, and short story, our students encounter celebrated French language histoires d'adolescence (child and adolescent protagonists). Students analyze, debate, produce art, and write their own stories as they encounter themes of building independence, finding one's voice, falling in love, owning mistakes, building friendships, and just plain living the teenage dream. A capstone project has the students interview and immortalize a story of one of the Monterey Peninsula's local French speakers. French IV-YAS covers linguistic and cultural topics in greater depth, its scope is also much broader and includes numerous abstract and challenging enrichment topics. As a result, French IV-YAS is intended for students who have a strong interest and aptitude for language learning, and who are ready, willing, and able to do the work necessary to tackle demanding communication tasks at an accelerated pace.
French V

This course is aimed to enhance the students’ linguistic skills and communicative competence and prepare them to function more comfortably and confidently in the French language environment. It is also intended to help students gain a better understanding of the macro and micro French and European economic situations. Students will integrate their French language and culture by engaging in a reading and conversation intensive study of a range of authentic audio, visual, and textual materials designed to reflect common situations in the French-speaking business environment. The texts for this course will provide students opportunities to explore topics such as multinational companies in France, French companies in the global markets, gender equality, environmental protection, and energy conservation. This course is a student-centered discussion-based intensive language class with a strong emphasis on language proficiency through oral production via class participation, debates, and presentations.
Mandarin I

This course introduces the fundamentals of Mandarin Chinese through a focus on familiar topics about self, family, hobbies, school, sports, and music. Students will develop basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in the target language through interactive classroom activities, with special emphasis on establishing a solid foundation in tones and Chinese characters. While Chinese keyboarding skills in pinyin will be introduced, writing simplified characters legibly is expected throughout the year. Linguistically and thematically appropriate cultural information, such as Chinese names, family life, Chinese cities, popular sports in China, and traditional musical instruments, will also be discussed.
Mandarin II

Mandarin II continues to develop foundational language skills through fun games and various communicative tasks in real-world scenarios. Students will be able to express and ask about basic needs, preferences, and feelings or opinions on familiar topics of interest. To strengthen students’ Chinese orthographic awareness, emphasis will be placed on the systematic acquisition of recurring character components. In-depth cultural discussions on the celebrations of important Chinese holidays, Chinese food and associated symbolism, common health practices, and the educational system and school life in China, is also an integral part of the course.
Mandarin III

Mandarin III builds on the core foundational skills acquired in the prior courses to further strengthen and develop students’ interactional competence in the target language through communicative activities and multimedia materials. With the significant expansion of their linguistic repertoire, students will be able to request and provide information in everyday conversations, talk about topics on personal interests, as well as complete paragraph-length writing assignments. Extensive cultural discussion on student life in China, contemporary and traditional performing arts, and online influences in Chinese culture today will also be featured.
Mandarin III Honors

Mandarin III builds on the core foundational skills acquired in the prior courses to further strengthen and develop students’ interactional competence in the target language through communicative activities and multimedia materials. With the significant expansion of their linguistic repertoire, students will be able to request and provide information in everyday conversations, talk about topics on personal interests, as well as complete paragraph-length writing assignments. Extensive cultural discussion on student life in China, contemporary and traditional performing arts, and online influences in Chinese culture today will also be featured.

While Mandarin III Honors covers linguistic and cultural topics in greater depth, its scope is also much broader and includes numerous abstract and challenging enrichment topics. As a result, Mandarin III Honors is intended for students who have a strong interest and aptitude for language learning, and who are ready, willing, and able to do the work necessary to tackle demanding communicative tasks at an accelerated pace.
Mandarin IV

This intermediate-level course is designed to develop students’ ability to communicate spontaneously for real-world purposes in a culturally appropriate manner. This includes expanding vocabulary and discourse strategies that will allow students to articulate their opinions on a variety of topics, including travel, food, shopping, weather, health, development in China, and more. Students will have many opportunities to improve fluency in Mandarin through interactive learning activities and guided discussions that also help them better understand other cultures as well as their own.
Mandarin IV - YAS

This intermediate-level course is designed to develop students’ ability to communicate spontaneously for real-world purposes in a culturally appropriate manner. This includes expanding vocabulary and discourse strategies that will allow students to articulate their opinions on a variety of topics, including travel, food, shopping, weather, health, development in China, and more. Students will have many opportunities to improve fluency in Mandarin through interactive learning activities and guided discussions that also help them better understand other cultures as well as their own.

