<p>To provide some background, my native languages are English, Khmer, and Teochew. I'm only completely fluent in English and proficient in the other two. Spanish was all around me, though I had never taken a formal class. I'm a rising junior at a public high school in California with about 3,000 students. It was around the time of spring break during 8th grade when I decided that I wanted to learn Spanish. My main textbook was to be one of dad's old ones from college--"¿Habla español? Essentials" by Allen, Mendez-Faith, and Gill. I eventually ended up taking the AP exam at the end of my sophomore year, after two years of study. That was not my original plan. I just wanted to learn a new language for the fun of it. </p>
<p>I finished reading through the textbook after a few months. I now had a working knowledge of the grammar. I never thought that vocabulary would be an issue. Being an avid reader, I attempted to read many a book in Spanish, which I picked up from the library. It seems formidable, someone who has studied a language for less than a year, reading an entire novel in the new language. However, the secret is that English shares Latin roots with the Romance languages, which are usually come in to play with high level vocabulary. This means that when one knows basic words, advanced words are usually easy to pick up due to the fact that the languages share so many. The opposite is true with German, which shares basic words with English, but has its own roots to build big words. Anyways, I also bought a Spanish-English dictionary for a few dollars to help me out. This was the only specifically educational material which I bought, except for an AP review book later.</p>
<p>When I said specifically educational, I disregard entertainment, though that played a huge role in my education too. My textbook taught me standard, basic Spanish, which was supplemented by the formal language of the novels. Vernacular speech was left to the media. I would take my DVDs and switch the language to Spanish. Back then, I flipped the channel to MTV Tr3s a lot. I wasn't--and am still not--much of an MTV person, but that channel had a lot to offer a beginner. It showed programs in both Spanish and English, with the audio in one language and subtitles in the other. One program in particular, Isa TKM, helped me because it was a series about Venezuelan teenagers. It allowed me to hear a different accent from the Mexican one which I'm so used to and it exposed me to common usage. MTV Tr3s also introduced me to urban Spanish music. </p>
<p>With my new-found musical tastes, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a Spanish rap album--Los de atrás vienen conmigo by Calle 13. I know, rap music is an absurd way to learn a language, but think about it. This music had heavy emphasis on the words used, wordplay, slang, a thick Boricuan accent, and I was able to listen to it on-the-go. What more could I have asked for? I understood much, but not all of course. My method of tackling this was look up the lyrics online, analyze their grammatical features, and look up words that I didn't understand--even if that meant looking them up in Urban Dictionary. </p>
<p>This was the process employed by me to acquire a base in the Spanish language. Freshmen year came around, and I opted for Theatre, a fun extra-curricular activity, as my elective rather than Spanish, which I could have continued learning on my own. One thing that I did when I was bored during class was studying random definitions. Most textbooks--whether they be for science, math, history, or whatever--had Spanish-English glossaries in the back. I had a little bit of fun with this. I remember sitting in my Biology class, helping a junior sitting behind me with his Spanish 3H homework. </p>
<p>I did have some friends who spoke Spanish at home. Usually, their Spanish was no better than my Khmer, meaning that they were able to communicate with their families but were by no means comfortable using it as their primary language for conversation. I learned more about culture than language from them. </p>
<p>Well, Freshmen year came to an end and I struggled with my scheduling conflicts for next year. Two years of a foreign language were required, yet three were recommended. I later found out that this meant two years' proficiency, rather than credits. I tried to get Spanish into my Sophomore year, but I wasn't able. I made appointments with my counselor, only to have them agree with me, but powerless to do anything. The vice principal refused to let me take PE (required two years) a different year in order to make room for Spanish. I even took it to the principal himself. He wouldn't put me in a Spanish class without a formal background. I went to Mrs. Cardenas, the head of the foreign language department, talked to her in Spanish, and got her on my side. She told the administration to simply place me wherever they have room--in Spanish 2, Spanish 3H, or "Spanish for Spanish Speakers" 2H. The thing was, there wasn't any room. </p>
