College Board Changes AP Spanish Test, Leaves Students Baffled
College Board suddenly changes the AP Spanish exam to focus on Dora the Explorer.
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AP Spanish students this year were shocked after taking the AP exam—although not for the typical reasons. Sources tell us that the format and content of the exam were changed to focus on Dora the Explorer without properly communicating this to the students.
While some students absolutely loved the new format, others were left frustrated and bewildered.
“I paid $97 for this? No college is going to accept my credits if they realize what was on this exam,” distraught junior Pobre Cito told us.
Another student expressed their frustration that all their hours on Duolingo went to waste: “I had a 2360 streak on Duolingo, all for what? Turns out, that was all the wrong material to study! I definitely got a cero on this AP. I couldn’t even tell you what Dora’s grandma’s job was!” the student tearfully sobbed, before checking their phone again for the fourth time in our short interview. “The stress of the exam got to me, and I missed a day of Duolingo afterward. THE OWL’S GOING TO KILL ME!”
Senior Sin Amigos spam replied to our request for a reflection on the AP exam on our Instagram account with, “lite werk no reaction xd xd,” while a Bronx Science student answered with, “Thank the lords I watched Dora when I was younger.”
A different student responded, “Halfway through the speaking part, it turned into a practical! I lost my test to that no good [EXPLETIVE] orange fox! All because I couldn't say ‘no swiping’ in Spanish!” Other students across the country reported similar incidents of theft, leaving many wondering if it was an actual part of the test or if they could press charges against anthropomorphic vulpines for larceny.
A student who wishes to remain anonymous for the sake of avoiding the watching eyes of College Board was able to provide The Spectator with one of the questions used on the test.
“We sat in silence in our rows—nothing on our desks. Then, the only proctor, a blue monkey in red boots, got up on the table up front and said, ‘¿Dónde está la prueba?’ while holding a purple backpack. I didn't know what to do, but then he said in perfect English, ‘You will be graded on this,’ and I freaked out!”
When asked to give a comment, the College Board representative—Dora the Explorer herself—said, “Where’s the door? There’s the door!” before promptly kicking us out. The College Board refused to comment further.
During the writing of this article, College Board released their new plans for further changes to the AP Spanish curriculum, including an all new section tentatively called “Exploration,” where students will be graded on map-reading skills, their level of nearsightedness, and ability to talk to animals and grandmas alike. How schools will implement this section is yet to be announced.
Whether these changes are for good or just a blip in College Board’s radar is yet to be seen, although it seems that they’ve got a very ambitious young woman at the helm of their new AP Spanish curriculum.