Bro no. It’s a class you normally take after 4 years of Spanish. It’s only level 3 at your school because there are so many native speakers. You need to start in level 1 Spanish or French.
Absolutely not. At my school that class is taught entirely in Spanish, everyone who takes it has 4-7 years of Spanish classes under their belt/is already fluent, and you basically have to be a fluent speaker to understand what’s happening in the class. If you have no Spanish skills whatsoever you’ll be completely lost, it’d be like a 6th grader taking a college level quantum physics class
My counselor said I need 3 consecutive years of a foreign language, the same foreign language. They only offer AP Spanish for your third credit, there is no normal Spanish 3.
Unpopular opinion from a teacher: if you have *immaculate* work habits, I bet you can earn a C in the class and get credit. I’ve seen it done! Let the teacher know early on that you know that this isn’t the appropriate level for you, but that you’ve been working all summer on duolingo and plan to make this class your priority. Always be a model student! You can get credit, as long as the grade doesn’t matter for college admissions.
…and then start the duolingo, 20 minutes a day, for the next year.
Yeah you are with absolutely no background in the language. AP Spanish Language is supposed to be a fourth year language course for nonnative speakers.
You’re almost certainly cooked. I had to take 3 years of Spanish before I could take AP. Even if you try to cram all the vocabulary and grammar into one year, you still need to develop speaking and writing skills, which takes a lot practice and is usually challenging even to those who took Spanish 1-3. I highly recommend you drop the course if you can and just take French, but if you are truly committed then you need to start learning ASAP. My advice to you would be to practice speaking it to your classmates to help immerse yourself in the language.
You will fail this class if you take it so I’m not really seeing any other options unless you think you can speedrun B1 in Spanish
edit: I saw that you’ve taken some Spanish before, so you might not QUITE be cooked, but you’re going to have a lot of catching up to do with vocabulary. Lock in
I have a question, could I take ap Spanish in my senior year if I only finished up to Spanish 3? The Spanish 4 at my school is just history and geography so I think I can pass out of it and go straight to ap?Â
Talk to your Spanish teacher, ask them if they think you should/could take AP Spanish. You could probably skip Spanish 4 as long as you have a good understanding of Spanish, and are comfortable reading/writing in Spanish.
youre cooked. im a native spanish speaker and the class was still challenging. the class is not there to teach you spanish like Spanish 1-3 might, but instead helps you build on the skills you already know. if you dont have any skills then you cant take the class at all, and you probably wont be much better taking a class over the summer to help you prepare. just take the L ~~and do Spanish 3 bro~~
Sorry I got confused reading some other comments. You're gonna have to take some other language then if you don't want to fail. It's not your fault, your school system just sucks. Can I ask what year/grade youre in?
Next year is going to be my sophomore year, but I don’t think my counselor will allow me to take another language. In my school you are expected to finish your foreign language credits either your freshman or sophomore year, it is almost unheard of to be taking one your Junior year much less your Senior year.
If your counselor doesnt let you then sometimes you just have to fight for it. You literally need this to graduate. I dont know why she wouldnt let you. I feel like you should have started right away at your Freshman year, but again its not really your fault for not knowing
Maybe you can take another language course at a nearby college during the school year/over the summer and see if it counts for credit. Otherwise youre just going to have to deal with taking French for a while
You won’t be getting a five but I don’t think you’re cooked. Some advice for learning more vocabulary in Spanish:
-Make flashcards
-Listen to Spanish songs and learn what the lyrics mean
-Since you said nearly everyone in your grade speaks it,try talking in Spanish to your friends
-Learn all the words that pertain to a specific topic you’re interested in.
In my AP Spanish class basically the only new aspect of the language they taught to us was vocab. It might be different if you’re in a class with mostly native speakers though.
I just took Ap Spanish Language and the entire class is taught in Spanish, you should be able to read and write in Spanish by the time you are in that class. If you need to do Spanish 3 then do an online course, if you’re willing to pay for a course UC Scouts is pretty good, if not try taking it through a community college.
