Is AP® Spanish Language Hard? | Albert.io (2024)

The AP® Spanish Language and Culture test can be difficult. Learning a second language can be difficult in general, and being tested on five or more years of Spanish classes for them AP® Spanish Language exam doesn’t make things any easier. In addition to learning all the rules and grammar that come with the language, you have to put yourself in the culture to understand other slang words and nuances that can change by region. Spanish can be particularly daunting because it is spoken by nearly half a billion people all over the world. All those different countries have different cultures, accents, and different meanings for different words.

Despite all this, AP® Spanish is less difficult due to the fact that it employs a “neutral” Spanish that does not take place in the real world, but serves as a base from which you can understand other accents. This neutral Spanish helps you grasp basic concepts and speak the language at a relatively fluent level. Let’s take a look at the AP® Spanish test to learn more about it.

By the Numbers

The AP® Spanish Language and Culture test is by far the most commonly taken language AP® test; over 150,000 students took the test in 2015 alone. This is because many school districts offer classes starting in middle school which students then continue straight until their final year of high school. Normally you will take Spanish 1 to 4 and be able to choose advanced placement courses at the higher levels. Anyone can take the exam regardless of whether or not they have studied Spanish.

According to the College Board’s own statistics, the following are the percentage of the scores received by the students who took the test in 2015:

The chart presents some very surprising details about the AP® Spanish Language and culture exam. Nearly 90% of students earn a passing score of 3 or higher, which is probably one of the highest passing rates of any AP® exam. In addition, there are more people who received 4’s and 5’s than received 3. In fact, those who received a 3 represent the lowest percentage of all those with passing scores. However, despite the fact that this makes the exam look relatively easy, these percentages are misleading.

First of all, the high pass rate can be attributed to the dedication it takes to learn a language. Those who have studied for the exam have been taking classes for 4 or 5 years. This makes it hard to compare the Spanish language exam to other AP® tests, such as that of AP® Government, which has a pass rate of only 50% for the 2015 school year with an almost equal amount of students taking the test. The AP® Government course is only taken for a semester or, more rarely, a year, before the exam is taken.

Secondly, this is misleading because colleges usually require a score higher than three to take credit and substitute that score for a college course. Most colleges only accept 4’s where some even only accept 5’s as passing scores to accept the test as college credit. This raises the difficulty curve to represent 62% of all students who took the exam. This number is the more representative number of those who truly “pass” the exam.

Overall, this means the exam requires a more advanced level of study in order to be used for college credit. Most students will need an AP® Spanish Language study plan to get the 5. In order to figure out such a plan, you first need to look at the structure of the exam.

Exam Structure

The exam’s structure is about as complex as the language itself. The exam is meant to give a comprehensive evaluation of your knowledge of the Spanish language. Because of this, the test is one of the longer exams, running about 2 and half hours. The time is split up between two main sections, which are in turn split into a total of 6 separate subsections. Let’s go into more detail about the contents of the exam. It should be noted that when you go in to take the test you will hear the instructions read to you completely in Spanish. The structure of the exam is as follows.

Section I: Multiple Choice Reading, 95 minutes

The first section of the test is 95 minutes long and divided into two subsections. It represents half of the final score. All questions in this section are multiple choice and are meant to test aptitude in reading and listening. The first subsection is solely a reading section with printed texts. It is made up of 30 questions and is 40 minutes long. This means you will have 1 minute and 15 seconds for each question.

The second subsection is meant to evaluate both reading and listening skills. You first have to listen to an audio that is played by the proctor, and then read a text relating to the audio. There are 35 questions divided up among the different audios and their texts. This section is 55 minutes long when taking into account both the length of the audios and the time to answer questions.

Section II: Writing and Speaking, 90 minutes

The second section is 90 minutes long and divided into four subsections. The first subsection is an informal writing evaluation, usually in the form of an e-mail response. There is only one prompt, and you have 15 minutes to answer.

