Introduction to How to Study for AP® Spanish Language

The AP Spanish Language and Culture test is a tough mixture of linguistic aspects and how they play into the cultures of the different Spanish-speaking countries in the world. Looking at the sheer content of what you have to study might seem overwhelming or impossible, but if you take a look a little deeper, you will see that this isn’t the case.

Learning a language is not the same as learning science or mathematics. Rather, it can be easier, as there are plenty of hard and fast rules in a language that you can stick to in order to understand how to speak that language. For example, conjugation almost always follows the same patterns, no matter what the verb.

When you take this fact about language into consideration, things will suddenly get easier. You end up realizing these patterns and focusing on the exceptions to those patterns to actually end up learning the language. Spanish is no different.

Here are some ways you can get into creating an AP® Spanish Language and Culture study plan that is suited to your needs and the rougher areas of the Spanish language. In addition, we will include some tips and reminders to keep in mind while you study.

What’s on the Exam?

One thing you absolutely have to keep in mind during your studies is that the AP® is not a perfect gauge of your Spanish speaking skills. The AP® test is actually created based on the course content the CollegeBoard has judged as necessary for learning the language. It then makes sense to look at what the CollegeBoard includes on the exam through their recommended course content.

The interesting thing about the CollegeBoard’s guidelines is how they do not focus on studying the grammatical aspects, but rather the cultural aspects of the language. This is probably why the course can be referred to as AP® Spanish Language and Culture. Additionally, there is no grammar included on the exam itself, even though it is integral in formulating your answers.

First of all, let’s look at how the actual exam is set up. The following is the general build of the AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam. Note that the total estimated time includes reading directions and listening to audio.

1. Multiple Choice Reading
   1. 95 minutes long
   2. Two subsections
      1. First subsection: 40 minutes long and 30 questions; printed texts like flyers and e-mails.
      2. Second subsection: 55 minutes long and 35 questions; audio listening followed by reading a text related to the audio and answering questions based on the relationship between the two. 

2. Writing and Speaking
   1. 90 minutes long
   2. Four subsections
      1. First subsection: 15 minutes and 1 prompt; informal writing, such as writing a letter or e-mail.
      2. Second subsection: 55 minutes and 1 prompt; persuasive essay presenting your side on a specific issue.
      3. Third subsection: 5 prompts, 20 seconds each; recorded responses to a simulated conversation.
      4. Fourth subsection: 1 prompt, 4 minutes for preparation and 2 minutes for response; recorded oral presentation

The hardest part of the entire exam would probably be the persuasive essay, which is the most demanding when it comes to creating vocabulary on a specialized topic. The easiest would probably be the conversation exercise, because it is simple and easy to follow with the proctor.

No matter what section of the test you are on at the time, the CollegeBoard will present you with a demanding range of vocabulary that you should have studied throughout your years of studying the Spanish language. The following are some of the vocabulary categories or themes that the CollegeBoard requires a teacher to cover in their class:

1. Beauty and Aesthetics
   1. Describing objects and their qualities. This can include artworks, social standards for beauty, or architecture. It can also include random daily aspects such as describing the weather or aspects of nature.

2. Contemporary Life
   1. You will learn how to describe your daily life or habitual processes. Some of these processes include sending an e-mail, messaging, and navigating websites. You might also need to plan a trip or a special event, such as a party or school dance.

3. Families and Communities
   1. You will describe the different relationships in your family or another family. These relationships will be either emotional (such as husband and wife) or genealogical (grandmother, cousin, sister, etc.). You will also need to talk about community events, community relationships, or other aspects of community.

4. Global Challenges
   1. You will have to describe the societal, political, or scientific challenges that the world faces today. Examples of these challenges can be poverty, climate change, or natural disasters.

5. Personal and Public Identities
   1. This category can be difficult to describe well, but it is basically the aspects of identity in society and societal roles. Examples of personal identities would be hobbies, interests, or physical characteristics. Public identities are professions, economic positions, or the role of the person in their society.

