It’s almost time for the big day of your AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam, but perhaps the difference between preterite and imperfect still confuses you, or you don’t quite feel prepared for the speaking section. No matter how comfortable you are with the language and topics covered on the exam, there is always room for improvement. The best way to improve is to practice, and this 30 day AP® Spanish Language study guide provides just that to help you prepare to do your absolute best on this year’s exam.

About the Exam

The AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam takes a total of 3 hours and is composed of two main parts. Part I is the multiple choice portion with 30 questions on reading comprehension and 35 questions on listening comprehension. This portion of the exam takes one hour and 35 minutes. Part II is the free response section (frq) made up of 4 tasks of both interpersonal and presentational speaking and writing, which takes another hour and a half to complete. This guide will help you gain confidence in all these sections through repeated practice.

The CollegeBoard, the organization that writes and administers the AP® exams, has selected 6 main themes that the material of the exam will be based on. Notice that all these themes are interrelated and one theme includes topics from all the others.

1. Global Challenges. In this theme, you must describe social, political or scientific challenges around the world, like poverty or global warming.
2. Science and Technology. This theme discusses basic aspects of science and its effects on the other themes.
3. Contemporary Life. Here, you must describe your daily life and habits, including events, school, holidays, and using the internet.
4. Personal and Public Identity. This theme describes social and personal roles and interests, like hobbies or jobs.
5. Families and Communities. For this theme, describe the relationships in a family and community and special events that occur throughout the year. This is similar to the Contemporary Life theme.
6. Beauty and Aesthetics – In this theme, you must discuss objects and their qualities, including things like art, beauty and architecture, as well as poetry and literature.

What You Need for this Guide

The most important resource is access to Albert.io’s AP® Spanish Language study guide. This resource provides a large number of multiple choice practice questions and review material so you know what to expect on exam day. The guide is organized by the 6 themes and includes reading comprehension questions for each central theme. Specific sections will be suggested in this study schedule, but try to do as many as you can.

A notecard app like Quizlet or physical notecards, whatever works best for you. This will help you review your vocabulary words and any irregular or stem changing verbs you come across during your review.

Pen and paper, or better yet a notebook dedicated entirely to practicing multiple choice questions and writing prompts. Include a “Topics to Review” list on the first page with a list of things you are not entirely comfortable with to review over the weeks. Also create a page for each of the themes listed above where you can write topics that fall under each broad theme, and make notes on how they relate to each other.

The CollegeBoard AP® Spanish Language guide gives information on the specific format and topics covered on the exam, so it’s nice to have as reference. The website also has a host of study resources including all the frqs from the past exams and select multiple choice practice questions. Specific sample questions from this website will be assigned throughout this study guide.

A Spanish/English dictionary, either a print book or online. Keep this on your desk as you study for quick and easy reference.

Optional (but helpful) Materials

A source for reading and listening material. A large part of the exam is listening and reading comprehension, so getting as much exposure to the language before the exam will definitely help. Great resources include BBC Mundo and Spanish Listening. Some specific resources will be assigned throughout the schedule, but extra practice will make the listening and reading assignments so much easier on test day.

Albert.io’s Ultimate Spanish Grammar Review

Either your school’s AP® Spanish textbook or a review guide. The most popular guides are The Princeton Review and Barron’s. Use this for extra practice on any grammar topics that confuse you.

How to use this Plan

Try to spend at least 1-2 hours a day using this AP® Spanish Language study guide to prepare for the exam. Remember, the more time you spend reviewing, the more likely you are to get the score you want on this challenging exam. Make sure you take breaks though; it’s important not to burn yourself out because that could work against you. A common time management technique that works for a lot of people is the Pomodoro technique where you take a 5 minute break for every 25 minutes you work. Try some different time management techniques to see what works best for you.

Structure of this Study Schedule

Week One is focused on learning what the exam covers and also includes an intensive grammar review with a few different topics per day. Review resources will be provided, but this is a great place to utilize your textbook or other review books for extra practice.

