<p>How did you prepare for the ap latin exam? I'm self-studying it.</p>
<p>Wait, hold on here. Do you have any prior Latin knowledge? That is the biggest question.</p>
<p>I am a fourth year Latin student who has taken an AP exam before, so I could help, but I need to know the above question first.</p>
<p>Yes, I do.</p>
<p>Salve, have you taken the AP Vergil exam before? If so, do you have any tips? I take it in May.</p>
<p>334592013, the AP Latin exam is HARD. I’ll just put it that way. Also, students by the time they get to it are supposed to have translated the 1800+ required lines for the exam. Not only translate but also understand how and what was translated. It is a test that you can “study” for independently, but it is certainly a different type of test. Here is the format of the exam if you are not familiar with it. There are 4 passages with multiple choice. My teacher said that doing the multiple choice makes her feel stupid because it is hard. 1 Passage will be from the required translating and the other 3 are most likely ones you have never seen before. Questions will be asked about the grammar of the passage and interpreting what exactly is happening. The best way to study for this is to expose yourself to multiple authors and how they write (common ones are of course Vergil, but also Catullus, Livy, Caesar, Ovid, Horace, Cicero, Pliny, etc). Then, find multiple choice passages from books. The next part of the exam is the FRQ section. On it, there are two passages to translate to the best of your ability from the required translation. The best way to handle this is to do all of the required lines and just study while you go along, this is basically up for grabs on what passages they choose out of the 1800 lines. Then, I believe there are two passages followed by essay questions for each where you must cite Latin to support your essay. This is a little easier because you don’t need to have the greatest understanding of the passage or translate the whole thing. The only way to practice this is to practice your essay writing and perhaps have your Latin teacher look over it. Lastly, there is another essay question but it is over The Aeneid as a whole. So they expect you to have read a whole English version seeing as they don’t make you translate all of it. There is then a group A and B that has characters or something under each. You have to write an essay based off the prompt comparing, contrasting, etc one person from each group. Best thing you can do is be familiar with the characters and the general story of The Aeneid. There isn’t really a set good way of studying for the test, basically just looking over all of the required lines (that can be found on the Collegeboard website). Below are some book suggestions:</p>
<p>Definitely pick up the Vergil Workbook:
[Amazon.com:</a> A Vergil Workbook (9780865166141): Katherine Bradley, Barbara Weiden Boyd: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Vergil-Workbook-Katherine-Bradley/dp/0865166145/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263761496&sr=8-7]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Vergil-Workbook-Katherine-Bradley/dp/0865166145/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263761496&sr=8-7)
This book is excellent in that it is structured specifically for the AP Exam and has all the required Latin that must be translated followed by Multiple Choice, Short Answer Questions, Essays, and Scansion. However, there is a separate answer book that may only be available to teachers, but I’m not positive.</p>
<p>Also, if you are not so sharp on your grammar, get Excelability in Advanced Latin:
[Amazon.com:</a> Excelability in Advanced Latin (A Path to Success on Latin College Entrance and Latin Placement Examinations) (9780865165120): Marianthe Colakis: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Excelability-Advanced-Entrance-Placement-Examinations/dp/0865165122/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263761496&sr=8-4]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Excelability-Advanced-Entrance-Placement-Examinations/dp/0865165122/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263761496&sr=8-4)
This book basically has a full blown grammar overview with practice at the end of each section. It also has numerous Multiple Choice passages from various authors and a section in the back that has both translation passages and sample essay questions. This book also does not include answers though since they are in a separate copy that may only be available for teachers, but you can research that.</p>
<p>This last book is the only book made by a common prepbook maker. It is good for getting familiar with the exam and even has practice exams+a grammar, scansion, and literary term review. I say it’s a good pick, and it also includes answers.
[Amazon.com:</a> AP Latin Vergil Exam w/CD-ROM (REA) (9780738607061): Ronald B. Palma, D. Thomas Benediktson Ph.D.: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Latin-Vergil-Exam-CD-ROM-REA/dp/0738607061/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263761496&sr=8-2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Latin-Vergil-Exam-CD-ROM-REA/dp/0738607061/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263761496&sr=8-2)
There’s an older version too that is probably just as good but it includes the AP Latin Literature exam (which was discontinued starting this year).</p>
<p>Circular, I have not first hand taken the Vergil exam, but I did take the Literature exam last year which is virtually the same thing. I will not be taking the Vergil exam either seeing as it doesn’t really do anything for my because of the college I am going to. My biggest tip, don’t bog down so much on knowing every single little line or whatever in the required lines. Instead, put your energy into studying vocabulary like crazy. Also, make sure you have a stable grammar background. If you do this, you shouldn’t have much of a problem translating the passages and at the same time understanding the passages for the essays. I wish you the best of luck… it’s an interesting exam, I’ll just say that.</p>
<p>Thanks. I be fine if I can work on my grammar a little and expand my vocab.</p>