<p>Last year I took Spanish II H, and this year (I'm a sophomore) I am taking both Spanish III H and Spanish IV H (we have block scheduling, so I doubled up). Next year, I can take either Spanish V (no honors) or AP Spanish Language. Does anyone have any experience with taking AP Spanish? What is the difficulty level of the AP test- do you need near fluency? I suppose I can make a better judgement after I've taken Spanish IV H, but I just want to get some idea of the course. Thanks!</p>
<p>I got a 5 on AP Spanish Lang last year, and I thought it was the hardest AP test I’d taken. You don’t need fluency-level Spanish, but your writing and reading comprehension need to be quite developed to make up for the (probable) lack of speaking skills.</p>
<p>I am worried about the same thing. My reading, writing, and listening skills are all fine, but I often get tongue tied when I’m speaking. How did you study Soothsayerr? We do listening everyday in class and reading and essays for homework, and once a week we go to the computer lab to do a recording.</p>
<p>Like sooth said, you don’t need to know the language fluently to score a 5.
@Poeme: While the AP graders understand that there will be quiet lapses while you think before you respond, there shouldn’t be too many awkward pauses. If you really can’t think of more to add to your speaking response, try reiterating what you first said in other, smaller words. Add a drawn-out pues or bueno to the beginning of your response as it’s both natural and gives you time to think of a response. Familiarize yourself with some common Spanish expressions - that shows you’ve learned the language outside of an old textbook and longer expressions will lessen the amount of time you spend responding off-the-cuff.</p>
<p>Be prepared to immerse yourself in Spanish in order to increase your fluency for the AP test. When I took the class, it was more about sharpening our reading, writing and speaking skills, and fine-tuning all the grammar we had learned in middle & high school, rather than memorizing pointless vocabulary.</p>
<p>Solo receb</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses… I suppose I’ll just have to gauge where I’m at by the end of this semester, and decided from there. I think that I’ll be up to the challenge, and, if not, I’ll be watching a lot of the spanish channel this summer :P</p>