Featured Programs: Languages/Exchange

Curriculum
The study of world languages and cultures is an important part of the Bement curriculum. In the Lower School, students take one term each of Chinese, Spanish, and French, beginning in kindergarten. In the Upper School, all sixth grade students take an introductory year of Latin, which strengthens their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, and provides an excellent foundation for further language study. In the seventh grade, students commit to a three year study of Chinese, French, Latin, or Spanish to round out their upper school language experience. In addition, eighth and ninth grade students participate each year in a national test in Spanish, Latin, and French and fare extremely well among regional and national participants.

Language Enrichment and Global Exchange
Bement values the idea of helping our students to broaden their global perspectives, and the study of language is enriched by real-world opportunities to experience other cultures. Students in seventh through ninth grades have several opportunities to travel abroad. For example, every other year we participate in a long-standing student exchange with, L'Ermitage, a school in the Paris suburb of Maisons Laffitte. We have an established relationship with Beijing Xu Beihong Academy in China. During the school year, students studying Chinese communicate with the students at Beijing Xu Beihong via letter exchanges. In the summer of 2010, our students traveled to China to study the language and tour the country. Since 2007, our ninth grade class has traveled to the La Suiza Orphanage in the Dominican Republic. In addition to living at the orphanage, our students engage in daily goodwill and service projects while immersing themselves in the Spanish language and Dominican culture.