<p>Greetings,</p>
<p>Much similar to what the title states, I was curious to know how AP Latin compares to the other AP world languages. Is it just as challenging, or slightly easier?</p>
<p>To give you a background, I've been studying Latin since the sixth grade, and will be entering this term as a sophomore. I plan on taking the exam during my junior or senior year.</p>
<p>Best regards,
Icosahedron</p>
<p>Latin is the only AP Language test I took, so I can’t give you a comparison.</p>
<p>But the test was pretty challenging. I managed to get a 5, but it took me hours of intense studying (even after having taken Latin from 7th Grade all the way to 11th Grade, when I took the AP).</p>
<p>A piece of advice I’d give you is to spend time learning the passages the summer before your Junior Year. There is A LOT of material, and you may not have enough time to cover all of it during the school year. Practice writing translations of randomly picked passages. Aeneid is harder, so start practicing with Caesar.</p>
<p>Ultimately, taking this class was a very enlightening experience, and I feel better prepared for college having spent so much time mastering the material and succeeding at it.</p>
<p>^Mostly what he said. I started learning Latin when I was a freshman, so you’re already way ahead of me.</p>
<p>AP Latin requires the ability to sight translate, answer questions about the grammar, context, and background information within passages, as well as analyze the passages and write an essay for it. So the AP exam is like an English test in Latin.</p>
<p>Like IronFist suggested, it takes a bit of studying. But honestly, by the time the AP exam comes, you will have developed an “intuition” for translating whatever the exam throws at you on sight. You will have also been familiar with the patterns, techniques, tones, and purposes of the Aeneid and the Gallic Wars. Most of the AP exam tests your knowledge of passages you’ve already translated (except for 2 passages that you’ve never seen before, but that’s only on the multiple choice), so with your acquired intuition, it shouldn’t be a problem answering questions about the Aeneid or Gallic Wars. </p>
<p>You should memorize most literary terms, as some questions (mostly multiple choice, but sometimes it might appear on the short answer) will ask you what a specific line or phrase exhibits. Also, brush up on your subjunctives, as the test will also ask you what type of subjunctive a certain clause is AND WHY (and sometimes the question won’t even be that obvious. The question might be worded as “What is the function of this word/clause/sentence?”). The short answer questions will also ask you things that aren’t on the passage. For example, a question might ask, “The passage above recounts Creusa’s ghost appearing to Aeneas. Where else in the Aeneid does Aeneas encounter a family ghost?”</p>
<p>And, of course, memorize (or be very familiar with) the stories and what happens in them. You also might wanna keep in mind the important ideas, themes, etc. in those events.</p>
<p>Honestly, I didn’t look at the passages until the beginning of school, so as long as your AP Latin curriculum spends enough time on both works, you should be fine, and I thought the whole school year was ample time to prepare.</p>
<p>And I agree: this class was very enlightening. After you take this class, you’ll appreciate just how brilliant Vergil was and how awesome an action movie the Gallic Wars would be.</p>
<p>I took 3 AP exams. AP Chinese, AP Latin, and AP Spanish Lit. (And Lit so technically 4 Language exams.) I moved to China when I was younger (I’m not Asian,) so I am able to read and write Chinese fluently. I did learn Spanish and Latin in school, though. I think Spanish Language was the hardest because the people talk very fast, and you are writing essays. Latin is a little more comparable to Spanish Lit. Latin definitely beats Spanish Lit. I think Chinese was easiest because it is a relatively new course, and the range of vocabulary needed for the test wasn’t huge!</p>
<p>Latin was particularly difficult for me last year…I got a 3…my advice is to study really hard…we only covered mainly aeneid and barely started caesar which was a mistake…I think the only reason I passed was because I knew Aeneid portion really well which begs the question: would I have done better on the previous exams? ~possibly</p>
<p>My school does not offer an AP Latin class – after 4 years of having taken Latin, how difficult is this exam to prepare for? I am currently a junior and have been taking Latin at the honors level every year (currently in Latin 4 honors), receiving an A, no problem. I plan to take the SAT 2 in Latin.</p>