MVS WORLD LANGUAGES
Latin
French
Spanish
Japanese
German
Chinese
American Sign Language
T
his guide is intended to explain the various options available for our world language courses.
All courses (with the exception of Chinese) are taught by our Michigan-certified, highlyqualified online instructors who have proven proficiency in the language of study as well as
innovative skills in engaging online learners. MVS Chinese courses are offered through a partnership
with the Confucius Institute at Michigan State University (CI-MSU) and the instructors are native
Mandarin speakers with a degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language. While we use our
own instructors, many courses contain content that is purchased from another company. The
descriptions below show which options are available for each language and explain the difference in
course types when there is more than one option available.
Middle School
French 1 – Middlebury Grades 6-8
French 2 – Middlebury Grades 6-8
German 1 – Middlebury Grades 6-8
German 2 – Middlebury Grades 6-8
Spanish 1 – Middlebury Grades 6-8
Spanish 2 – Middlebury Grades 6-8
High School
American Sign Language 1 – Michigan Virtual School
American Sign Language 2 – Michigan Virtual School
Latin 1 – Florida Virtual School
Latin 2 – Florida Virtual School
Latin 3 – Florida Virtual School
Chinese 1 – CI-MSU
Chinese 2 – CI-MSU
Chinese 3 – CI-MSU
Chinese 4 – CI-MSU
High School
Japanese 1 – Aventa
Japanese 2 – Aventa
French 1 – Middlebury or Aventa
French 2 – Middlebury or Aventa
French 3 – Middlebury or Aventa
French 4 – Aventa
AP French – Middlebury
German 1 – Middlebury or Aventa
German 2 – Middlebury or Aventa
German 3 – Aventa
German 4 – Aventa
Spanish 1 – Middlebury or Florida Virtual School
Spanish 2 – Middlebury or Florida Virtual School
Spanish 3 – Middlebury or Aventa
Spanish 4 – Aventa
AP Spanish – Middlebury
Course Type/Vendor Description
Middlebury Interactive Languages
(French, German, Spanish, AP French, AP
Spanish)
• Middlebury’s online courses use
cutting edge technology and researchdriven language learning strategies to
help learners discover the culture and
language they are studying.
• Pedagogy is focused on real-world
tasks involving communication in the
target language.
• The scope and sequence is rigorous.
This course type has a maximum
benefit for students considering
upper-level language study (3rd/4th
year level in high school or college level).
• Technology needs: headphones and
microphone (daily), use of Google
Chrome web browser.
Middlebury Interactive Languages
Grades 6-8 (French, German, Spanish)
• The Middlebury Grades 6-8 courses
involve the same curriculum as the
high school courses, but the pacing is
half as fast. For instance, Spanish 1A
and Spanish 1B at the Grades 6-8 level
are equivalent in content to Spanish
1A at the high school level.
• Technology needs: headphones and
microphone (daily), use of Google
Chrome web browser.
Michigan Virtual School (ASL)
• Our ASL courses are developed to
provide a solid foundation for
signing as well as engaging students in
reflection about perspectives on Deaf
Culture.
• Students are assessed through a
variety of means: keeping a blog,
developing signed presentations and
participating in signed conversations
through VoiceThread (a video posting/
commenting tool), assembling a class
dictionary (class wiki) and projects.
• Technology needs: headphones,
microphone and webcam for
recording signing videos.
Florida Virtual School (Latin)
• Students study the classical language
of Latin in the context of studying the
culture of the ancient Roman world.
• Students greatly increase their “word
power” in the English language as a
result of studying Latin.
• Technology needs: just a computer
with Internet!
Florida Virtual School (Spanish)
• The language study in Florida Virtual
School courses is more of a traditional,
grammar-based approach (as opposed
to the communicative, task-based
approach of the Middlebury courses).
• Grammar concepts are practiced
through the use of games.
• Technology needs: headphones and a
microphone (daily).
CI-MSU (Chinese)
• Our Mandarin Chinese courses include
weekly synchronous lab sessions with
native Chinese speaker and classmates
(students must sign up for a weekly
lab time).
• Instructors are native Chinese
speakers and bring a unique perspective
to students’ learning of the Chinese
culture and language.
• Technology needs: headphones and a
microphone.
Aventa Learning
(French, German, Spanish, Japanese)
• The language study in Aventa is more
of a traditional, grammar-based approach
(as opposed to the communicative,
task-based approach of the Middlebury
courses). These courses are not as
rigorous as the Middlebury courses,
but they are very methodical with a lot
of review opportunities to allow students
to master language structures.
• Technology needs: headphones and a
microphone (daily).