<p>How much work does it require and is it really hard to get a 5? What is the course like in terms of difficulty and content? </p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>I don’t know how the actual class is but the test consists of a recording reading a few stories and you listening for the answers, reading 4 passages and answering questions, a written portion where you write in a letter format, a synthesis essay, and a speaking portion where you are part of a dialogue and one where you have to speak for 2 minutes. If you are hispanic and already know how to speak/read/write spanish like i do, the test will be easy. I took the test without taking the class and i got a 5. I can’t really say how the class is but if you have some background in spanish it shouldn’t be too bad.</p>
<p>Honestly, It was pretty easy for
me. I did not study at all and did not take the class and I got a 5.</p>
<p>How long have you been speaking Spanish?</p>
<p>The hardest parts of any language are arguably, grammar and vocabulary. Thankfully, this can be easily remedied. If you’ve been speaking for a while you should have a good feel for grammar and an adequate vocabulary. If not, start watching a lot of Spanish TV & read a lot of Spanish texts, because that’s the best way to see Spanish as its actually used. </p>
<p>The rest of the test can be learned really easy – just get a prep book and work through the exercises. You can chose to learn the vocabulary. If I had to pick one section of vocabulary to learn, it’d be transition words! They really like that on the AP exam. </p>
<p>One thing I learned is that you should always have a thesis for the formal speaking and formal writing. They make it so much easier to go through your work. For formal speaking, you should have bullet points in the order you want to introduce the topics. My test (2011) was about water & obesity, so I had things written down about how water is helpful to a healthy lifestyle. I think it went something like: “Agua promueve salud y actividad; obesidad es causado por una vida sedentaria,” etc. Make sure to lift some key words from the test and explain them ("una vida sedentaria, que es una vida sin mucha actividad f</p>
<p>I heard that the class and the AP exam is pretty hard and requires efficient studying.</p>
<p>The course varies from teacher to teacher. My class was extremely easy, but not a lot of people felt prepared for the AP test. Granted, my district does place AP as level 4 and Honors as level 5, so that could be it too, but with a decent amount of review you should easily pass. My teacher was nice enough to hold lunch-time review sessions for those of us who wanted extra practice (mainly my group of nerds/friends and me); the result: of those of us who regularly went at lunch (10 or so), 8 of us passed, and 2 of my friends and I got 5s (all of us are non-native speakers). That being said, here’s a bit of a breakdown that should hopefully help.</p>
<p>Textbooks</p>
<p>It seems like most AP Spanish teachers are using the Prentice Hall Preparing for the AP Spanish Language Exam book, as did my class. Do as many items from it as possible (ignore the paragraph completion, as it is no longer on the exam). Although there is no answer key, your teacher should be able to help you with that. Do as many reading comprehension as possible (the ones I did for practice were difficult, but when I got to the actual test they were a breeze). I’ll go more in depth later. Also try to do as many of the writing and speaking prompts as you can (try to get a copy of the audio if your class/teacher does not have it). There is also a great list of vocabulary and idioms in the back for use in all of the sections of the exam. As a grammar/class textbook, we used Una Vez Mas, which also helped a lot with grammar exercises. The main issue I had was vocabulary, but in reality, if you’ve taken 4+ years of Spanish you should be fine. Otherwise, pick up a copy of Triangulo just for the vocabulary lists.</p>
<p>Review books</p>
<p>If you need some help with grammar, definitely pick up the REA AP Spanish Language book. The majority of it is just a review of grammar concepts from the most basic to the most difficult that exist in the language. To be honest, I didn’t do much review outside of class/lunch-time review sessions at school, so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the practice tests because I didn’t do them. However, they look reasonably consistent with the exam in terms of difficulty/length (except for the paragraph completion which I repeat, is no longer required for the exam). The Barron’s AP Spanish Language review book can also be very difficult in terms of exercises, but it is good preparation for the real thing. Again, I didn’t do any practice tests, but they look to be about the same difficulty as the real thing, perhaps a little bit harder. Lastly, I bought the 5 Steps to a 5 AP Spanish Language book, but didn’t really go through it much. It does have a helpful schedule to plan out your review though, something I wish I had done earlier. It also has a list of common grammatical errors along with some helpful transitions and idioms for the free response section.</p>
<p>The Exam</p>
<p>Like some of the above posters said, the foreign language exams tend to be some of the harder APs offered. However, it also seems to be true that you can bomb one section a still pass/get at least a 4/5. I know I didn’t do well on my conversational (informal) speaking, but I also knew that I wrote a nearly perfect interpersonal letter on the informal writing section. Just try to stay calm and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Listening</p>