Weeks Two through Four are primarily practice on multiple choice and frq responses for each of the 6 central themes. Remember, practice is the best way to study for a performance based exam like AP® Spanish, so give these weeks your all.

There are also a few things you should do every day to help prepare for the exam. Spend 15-30 minutes a day doing these key activities:

1. Listen to Spanish every day. Use the news resource listed under materials, or any other resources you can find, to gain exposure to the language. On most days, this will be included in the schedule, but if not, recommended sources will be given. Remember, since a major part of the exam is listening and reading comprehension, repeated exposure to the language can be the best way to prepare you, besides grammar practice.
2. Learn 7 new vocabulary words. Start with Albert.io’s Top 50 Words to Know for the AP® Spanish Exam, then focus on vocabulary words you have trouble with. Make flashcards either on paper or with an app to help you master these words. Also focus on Angelisimos, words that sound like they are Spanish, but aren’t (like embarazada). Try to go back and review all your flashcards often.
3. Focus on word gender and accents, but not stress over them. These are definitely important for fluency in Spanish, but exam graders do not expect you to be perfect, and it is still possible to score well with a few missing accent marks or misplaced gender pronouns. However, for every new vocabulary word you learn, make sure to write the gender pronoun and correct accent marks on your flashcard.

Week One

Day One

Today, the main goal is to familiarize yourself with the exam and the topics covered. Start by pulling up the instructions for the exam on the CollegeBoard website. These instructions never change, so you can save yourself crucial minutes by memorizing the instructions before the exam. Read over the directions and understand what each part of the exam requires of you. Try to memorize these today and look over them a few more times before exam day.

Then, again on the CollegeBoard website, look over the 6 central themes the exam focuses on. Albert.io’s study guide questions are broken down by these themes, so spend a few moments familiarizing yourself with this outline as well. In your notebook, write down each theme on a separate page, then brainstorm some topics under each theme. For example, under the Beauty and Aesthetic theme, you could write the names of some famous Spanish artists that come to mind. Continue adding to this list as you study so you have a bank of ideas come exam day.

To help set you up for a great month of review, also read over Albert.io’s AP® Spanish Language study tips. This is a great resource that gives you insider tips on how to tackle each part of the exam.

End your study session with the daily tasks listed above. The recommended listening for this week is the YouTube show Extra in Español. This is a 13 episode show designed for Spanish learners and is a great way to gain exposure to what Spanish sounds like, an important part of the comprehension parts of the exam. Today, watch episodes 1 and 2.

Congratulations! You are done with Day One! You are on your way to Spanish mastery.

Day Two

For today’s review material, go over the present tense, especially focusing on irregulars and stem changing verbs. Albert.io’s Grammar Study Guide will be helpful, but also reference your textbook and any study books you have purchased. Try to practice a few different sets using any resources you have until you feel comfortable.

Then, review the pronouns. Remember, there are two types of pronouns in Spanish, direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns. Also review where these pronouns are placed in sentences, especially when they can be attached to infinitives. The resources above will help review these topics.

Finish out the day with your daily tasks. For listening, it is recommended watch episodes 3 and 4 of Extra en Español. Don’t forget to learn 7 new vocabulary words as well. A good tip is to write down any words from the show that you do not understand.

Day Three

Today, continue your grammar review, focusing on the difference between ser and estar and the difference between por and para. These are important distinctions that the exam graders expect you to be familiar with, but some students mess up again and again. Albert.io’s grammar study guide is a great place to start, but also use your own resources to supplement your review.

Then, do the daily review tasks. Optionally, continue to watch Extra en Español; do episodes 5 and 6 today.

Day Four

Review the preterite and imperfect tenses today, especially focusing when to use either one. This is a major problem with a lot of Spanish learners, but you can master it with practice. Besides your textbook and the Albert.io grammar study guide listed above, this is a good resource to practice this distinction.

If you want, watch episodes 7 and 8 of Extra en Español. Otherwise, make sure you continue learning 7 new vocabulary words every day and are getting some listening exposure.