The second subsection is the formal writing prompt. This usually takes the form of a persuasive essay. You will have 1 prompt and 55 minutes to answer the prompt. This section is probably one of the hardest because you will have to be persuasive in a second language, which means you will have to manage a persuasive tone in Spanish.

The third subsection is the informal speaking part that is made up of a simulated conversation with the proctor. You will have to respond to 5 or 6 prompts, and you will have only 20 seconds to respond to each. Despite the speed and length of this section, it is easier because the language is simpler.

Finally, you will have the formal oral presentation. This subsection is meant to represent all accumulated skills that you have gathered in your Spanish language learning. It can be the most difficult because you only have 4 minutes to prepare for the single prompt. After you have prepared, you will have 2 minutes to give your presentation.

Content

The overall content of the exam is difficult to measure due to the vast amount of subject matter that is covered while learning a language. However, the College Board does require that specific content is reviewed over the length of the exam. In addition, the questions all come in specific formats that can help you prepare your AP® Spanish Language study plan.

The reading part of the first section is made up of a few overall categories of texts. These texts are as follows:

• News and Journalism: Newspaper articles, headlines, magazines, etc.
• Literature: Poetry, book passages, short stories, other excerpts.
• Announcements: Events, political announcements, and others.
• Advertisem*nts: Magazine advertisem*nts, newspaper classifieds, etc.
• Correspondence: E-mails and letters, both formal and informal.
• Maps: Usually in the format of giving directions or identifying locations.
• Tables: Graphics with specific information and statistics.

These materials are all authentic, and it can be quite difficult to figure out a comprehensive study plan to cover them all.

The audio part of the first section is made up of fewer categories of audio samples that are usually only a few minutes in length. These audios are:

• Interviews: You will have to identify what both the interviewer asks and the interviewee answers.
• Podcasts: Listen to informational podcasts and identify the subject matter.
• PSAs: Government and private organizations making announcements about a public concern or initiative.
• Conversations: Informal conversations between two people where you will have to identify the subject matter and responses.
• Brief Presentations: Informational presentations, similar to podcasts.

The audio is paired with texts that the student will use as supplementary information.

Finally, there is the free response section. These are generally more specific in their content, but more general on their subject matter. The student usually has to voice an opinion or makeup responses on the spot.

The writing section includes both the response and the persuasive essay. The e-mail response is generally very straightforward. The persuasive essay is a bit harder. The essay presents you with several graphs, texts, and other original information. The information in these texts usually forms several sides to an issue. You have to take a side and present your argument based on the information in the texts.

The final portion of the exam, the speaking section, is much shorter than the other parts of the exam, but also more difficult. This is because it is the most broadly general section of the exam where the student usually has to come up with an answer on the spot. The first part is the conversation in which you will be given an outline. This outline gives the format of the conversation and the student will have to respond accordingly, following the outline.

The second portion of the speaking part of the exam is similar to the first, but the student has more time to prepare. A prompt is given that is usually specific to the cultural differences between the student’s own community and a Spanish-speaking community. The student will prepare the presentation based on this and then give a small presentation with their conclusions and comparisons.

Skills Required

The AP® Spanish language test is particularly difficult due to the vast amount of information the student has to utilize in the exam. However, you as the student have the advantage of having learned the language over the course of several years throughout your high school career. Because of this, you will be more prepared than you think to go into the exam. The following are a few skills you will have to practice outside of course study in order to get that 5.

Review Basic Concepts

This can seem a bit strange when coming out of Spanish IV, but the most difficult part of the exam will be refreshing the basic concepts of Spanish that have gone underutilized as you replace that memory with more recent knowledge of advanced aspects of Spanish. With the help of an AP® Spanish language study guide, you can review these concepts in order to be more prepared for the exam. Here is a short list of some things you should review.

• Differences between preterit and imperfect tenses: the confusion between these two is a constant bane of foreign speakers of Spanish.
• Differences between ser and estar
• Review common irregular verbs and their conjugations: ser, estar, tener, poner, etc.
• The difference between por and para
• When the subjunctive mood and indicative moods are used: while this is not basic, it is important because the subjunctive mood is nearly non-existent in English.

