Welcome back to our AP Spotlight series! In this interview, you will hear from Ms. Munoz, who teaches AP Spanish Language and Culture, a course commonly taken by juniors and seniors. The exam is 3 hours long, consisting of 65 multiple choice questions and 4 open-response questions. If you have any questions about the class, contact Ms. Munoz ([email protected]).
What is AP Spanish Language and Culture?
AP Spanish is just like any other AP class. If you’ve heard of AP, it’s basically a college-level class, where if you pass the exam at the end of the year with a score of a 3, 4, or 5, you get a college credit, which is really cool!
What summer work/preparation is required for this class?
I like assigning summer work to get a baseline of where everyone is at. I have native speakers in my class, and I have students who took Spanish throughout high school, and I have students that have taken Spanish since elementary school. Different students have different strengths and summer work really helps me see that. This year, I had my students record a video of themselves, so I could see how they were speaking, and I also had them write a short one-page essay to see where they were [with] writing.
What is homework like?
I honestly do not give as much homework as some of the other AP classes offered here – a lot of the times, if you are being productive in class, you can finish the work in class. There are times where it’s almost impossible to finish all of the classwork, even if you are working productively, but hardly ever will I assign a project or an essay to all be done at home.
Why should people take this class?
I recommend this class to anyone and everyone, especially those who want to learn Spanish, or see the need of knowing a second language. I also teach Spanish II, and I see a lot of students who start their freshman year there and you can see when some students are more passionate than others, or students that pick it up faster.
What type of student tends to have the most success in this class?
The students who put in the work. I feel that you find that a lot with any AP class. A lot of people think that it’s only for the native speakers, but that is not the case at all. I have native speakers who can speak Spanish great, but nobody is perfect at anything, especially with a language. Sometimes their grammar isn’t great, or they have trouble with the accents. If you are willing to put in the work in class and at home, those students have the most success, not just the students who have the best baseline of Spanish.
Anything else?
I am very passionate about this class. When I first started teaching, we only had one section of AP Spanish, but this year we finally had enough students to add on another one! This has been the first time in a long time that this has happened, and email me if you have any questions!
