So I’m a junior this year and the first semester is almost over, there’s only a couple more weeks left. Right now, I’m taking Spanish 3 Honors and I have a high B+ in the class. I’ve looked through the syllabus and what we’re going to learn and I’ve noticed that I know almost all of the material already, especially the verb conjugations (future, conditional, subjunctive, perfect, etc.). Next year, I plan on taking either AP Spanish Lang or IB Spanish B SL since I’m very interested in the Spanish Language and might want to major in it. I was thinking of talking to my GC about switching me into AP Spanish next semester since I know most of the material in my current class and I want to challenge myself and also take IB Spanish next year. My other classes I’m taking are History of Rock & Roll (doing well), Chemistry HP (doing ok in, should have a B/B- on the report card), US History regular level (doing ok), math 3 honors (failing but I’m switching into the much easier regular level math 3 class next semester as well and will take summer school to make up the credits), and IB English HL1 (doing well in). Is it worth it? Would another schedule change be too much?
If you aren’t pulling an A in Spanish 3, then you should try to remain in it for the rest of the year so you can increase your mastery of the material at hand, as AP Spanish is no joke whatsoever. I am in Spanish IV Honors right now with a 96 and I would be terrified to take AP Spanish, and I am pretty sure I would fail the AP exam. You have another year to take AP/IB Spanish, so there isn’t any need to rush.
Also, props to you for sticking with foreign languages for so long. I also would like to further my Spanish education in college.
It’s not just about learning the concept - it’s about applying it till you can use it autonomously. Right now you’ve seen the concept but I doubt you can freely use it correctly when writing a paper. THat’s what second semester is going to be about - it won’t be a new concept but a new skill.
(Remember when you learned the concept of adding/subtracting in 1st grade? And how you went on using those skills for years and years… yet the skills required kept changing and getting harder? It’s the same idea here. You got the basics first semester. Prepare to work on applying that for months and months, until they’re second nature and you can handle AP work).
I completely agree. You’re planning on skipping 2 years worth of content, since you’ll be taking the AP exam at the end of the year. That is not a good idea. You can’t get an A in Spanish III, so what makes you think you will somehow get an A in AP Spanish? I would NOT recommend this.
Also I say use the time you would in Spanish to pass Math.
You can learn more abotu spanish in your free time…watch TV shows/Movies in spanish.