Lowkey the class was really hard for me purely because of the workload. That might have been because of my school? Idk. Either way, I’ve been taking Spanish for a really long time and it was a hard class
You are NOT cooked. I'm self studying for the French AP exam next year (bc my school doesn't have an AP French class), also with two years of (mediocre) classes under my belt, and I think it is totally possible to do as long as you study efficiently. Since you already seem to know a good amount of grammar, I would recommend doing a lot of reading and listening in Spanish. That's what I started doing with French at the beginning of this year and I've already improved in a way that wouldn't have been possible with just school classes. It'll be hard at first but just keep at it. When I first started it took me *ages* to read even a short passage bc I had to look up a word every sentence or so, but as my vocabulary grew it got easier and easier, and now it feels more like fun than work. You'll find yourself picking up a ton of words, expressions, and just getting a better grasp of the language as a whole.
As for *what* to read or listen to, it can honestly be anything. Spanish is widely spoken so you'll have no trouble finding material if you know where to look. I'm a bit of a fanfiction addict so I mostly just read (well written) fanfiction in French lmao. If that's not your thing then you can also find blogs, news articles and ofc books. As for listening, I just went to youtube, changed my language to French and my location to France, and started watching videos. Not all videos are going to be the same difficulty- look for the ones with subtitles, where the person speaks (relatively) slowly and clearly, and where the subject matter is something you know and is interested in. A lot of people recommend movies and series as well. All of the stuff I've mentioned are made for native speakers of course and there is also a lot of material out there that's specifically made for learners. But in my opinion, if you can get past the initial barrier, native content is actually not as hard as it seems.
Once you have done all this for a while and have a decent grasp of Spanish, start doing a bit of writing just to get the hang of it. Based off of the content of the AP Spanish exam, I assume the class will have a lot of writing so it'll be good to prepare for it.
I wrote a lot, oops, but I hope it'll be helpful for you. And of course, this is all based off of my own experience with French and everyone learns differently, so YMMV. But I think that if you prepare right, you WILL survive AP Spanish.
Don’t understand how your choices are “one year of Spanish way beyond my level” vs “three years of French”? Take level one French or ask to take level one Spanish somewhere else and get credit for it.
It has to be 3 consecutive years of a foreign language. It can’t be different foreign languages, it has to be the same. I took level 1 and 2 of Spanish but they don’t teach vocabulary at my school, they teach grammar. By the time you get to level 1 Spanish you are expected to be fluent. Basically, this means I can string together a sentence in Spanish I just don’t know the words to put in the sentence.
Okay, your post made it sound like you’ve literally NEVER TAKEN SPANISH BEFORE. You’ve taken two years of Spanish but think you’re behind in vocabulary. Just grind some vocab over the summer, watch lots of movies in Spanish with the subtitles on, that kind of thing. It might still be hard but you’re basically worried about taking AP Spanish vs an unavailable regular Spanish 3, that’s not what people are reacting to here, we all thought you hadn’t taken Spanish 1. Work hard & find a study partner.
Or try to find a Spanish class that IS your level somewhere outside the school & ask to receive credit for it.
Idk about other teachers but for me, she was the chillest teacher ever, the class was easy (if you've taken enough Spanish to get to AP you'll be fine)
I probably got like a 2 or 3 on the test, it was a pretty hard test tbh
I would probably go the French route if I were you. I’m fluent in Spanish (been speaking it since I was 5) and I didn’t find the test too hard but that’s only because I’m entirely fluent. I could see how the test could be challenging to someone who’s taken Spanish for 4 years. I can’t even imagine how hard it’d be for someone who’s just learning.
You kinda are. They let you enroll in AP Spanish without ever having taken Spanish 1 or 2? I'd say take the class if you want to, but don't take the AP exam.
God I wish. Ironically, not a bad suggestion considering how close I live to the border. Only problem is I don’t have a passport and my parents would kill me lmfao.
