So I am a sophomore non-native speaker in AP Spanish Lang and I believe I may be struggling. I took 3 last year and skipped out of 4 into AP. In class, the work is a bit of a challenge (ie I can’t thoroughly understand what’s going on like natives can). I got a high D on our first test so I am beyond worried, though I’ve never had a problem with Spanish before. What should I do if I really want an A in the class and am looking to get into competitive colleges?
Are you taking other APs as well? I ask because improving your Spanish to get from a D to an A (or even a B) would take a big time commitment.
If you don’t have a bunch of free time to devote to this, I suggest dropping down to level 4. Skipping doesn’t seem like it was a good idea.
- non native speaker who did well in AP Spanish Lang and has good tips for improving Spanish skills
I am not taking any other APs this year and my overall grade right now is a B but I’m worried because I can only cushion it with hw, easier quizzes, and projects, while I’m REALLY scared for tests. Do you have any advice for being on the path to fluency?
Clearly you are not ready for AP Spanish. Can you move back to SPan 4?
Also talk to your spanish teacher and GC for ideas.
As someone who has had four years of Spanish (currently in Spanish IV H online due to scheduling problems and I don’t have access to AP) and is most definitely continuing on with their Spanish education in college, I’m gonna have to agree with others and say it will be best for you to not continue on with the AP Spanish Language course if you would like to earn an A. I earned top marks in Spanish III Honors at my physical school and after I finished the course, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to look up AP Spanish Language vocal listening assignments and I, honestly, was very lost. If you are not doing very well this early on, assuming AP Spanish at your school follows the traditional difficulty progression that the Spanish courses at my school do, you are facing an uphill battle, as things will only become more complex from here on out. However, since you seem to be taking a relatively light courseload without any other extremely demanding classes, it may be feasible for you to devote large quantities of time to AP Spanish, which would definitely improve your chances of earning a better grade.
In terms of reaching fluency, try to create the most advanced sentences you possibly can without being grammatically incorrect. In writing, I have found that use of introductory phrases add a bit of substance to a sentence, making them seem more complex, and in order to maintain grammatical correctness, you may need to substitute singular words you don’t know with series of words that you do know that hold the same meaning, which sounds awkward sometimes. Also, focusing on listening and hearing the language is an extremely important part of attaining fluency. From what I’ve heard, a very significant part of the exam is based on comprehending very fast Spanish conversational speech.
Talk to your guidance counselor and see if you can move to Spanish 4. There is no reason to take AP Spanish as a sophomore.
@stressedbutblessed listening comprehension is HUGE. It will not only help you with the listening portions of the tense, but will help you get used to grammatically correct Spanish and more vocabulary, which will help your reading comprehension and writing as well. Do you have Netflix? There is a show that I am absolutely obsessed with right now that I could recommend to you. The best method for me was to start with English subtitles, and then to slowly transition into Spanish subtitles, first for 5 minutes at a time, and then more. This would be very helpful, even if you decide to drop down to Spanish 4. I did this when I was in Spanish 4 actually, and it took me from a B to an A.