I went to a middle and elementary school where we were taught the Spanish Language beginning literally in the second grade. Now, that doesn’t mean we had good teachers, but I would say that I have been very exposed to the Spanish Language for a while now. I went straight into Spanish 4 in freshman year. Now, typically, after 4, you go straight to AP Spanish, but because I am a freshman, my high school will not let me move up to AP next year (It’s the same for everyone who went to my middle and elementary school).
This being said, I am aiming to minor in Spanish in college, and was really aiming to take a Spanish course at a nearby community college during Senior year.
Do you think I should self-study for the AP Spanish Exam?
I have read that it is one of the hardest, particularly for it’s speaking portion. I cannot emphasize this enough though - I am NOT a native speaker, but I would consider myself pretty decent at at least grammar and writing within my peers in Spanish 4. I also think it’s worth mentioning that I am not able to take a Spanish class until junior year because of this rule, so this would kind of be my Spanish for the year. I would say that I’m pretty self-disciplined, and would stay on top of myself to be studying. I’ve also heard that since I’m self studying, I don’t technically need to send my scores to colleges during admissions, since I did not take the actual class.
Do you think this is wise, or should I just wait a year until I can take the actual course?
Have you and/or your parents spoken with the high school dean/principal/head of curriculum to see if you can get approval to take AP Spanish soph year? Obviously with languages a year break in studying isn’t good. If high school still says no, perhaps a community college class?
You could self-study for the AP test, but also remember many colleges want 3+ years language.
it seems strange to me that a school system would design an elementary curriculum so that students start high school in an advanced Spanish class but then set the high school rules so that you can’t take Spanish in 10th grade. Assuming it is the same school system, has anyone in the past, spoken to the school committee and superintendent?,
While I don’t know about self studying for an AP exam, I would try and do something to maintain your Spanish speaking abilities. Does your school have some Spanish speaking students who would benefit from a tutor who speaks Spanish to help with their English or any academics? Do you have a local elementary school that doesn’t have Spanish that may be open to a fun afterschool Spanish club that you could do with some friends? Can you arrange a time with a high school Spanish teacher to have a Spanish speaking session say 20 minutes a week just to maintain the language as an afterschool club?
I agree with trying to get yourself into AP spanish as a sophomore. Talk to the head of the spanish department. You have a valid case for not wanting to lose what you’ve gained and you may find an advocate within the department, especially if you want to minor in Spanish going forward.
I agree that it is time for someone to push back against the HS for this situation…They should offer a Spanish 5 if they don’t want you to take AP Spanish.Maybe talk to the Board of Education. I would definitely try to maintain your Spanish some how…could you take a Dual Enrollment course? Independent study through the school?
I would just self study and take the AP on your own.
That’s too bad about your school district. At my kid’s HS since there are a lot of native Mandarin and Spanish speakers, in 8th grade they take a placement reading and writing test for those 2 languages. About 25% of the kids for Mandarin go straight to Chinese 4, and then AP Chinese the following year. At our rival HS, it’s the same setup except they don’t allow AP classes until 11th grade. But they make an exception for language.
When colleges say they want 3 years, that is a misconception- they want you to have taken Level 3. At least that’s how the UCs do it. Not sure about other schools. If you’ve already surpassed that, you are good to go as far as college qualification goes (I think).
Many colleges do want 3-4 years of language in high school, regardless of level. The more selective the set of colleges, the more it is a disadvantage to not have at least 3 years. Having just 1 yr of HS level 3, or 2 years of level 2 and 3 may not be competitive at some colleges. And if you do skip on 1 or 2 years of language, you should consider doubling up on a different core area. Bottom line is to know what the colleges you are interested in require at the minimum and then do research to figure out what successful applicants really have.
So if you start at level 4 and there are only 2 classes what are you supposed to do? That doesn’t make much sense.