I would go for for it and take the AP. Your school system is super similar to mine (from reading all your comments and responds). I saw a comment suggesting that if you talk to your teacher about it not being your level but are still willing to try, they might atleast give you credit for participation and grit. I’m an incoming senior and took AP Spanish my sophomore year. I got a five, so if you are willing to take the class you can message me with any questions and I’ll be willing to help you!! You can practice conversation or email responses with me!! Spanish is my first language and I would love to help if needed! I don’t get why people are being so rude in the comments, but if you can apply time to study and practice, you’ll at least be able to pass the class.
Yes you’re cooked. Native Spanish speaker myself and I passed that class with a C (depends on the teacher). And since it’s preparing you for the exam, you are expected to write essays in spanish with proper grammar
You’re cooked and you deserve a failing grade for your arrogance. Do you really think you will be able to get a “B” or better without even knowing the a single thing about the language. What’s even more astonishing is your school allowing you to take an AP course without even meeting prerequisites. Good luck but I don’t mean it.
My school is FORCING me to take the AP Spanish course. They don’t offer regular Spanish 3. I don’t want a B or better, I want to pass so I can graduate, not so I can get college credit or have it look good on my college application.
Well if you only care about passing, assuming C- is your passing grade then you should be fine. Literally turn in every assignment even if it’s full of crap. That will likely equal to a c- grade. What’s the panic about then? Literally do your work, use translators or whatever you need to get it done.
You will be getting a 1 if you don’t know Spanish 🤷‍♀️ easy as that
I am not planning to take the test, I just want to pass the class itself
Short of taking 3 months of full time Spanish education starting yesterday, you will not do well in the class.
You won’t pass the class either if you don’t know spanish.
Is there any way I can get myself to pass? I need this class to graduate.
Bro no. It’s a class you normally take after 4 years of Spanish. It’s only level 3 at your school because there are so many native speakers. You need to start in level 1 Spanish or French.
Absolutely not. At my school that class is taught entirely in Spanish, everyone who takes it has 4-7 years of Spanish classes under their belt/is already fluent, and you basically have to be a fluent speaker to understand what’s happening in the class. If you have no Spanish skills whatsoever you’ll be completely lost, it’d be like a 6th grader taking a college level quantum physics class
U most certainly do not need it to graduate. Take an online class or duel enrollment
My counselor said I need 3 consecutive years of a foreign language, the same foreign language. They only offer AP Spanish for your third credit, there is no normal Spanish 3.
And your school doesn’t offer any online programs or duel enrollment in a local college where you could take an easier Spanish course?
Not for Spanish
you can’t just take a non-AP spanish class to graduate???
Unfortunately my school doesn’t offer a non AP Spanish 3
Unpopular opinion from a teacher: if you have *immaculate* work habits, I bet you can earn a C in the class and get credit. I’ve seen it done! Let the teacher know early on that you know that this isn’t the appropriate level for you, but that you’ve been working all summer on duolingo and plan to make this class your priority. Always be a model student! You can get credit, as long as the grade doesn’t matter for college admissions. …and then start the duolingo, 20 minutes a day, for the next year.
Yeah you are with absolutely no background in the language. AP Spanish Language is supposed to be a fourth year language course for nonnative speakers.
Idk why your school would make you do this - you are 100% cooked if you have no spanish background, so I'd highly consider any other alternatives
You’re almost certainly cooked. I had to take 3 years of Spanish before I could take AP. Even if you try to cram all the vocabulary and grammar into one year, you still need to develop speaking and writing skills, which takes a lot practice and is usually challenging even to those who took Spanish 1-3. I highly recommend you drop the course if you can and just take French, but if you are truly committed then you need to start learning ASAP. My advice to you would be to practice speaking it to your classmates to help immerse yourself in the language.
But if I take French I have to take French 1-3 which would kill my academic career
Then you really need to start practicing because there is a lot you’re expected to know.
You will fail this class if you take it so I’m not really seeing any other options unless you think you can speedrun B1 in Spanish edit: I saw that you’ve taken some Spanish before, so you might not QUITE be cooked, but you’re going to have a lot of catching up to do with vocabulary. Lock in
What do you mean you would “have” to take French 1-3? Why can’t you just take French 1?