While Mandarin IV-YAS covers linguistic and cultural topics in greater depth, its scope is also much broader and includes numerous abstract and challenging enrichment topics. As a result, Mandarin IV-YAS is intended for students who have a strong interest and aptitude for language learning, and who are ready, willing, and able to do the work necessary to tackle demanding communicative tasks at an accelerated pace.
Mandarin V

Mandarin V is aimed to enhance students’ communicative competence and prepare them to function more confidently in the Mandarin-speaking world. The course covers various social, political, and environmental topics, and is supplemented with short stories, news, videos, films, and other authentic materials to help students gain a better understanding of colloquial and idiomatic expressions. They will further strengthen communication and language learning strategies, such as inferring meaning through sociocultural context or linguistic features. Through discussions, presentations, and other cooperative learning activities, students will have multiple opportunities to apply their language skills with greater fluency and accuracy.
Spanish I

Spanish I students start their language learning process acquiring basic knowledge that helps them share biographical information, articulate their likes and dislikes, give informal commands, and describe simple actions in the past. In addition, they will learn interrogative words, adjective and noun agreement, the use of Ser and Estar and the present tense of stem-changing verbs and irregular verbs. Moreover, students will be able to request information, describe places, and express existence and location. The texts used provide a variety of resources such as videos and interactive vocabulary presentations, allowing students to acquire the language and Hispanic culture in the context of real-life stories.
Spanish II

Spanish II students will learn to use preterite and imperfect tense, and irregular and stem-changing verbs in the past. Also, students will study negative and indefinite words, and they will be introduced to the subjunctive. In addition, they will learn to use reflexive verbs and to talk about their daily routine. Moreover, students will study the difference of saber and conocer, the use of Indirect Object Pronoun and Direct Object Pronoun, the preterit tense of ser and ir and other irregular verbs, and they will learn to differentiate between imperfect tense and preterit. Finally, they will be introduced to the subjunctive mood. By the end of Spanish II, students will be able to express for whom they do something, narrate events in the past and describe how life used to be, and they will be able to give formal commands. The texts used provide a variety of resources such as videos and interactive vocabulary presentations, allowing students to acquire the language and Hispanic culture in the context of real-life stories.
Spanish III

This is an intermediate, communicative, culture-based Spanish course. The four fundamental skills of reading, writing, speaking and aural comprehension are developed with a balanced approach. The course follows the curriculum outlined by the textbook Vistas, and it is supplemented with literature and culture-based activities. The texts used provide a variety of resources such as videos and interactive presentations, allowing students to acquire the language and learn about culture through real world scenarios. By the end of this course, students will have learned the core foundational building blocks of the language.
Spanish III Honors

This is an intermediate, communicative, culture-based Spanish course. The four fundamental skills of reading, writing, speaking and aural comprehension are developed with a balanced approach. The course follows the curriculum outlined by the textbook Vistas, and it is supplemented with literature and culture-based activities. The texts used provide a variety of resources such as videos and interactive presentations, allowing students to acquire the language and culture through real-world scenarios. By the end of this course, students will have learned the core foundational building blocks of the language. While Spanish III Honors covers linguistic and cultural topics in greater depth, its scope is also much broader and includes numerous abstract and challenging enrichment topics. As a result, Spanish III Honors is intended for students who have a strong interest and aptitude for language learning, and who are ready, willing, and able to do the work necessary to tackle demanding communicative tasks at an accelerated pace.
Spanish IV

This is an intermediate/advanced, communicative course based on a series of documentaries about the Spanish-speaking world. The four fundamental skills of reading, writing, speaking and aural comprehension are developed with a balanced approach. This course is based on the curriculum laid out in the textbook El cine documental. The Spanish IV curriculum reviews and elaborates upon various grammatical structures from previous years, and offers multiple opportunities to apply them in written and verbal exchanges. By the end of Spanish IV, students will be able to write and talk about various social, political, historical, and cultural topics and present their points of view in the target language.
Spanish IV - YAS

