The ab initio course is designed for beginners who wish to study a new language over a 2-year period. They cannot have studied the language in the Senior School. 

Why Study a Foreign Language?

Learning a foreign language will enable students to interact in a new cultural and linguistic context in order to function in a society different from their own, which is an asset in our multicultural society. Knowing a different language will not only demonstrate the student’s ability to express himself/herself in an everyday context in a foreign language but will also demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of other people and other cultures.

The Aim of the Course

The course is designed to give students the tools to communicate in speech and in writing in order to deal with familiar everyday situations. Students will also develop their cultural awareness of the country where the language is spoken by studying aspects of the culture that relates to them.

The Language ab initio Course

The themes studied are:

There are five assessment objectives for the language ab initio course and students will be assessed on their ability to:

• Communicate clearly and effectively in a range of contexts and for a variety of purposes
• Understand and use language appropriate to a range of interpersonal and/or intercultural contexts and audiences.
• Understand and use language to express and respond to a range of ideas with accuracy and fluency.
• Identify, organise and present ideas on a range of topics
• Understand, analyse and reflect upon a range of written texts and audio- visual stimuli.

Structure of the course

Key Skills

As well as developing their linguistic knowledge further, students will:

• As well as developing their linguistic knowledge further, students will:
• Develop their listening skills and memory.
• Develop their reading skills (understanding general information and also details).
• Produce short oral presentations
• Produce short descriptions, expressing a variety of opinions.