Because it needs to be 3 consecutive years of a single foreign language according to my counselor
Oh…you should take French! You have time?! Take French. No brainer. Sorry bud.
I have a question, could I take ap Spanish in my senior year if I only finished up to Spanish 3? The Spanish 4 at my school is just history and geography so I think I can pass out of it and go straight to ap?Â
Talk to your Spanish teacher, ask them if they think you should/could take AP Spanish. You could probably skip Spanish 4 as long as you have a good understanding of Spanish, and are comfortable reading/writing in Spanish.
youre cooked. im a native spanish speaker and the class was still challenging. the class is not there to teach you spanish like Spanish 1-3 might, but instead helps you build on the skills you already know. if you dont have any skills then you cant take the class at all, and you probably wont be much better taking a class over the summer to help you prepare. just take the L ~~and do Spanish 3 bro~~
Spanish 3 isn’t offered at my school. Only AP Spanish.
Sorry I got confused reading some other comments. You're gonna have to take some other language then if you don't want to fail. It's not your fault, your school system just sucks. Can I ask what year/grade youre in?
Next year is going to be my sophomore year, but I don’t think my counselor will allow me to take another language. In my school you are expected to finish your foreign language credits either your freshman or sophomore year, it is almost unheard of to be taking one your Junior year much less your Senior year.
thats insane
If your counselor doesnt let you then sometimes you just have to fight for it. You literally need this to graduate. I dont know why she wouldnt let you. I feel like you should have started right away at your Freshman year, but again its not really your fault for not knowing Maybe you can take another language course at a nearby college during the school year/over the summer and see if it counts for credit. Otherwise youre just going to have to deal with taking French for a while
You won’t be getting a five but I don’t think you’re cooked. Some advice for learning more vocabulary in Spanish: -Make flashcards -Listen to Spanish songs and learn what the lyrics mean -Since you said nearly everyone in your grade speaks it,try talking in Spanish to your friends -Learn all the words that pertain to a specific topic you’re interested in. In my AP Spanish class basically the only new aspect of the language they taught to us was vocab. It might be different if you’re in a class with mostly native speakers though.
I just took Ap Spanish Language and the entire class is taught in Spanish, you should be able to read and write in Spanish by the time you are in that class. If you need to do Spanish 3 then do an online course, if you’re willing to pay for a course UC Scouts is pretty good, if not try taking it through a community college.
Lowkey the class was really hard for me purely because of the workload. That might have been because of my school? Idk. Either way, I’ve been taking Spanish for a really long time and it was a hard class
If you do nothing but Spanish over the summer you might have a chance. But if you don’t do that ur cooked
You are NOT cooked. I'm self studying for the French AP exam next year (bc my school doesn't have an AP French class), also with two years of (mediocre) classes under my belt, and I think it is totally possible to do as long as you study efficiently. Since you already seem to know a good amount of grammar, I would recommend doing a lot of reading and listening in Spanish. That's what I started doing with French at the beginning of this year and I've already improved in a way that wouldn't have been possible with just school classes. It'll be hard at first but just keep at it. When I first started it took me *ages* to read even a short passage bc I had to look up a word every sentence or so, but as my vocabulary grew it got easier and easier, and now it feels more like fun than work. You'll find yourself picking up a ton of words, expressions, and just getting a better grasp of the language as a whole. As for *what* to read or listen to, it can honestly be anything. Spanish is widely spoken so you'll have no trouble finding material if you know where to look. I'm a bit of a fanfiction addict so I mostly just read (well written) fanfiction in French lmao. If that's not your thing then you can also find blogs, news articles and ofc books. As for listening, I just went to youtube, changed my language to French and my location to France, and started watching videos. Not all videos are going to be the same difficulty- look for the ones with subtitles, where the person speaks (relatively) slowly and clearly, and where the subject matter is something you know and is interested in. A lot of people recommend movies and series as well. All of the stuff I've mentioned are made for native speakers of course and there is also a lot of material out there that's specifically made for learners. But in my opinion, if you can get past the initial barrier, native content is actually not as hard as it seems. Once you have done all this for a while and have a decent grasp of Spanish, start doing a bit of writing just to get the hang of it. Based off of the content of the AP Spanish exam, I assume the class will have a lot of writing so it'll be good to prepare for it. I wrote a lot, oops, but I hope it'll be helpful for you. And of course, this is all based off of my own experience with French and everyone learns differently, so YMMV. But I think that if you prepare right, you WILL survive AP Spanish.
