<p>I'm going to be a junior next year and will be taking Spanish 3. As of right now, I'm not going to any Spanish summer program. I looked around online, but most of the summer programs conflicted with my other college classes/trips. It's really, really important that I take the AP Spanish Lang exam NEXT YEAR, and get at least a 4 on it (National AP Scholar, AP International Diploma, self goal/pride, will make IB Spanish senior year way easier).</p>
<p>I've gotten straight Bs through Spanish 1 and Spanish 2. I have all summer to prepare and study. Do you think I can pull this off? If so, what are the best ways to prepare?</p>
<p>Okay, I just took AP Spanish this year. I’m going to try to be really realistic. AP Spanish is difficult. I’ve never taken a Spanish class where I didn’t get an A, and I skipped a year of Spanish and attended a Spanish camp. I got A’s in AP Spanish (the class), but I’m not as confident about my performance on the exam. I’d imagine I got a four at best, but I can keep you posted. </p>
<p>In terms of preparation, here are the things I did. I should’ve/could’ve done more, but here’s what I’ve had good experiences with.
- For grammar: 501 Spanish Verbs is a bible. I used it to essentially teach myself half the tenses in Spanish.
- For practice: I used Barron’s AP Spanish, and the practices in it were MUCH harder than those on the exam. It had a lot of good phrases to use on the exam. </p>
<p>If you’re not great at Spanish though, it’s going to be really hard to pull it off. Even a confident Spanish student has difficulty with the exam.</p>
<p>¡Buena suerte!</p>
<p>I am a native spanish speaker and I took the test this year (I am a sophomore) and like the above poster said, I did find it somewhat difficult. I really don’t think you should do test prep until 3-4 months before the test. Instead I think you should watch spanish tv shows, listen to spanish music and read spanish news articles. Familiarize yourself with the language first then with the test.</p>
<p>I don’t recommend you do this.</p>
<p>Look for another AP test you could take instead.</p>
<p>AP Spanish Lan is just really really difficult and I don’t know how likely it would be for you to get a good score when you’ve only had three years of Spanish that isn’t AP Spanish. You won’t be done learning grammar and your vocab will be pretty weak. I agree with pascalprime though, if you’re going to do this really know the language.</p>
<p>The test really looks at how much you know the language. It’s not a matter of sitting down and memorizing vocab words, but being able to use everything you’ve learned in a constructive way.</p>
<p>If I were you, I wouldn’t do it. If you got straight Bs through Spanish 1 and 2…which are the easier half of a high school Spanish curriculum…then I just don’t see how you’d be able to pull it off. You don’t want to get a bad score and have that following you.</p>
<p>I have not taken the exam yet, but I had to choose between Spanish IV and Spanish AP and I went with Spanish IV and I feel pretty confident with my decision. </p>
<p>Languages are one of the few classes in high school that I would say you really shouldn’t skip or self-study unless you’re a native speaker. Sure, you can teach yourself the grammar fairly easily, and you can memorize a lengthy list of vocab words. But you’re not going to have the fluency you need to excel in Spanish, and that’s what you really need to do well on the exam. You won’t get the proper listening skills, speaking skills, or reading skills that you need - those are things you really can’t self-study.</p>
<p>If it were something science-y, math-related, or even history - I would say it would be totally plausible to do. But not foreign languages, unless you truly have a gift for learning them.</p>
<p>If you’re really set on trying to pass the AP Lang test, and you’re and IB diploma student, you would be better off just trying to self-study the Spanish 3 material over the summer, then start the AP Spanish 4 class in the fall. This would prepare you to easily take Spanish HL in your senior year. Although at our school, AP Lang and Span HL are a combo class.</p>
<p>My school district has a very strong foreign language program and so after taking Spanish since 6th grade, I was prepared well for the AP exam. I am not a native speaker either. The AP exam isn’t the easiest thing in the world, despite all my Spanish years. The reading comprehension takes a lot lot LOT of extensive preparation and practice. That was the hardest part of the exam for me. I’m sure u practice speaking&listening a lot in your school, same with me, and you will find that to be a breeze on the actual exam. So the key to success on this exam is reading comprehension and writing ACCURATELY with correct verb choice and tense. </p>
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<p>Thanks everyone for your input!</p>
<p>What if I watch lots of Spanish movies, listen to Spanish music, study grammar/vocab, and read Spanish new articles (like pascalprime suggested) over the summer? And get a Spanish tutor to help me with my weak spots? Do you think I could pull it off then or should I, frankly, just not even bother trying?</p>
<p>Yeah the reading and the vocabulary should help you. Buena suerte!</p>
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