This is an intermediate/advanced, communicative course based on a series of documentaries about the Spanish-speaking world. The four fundamental skills of reading, writing, speaking and aural comprehension are developed with a balanced approach. This course is based on the curriculum laid out in the textbook El cine documental. The Spanish IV curriculum reviews and elaborates upon various grammatical structures from previous years, and offers multiple opportunities to apply them in written and verbal exchanges. By the end of Spanish IV, students will be able to write and talk about various social, political, historical, and cultural topics and present their points of view in the target language. While Spanish IV-YAS covers linguistic and cultural topics in greater depth, its scope is also much broader and includes numerous abstract and challenging enrichment topics. As a result, Spanish IV-YAS is intended for students who have a strong interest and aptitude for language learning, and who are ready, willing, and able to do the work necessary to tackle demanding communication tasks at an accelerated pace.
Spanish V

Spanish V students will continue the journey they started in Spanish IV. We will be reviewing grammar structures and will continue reading and analyzing different literary works in the target language. In Spanish V students will begin in the Spanish Realism Period, at the end of the XIX century, and will go through the Latin American Boom. In order to achieve these goals we will be using Repase y escriba to review grammar, and we will use online sources such as Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes to access different literary works.
Spanish V - YAS

Spanish V students will continue the journey they started in Spanish IV. We will be reviewing grammar structures and will continue reading and analyzing different literary works in the target language. In Spanish V students will begin in the Spanish Realism Period, at the end of the XIX century, and will go through the Latin American Boom. In order to achieve these goals we will be using Repase y escriba to review grammar, and we will use online sources such as Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes to access different literary works. While Spanish V-YAS covers linguistic and cultural topics in greater depth, its scope is also much broader and includes numerous abstract and challenging enrichment topics. As a result, YAS Spanish V is intended for students who have a strong interest and aptitude for language learning, and who are ready, willing, and able to do the work necessary to tackle demanding communication tasks at an accelerated pace.
Spanish VI

Students who are qualified and interested in extending their study of Spanish beyond Spanish V should speak with the Spanish teachers, Chair of the World Languages Department, and the Director of Teaching and Learning.

Faculty

John Daniel

World Languages Department Chair (French, Spanish)

jdaniel@york.org
Bio
Speaker of French, Spanish, Arabic, and Russian; Army veteran; established Peninsula singer and actor; Wonder Woman enthusiast—Mr. Daniel is York School’s polyglot dramatis personae.

As a high school senior in his native Virginia, John discovered a predilection for languages that led him to major in French at Mary Washington University. After college, he followed in his father’s and brother’s footsteps by enlisting in the U.S. Army. Mr. Daniel arrived on the Monterey Peninsula in 1995 as an Army specialist, happily tasked with studying Arabic for two years at the DLI.

Having performed in theater his whole life, often alongside his mother, father, and brother, John quickly became a part of Peninsula productions, working with Wharf Theatre, Unicorn Theatre, The Western Stage, MPC Theatre, and Pacific Repertory Theatre. He continues to audition and perform locally.

During a production of Godspell, John realized he had a knack for communicating with adolescents and began to consider a career in teaching language at the high school level. A teacher education program at San José State University, a stint as a seventh and eighth grade French teacher at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School in Palo Alto, and a year studying and teaching in Paris led Mr. Daniel to his first long-term substitute teaching position at Seaside High School in 2001. There he taught drama, Spanish, and English as a second language.

Joining the faculty of Stevenson School in 2002, John began a nine-year run teaching all levels of French and Spanish I-III. He completed an immersion M.A. program in French at the University of California, Santa Barbara and regularly led student groups on excursions to France with the Berkeley-based educational tour company ECI. Mr. Daniel joined York School's faculty in 2011. He is thrilled to be teaching French language and cultural awareness in York’s supportive, enthusiastic environment.

