Modern Languages

The Modern Language Department offers four languages - French, German, Mandarin and Spanish - and advanced study, including AP, in the first three. Teachers use the communicative approach in instruction to insure that all students use the target language daily in class. Besides the four basic skill areas (speaking, listening, reading and writing), emphasis is placed upon studying and understanding each country’s culture.

These classes are designed for students to learn a foreign language, rather than to fine-tune skills of the native speaker. Although TCHS does not have a foreign language requirement for graduation, most colleges require students to study two to four years of the same foreign language for admission.