By the end of Beginning Level:
a. Give and follow simple instructions as part of age-appropriate classroom or cultural activities or both.
b. Ask and answer questions about various topics, such as school events, celebrations, personal opinions, and family, orally or in writing.
c. Exchange descriptions of people and products of the culture (such as toys, dress, types of dwellings, and foods) with each other and with the class as a group.
d. Perform greetings, leave-takings, and common classroom interactions using culturally appropriate gestures and oral expressions.

By the end of Intermediate Level:
a. Follow and give directions for participating in age-appropriate cultural activities and investigating the function of products of the foreign culture and ask and respond to questions for clarification.
b. Exchange detailed information and compare, contrast, and express opinions and preferences about personal events, memorable experiences, and other school subjects with peers or members of the cultures studied.
c. Acquire goods, services, or information orally or in writing.
d. Discuss school and community issues and problems.

By the end of Advanced Level:
a. Develop, discuss, and present solutions to important issues and problems of the cultures studied.
b. Present analyses and reactions to expository and literary texts with peers or speakers of the language studied or both
c. Exchange, support, and discuss their opinions with fluid use of language on a variety of topics.

By the end of the Beginning Level:
a. Comprehend main ideas of age-appropriate stories such as personal anecdotes, familiar fairy tales, and other narratives based on familiar themes.
b. Use oral and written description to identify people and objects found in their environment or in other school subjects.
c. Comprehend brief written messages and short personal notes on familiar topics such as family, school events, and celebrations.
d. Comprehend the main themes and ideas and identify the principal characters of stories, including children’s literature.
e. Comprehend the principal message contained in media such as illustrated texts, posters, or advertisements.
f. Correctly interpret gestures, intonation, and other visual or auditory cues.

By the end of the Intermediate Level:
a. Comprehend written or spoken information about other school subjects; use knowledge acquired in other settings and from other subject areas to comprehend spoken and written messages in the language studied.
b. Understand announcements and messages connected to daily activities in the culture studied.
c. Understand the main theme and significant details from printed products of the cultures as presented on TV, radio, or video or in live presentations.
d. Understand the main theme and significant details from printed products of the cultures as found in the literature, newspapers, magazines, e-mail, or other sources used by speakers of the language studied.

By the end of the Advanced Level:
a. Demonstrate an understanding of the main ideas and significant details of live and recorded discussions, lectures, and presentations on current or past events from the cultures studied or another school class.
b. Demonstrates an understanding of the principal elements of non-fictional articles on topics of current and historical importance to members of the culture.
c. Analyze the main plot, subplot, and the description, roles, and significant characters in primary sources texts.
d. Demonstrate an understanding of the culture nuances of meaning in written and spoken language, as expressed by speakers of the language studied in formal and informal settings
e. Demonstrate an understanding of the culture nuances of meaning in expressive products of the culture, including selections from various literary genres and the visual arts.

By the end of the Beginning Level:
a. Deliver short oral messages or written reports and exchange the information with another language class either locally or at a distance.
b. Dramatize songs, share anecdotes, or recite poetry commonly known by peers in the cultures studied, for an appropriate audience.
c. Tell or retell stories, orally or in writing, and share them with an audience such as the class.

By the end of the Intermediate Level:
a. Present short plays and skits, recite select poems and anecdotes, and perform songs in the language studied for an adult audience.
b. Present stories or written reports about personal experiences, personal events, or other school subjects to classmates or members of the cultures studied.
c. Prepares an oral or written summary of the plot and characters in age-appropriate literature.

By the end of the Advanced Level:
a. Performs scenes from plays or recite poems or excerpts from literature commonly read by speakers of the language studied.
b. Create stories, poems, short plays, or skits based on themes, ideas, and perspectives from the cultures studied.
c. Summarize articles or documentaries intended for native speakers of the language studied and discuss the topics orally or in writing with other speakers of the language.
d. Write a letter or an article for a student publication describing and analyzing an issue.
e. Prepare and present a researched-based analysis of the current event from the perspective of both the United States and the cultures studied.

By the end of the Beginning Level:
a. Observe, identify, or discuss simple patterns of behavior in various familiar settings.
b. Use and understand the meaning of appropriate gestures and oral expressions of everyday interactions of the language and cultures studied.
c. Perform age-appropriate cultural activities, such as games, songs, birthday celebrations, Storytelling, and dramatizations, in the language studied.