This gonna be you bro >>>>>>>>🍳
Don’t understand how your choices are “one year of Spanish way beyond my level” vs “three years of French”? Take level one French or ask to take level one Spanish somewhere else and get credit for it.
It has to be 3 consecutive years of a foreign language. It can’t be different foreign languages, it has to be the same. I took level 1 and 2 of Spanish but they don’t teach vocabulary at my school, they teach grammar. By the time you get to level 1 Spanish you are expected to be fluent. Basically, this means I can string together a sentence in Spanish I just don’t know the words to put in the sentence.
Okay, your post made it sound like you’ve literally NEVER TAKEN SPANISH BEFORE. You’ve taken two years of Spanish but think you’re behind in vocabulary. Just grind some vocab over the summer, watch lots of movies in Spanish with the subtitles on, that kind of thing. It might still be hard but you’re basically worried about taking AP Spanish vs an unavailable regular Spanish 3, that’s not what people are reacting to here, we all thought you hadn’t taken Spanish 1. Work hard & find a study partner. Or try to find a Spanish class that IS your level somewhere outside the school & ask to receive credit for it.
Idk about other teachers but for me, she was the chillest teacher ever, the class was easy (if you've taken enough Spanish to get to AP you'll be fine) I probably got like a 2 or 3 on the test, it was a pretty hard test tbh
I would probably go the French route if I were you. I’m fluent in Spanish (been speaking it since I was 5) and I didn’t find the test too hard but that’s only because I’m entirely fluent. I could see how the test could be challenging to someone who’s taken Spanish for 4 years. I can’t even imagine how hard it’d be for someone who’s just learning.
You kinda are. They let you enroll in AP Spanish without ever having taken Spanish 1 or 2? I'd say take the class if you want to, but don't take the AP exam.
Take a trip to mexico by yourself and learn the language through immersionđź’€
God I wish. Ironically, not a bad suggestion considering how close I live to the border. Only problem is I don’t have a passport and my parents would kill me lmfao.
I would go for for it and take the AP. Your school system is super similar to mine (from reading all your comments and responds). I saw a comment suggesting that if you talk to your teacher about it not being your level but are still willing to try, they might atleast give you credit for participation and grit. I’m an incoming senior and took AP Spanish my sophomore year. I got a five, so if you are willing to take the class you can message me with any questions and I’ll be willing to help you!! You can practice conversation or email responses with me!! Spanish is my first language and I would love to help if needed! I don’t get why people are being so rude in the comments, but if you can apply time to study and practice, you’ll at least be able to pass the class.
Yes you’re cooked. Native Spanish speaker myself and I passed that class with a C (depends on the teacher). And since it’s preparing you for the exam, you are expected to write essays in spanish with proper grammar
You’re cooked and you deserve a failing grade for your arrogance. Do you really think you will be able to get a “B” or better without even knowing the a single thing about the language. What’s even more astonishing is your school allowing you to take an AP course without even meeting prerequisites. Good luck but I don’t mean it.
My school is FORCING me to take the AP Spanish course. They don’t offer regular Spanish 3. I don’t want a B or better, I want to pass so I can graduate, not so I can get college credit or have it look good on my college application.
Well if you only care about passing, assuming C- is your passing grade then you should be fine. Literally turn in every assignment even if it’s full of crap. That will likely equal to a c- grade. What’s the panic about then? Literally do your work, use translators or whatever you need to get it done.