Foreign Language

Overview

The John Carroll Foreign Language Department offers a four-year sequential program in French, Spanish, Russian and German and Latin. There is range of classes for all ability levels, including Honors in all four languages with Advanced Placement offered in French, German and Spanish. The school facilities include a Computer Language Lab where students work to perfect their language skills by using either audio tapes in the target languages or interactive computer learning stations. The commitment of the department members to excellence in instruction and respect for students, combines to achieve a positive climate of mutual growth and acceptance.

Goal

Our goal is to enable our students to develop language proficiency in oral, written, reading, and comprehension skills. We strive to help them to view language study and cultural understanding as a means to becoming a citizen of the global community.

Individual Consideration

Any student who has a previous knowledge of a foreign language or who is a native speaker, will be tested so that he/she can be placed in the class where the best learning takes place.

When an individual has completed the four-year program and is eligible to continue in French and Spanish, the department actively seeks to satisfy this demand. Such courses are arranged individually between student and teacher with content and meeting times varying to meet individual needs.

Many of our students express the desire to learn a second modern foreign language or Latin. With the modular schedule, we are able to accommodate these academic interests.

With a requirement of three years of foreign language study, John Carroll is pleased with the very significant numbers of students who choose to continue in our fourth year classes. Approximately fifty percent of our juniors continue to study a language for an additional year.

National Foreign Language Consideration

Our students participate in the national contests in German, French, Latin and Spanish. John Carroll is a test site for the French and Spanish contests. Our students consistently score well on these tests. Honor society members visit local restaurants to sample the cuisine and culture of the country whose language they study. We sponsor trips to cultural sites such as the National Gallery and the Merriweather Post Museum. While there, students view the works of major artists they have studied and listen to experienced guides who speak to them in their target language. Russian students visit Hillwood in Washington D.C. to see the largest collection of Russian art outside of Russia. French students go to Goucher College each year to see a play in French. We also visit restaurants where the cuisine, culture and language are further experienced. Latin students participate in the Latin Honors Society: National Junior Classical League.

College Placement

John Carroll students regularly receive language credits upon college entrance. Most of the John Carroll graduates with four years of language are placed in the Intermediate level of college language courses.

Foreign Language Week

Every year in March, the John Carroll campus adopts an international flavor. Week highlights include the induction ceremonies for the Language Honor Societies. During the week, daily announcements, displays and cafeteria foods reflect our multi-cultural dimension.

Foreign Trips/Exchanges

Our students have ample opportunities to travel to such countries as England, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Russia during spring break or after the close of the school year.

Foreign Language Department Faculty
Jane E. Michael, Chair	B.A. Frostburg State University, University of Guadaljara, Mexico, University of Valencia, Spain
Regina H. Ferry	B.A. Loyola College, Université de Nice
Martha B. Harris	B.A. Towson State University
Edward Maynard	B.A. University of Maryland
Jennifer Blume Medrano	B.A. Washington College
Ed Miller	B.A. Loyola College, M. A. Georgetown University
Judith A. Potter	B.S. Millersville State College (Master’s Equivalent)
Carmen Swartz	M.A. Pontificial Catholic University, P.R.
R. Richard Wojewodzki	A.L.B. Harvard University, M.S.Ed. Johns Hopkins
Danica Zavodny	B.A. Franklin and Marshall