Hi, I’m a rising junior, and I have decided to undertake the (so I hear) difficult task of taking AP Spanish next year. In my school, people usually take Spanish 4H before taking AP Spanish, but a small number of people (native and non-native) go from Spanish 3H to AP Spanish. I would really like to have this on my resume as a junior-- but I love learning foreign languages anyways-- so I have decided to go from Spanish 3H to AP Spanish.
I am curious as to what level I should be at before the next school year starts, but I do not have any reference to help me gauge exactly where I should be… For example, should I have knowledge of all the 7 normal and all of the 7 compound tenses before I start the class? In Spanish 3H, we only learned 6 of the normal and 2 of the compound… Also, what would be the most effective thing to do over this summer to prepare for the class (prep book or Spanish tv or tutor?)? Thanks for any help!
I went directly from Spanish 3H to AP Spanish (and just got a 5 on the exam), so I’ll try to help! I’m a rising senior, so I was in your position last year. Disclaimer before I begin, though: I had a wonderful, wonderful Spanish teach for both my Spanish 3H and my AP class, who was an enormous help.
I had reviewed all of the tenses before I began AP Spanish. I at least knew la concordancia de los tiempos, so I was very clear on which tenses corresponded to which. I was not completely sure how to string them together during spontaneous writing/speech (I picked that up during AP Spanish). But I think a simple ability to recognize them and begin to put them together was very important. Of course, you might be able to pick this up as the year begins, it’s all up to your learning style. This is where a tutor or at least a quick grammar review during the summer might be really useful.
My weakest skill as a non-native speaker was listening comprehension. I personally found Spanish TV to be useful, but my #1 most important resource was the great variety of available online podcasts. It helped me with accents, and it also removed the visual aid of TV so I had to interpret a lot. It’s super hard at first, but I increased dramatically. I highly recommend it. If you need links to podcast sites, let me know!
If you can, vocabulary development is also extremely important. This is a case where the more exposure, the better. The AP exam could have any of a bajillion words on it, basically, so you’re advantaged if you know more. I never found the need to find specific lists and learn straight from them. I just kept track of all the words I found in my reading, listening, etc. That way, even if I didn’t know a word outright, I kind of went on gut feeling. It seemed to work out. So read and listen to what interests you! Science? Fine a science blog! Social justice? Find a social justice podcast! There are so many words out there, ready for you to learn.
As for the content of an AP class, I was really shocked when I couldn’t just conjugate verbs and get 100%s anymore. XD I think a prep book is more useful once the class starts, but that’s just me. If you feel a tutor is worth it for you, then absolutely go for it. (I never had a tutor, but my friends and I talked in Spanish together whenever we could as we prepared for the test. It was invaluable, having someone to just listen and respond to you. The way languages should work!) Both of those things are good resources to have once the year is underway, too.
Good luck! PM me if you have any questions
@Larensea Thank you for such a thoughtful answer-- I really appreciate it! I’ll definitely take up your advice to make sure that my grammar is up to par. I’ve been listening to podcasts in the past couple weeks, and I really have seen a big difference in my listening skills. Thanks again
My son watched at least 5 hours of Spanish television each week for the 2 months leading up to his exam. He took Spanish 4 and received a 4 on the AP exam. He liked the podcasts, but the television was more interesting and realistic in terms of having a conversation with someone face-to-face.