6. Science and Technology
   1. You should have an understanding of basic aspects of science and technology. For technology, you should be able to describe navigating a computer, the web, and other relevant technologies, such as smartphones. As far as the sciences, you should be able to describe basic chemistry, biology, geography, geology, and meteorology.

Looking at these six categories, you may be wondering how you can study for such overarching content. Luckily, we are here to help you look through what you need to know with the ultimate goal of achieving a 5 on your test. In addition, we will give you some resources for review that will give you an idea of the relevant subjects and content that will be on the exam itself.

Things to Consider

Looking at the sheer amount of content and knowledge that is required to take the test, you may feel overwhelmed right off the bat. However, the truth is that things are easier than you might think. If you find yourself in despair while looking at your study plan, take the following into consideration.

1. AP® Spanish Language and Culture vs. Other Exams

Yes, the AP® Spanish exam is packed with information, but that information has been covered through years of preparation. Most AP® courses are studied throughout a year or just a semester, but AP® Spanish is studied over the course of several years.

The accumulated experience that you have from learning Spanish makes you more prepared than you think and it will really cut down on your vocabulary study time.

2. Context clues and euphemism

When it comes to both the reading and writing exercises, there are chances that you may come across or need a word that has slipped your mind. Whether you are reading or writing, there are ways to get around this problem and get to the point without having to skip the question.

a. Euphemism:

This will help you with speaking exercises as well as writing. Many people understand a euphemism as a way to say a bad word without actually saying it. However, a euphemism is actually a way to say anything without actually saying it and you probably do it every day when you speak Spanish in class.

For example, if you are looking for the word for “notes” in Spanish (apuntes), you might say “La cosa que escribo para estudiar” (The thing I write to study). That is a euphemism. In a writing setting, you can say something like “El científico que estudi apiedras dice…” (The scientist that studies rocks says…) if you cannot find the word for “geologist” at that moment. Timing is key on the exam, so you should go for continuity of thought by using euphemisms instead of wracking your brain to help write more quickly.

b. Context Clues:

This is probably the key to learning any language. In fact, you probably even make use of this strategy when you are reading texts in English. Whenever you come across a word that you do not understand, you should always look at the context of the phrase surrounding the word and pull out details related to the word.

For example, say you do not understand the word “library.” You might read a sentence that says, “He went to the library to get some books so he can study.” You can get from the context of the sentence that a library is a place where books are stored.

Looking at context clues in reading exercises can definitely help you get the understanding of a particular word you are struggling to understand. Otherwise, you can also work on looking at the context of the entire article, especially if the particular word is a keyword for the rest of the article or text.

3. Cognates

English is an odd language that has both Germanic and Latin roots. Spanish is a Latin language that is derived from the Latin that Romans spoke. The shared Latin background of both English and Spanish has given rise to certain useful cognates.

Cognates are two words that have the same origins; in this case, the words in English that have a Latin origin that is shared with Spanish. You might have noticed that the easiest cognates to identify end with the suffix –ciónin Spanish and –tion in English. The meaning of these words is obvious just by looking at them, such as “preparation” and “preparación.”

It is said that about 40% of all English words are Spanish cognates. That means if you come across a word that seems similar and makes sense in the context in which it is presented, then it probably means what you are guessing. These words are most often scientific or have prefixes or suffixes that are Latin-based in English. Other examples would be geografía/geography and repetir/to repeat.

However, beware of false cognates that look similar, but could portray a different or opposite meaning from what you want to say. The most common false cognate would be “embarrassed” and “embarazada.”“Embarazada” actually means “pregnant” in Spanish; if you want to say “I’m embarrassed,” you would actually say, “Tengovergüenza” and not “Estoyembarazada.”

