The traditional secondary school language program with a sequential four-level format is being questioned; an alternative is a series of mini-courses elected by students after the second level of language study. Such courses are topic-oriented and may cover any field, from everyday conversation and journalism to an overview of literature or history or social customs in a country of the target language. In this report are suggestions for such courses, of a year's length, a semester, or shorter, with bibliographies of resource materials, scheduling patterns, and notes from some secondary schools that have successfully employed the mini-course approach. (CK)