Need some tips for the AP Spanish Simulated Conversation? The AP Spanish Exam has a section called the Simulated Conversation, during which students hear a recorded person talk to them. In the 20 second intervals that follow, students must record their responses as if they are actually talking with the recorded person.
Tips For the AP Spanish Simulated Conversation: #1
Personally, what I think makes the biggest difference in a student’s ability to be successful in this task is their level of comfort. For that reason, I recommend practicing as often as possible!
Each year, I see my students panic, struggle, get upset, etc. when faced with a task that involves speaking and recording. I see the frequency of their discomfort diminish in direct proportion to the amount of times I ask them to do a particular activity!
Simulated Conversations take 5 minutes or less to complete! Perhaps this activity could be:
-your bell-ringer/warm-up once or twice a week
-the benchmark (if your school or district requires them)
-one of the assessments for each unit
-an activity to reinforce new learning at least once per unit
There are lots of ways to make simulated conversations a regular part of your lesson plans!
Tips For the AP Spanish Simulated Conversation: #2
The next tip I can offer is to teach your students the commands they will see on the conversation guide that will come with this activity.
If you have never seen one, there is a guide that lets the student know a very general idea of who is participating in the conversation and why, and the general ideas of what the recorded speaker will say. It also provides commands in a general way about what the student should say.
Examples:
Anímala
Despídete
Some of these commands might be unfamiliar to students. I recommend that you include them in a vocab list and perhaps quiz them or work them into your regular practices! The image below shows what a simulated conversation guide looks like.
Tips For the AP Spanish Simulated Conversation: #3
If your students find these simulated conversations really hard, you might want to start with a more scaffolded activity. I create “guided conversations”. These are very similar to simulated conversations, but they involve 2 real people. Each receives a role with guidance about what to say or ask. I find that guided conversations help students who struggle with what to say or ask next!
Another hint: I start using these guided conversations in Year 3. I have made them in all the themes in our curriculum. Being on familiar territory in terms of vocabulary helps build confidence, and starts that process of being used to participating in these kinds of conversations before they ever get to AP Spanish! There is a link to my blog post explaining how to make them below!
Tip #4: Where to Find Practices
-AP Classroom has them for free! Some are locked and need to be done while students are in the classroom
-Some textbook series have Test prep workbooks which include them
-There are independent test prep workbooks which include them
-Make your own!
-Try mine! These are made for Spanish 3 students, but you might find them a helpful way to ease into the Simulated Conversation! They’re linked below!
Tip #5
The last tip I can offer is to make sure students know the requirements and Do’s and Don’ts of this task. There aren’t too many, especially compared to other tasks on the AP Exam. Make sure to tell your students to:
-fill up all 20 seconds if they can
-use pausing words like “pues” or “bueno”
-to be sure to do each thing the conversation guide asks them to do
-to avoid using English! (This happens sometimes, but with practice comes comfort, and the English slowly disappears!
If you need a ready-to-use How To Tutorial, it’s linked here.
Resources
AP Spanish Simulated Conversation How-To
Spanish Simulated Conversations
Spanish Travel and Vacation Guided Conversations
Spanish Guided Conversations for Future
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