Listening Skills

As can be seen, about a quarter to a third of the final score rests on how well you can interpret what a Spanish speaker is saying. This means you will have to develop proper listening skills in order to answer the questions appropriately. This means taking the time to listen to Spanish speakers outside of class. This is one of the hardest skills to develop because it requires a greater effort outside of class.

Reading Comprehension

This goes along with listening skills, although to a lesser degree. A vast amount of the exam rests on being able to read a text and interpret it, mainly within the persuasive essay and reading multiple choice sections. Many of the instructions themselves are also in Spanish on the test.

Speaking Skills, Specifically Euphemisms

Finally, the main part of the speaking portion rests on your fluidity and grasp of Spanish concepts as you answer questions in Spanish. Given that you have a short amount of time to answer a question, you will need to be able to come up with an answer quickly. The main skill that needs to be developed for speaking is being able to come up with euphemisms. This means that if you don’t know the word for an idea you want to express, you should be able to quickly come with a description where that word can be understood.

Benefits

As we’ve said before, the Spanish language is spoken by nearly half a billion people throughout the world. This number includes over 44 million people in the United States alone. Learning the Spanish language can bring about benefits that you can take with you for a lifetime.

Communication

Learning Spanish will allow you to communicate with over half of the population of the Americas. You can also start following Spanish news and reading Spanish newspapers. Learning Spanish will also help you better understand social issues affecting the Spanish-speaking population of the United States as you can better connect with the people.

Employment Opportunities

Many jobs today require basic Spanish speaking skills in order to be hired as businesses are trying to garner more clients from the growing Hispanic population in the United States. You can use your Spanish skills to make yourself more desirable as a potential employee. This especially helps if you eventually have a position where you can work within Latin America.

Greater Understanding

One of the strangest and most interesting parts of learning a new language is that it makes you think in different ways. Studies have shown that learning a new language can help you with your critical thinking skills as well as your communication skills. It makes sense, given that learning a new language challenges you to be more expressive and think about what you are saying before you speak.

Next Steps

When you take the benefits into consideration and your opportunity to pass the test with flying colors, you might be wondering what will be the next steps to moving towards taking the Spanish test.

Create a College Board Account

The first step would be to create an account on the College Board website. Registration to the website is required to take the test, view your scores, and send out scores to universities and scholarships. The website also has helpful information about the exam in addition to what has been explained in this article.

Get a Study Guide

Study guides are packed with useful AP® Spanish language tips that can be essential for getting the five on the exam. Looking for a study guide can also help you review basic skills to refresh yourself before the exam. This is also a good way to study up on complex issues and concepts. Finally, the study guide will include many study questions to help you practice and time yourself for the exam.

Websites such as albert.io even offer reading questions on a wide variety of topics. These topics are similar in format and theme in comparison to the questions given in the multiple choice sections of the actual AP® test. The themes are also specialized to expand your vocabulary in areas that are not normally studied.

Watch Videos and Get Proactive

You should watch videos on YouTube and even try to make Spanish speaking friends in order to practice for the most difficult parts of the AP® test. While an AP® Spanish language study plan can help you, learning a language comes down to how much you actively practice with it. This includes listening to videos such as news stories or vlogs and having conversations with real people.

You can also get with a fellow student and practice the conversation portion of the exam to expand your vocabulary and help each other out. Here is an example of the conversation section, note that it is in Spanish, just like it would be in the AP® exam:

Tú y tú compañero tienen que simular una llamada telefónica. El que llama tiene que proponer una reunión de amigos y el compañero pregunta sobre los planes. Contesta según el siguiente bosquejo:

If you want extra speaking practice, you can also change roles as well as the details of the meeting. You should use any chance you can get to speak and listen to Spanish in the days leading up to the AP® Spanish language exam. With plenty of practice, you will be able to get a 5 and maybe even use your speaking skills in the future.

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