<p>Alrite, so I'm a non-native speak of Spanish, and I'm taking AP Spanish Lang. this year. So far, it's not too bad, but I'm struggling when we're reading stories, which is probably due to a lack of vocabulary. </p>
<p>Should I just read more and learn more words in order to increase my knowledge and efficiency? Because looking up every other word in the dictionary takes me much too long, in addition to my other assignments.</p>
<p>I never took Span IV, so I dont have any of the vocab learned in that year. </p>
<p>Are what I said basically the only feasible ways to grow more proficient in Spanish so I can pass the exam?</p>
<p>Sparknotes makes flashcards for AP Spanish vocab and grammar that may help. I haven't used the vocab ones, but the grammar ones seem pretty good. Other than that, just keep practicing.</p>
<p>I am also a nonnative speaker in AP Spanish. I took three years of Spanish before this. I feel the same way you do... Some parts are easy and some parts are really hard. I think the hardest part is competing with all the native speakers, and it's the same way on the AP exam. So far I've figured out that to be successful it's going to take a lot of outside time on my own going over things I'm not comfortable with yet...</p>
<p>The trick to understanding spanish reading:</p>
<p>1.read it once and try to get a general idea of what the story is about
2.read it again and write down every word you don't know on a seperate piece of paper
3. look up ALL those words in the dictionary and write down the definition
4. read the story again with the words defined</p>
<p>It takes a long time but it works. I'm a native speaker, but this is what I do when reading stories like Don Quixote. Writing down the definitions is what really helps, you'll remember the words so much better.</p>