Day Five

Continuing with grammar review, today focus on the future and conditional tenses. Learn the difference between the two as they both refer to the future, but the conditional tense is used for probability whereas the future tense is used for things that will occur. Try to practice a few different problem sets so you completely understand the difference and how to conjugate, especially irregular verbs.

Then, optionally, watch episodes 9 and 10 of Extra en Español for your daily listening task, and don’t forget your 7 vocab words for today.

Day Six

To round out the intensive grammar review, study the subjunctive mood. Some students struggle with the this topic, so take your time with it. Remember, the subjunctive is not a verb tense, it is a mood. That means that it does not refer to a specific point in time, but rather represents doubt in what you are saying. So, because of that, every tense (present, imperfect, conditional, etc.) has a subjunctive mood alternative. If you don’t feel entirely comfortable with this mood before the end of the day, write it down on your “Topics to Review” list and go over it at least once a week until you master it.

Then, if you want, finish the Extra en Español series with episodes 11 through 13 or use another source of listening practice. Again, write down 7 vocabulary words you do not understand from you listening.

Day Seven

Today is the last day of your first week of intensive review! Great job so far. On the first day, you looked at the central themes and instructions for the exam on the CollegeBoard website. Today, go back to the website and read over some stellar free response question answers from previous students just like you. Review at least 2 examples of each of the 4 frq question types and focus especially on the grader’s comments below the student’s response. Write down in your notebook what the readers particularly liked. Reading over examples of good responses is the best way to figure out how to get a 5 on the exam, and remember, if they did it, so can you! Starting tomorrow, you will begin working on AP® Spanish multiple choice and frq practice questions based on the 6 themes listed above. Therefore, if you have any grammar topics you are still confused on, make sure you review those in addition to the assigned practice questions.

To finish today’s review, do your own listening practice, or browse around the BBC Mundo page. The best part about BBC Mundo is that the reporters have different accents and speak at different speeds, so try to listen to a few different news reports in whatever topic you like. There is not a specific speaking type on the AP® exam; rather the exam writers like to include different accents and dialects in the listening portion of the exam. Listening to as many kinds of speakers before you sit down for the exam in May will definitely help your performance.

Week Two

From here on out, your review will focus mainly on multiple choice and frq practice with a bit of grammar review. You will work through the practice problems on Albert.io for the 6 AP® Spanish themes as well as complete practice frq questions from the CollegeBoard website. As you practice each theme, write down topic ideas in your notebook and make sure to note anything you struggle with on the “Topics to Review” page.

Day One

For the next two days, focus on the first theme, Global Challenges. First, read over any notes you took about the theme and the topics under the theme you wrote down. Then, go to the Albert.io AP® Spanish Multiple Choice study guide. Choose a topic under the Global Challenges category that interests you and answer at least 15 of the questions. As you go through the questions, write down any more ideas of topics under the theme you come up with in your notebook.

Writing is also a very important part of the AP® Exam as 2 of the 4 free response questions require a written answer. So, to get extra practice, write a short paragraph in your notebook about the topic under Global Challenges you chose for today. Write a summary of the readings you practiced or just a reflection on how Global Challenges affect your life.

Then, do your daily tasks. Either revisit the BBC Mundo page or find your own resources. Don’t forget your vocabulary words. At this point, you can also start looking back at words you learned on day 1 and 2 to make sure you still remember them.

Day Two

Continue working on the Global Challenges theme. Today, pick another topic on the Albert.io study guide and do another 15 questions. By this point, you should have a good grasp of the format of the AP® Spanish Language multiple choice question style. If you would like to practice writing, also write a small paragraph in your notebook as a reflection on what you reviewed today. If you can, try to incorporate as many verb tenses as possible for extra practice.

For today’s listening task, listen to the song “La Historia de Juan”. The website also includes some preterite and imperfect review if you want some more practice on this rather tricky topic. Then, learn today’s 7 new vocabulary words.