By the end of the Intermediate Level:
a. Observe, analyze, and discuss patterns of behavior typical of their peer group and their sources in the culture studied.
b. Use and understand the meaning of appropriate verbal and non-verbal behavior for daily activities among peers and adults in the language and cultures studied.
c. Understand age-appropriate cultural practices, such as games (E.G. role of leader and taking turns), sports, and entertainment (e.g. music, dance, and drama), in the language studied.

By the end of the Advanced Level:
a. Identify, analyze, and discuss various typical patterns of behavior or interaction and their sources in the cultures studied.
b. Identify, examine, and discuss connections between socially approved behavioral patterns and cultural prospective.
c. Understand and follow cultural patterns of communication and behavior typical of peers or adults in the cultures studied.

By the end of the Beginning Level:
a. Use the language studied to demonstrate an understanding of concepts learned in other subject areas in the language studied, such as weather, math facts, measurements, animals, insects, or geographical concepts.

By the end of the Intermediate Level:
a. Use the language studied to discuss topics from other school subjects, including geographical terms and concepts, historical facts and concepts, mathematical terms and problems, and scientific information.
b. Comprehend articles or short videos on topics from other classes in the language studied.
c. Use the language studied to present written and oral reports on topics studied in other classes.

By the end of the Advanced Level:
a. Discuss topics from other school subjects in the language studied, including political and historical concepts, worldwide health issues, and environmental concerns.
b. Acquire information from a variety of sources written in the language studied about a topic from other school subjects.

By the end of the Beginning Level:
a. Understand ideas and viewpoints that can only be expressed in the terms of the original language and culture.

By the end of the Intermediate Level:
a. Understand ideas and viewpoints that can only be explained in the terms of the original language and culture.

By the end of the Advanced Level:
a. Understand the relationship between untranslatable concepts and words (or phrases) and the culture from which they have arisen.

By the end of the Beginning Level:
a. Cite and use examples of words that are borrowed in the language they are learning and in their own, and offer explanations about why language in general might need to borrow words.
b. Explain how cognates enhance comprehension of spoken and written language and identify commonly occurring cognates in their native language and the language they are learning.
c. Identify idiomatic expressions in both their native language and the language being learned and describe how idiomatic expressions work in general.
d. Identify and use formal and informal forms of language and expressions of politeness in other languages and their own.
e. Describe differences and similarities between the sound and writing systems of their own language and the language being learned.
f. Understand the Various ways of expressing ideas both in their own language and the language being learned.

By the end of the Intermediate Level:
a. Understand the category of grammatical gender in languages and use it in their spoken and written language.
b. Discuss the relationship among languages, based on their awareness of cognates and similarity of idioms.
c. Understand that languages have critical sound distinctions that must be mastered in order to communicate meaning.
d. Analyze time and tense elements of the language studied and comparable linguistic elements in the native language, and conjecture about how languages use forms to express time and tense relationships.

By the end of the Advanced Level:
a. Understand that cognates have the same as well as different meanings among languages and explain the significance of this for understanding the evolution of language.
b. Understand the relationship between word order and meaning and explain how this may or may not reflect the ways in which cultures organize information and view the world.
c. Compare and contrast the writing system of the language studied and their own and describe the nature of those writing systems (e.g., logographic, syllabic, alphabetic).

By the end of the Beginning Level:
a. Compare simple patterns of behavior or interaction in various settings in the culture studied and their own.
b. Compare gestures and their meaning in the culture studied and their own.
c. Compare material products (e.g. toys, sports equipment or food) of the cultures studied and their own.
d. Compare intangible products (e.g. rhymes, songs, or folktales) of the cultures studied and their own.

By the end of the Intermediate Level:
a. Compare verbal and nonverbal behavior within particular activities in the cultures studied and their own.
b. Identify the cultural features of the daily life through comparisons between the culture studied and their own.
c. Analyze why certain products originate in or are important to particular cultures by considering selected products from the cultures studied and their own.
d. Hypothesize about the general relationship between cultural perspectives and expressive products (e.g., music, visual arts, or appropriate forms of literature) by analyzing selected products from the cultures studied and their own.

By the end of the Advanced Level:
a. Hypothesize about the origins of idiom as a reflection of culture, examples from the language and cultures being studied and their own
b. Compare nuances of meaning of words, idioms, and vocal inflections in the language studied and their own.
c. Analyze the relationship between the products and perspectives in the cultures studied and compare these with their own to draw conclusions about the mutual influence between perspectives and products.