Bonjour, Guten Tag, Salvete, and Buenos días from the desk of the Foreign Language Department Head

What a formidable gift from the Heavenly Father language is!  The faculty of Covenant Christian Academy are delighted to facilitate the learning of French, German, Latin, and Spanish in the context of a Classical, Christian, college-preparatory school.  We have a highly engaged and specialized faculty devoted to teaching world languages.

Foreign Languages and The Christian Worldview

Most linguists agree that 6,800 languages are spoken on the planet today. The Bible indicates that God uses spoken language to create and to bring Himself glory.  At the tower of Babel, Man decided to use language to steal glory from God. The consequence of this sin resulted in the fracturing of language.  As the teaching of Foreign Language in light of God’s purposes redeems the subject, CCA instructors emphasize biblical integration in the foreign language classroom.  Students as young as eight and nine years old learn the about the history of Language and the anthropological/linguistic proof of Babel. Bible verses in the target languages are woven into the curriculum. During the course of modern language study in ninth through twelfth grades, students examine texts and history in the target language from a biblical worldview.

Foreign Languages and Classical education

The primordial feature of classical education aligns the subject matter and the manner of teaching with the child’s stage of development.  Classical education also classifies learners in grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages.  The child in the grammar stage relies heavily on memorization, thus songs and repeated drills feature strongly in the FLEX curriculum.  Logic phase students develop analytical skills.  The study of Latin provides ample practice for honing this skill.  Older students in the Rhetoric stage concentrate on communication in their target language.  The content of study for third year and AP courses offer sufficient opportunity to polish oral and written production.

Foreign Languages in a college-preparatory environment

As a college-preparatory school, Covenant Christian Academy insists on a high level of scholarship.  The extended study of Latin provides students with valuable tools for expanding their English vocabulary and establishing an understanding of the mechanics of language.  The high school curriculum focuses on four key skills: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing.  Rhetoric school students must take oral final exams in their target language.  Currently, CCA teachers are developing an exchange program with sister ACSI schools abroad to boost oral proficiency for students entering their fourth year of language study at the AP level.