Day Three

Today is your first day of free response question practice. Staying with the Global Challenge theme, go to the CollegeBoard website and complete question 1 from both the 2014 and 2016 frq exams. Once you are done, read over the answer key and make any necessary revision to your answers. Notice that these were both informal writing; we will practice the formal writing and speaking sections later on.

Also take some time today to look over the vocabulary you have learned so far to make sure you still remember most of them. If you can, try to incorporate these words whenever you speak or write; it will help you remember them.

To round out your day of studying, practice some listening, either on BBC Mundo or another website and learn your 7 vocabulary words.

Day Four

The next three days will be focused on the Science and Technology theme. Look over whatever you have written in your notebook about this topic to get some ideas about topics under this theme. Again, visit the Albert.io study guide page, choose a topic under this theme and do at least 15 of the practice questions. Try to do all of the easy questions and move to medium level questions if you are confident.

Then, again in your notebook, write a short paragraph summary of the topic you chose today. Include as many technical or theme-specific words that you can, especially any words you learned from today’s multiple choice practice questions.

Make sure to practice listening to Spanish, as well as your vocabulary, using whatever resources you’d like. As mentioned earlier, try to vary where you are getting your listening practice from to hear as many different accents or dialects of Spanish you can find.

Day Five

Complete your multiple choice practice for Science and Technology by picking another category in the study guide and completing at least 15 questions, more if you would like. Hopefully, reading and understanding has become easier for you. Remember to keep a dictionary on hand and write down any words you don’t understand to add to your daily vocabulary list.

If you are still a bit weak on your writing skills, also do some writing practice in your notebook by summarizing the reading you did for your multiple choice questions. Incorporate as many tenses as you can and try to include some new vocabulary words you have learned. Pay attention to accent marks and noun gender as well, but do not stress over these.

Day Six

Time for another frq practice! This time, look over question 2 from the 2014, 2015 and 2016 exams available on the CollegeBoard website. Notice that these are all formal writing pieces, so pay careful attention to the requirements. Since there are three sample questions from this topic, create a short outline for two of them and only write out your complete answer for one of them. Make sure to read over the answer key when you are done to see what the graders were looking for. Take any relevant notes in your “Topics to Review” list or on the Science and Technology theme page in your notebook.

Then, to close out your study session, remember to do some listening and vocabulary practice as well. By now, understanding spoken Spanish should be a little easier than when you started out.

Day Seven

Awesome job so far; you are halfway through this review! Today’s task is going to be challenging, but you are ready. Go to the Barron’s website and take a full length practice exam. This exam is modeled closely after the real exam, so try to take it all in one sitting if you can to properly simulate exam conditions. The hardest part of the exam isn’t really the content but time management, so completing a full length exam before the real deal is key. Take note of any sections that take you longer than the time limit so you can target your practice in the next few weeks and get more efficient.

As you take the exam, notice that the instructions are exactly same as the ones you read on day one. Memorizing these directions can save you precious time on the exam, so try your best to understand them before test day. This can save you precious minutes on the AP® exam.

Week Three

Day One

Now it is time to move on to the Contemporary Life theme. Once again, Albert.io is a great place for practice multiple choice questions, so pick a topic that interests you and answer at least 15 of the questions. If you noticed that the multiple choice section of the full length exam took a little too long for you to complete, try setting a time limit on each question so you can practice doing them faster and faster.

Also, if you are still a little weak in writing or speaking, practice those with this theme. Either write a short paragraph summarizing the topic you read about for the multiple choice questions, or record a 2-3 minute spoken summary, or do both!

Day Two

Finish your multiple choice review of the Contemporary Life theme with another topic from Albert.io’s study guide. Congratulations on your dedication, you are doing a great job so far.

Like yesterday, if you need to, take some time to practice writing or speaking based on the topic you learned about in today’s reading comprehension.

If you’d like, visit BBC Mundo again and look for news stories relating to the topic you chose for today’s theme review. Otherwise, use another source for your listening practice, then review today’s vocabulary.

Day Three

Time for some more frq practice! Again, go to the CollegeBoard website and access question 3 from 2016 and question 4 from 2015 to practice the Contemporary Life theme. Review the answers and pay close attention to what the graders thought was important. Add any relevant information to the theme page in your notebook.

