Here - International School Manila

Grade 11 students who need to complete the full IB Diploma, but have no prior exposure to
a foreign language or who have studied a foreign language that is not taught at ISM will be
able to study French Ab Initio or Spanish Ab Initio.
Chinese, Filipino, French, Japanese, Spanish - Level 1 Grade 9, 10, 11, 12
Pre-requisite: None
1 year, 1 credit
These Level 1 language courses aim to develop the four linguistic skills of listening,
speaking, reading and writing focusing on survival language through thematic and
communicative approaches. The topics explored on the themes closely relate to students’
interests and their awareness of the world and are linked to the themes of the IB Language
B program. They include: family, home, food, school life, transportation and leisure
activities.
By the end of the Level 1 language course, students will have acquired enough skills to
communicate in the oral and written mode with coherence and a reasonable amount of
accuracy within the range of themes explored.
Assessment is carried out through a variety of tasks including homework, quizzes, writing
exercises, long tests, oral presentations, interviews, role plays and semester examinations.
For Chinese: Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired enough skills
to communicate orally and will be able to write 50-200 characters and recognize 250-
300 characters.
For Japanese: Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired enough skills
for basic communication. They will have mastered Hirigana and Katakana alphabets and
50 Kanji characters will have been introduced.
Chinese, Filipino, French, Japanese, Spanish - Level 2 Grade 9, 10, 11, 12
Pre-requisite: High School Level 1 or Middle School Level A with teacher recommendation
1 year, 1 credit
These Level 2 courses aim to further develop the four skills of the language: reading,
listening, speaking and writing, focusing on basic linguistic items through the thematic and
communicative approaches. Further topics on social themes are studied. They include:
school and school life, life in the community, sports and hobbies, etc. Grammar and
language are learned extensively in context through various types of texts, films, video
clips, magazine and newspaper articles, short stories, poems and interviews. Students are
expected to use the language orally and in written form with a reasonable amount of
accuracy at all times in the classroom.
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