<p>Hi,
I'll be taking the AP Spanish class next year. Normally, AP courses don't trouble me - I can handle things like calculus, biology, and chemistry just fine and with relative ease. Language, however, is another issue, especially when it's Spanish and half of the people in my school are Hispanic, live in Spanish-speaking families and are in the same class as me. </p>
<p>I heard the AP Spanish course at my school is very difficult and stressful. Spanish has always been my worst subject at school, and I didn't learn much Spanish in Spanish 1, 2, and 3 because I had a bad and easy teacher and didn't really have to work hard to get an A.</p>
<p>What can I do to prepare for my upcoming AP Spanish course? I really need that A, and I contemplated using my previous textbooks to review but I can't find them anywhere. Should I buy an AP Spanish prep book? A language learning software like Rosetta Stone?</p>
<p>Any advice is appreciated!</p>
<p>I know it is a little embarrassing, but you could ask one of the other kids for help. Review online and buy the review books ahead of time so you can have a rough idea of what you are getting into.</p>
<p>I would really recommend talking in spanish. and if you have no one to talk to, I recommend thinking in Spanish. It’s great practice. you can get a review book. I did. The best ones come with CD’s. On the AP exam, there is a speaking part, it’s like a mock conversation, you have to carry a conversation with a computer…it sucks, but the CD’s have practice conversations. I would also recommend reading spanish stuff. I also took AP Spanish Literature and reading all that spanish really helped. Try to watch some spanish novelas…on TV. Good luck!</p>
<p>I feel your pain! I’m going to be a senior this year in a similar situation–my school is predominately hispanic and spanish speakers and I took spanish 1 and 2 my first two years of hs. Last year I tried to take spanish 3, but I had a scheduling conflict so I’m taking it this year and feel like I’m really going to be lost. I’ve also had two really crappy teachers that were a breeze to get an A with. I’m planning on watching lots of novelas, and maybe trying rosetta stone (it seems cheesy, but I’m desperate). Right now I’m at the top of my class and would really hate for spanish to screw that up for me!</p>
<p>AP Spanish is one of the hardest AP classes, and a very low percentage passes nationally. This is my recommendation: do everything Spanish. Talk Spanish with your teacher, and don’t do Spanglish. Watch telenovelas on TV. Go to [ThePaperboy.com</a> Online Newspaper Directory](<a href=“http://www.thepaperboy.com%5DThePaperboy.com”>http://www.thepaperboy.com) and read newspapers from spanish-speaking countries. If you ever run across a website in spanish, DON’T translate it. Go here –>[BBC</a> Mundo - Inicio](<a href=“http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/]BBC”>Noticias - BBC News Mundo) There are a whole bunch of news articles, interviews, and a lot more there that you can practice on. I’d recommend using an actual dictionary as opposed to google translate, because the translator can be rather unreliable and give you some really strange phrases.</p>
<p>If you need any help, feel free to email/pm me! I got a 5 on the exam</p>
<p>I would not recommend Rosetta Stone, it doesn’t explain any grammar properly and it left me more confused then helped. You need to know a lot more vocabulary then it will teach you. Basically you have to be semi-fluent in spanish. A test prep book might help but I wouldn’t make that your sole resource.</p>