Sixth graders got four stamps on their passports last Friday as they traveled throughout our Middle School world language classrooms on our annual Passport Day. This day is designed for rising seventh graders to explore the four language classes offered at our School starting in their seventh-grade year. From Spanish and French to Latin and Mandarin, there was a lot to explore about the rich language learning opportunities available from seventh through 12th grade.
One sixth-grader shared that his Passport Day experience was terrific. “We did different fun activities for each of the different languages: Chinese character drawings for Mandarin, some trivia for Spanish, matching the animal for Latin, and some French history for French,” he said.
Noah Bouchellih ’29 really enjoyed the day as well. “Passport Day was really fun. We visited each classroom and learned about all the language opportunities we can take next year. I learned what countries were associated with the language, some basics, and some fun facts!” Let’s fly to each passport stop to see what they learned about each language!
Latin
Entering Latin Teacher Natalie Griffin’s classroom, students watched a slideshow play that was filled with famous Roman sites. Griffin introduced Latin as a classical language, pointed at the map to show where Latin was spoken, and asked students what they knew about Latin. She then reviewed the full Classics program at MICDS, which starts in seventh grade and continues through the AP level and Ancient Greek I and II in Upper School.
Some of the key points shared were that 60 percent of the English vocabulary is derived from Latin, it is the base of such disciplines as medicine, law, astronomy, art history, and music, and it includes the study of Roman and Greek civilizations on which all western societies are based. Beyond the classroom, Latin students partake in a field trip to the St. Louis Art Museum and Cathedral Basilica, Certamen matches, and have the chance to travel to Italy and Greece through a global learning trip offered in Upper School.
After learning a few key words and phrases like “salve” (“hello”) and “Quid agis hodie?” (“How are you today?”), students participated in an activity. They had a lot of fun trying to connect the names of animals in Latin with English words and pictures of animals.
“My top preference language for seventh grade is Latin,” shared Skyler Dastgah-Bradford ’29. “During the Latin presentation, Ms. Griffin mentioned Latin at MICDS is more reading and writing than speaking, which I prefer more. Another reason why Latin is my first choice is because, when we get older, we get opportunities to travel to places like Italy and Greece. In Latin, we also get to study the Ancient world, which is something I’m interested in.”
Mandarin
There were four components in the visit to the Mandarin classroom of Mandarin Teacher Zuowei Chang. First, students read from a slide that showed the dates for Tiger, one of the Chinese Zodiac signs, and the dates for the following Zodiac sign Rabbit. “They compared the dates with their birthday,” said Chang, “and then told me in Mandarin (it showed how to say it on the slide) what their Zodiac sign was. This year is the year of Rabbit and many of them are Rabbit, because they are 12 years old and the cycle of the Zodiac sign is also 12 years.”
French
In the classroom of French Teacher Jean-Jacques Poucel, students counted from one to 20 in French, learned a few nouns, and listened, repeated, and played guessing games. They looked at a few great reasons to study the French language and discussed where French is spoken on the planet.
Next, they focused on French culture, looking at art, architecture, fashion, food, theater, and dance. They talked about monuments in Paris (i.e. Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower), scrumptious foods most kids have been exposed to from French cuisine (chocolate eclairs, crêpes, ratatouille, etc.), and painters. Students learned about cognates, words that have a double life, having come to English through the French language. They were informed of the French exchange program available to students in Upper School and even had a chance to test out their own French accents. “French is fun to learn because it gives you access to amazing places, experiences, and opportunities,” said Poucel.
“My top preference was French because both of my sisters (Carli ’25 and Estephanie ’21) went to this school and choose French, and they really enjoyed it,” adds Jen Salazar Estrada ’29. “This was also one of my top preferences because the French class seemed very interesting and exciting. The teacher was very entertaining, and the class was very upbeat.”
Spanish
Last but not least, in the Passport Day lesson with Spanish Teacher Emily Farfan, students learned a bit about the history of the language, the importance of it not only in Spanish-speaking countries but in the U.S. and across the world, and the opportunities that it can open for travel and career advancement, not to mention interactions with people from around the globe. Students also learned about opportunities for travel and immersion in the Upper School.
At the end of the class, they played a trivia game to test their knowledge of facts about the Spanish language that they learned during the lesson. Did you know that Spanish is the fourth most spoken language? Or that the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world is México? What about the fact that Spanish is a romance language derived from Latin? These are just some of the trivia questions that students learned from.
One student selected Spanish as his preferred language to learn so that he could speak it with his family. “Spanish is my top preference because my whole family speaks it, and I would like to join in on the fun,” said Sawyer Mandell ’29.
“Passport Day was a great experience and helped me decide which language I want to take next year in seventh grade!” concluded Dastgah-Bradford. Mila Gomez ’29 echoed this thought: “My Passport Day experience was interesting because I had never had even a short class in French, Latin, or Mandarin. I just know mostly about Spanish, which is my background. I learned way more about the other languages, and I found the information interesting in all of the classes.”
Thank you to our World Language teachers for making this trip around the MICDS language-learning world so helpful and fun!