Since these are speaking portions, it is recommended to actually record your responses so you can go over them carefully when you look at the answer key.

Then, spend some time listening to Spanish using whatever resources you have available.

Day Four

Now, review the Personal and Public Identities theme. Choose a topic on the Albert.io study guide and complete at least 15 multiple choice questions. By this time, at least 5 questions should be from the “difficult” category and, remember, if you struggle with time management, give yourself a limited amount of time to answer each question. Then, if you want some extra speaking or writing practice, try summarizing the reading you did today. Remember, if you want to practice speaking, record yourself so you can listen to what you said again and see how you can improve.

The recommended listening exercise for today is from a hotel receptionist talking about her day. The audio also comes with preterite and imperfect practice. Of course, you could also use your own resources if you’d like, but don’t forget your 7 vocabulary words!

Day Five

It’s day two of the Personal and Public Identities theme, so choose another topic from the study guide and give it a try. Remember to write any topic ideas you come across on the theme page in your notebook. Having a list of ideas to talk or write about will come in handy during the test so you will always have something to talk about.

Choose your own resources today for the listening practice and look over all the vocabulary you have learned so far to make sure you still remember most of them.

Day Six

Round out your review of the Personal and Public Identities theme by answering question 1 on the 2015 AP® Spanish Language exam on the CollegeBoard website. This is an impersonal writing practice, so your response does not need to be too long. It is also recommended to time yourself to establish good time management and test taking skills.

Because today’s frq practice was a bit short, spend more time reviewing any grammar topics that still give you trouble. If none come to mind, practice commands, a common problem among Spanish learners and the subjunctive mood. Try to do at least one practice set for each topic.

Again, browse your own resources for listening practice and keep up with your vocabulary lists.

Day Seven

You have been studying pretty hard for three weeks now, so today will be a little bit of a rest day. Keep up with your listening practice and your vocabulary, but only set aside about 30 minutes to do this.

If you want, you can also review any grammar topics that still confuse you. A great way to practice is to play some grammar games. Your textbook or other review books might also have some good resources to use, but make sure to only spend an hour maximum on Spanish today; you do not want to burn out.

Week Four

This is the final week of intensive studying, so pay careful attention this week. By this point, reading and listening to Spanish should be easier for you, but if not, increase your listening and reading time to 45 minutes a day or try listening to news broadcasts every morning.

Day One

Only two more themes to do! For the next few days, focus on the theme Families and Communities. Pick a topic on the Albert.io study guide and answer at least 15 questions, or go up to 20 for extra review.

Depending on your confidence level with the free response section of the exam, also spend some time speaking or writing in Spanish, reviewing the theme Families and Communities. Perhaps talk or write about your own community and compare it to a generic community in Spain or Mexico.

For listening practice, today’s recommendation is about two friends from Ecuador. The audio integrates preterite and imperfect practice as well, which is a great practice. Then, choose 7 vocabulary words to master to finish your study session.

Day Two

Today, complete the Families and Communities theme by doing 15 questions from another topic on the study guide. Hopefully by this point the difficult questions are hopefully not proving to be too hard, so try to make at least half of your practice questions today from the “difficult” category.

To learn a bit more about Hispanic culture, today’s recommended reading is all about holidays and festivals in Chile. The story also highlights some important vocabulary at the end you may want to review. Afterwards, review all the vocabulary you have learned so far to make sure you still remember most of them.

Day Three

Time for some more frq practice. Today, do question 3 from 2014, 3 from 2015, and 4 from 2016 from the CollegeBoard website. Since there are 3 questions, look over all of them, but only fully answer two of them. Again, since these are speaking questions, make sure you record your answers so you can go over them later. Carefully compare your answers with the key and make any notes or revisions necessary.

Then, if you need to, spend a bit more time today reviewing any grammar topics that confuse you or that you are not completely confident in.

Complete your study session by listening to whatever Spanish resources you would like and reviewing some vocabulary.