<p>Practice. A lot. Listening comprehension seems to be a difficult skill to acquire, so start early. The Prentice Hall book has tons of practice questions, most of which seemed more difficult that the actual exam. I personally found it helpful to take notes as I listened to the shorter dialogues and narratives (by notes, I mean just jotting down words you hear the people say. Don’t try to get all of them, listen for ideas, not individual words.) During the longer narratives, I found that some of the questions on my exam were easy enough to do during the two minutes they give you before listening to the narrative at all. A few are simply common sense that you shouldn’t need a source to confirm. While the audio is playing though, go through and place a small mark next to the answer you think best answers the question. After the audio is over, go back and check your answers and fill them in on your answer sheet. This system is much more efficient and seems to translate to a higher score.</p>
<p>Reading</p>
<p>The passages are never impossibly difficult. First read the questions. If any reference line numbers, mark them in the passage. This section is very similar to the passage-based questions of the SAT Critical Reading section, only in Spanish. The questions aren’t nearly as hard either. Underline main ideas in the passages, typically in the first or last sentences of a paragraph. While practicing, I would allow myself 7 minutes per passage/question set (apporximately the amount of time allotted on the AP) and apply this system. Afterwards, I would go back and look up any words I didn’t know and add them to a computer flashcard program (Anki is highly recommended). A few weeks later, I would reattempt the same passage with the same amount of time, and see if my score changed after cycling through the new vocabulary on the computer. Typically, it went up by 1-2 questions, which could be the difference between a 3/4 or a 4/5 if applied to every passage.</p>
<p>Writing</p>
<p>Informal writing is probably the easiest part of the free response. Although you only have 10 minutes, it isn’t difficult to formulate a response. The main thing to watch out for is to make sure you do everything the prompt asks you to do. Learn formal and informal greetings (Querido/etc. vs. Muy estimado senor/etc.) and closings (Un beso vs. Un abrazo vs. Mis regardos a su y su familia vs. Sinceramente vs. etc. Check the Prentice Hall book for more).</p>
<p>Formal writing typically gives the same basic prompt with different sources. The question is almost always, “Why is it important to preserve culture?” but with different sources and ways of asking the questions. A variation of this is, “How has technology impacted culture?” or “How has technology impacted (a certain area of society)?” Always use all three sources. I found it helpful to take brief notes during the audio source just to stay engaged. Learn transitions (ademas, por un lado, por otro lado, a pesar de, etc.) and know when and when not to use the subjunctive (use it whenver possible, as long as it flows naturally with what’s around it. It demonstrates an understanding of more complex structures.). I typically followed an outline of 4-5 paragraphs, depending upon my confidence with the three sources. Try to either devote a paragraph to each source and elaborate on each individually or cite all three sources in each paragraph and devote each paragraph to a different sub-topic/argument. Remember, in this section the readers are looking for analysis and synthesis of the sources, not mere summarization. Don’t forget to cite the sources, and come up with different ways to do so (Segun la fuente no. 1, [la fuente auditiva], lo que lei en la fuente escrita no. 2, etc.). Have a general thesis prepared for the basic prompt, and just tweak it to answer the prompt, which brings me to my final point for writing. Answer the prompt. Don’t go off on a tangent. No matter is you agree or disagree with the prompt, answer it the way you are asked to answer it.</p>
<p>Speaking</p>
<p>Conversational (informal) speaking is probably the most difficult part of the entire exam. Learn to fill 20 seconds answering one question by simply going into detail. Be able to respond to the audio cues, and if you don’t understand, guess what logically would have followed in the conversation and continue. Again, the key for this section is practice.</p>
<p>Presentational (formal) speaking is actually one of the easier sections of the free response. Although the prompts vary widely with this section, they are typically general enough to answer easily. Again, learn transitions that you can easily use without thinking. Given 5 minutes to read the written source, I found it easiest to make a two-column chart, with one side for audio, and the other for the printed source. Again, cite your sources in your presentation, as in the formal writing section. Take notes in the chart while listening to the audio source. Don’t copy things word for word from either source, but synthesize it into your own words. During the 2 minutes you get to put everything together before recording your presentation, draw some conclusions about the presentation in its entirety. (Ambas fuentes dicen que, mientras que la fuente escrita cree que…la fuente auditiva no est</p>
I suggest NOT taking the exam (the class is usually fine) if you are an introvert. One of the sections on the AP exam is conversational speaking, and it’s a nightmare if you’re not a social person to begin with and don’t have 10+ years of small talk practice under your belt. It’s really unfair that CollegeBoard tests you on your ability to make small talk, but I guess it’s one of the many unfair things it tests you for (ability to write quickly, ability to have a fast handwriting, ability to be a good test-taker…)