In my area, many kids in that situation take a second language or even sign language. Different schools have different expectations but if one is looking at highly selective schools less than 3 years is a disadvantage. Of course disadvantages can be over come, and one of those ways is to double up on other core areas.
@Premediehead Have you considered taking an online Spanish class, and then take the AP Spanish test at the end of the course? A somewhat expensive, but accredited, option is by a company called Language Bird. Some charter schools offer online classes (look specifically in your school district). Or look at the online options in your state’s Community College system. Just make sure that you have time for any of these classes with your regular course load.
Can you give me an example of a school that wants a hard 3 years? I heard of this only on this site. A ton of kids at my kid’s HS finished off AP Mandarin Chinese in 10th grade and my kid’s GC probably would have told them that they needed a year more of something else.
The idea of taking 3 years of a foreign language is to master one language, and to waste a year and a valuable time slot just to meet a number requirement seems silly. I probably would eliminate that university right off the bat.
@ProfessorPlum168 We are off the OP’s topic, but as many have also said, he should petition to take AP Spanish his soph year. I stand by what I said especially for selective schools- I don’t know which, if any, say 3-4 years are ‘required’, more typically you would see words like ‘recommended’ or ‘ideal’, but many successful applicants do in fact have 3-4 years FL. I can only say what kids in our local high school (high achieving, affluent) do and what is recommended by the GCs here.
3-4 years usually refers to level reached, not classes taken. You have reached that level. But I would not recommend self studying AP Spanish unless you have someone to practice Spanish with. Try for the college course so that you can have speaking practice.
The only person that I know who self-studied for AP Spanish had first spent a few months studying as an exchange student at a Spanish high school (in a Spanish speaking country). Given that your high school has AP Spanish, it would seem to be more sensible to first take AP Spanish at your school.
This seems to suggest three options. The best option is probably to do what @Mwfan1921 suggests, and petition to take AP Spanish as a sophomore. Another option would be to take a different language for a year, and then take AP Spanish as a junior. The third option would be to skip languages for a year, and take AP Spanish as a junior. If you go with either of these last two options, I would be inclined to do something to keep up with your Spanish, such as watching TV shows in Spanish or finding a club or activity where you can participate in Spanish.
Since your elementary and middle school are so language-intensive yet your high school is not, I am sure you’re not the first student to run into this issue. Over the years, lots of students must have asked about it. Maybe a petition to change the system is in order, too.
Talk to your Spanish teacher and see what is suggested. Online, petitioning to get into AP, self study, working/volunteering in a place that would at least keep your conversational Spanish current. I can think of so many places that would love to have a Spanish speaking volunteer - tour guide, medical office, legal office.
My college roommate was minoring in Chinese (she’d lived in China as a child). She worked in a Chinese restaurant to keep her conversational Mandarin up, and her speed up.
In terms of continuing practice with Spanish, do you have friends who went through the same program or are heritage speakers whom you can talk in Spanish with in normal social situations?
For reading, you can read Spanish language media, which should not be hard to find (e.g. go to https://news.google.com and change to an edition featuring Spanish language media, like Estados Unidos).
I actually haven’t! Do you know if there are a large amount of speaking sections involved within the course? That tends to be where my skill is the weakest. I will definitely look into it though, thank you!
I do! Those are both awesome ideas, I will definitely use them. Thank you so much for your feedback!
@Mwfan1921 @bopper @momtogirls2 @momofsenior1 @ProfessorPlum @JenJenJenJen @twoinanddone I completely agree with all of the comments saying how strange this situation is. There was actually a student who took this to the school board a couple of years ago, and they still decided against the change for some reason, I’m not quite sure of their logic. I asked about taking a test or something to show that I would be ready, but my current Spanish teacher told me that she thinks that sophomores are not ready to take AP level classes, especially Spanish…
I am most likely going to end up self studying for the AP exam at this point, or taking an online class of sorts, if it is not too expensive, unless something radical changes my mind. Thank you all for your feedback!