<p>Hi! I just took AP Spanish in school this past year, non-native speaker, and I got a 5. I worry that I might not be very helpful since I didn’t self-study or use too many resources/books, but I’ll try!</p>
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<li><p>As far as books, I didn’t really scout out a particular one. My Spanish teacher gave me an AP study book to practice with and it happened to be the REA brand AP Spanish Language test prep book (6th edition). The front has sections with lessons where it goes over things like verb tenses, common mistakes, etc. Then the back has practice tests and sample essays. I didn’t use it TOO much, but I found it comprehensive and pretty helpful. Also, reading Spanish news articles online helps with comprehension. I like BBC Mundo. </p></li>
<li><p>You improve your speaking by practicing! Honestly, I wasn’t too great at speaking at first either, but I tried thinking in Spanish as often as possible. As you’re going through your day, you can try mentally repeating everything in Spanish. If you’re reading something, try translating it in Spanish. If you mean speaking as in your accent, then just listen to as much Spanish as you can to get a feel for the sound. Watch Spanish TV. Listen to Spanish music. Do the best you can to immerse yourself.</p></li>
<li><p>The hardest part on the exam for me was the listening section. Some of the dialogues were easy, but other times, the speaker would have a strong, unfamiliar accent which can totally throw you off and make it almost incomprehensible. To combat this, I’d say try listening to a variety of accents. My personal solution, however, was simply to do well on other parts of the test. I found the essay writing fairly easy because you have time to sort out your thoughts. As long as you have a good understanding of grammar and learn a few Spanish transition words like “however” and “furthermore” you should be fine. The speaking gets easier with practice. One of the biggest things is just to keep talking and not leave blank spaces when recording. I know it’s nerve-wracking when you want everything to be perfect, but it’s better to speak and make small mistakes than to be dead silent. The reading section on the exam wasn’t a problem for me, really. Just read lots in Spanish to hone your comprehension skills. I repeat, reading articles is very helpful! Articles and short stories make up the literature on the test.</p></li>
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<p>Try to identify your weaknesses and focus on those areas. For instance, the subjunctive tense isn’t my strong point, so I frequently studied the grammatical use of it. Speaking was much more of a challenge for me than reading, so my study habits were mainly catered toward improving my speech. If you can find specifics to study, it makes it seem much more digestible than broadly saying “hey, let’s go study this language with 943534 different words and accents and verb tenses!”</p>
<p>Also, go on the AP central website and look at sample essays, etc. from the past. It’s a great way to get an idea of what’s an amazing 9 essay and what’s just not going to cut it. You’ll get used to some of the common writing conventions as well. </p>
<p>I hope this helped even the TINIEST amount. 
good luck to you and kudos to you for challenging yourself! (sorry this is kind of extensive rambling; I got carried away!)</p>