We believe that learning modern world languages will not only improve your child’s academic performance, but will also develop their cultural insight. The ability to speak more than one language and having well-developed intercultural awareness are hallmarks of the global citizen.
Learning a language builds oral and written proficiency in that language while providing cognitive benefits your child will carry through life. Multilingualism optimizes brain function and keeps the brain flexible and ready to learn well into adulthood. Learning other languages is a key part of TNCS academics.
TNCS’s international staff brings a multitude of talent to our classrooms.
The 5 Cs of Language Learning
From age 2 years and up, TNCS students are taught by native Spanish and Mandarin Chinese speakers. Using the national standards set by the American Council on Foreign Language Teaching (ACTFL), our staff teach the 5 Cs of language learning:
- Communication
- Cultures
- Connections
- Comparisons
- Communities
Instructors share their skills, cultures, and experiences to provide your child with deep connections to modern world languages. Your child will learn to speak, read, and write in both Spanish and Mandarin.
Language In Action
Our Spanish and Mandarin Chinese Language Directors have designed curricula that emphasize absorption rather than memorization so that students feel comfortable using the target language. To make language learning active and interactive, they provide plenty of cultural exposure, such as cooking, singing, dancing, and playing games.
Most importantly, students learn actual content in the target language. Disciplines such as math and geography become even more meaningful when taught in another language. Your child will be able to use the language and think in it, not just memorize vocabulary.
Learning language is not just learning words; it is itself a tool for learning.
TNCS Twice Awarded Coveted STARTALK Grant
TNCS is the proud recipient of two consecutive grants from STARTALK, a National Foreign Language Center program. TNCS strives to make language-learning an authentic experience, not a lesson. Simple, real-world experience, such as what is actually going on in the classroom that day, gives students context and a reason to communicate in the target language verbally and in writing.
- Hispanic Heritage Night 2024: Around the Spanish-Speaking Globe!
- TNCS Honors Moms with Mother’s Day Celebrations, 2024!
- Lunar New Year at TNCS Was a Roaring Good Time!
- Visiting Chinese Scholars Program Returns to TNCS!
- From Bogotá to Baltimore: Rafael Gonzalez Joins The New Century School!
- Check-In with TNCS’s Elementary and Middle School Mandarin Chinese Program!
- TNCS Celebrates Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival!
- New Year’s Resolutions at TNCS: Speak Up (in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese)!
- Talking the Talk: Benefits of Multilingual Education at TNCS!
- TNCS Primary Students Help April Do Its Job!
- TNCS Rings in Year of the Ox with Lunar New Year Game Night!
- A Spring Break Message to Thank You, TNCS!
- Virtual TNCS: A School and Its Student Body Continue to Thrive!
- TNCS Celebrates the Lunar New Year, 2020!
- TNCS 5th- through 8th-Graders Take the Youth Chinese Test!
- Musical Theatre Camp 2019 Welcomed Some Very Special Visitors!
- Happy Chinese Lunar New Year 2019, TNCS Community!
- TNCS Hosts Four Elementary Students from China!
- TNCS Hosts Interns from China!
- MD Secretary of State Visits TNCS!
- TNCS Annual Spanish Heritage Night Was Muy Divertido!
- TNCS Elementary and Middle School Students Get Mooney!
- TNCS Spanish Immersion Camp 2018 Features Talented Guest Instructor from Spain!
- Hosts with the Most, Part 2
- Hosts with the Most—Rewarding Experiences
- TNCS Hosts Education Conference for Teachers from China
- Why You (Yes, You!) Should Consider Becoming a Host Family!