<p>My friend has been thinking some what I think are insane thoughts about taking both AP Spanish Language and AP Spanish Literature at the same time. She has only finished through Spanish 4 and will be a senior next year. She is not a native speaker, but she thinks she can do it. I told her it would be almost impossible to do well on both. I would like opinions on this. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Anyone who has taken either of these classes?</p>
<p>I took AP Spanish Language this year (made a 5 on the exam) and am a non-native speaker. I plan to self study AP Spanish Literature next year and consequently have done serious research into the curriculum. I think the ability to do both depends greatly on the rigor of the Spanish classes at your school and what other classes your friend is taking. AP Spanish Language is pretty intense at our school, but we didn’t have much homework and if you were good at Spanish, you didn’t need to study much outside of class. On the other hand, AP Spanish Literature has a ton of stories, poems and books that have to be read, so I can imagine that class would be time consuming. If your friend is taking pretty easy classes besides these two and is very good at Spanish, I say it is possible, but the experience might not be very enjoyable. If not, I don’t recommend it.</p>
<p>Non-native speaker here.</p>
<p>I took Spanish Lit this year. During the school year, I was taken aback by the difficulty of the readings, and the actual AP test wasn’t a cakewalk either - the listening portion and the MC was not the simplest, but I somehow pulled a 5. If I would give any tips - make sure to dominate the essays - I’m pretty sure that’s what saved me. And looking at this year’s score distributions - 80% to get a 3 or higher. Those are pretty good stats, especially if you’re just looking to get a 4.</p>
<p>Spanish Language is both simpler and more difficult, depending on your strengths. It has a much larger emphasis on speaking, with nerve-wracking telephone conversations, and listening, with you having to write essays based off of audio passages. Much less emphasis on reading, unlike Spanish Lit. Of course, the class isn’t easy, but my teacher was amazing, and I pulled a 5.</p>
<p>Taking both simultaneously isn’t going to be a cakewalk, but the grammar and vocab emphasis on Spanish Lang will help with your comprehension of the texts of Spanish Lit. I’d say that they’re a relatively good match - it’s just like one mega year of spanish, with concentrations on the entire spectrum - listening, speaking, writing. You’re pretty much going to be fluent by the end of it, which is a huge plus.</p>
<p>Go for it, I say.</p>