A quick Wikipedia read reveals that Mr. Daniel and Wonder Woman have much in common. Like the superheroine, John Daniel exhibits supreme strength as he leads the Health and Fitness weight training class and fearlessly directs York’s Health and Fitness program. He channels her heightened powers of wisdom and empathy as he mentors, inspires, and challenges his French I-V students, sponsors the French Honors Society, and interviews York hopefuls as part of the Admission Committee. Most notably, he imbues the York campus with superhuman energy and irrepressible joie de vivre. (But he’s still waiting for his lasso of truth and weaponized tiara....)
Andrew Glassco

World Languages (Spanish)

aglassco@york.org
Bio

Andrew Glassco’s foray into language teaching began with a passion for travel and adventure, which emerged when he went to study “lichachure” at Lancaster University in England during his junior year of college. That year he road-tripped through Kenya, crashed Oktoberfest in Munich, celebrated Christmas in Morocco and New Year’s Eve in Paris, climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland, and frolicked for days at the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona without ever seeing, or much less running with, a bull.

After earning his B.A. in English from the University of Colorado Boulder, he moved to Madrid in search of similar adventures and found them. But his biggest discovery that year was that he possessed a teacher’s voice, his own in fact, which came to him in a eureka moment after greeting his very first class of students with these words: “Hello. My name is Andrew and I will be your English teacher this year.”

He fully embraced this new profession and took on new teaching-traveling adventures in Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and, again, in Spain. Along the way his Spanish naturally improved and eventually led him to return to his alma mater in Boulder to get his M.A. in Spanish.

In recent years he has taught Spanish and ESL to students of all ages in the Bay Area while continuing to pursue adventures and various hobbies (guitar, tennis, golf, word games) on weekends and breaks.
Jasmine Hsu

World Languages (Chinese); International Student Advisor

jhsu@york.org
Bio
Jasmine Hsu, originally from Taiwan, received her M.A. in Linguistics from San Francisco State University and has been an educator for 20 years, including in Minnesota and the Bay Area. As a language teacher, Jasmine’s goal is to create an intellectually stimulating environment for students to develop communicative and cultural competence as well as a global perspective in and through the languages they speak. She envisions her classroom as a dynamic cognitive and social space where a balance is struck between individual and collaborative learning. Through studying culture and language, her students are encouraged to broaden their minds and their experiences of understanding other people’s lives and their own.

A lifelong learner who embraces spirited intellectual challenges, Jasmine enjoys teaching because it allows her to be in an environment where she must remain open to learning from her successes and failures in the classroom and to learning something important about herself, her students, and her discipline on a daily basis. Jasmine considers herself a nature enthusiast. She first fell in love with California’s beautiful coastline when she volunteered as a state park docent in Santa Cruz. In her free time, Jasmine loves hiking, biking, reading, and backpacking. She aspires to live a minimalist lifestyle so that she can create space for things that truly matter.
Jenny Nadaner

World Languages (Spanish); Global Programs

jnadaner@york.org
Bio
Jenny Nadaner is a life-long passionate language learner, having studied Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. Jenny loves teaching and working with students with a wide range of learning styles from diverse backgrounds. She believes that pedagogical strategies need to be compatible with the individual and is committed to the differentiated learning experience of each student.

Jenny’s philosophy of teaching has evolved in the context of her experience of 18 years as an instructor of Spanish at the University of California, Davis, the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza (Argentina), Stanford University Online High School, and independent high schools in the Pacific Northwest. In her teaching, Jenny emphasizes content and task-based instruction that leads to confident, pragmatic communicative competence with real life applications. Through this approach, the experience of Spanish language learning becomes meaningful in ways that contribute to the students’ appreciation and understanding of other cultures, while cultivating their intrinsic motivation to pursue more advanced education.

Jenny’s mission as a Spanish language instructor is to create a community of students who are enthusiastic about learning and become successful leaders in the increasingly interconnected and multicultural world. She believes that students learn best when exposed to primary sources, such as music, literature, history, art, geography, and current events, and are encouraged to see relationships between the language that they are learning and other fields of study of their own interest.

In her free time, Jenny enjoys spending time with her young son and husband. She is an outdoors enthusiast with a passion for rollerblading, hiking, and boogie-boarding. Jenny loves to travel and looks forward to vacations visiting with family in California and Argentina, and can often be seen sipping her preferred tea, yerba maté, from a traditional maté gourd.

World Languages Curriculum

World Languages

Faculty

York School