<p>I once heard that it was possible to completely test out of a foreign language requirement. I asked my counselor about this and he told me about the AP exam. "You could do that?" I asked. He told me that as long as the school could take my money, they would allow it. Unless I wanted to try weeding through this mess again next year, this was my only way forward. I bought a copy of REA's AP Spanish Language from Borders and told Mrs. Cardenas of my plan. "It's very hard... I don't think you'll pass, mijo. Even the native speakers have difficulty and lots of them fail," was her response. A lot of friends shared her opinion. Regardless, I was set on this plan. REA's review cemented my knowledge of grammatical intricacies. REA had no test-taking strategies, but that was alright. I worked through each chapter, digesting the material. Contrary to popular thought, it didn't take lots of time at all. I was free to go at my own pace and had no work except that which I assigned myself. </p>
<p>I continued reading and using the media throughout this period as well. I had fun learning a few Shakespearean monologues in Spanish and watching translated Disney songs. Foreign languages were usually the area in which conventionally-thinking math robots, or "smart" kids, did horrible in. It felt good knowing that I had achieved something beyond the average confines of the school system. It was now time to test that achievement.</p>
<p>I paid for the exam. I was even pulled out of class by the office to confirm the order, since I was the only sophomore taking an AP exam, not to mention a non-Hispanic sophomore taking AP Spanish. April came, and I asked Mrs. Cardenas about a volunteer opportunity at the adult school using Spanish. I went, helping immigrants with naturalization process. Here, I had real world experience using Spanish with such humble people. At the same time, Mrs. Cardenas wanted to prepare me for the exam so she gave me a course textbook, Prentice Hall's Abriendo Puertas: Grammatica. In the back, it had about 15 practice informal speaking and writing exercises. She told to especially focus on the speaking, since that was where most students messed up. The key was to keep inventing and just saying whatever came to mind in order to keep the conversation going smoothly and articulately. I was nervous about the writing too, but my fears were assuaged by having it pointed out to me that I had a huge advantage in knowing where to place accents. I checked out another review book (Princeton Hall?) from the library, and it said that one of the strategies was to use a variety of verb tenses and use advanced words in place of common words, i.e. dirigirse or acudir instead of ir. I also thought that I should take the SAT II while I was at it. I got a review book from the library to practice multiple choice.</p>
<p>And so I practiced writing prompts while I would be sitting in my other classes. I showed Mrs. Cardenas and she even read one to her whole 3rd period class. A girl asked why I did work if I wasn't even enrolled in the class. Mrs. Cardenas told her it was because I actually wanted to learn. </p>
<p>Exam day came. We were told to get to the MPR at 7:15, even though there were students eating breakfast in there. We didn't start the exam until about 8:45-9:00. I had taken some MC and fill-in-the-blanks from my REA book the night before. The MC was alright. It wasn't particularly easy particularly difficult. It was no indication of what lay ahead. I had to thank Calle 13 though, one of audio prompts had a mild Boricuan accent. I later read on CC that some posters thought that it sounded like he was drunk (Boricuans slur a LOT). On the other hand, I was used to that accent. The informal exercises were next. They were actually very general and much easier than I had expected: write to a friend in PR telling him/her that you're coming to visit over the summer and hold a conversation in which a friend asks you to return something which she let you borrow (and you don't have), then make plans for Friday. I had only done one practice formal speaking exercise, but it wasn't that bad either. I took notes on both sides, and would organize a cluster as a paragraph. I stumbled on the words (I stutter no matter what language I speak...), but to my surprise, I didn't even finish explaining half of my notes before the two minutes were up. I found formal writing to be very easy. I had done no practice essays, but I looked up transitional phrases the night before. The key was simply to summarize the sources in my own words and connect them. </p>
<p>It was over. I was feeling pretty good about the exam. I has hoping for a 4, after a meager two years of study. I took the SAT II that weekend at found that I was stuck on a few questions, though the only word that I didn't know on there was beca, which I correctly inferred to mean scholarship. I now relaxed. It felt good. I later received to my scores, finding out that I had got a 760 on the SAT II and a 5 on the AP exam. I pleasantly surprised. I plan on taking AP Spanish Literature as a class next year and maybe even picking up French while I'm at it. I hope readers have caught on to strategy and the value of determination.</p>
the longer the better, in my opinion!