By Nadia Rivas
Since my freshman year in high school, I have been enrolled in a Spanish class. Not regular Spanish 1 that you may be thinking of, but Spanish For Spanish Speakers taught by the incredible George Palau. Palau suggested I take AP Spanish my junior year. I was a bit nervous initially, I didn’t think I was up to par for AP-level Spanish. Although I had spoken it my whole life, I thought I was a “No Sabo” (Someone who doesn’t know how to speak proper Spanish). However, my suspicions were wrong, AP Spanish was the best decision ever. I had an amazing teacher who made it a walk in the park. Every day, we followed a similar lesson plan. We started with a conversation, then we moved on to reading articles, and if we had time at the end, we would do some practice MCQs.
AP Spanish is mostly all about understanding what the text is asking you to do or say. At times, I didn’t understand what was being asked or what I needed to do. One of my first essays written in class was one page because I was so clueless as to what I needed to write and how much. I remember going home that day and feeling so discouraged that I bought a textbook from Amazon so I could practice until I mastered the essays. It wasn’t easy at first, but over time I began enjoying going to Spanish class, never knowing if Mr. Palau was going to throw us an MCQ or an essay. It was a rush finding out. On the actual exam day, I felt confident. I didn’t study the night before; that’s how confident I felt. During the exam, it felt like another day in class. I wasn’t nervous, I felt calm and collected. After those five hours, which felt like two, I thought to myself, “That was it?” All these months I spent worrying that it was going to be hard, and it was the easiest thing ever.
Practice a lot if your Spanish is not the best. I promise it will get easier. As a Spanish speaker and avid Spanish reader, I recommend AP Spanish to anyone who feels ready to take their Spanish up a notch, and if you’re curious as to what the exam is about, I’ll tell you!!!
First, we do the MCQ portion, which has two sections. The first section consists of reading an article and answering questions; this portion takes 30 minutes. Next is the part of the MCQ where you will have to read and listen to an audio. Most people struggle with this part; my biggest suggestion is to take notes on the audio.
The next portion of the exam is the FRQs. This may sound intimidating, but it’s a breeze and feels quite easy on the day of the exam. The first FRQ is an email response. In the email response, you are going to HANDWRITE a formal email response. The email has to contain a greeting, a response to the questions, you have to ask two questions, and a goodbye. You only have 15 minutes on this part, so you have to write quickly and neatly. My suggestion is to get to the point; don’t ramble on about the questions. I finished mine in 10 minutes and had 5 minutes to spare. The essay is next. You will be given three sources: an article, a graph of some sort, and an audio. Again, take notes on the audio; it helps with structuring your essay. You have 40 minutes for this part. I advise having a counter argument because one source is always on the opposing side of the argument. Unlike AP Lang, don’t ramble too much; just say why this is important to your claim and tie it back to your line of reasoning. Remember, you only have 40 minutes. If you have time, proofread your essay.
After this, you jump into the speaking portion of the exam. This part most people freak out about, but the key is to stay calm and not overthink it. You will need to have a conversation with the audio provided. In the conversation, you have to respond to them, keep talking for those 20 seconds after each question is asked; it goes by fast. Don’t rush it; take your time. The last thing you do is the cultural comparison. The cultural comparison is going to be on a topic that is given to you on that day. You will have 4 minutes to make a presentation comparing a Spanish-speaking country with one in your community and how there are similarities found in both, depending on the topic. They will give you two minutes to talk, and then it’s over.
The year goes by fast, and the next thing you know, you’re taking the AP exam, so practice a lot. Whoever is taking AP Spanish and reading this, good luck, and pray you get Palau. 🙏🏼