Keeping these three AP® Spanish tips in mind will help you improve your Spanish and make your studies much easier. They will also play a huge role in how you take your exam, creating a way to answer a question that might otherwise give you a difficult time.

The Study Plan

Now that we have covered tips about the test and its content, studying for the AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam will now come down to figuring out what you already know and what you need to know. Because this is a language and not a concrete concept, it is much more difficult to identify your weak points. In any case, Spanish does have a few different areas that are not easily transferred into English that you absolutely have to study.

When you are studying, you should look at three particular concepts before moving on to review vocabulary or more extensive grammar rules. Here are the three most difficult problems that English speakers encounter in Spanish.

1. The Subjunctive Mood

This is definitely the hardest concept to grasp in Spanish. In fact, it is probably the last thing you will master to reach total fluency in Spanish. Luckily, the exam does not look for fluency, but rather competency in Spanish. Therefore, the subjunctive will be an important subject, but not absolutely critical to passing the exam.

The subjunctive is often mistaken for a tense, but it is actually a mood. The mood that we are most familiar with is called the indicative mood. In English, the subjunctive mood only exists in formal writing, such as “The manager asks that you be there at six.” The “you be” is the verb “to be” in the subjunctive mood.

In Spanish, the subjunctive mood is a much more commonly used aspect of the language. It is used to express wishes, desires, doubts, or possibilities in Spanish. It therefore occurs very frequently, even in normal conversation.

The subjunctive mood is the most important thing to study in Spanish because it is the hardest part of the language for English speakers to understand. Its frequency mixed with its difficulty makes it a priority on your study plan. You should also learn the subjunctive conjugation of the different verb endings as well as any irregular verbs.

2. Por/Para; Ser/Estar

These four words are often confused in English, mainly because their meaning translates to a single word. Ser and estar both mean “to be,” while por and para most often mean “for” in English (although they can mean many other things). This confusion often leads to the two words being used interchangeably when they should be used in specific contexts.

a. Por/Para

These are two complicated words that are hard to understand and use when approaching Spanish from an English language mindset. The most important thing to remember is that they have separate contexts for use and neither word is interchangeable.

The good news is that “por” is easier to understand because it is used much more often and can be associated more closely to the word “for” in English. “Para” is more often used to express purpose and can be associated more closely with the phrase “in order to” in English.

An example of the distinction between the two words comes from the sentence “Estoy caminando por/para el parque.” Using “por” in this context would mean you are saying “I am walking through the park.” Meanwhile, using “para” would mean “I am walking in the direction of the park.” This is not a subtle difference and the distinction separates both words from their common association to the word “for” in English.

You should dedicate a good amount of time to these two words and make a point to include them in your Spanish practice to better understand how they are used.

b. Ser/Estar

These two words are even more difficult to understand than por and para. English speakers who are fluent in Spanish still commonly make errors in identifying which verb to use in certain contexts. Luckily, both of these verbs mean “to be” in English.

That being said, the easiest way to identify which word you should use comes from the permanence of “being.” That sounds philosophical, but it is actually really easy to understand. When describing something permanent or long-lasting, you should use “ser.” Likewise, when something is temporary or short lived, you should use “estar.”

For example, when a person describes what they do for work, they are probably hoping that the job will be permanent or last a lifetime. Therefore, “I am a teacher” would translate to “Soy profesor.”

A more complex version of this concept comes from the state of a person versus the quality of a person. A person’s state is temporary, whereas a person’s quality is permanent. In English, we distinguish this by changing the word order: A person can be happy or they can be a happy person.

In Spanish, describing a person that is happy would be “La persona está feliz.” Meanwhile, a happy person would be “La persona es feliz.” In this way, you can see the difference in permanence between the two words.

Studying these two verbs will help you understand the common errors that occur among English speakers who are learning Spanish. The distinction is especially important because it can often be completely wrong (and therefore would make no sense) or completely change the meaning of the sentence.

