The goal of the French program in the Bellevue School District is to prepare students to communicate effectively with speakers of French in authentic cultural contexts.  Learning French is much more than memorizing vocabulary or a system of grammatical rules.  Students will be engaged in and challenged by their learning of a second language.  Students must learn about and understand the cultures where French is spoken as well.  It is essential for students to be immersed in the language in class and to have ample opportunity to communicate in the language, through listening, speaking, reading and writing. For this reason and because we want our students to leave the program as proficient communicators of French, teachers and students alike will use primarily French in the classroom.  Student proficiency is impacted by several factors, most notably the length of time of the language program and for this reason, it's essential that students continue their study of French for many years.  At the end of our program, students can reasonably expect to be rated as Intermediate Mid to Intermediate High level speakers, according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.