Day Four

For today, start working on the last theme for the exam, Beauty and Aesthetics. Like before, choose a topic under the theme and answer at least 15 of the questions. For more reading comprehension practice if you still feel a little weak in the topic, aim to answer 20 or more. Aim for at least 10 of these questions to come from the “difficult” section.

Visit BBC Mundo again today and listen to news stories on whatever interests you. Then, for some writing practice, try to summarize one of the stories you heard. Finally, do some vocabulary review to finish today’s review session.

Day Five

It’s the last day of multiple choice review for this study schedule (although more practice is always encouraged)! Choose another topic and, depending on your level of comfort with reading comprehension, answer anywhere from 15 to 20+ questions today.

For practice, listen to the poem “Instantes” and use the incorporated conditional practice. Also make note of any vocabulary from the poem that you do not understand. Finally, record a short audio summary of the poem, trying to use the conditional tense as well.

Day Six

To finish your frq review for this theme, do question 4 from the 2014 exam on the CollegeBoard website then do some listening practice using whatever resource you would like and review today’s vocabulary words.

Since there was only one frq question, either take the rest of the day off or use it to practice some last grammar topics that you are not completely confident on. Either use your textbook or this website for your grammar review. Regardless, only do an hour maximum of revision today and give yourself the opportunity to relax.

Day Seven

Congratulations on completing this intensive 4 week AP® Spanish Language study guide! By this point, you should have a good grasp of the topics covered on the exam and comprehension, both reading and listening, should be much easier. If you’d like, take the day to review anything on your “Topics to Review” page and look over all the vocabulary you have learned so far.

Alternatively, watch your favorite movie translated into Spanish. Most movies on DVD or Netflix have Spanish dubbing and watching a movie you already know the plot to can help your comprehension immensely. Challenge yourself to turn of English subtitles as well!

Some recommendations are any of the Harry Potter movies, Mean Girls, or a Disney classic.

The Final Days

For the last two days of this 30 day AP® Spanish study guide, and any remaining days leading up to the exam, look over anything you have written on your “Topics to Review” page. Use any resources listed on this page, or ones you find on your own, to review. Also go over the Albert.io study materials, focusing on any sections or themes you didn’t do too well on. Then, read over any topic ideas you have for each theme and try to familiarize yourself with relevant vocabulary for each of these themes. Remember to continue reading and listening to Spanish every day to keep up with your exposure. The more you read and listen, the better you will do on the exam.

Take the day before the exam off, or at least only read or listen to Spanish on this day. You don’t want to burn yourself out and perform poorly on an exam you have worked so hard to prepare for!

Day of the Exam Checklist

Congratulations! If you have successfully completed this AP® Spanish Language study guide, you are well prepared to do your best on the exam. Don’t let all your preparations go to waste by not being organized on exam day. Here’s a checklist of things to remember on the big day. Your school or testing center might have specific guidelines, but this is a general list.

1. Get a good night’s sleep. Try not to study too much the night before and get to bed 15-30 minutes earlier than your normally would to help you wake up refreshed.
2. Eat breakfast. Even if it just a banana or smoothie, a breakfast with simple sugars and protein can help your mind perform at its best.
3. #2 pencils and pens. Remember, the free response essays must be done in pen, so make sure you bring a few so you don’t run out of ink. Also be sure you have a few reliable, sharpened pencils and a good, smudge proof eraser for the multiple choice section.
4. Government-issued ID. This can be a driver’s license or school ID, but either way, the exam proctors will need to check your identity.
5. Analogue watch. Electronics are not allowed in the testing room, so if you want to keep track of your time, bring in an analogue watch. Most testing centers will have one, but you can never be too sure.

Remember, you can’t bring any notes or snacks into the exam room, so leave them at home or in your car.

Summary

The AP® Spanish Language exam is definitely challenging and requires careful preparation, but don’t be discouraged. By following this study guide, you have worked hard and are well prepared to do your best. Relax and be confident!

Let us know, what are some of your favorite resources for studying for the AP® Spanish Language and Culture exam?

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