3. Past Tense

The past tense in Spanish changes according to temporal aspects, much like ser and estar. The two most common past tense conjugations are the imperfect (preterite imperfect) or preterite (perfect preterite). They are often confused in English because the distinction simply does not exist.

The imperfect is used most often for actions that are being described in the past as continuous and without an indicated end. For example, “I worked on the project” would be “Trabajaba en el proyecto.” The use of the imperfect tense means that you are still working on the project today or otherwise lacks an action that indicated completion of the project.

The preterite therefore indicates a completed action in the past. As an example, “I worked on the project” would be “Trabajé en el proyecto.” In this case, you worked on the project until completion. The two aspects can work together to describe different events in the past and how they are related; for example, “Trabajaba en el proyecto, pero mi jefe me despidió.” In this case, the action was continuous until it was interrupted by another action. The continuous action (“I worked on the project…”) is interrupted by the completed action (“…but my boss fired me.”).

There are plenty of other aspects in the past tense in Spanish, and they play roles in both the indicative and subjunctive moods. The complexity of the past tense and the similarities between aspects makes it important to identify and study these common problems.

When you are working on your study plan, it is important to take the above three common problems into account. The three problems are absolutely imperative because they are the most commonly cited errors English speakers will make in the Spanish language. You are also almost sure to be tested on these three while you are taking the test.

Apart from working on these errors, you should also cover other things you might not understand or that might be difficult for you to grasp. These are most likely grammatical aspects, such as word gender, other tenses, or possibly problems with similar words.

Your Resources

Now that you have identified the weak points in your Spanish studies, it is important to find different resources to study Spanish and work towards getting a 5 on the exam. The best part about the AP® exam is that it is structured with obvious patterns and identifiable themes. Therefore, there is a certain aspect of strategy that can be applied to studying for the AP® Spanish exam.

1. Past exams

First and foremost, always look at the CollegeBoard website for information on the exam. The exam information page has all of the descriptions of the exam content and everything you should study before going in to take the exam. In addition, they provide invaluable resources such as a practice exam, past exams to review, and even feedback on real student answers for FRQ’s.

It should be noted that past exams will be less reliable the further back in time you go. This is particularly true of those exams that come from before 2009, because they contain grammar sections that are no longer on today’s exams. However, you can still use those sections to review grammar problems, if necessary.

2. Take other tests

While the exams from the CollegeBoard are great, they don’t really serve their purpose for learning and studying due to the fact that you cannot receive feedback for your answers. That is why you should use them as a starting point to understanding what you need to study, rather than using them solely to study.

When you have studied and you are ready to practice, you can head over to albert.io, which has Spanish tests for you to take. The tests have multiple choice questions that touch on the same exact topics that the CollegeBoard requires on the exams. The best part is that you receive feedback and reasoning when you get questions correct or incorrect.

Using a topical exam such as those from albert.io helps you to expand relevant vocabulary while also learning from your mistakes to be able to identify problems that require special study.

3. Spanish language media

As we have covered, listening and reading take up a significant portion of the exam. While it is easy to study for an exam by reviewing notes and reading study guides, you will most likely learn more from engaging with Spanish language media from all over the world.

The United States has a significant percentage of Spanish speaking citizens, which means that media in Spanish is very easy to come by. You can start reading newspapers or listening to the news while you are studying for the AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam.

Even further, you should search YouTube for channels that you are interested in. These channels can be related to hobbies or specific news that you want to learn about. As long as they are in Spanish, you will be learning.

Conclusion

The AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam has tons of information that needs to be covered. However, thanks to your years of practice and dedication in your different Spanish classes, you will find yourself more prepared than you realize. While reviewing vocabulary flashcards and different verb conjugations can help, they won’t make you learn the language.

The key to learning Spanish actually comes from exposure. You should do everything possible to get out there and use the language, whether you are listening to the news or actively engaging in conversation. That way, you go into the test room with the confidence of knowing the language.

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