SAT Spanish Subject Test Information

If you have a particular gift for Spanish, or have just been studying for a long time in elementary and high school, then perhaps you should sign up for the SAT Spanish Test! Please note that this test is not the same or part of the Redesigned SAT Reasoning Test,, the popular college admissions exam. The SAT Spanish Subject Test is just one of the many SAT Subject Tests, which are exams designed to showcase your particular talents in all sorts of fields from World History to Literature to Chinese.

SAT Spanish Subject Tests Basics

Before you register for this test, here's what you can expect

• 60 minutes
• 85 multiple-choice questions
• 200-800 points possible
• Offered 5 times a year in October, December, January, May and June
• 3 types of reading questions

SAT Spanish Subject Test Skills

So, what's on this thing? What kinds of skills are required? Here are the skills you'll need in order to master this test.

• Using parts of speech appropriately
• Understanding basic idioms
• Selection of grammatically correct terminology
• Identifying main and supporting ideas, themes, style, tone, and the spatial and temporal settings of a passage.

SAT Spanish Subject Test Question Breakdown

The test is broken down into Part A, Part B and Part C. Here are the types of questions those three parts contain:

Vocabulary and Sentence Structure: Approximately 28 questions

Here, you'll be given a sentence with a blank, and will be asked to choose the correct single-word response from one of four choices listed below.

Paragraph Completion: Approximately 28 questions

These questions provide you with a paragraph filled with blanks. Once you happen upon a blank, you'll be asked to fill in that blank with an appropriate response from the choices below.

Reading Comprehension: Approximately 28 questions

These questions will provide you with a passage taken from prose fiction, historical works, newspaper and magazine articles, as well as advertisements, flyers and letters. You'll be asked a question related to the passage, and will have to choose the correct response from the answer choices.

Why Take the SAT Spanish Subject Test?

In some cases, you'll need to, especially if you're considering choosing Spanish, or a Spanish-related field as a major in college. In other cases, it's a great idea to take the Spanish Subject Test so you can showcase bilingualism, which is a fantastic way to round out an application. It shows the college admissions officers that you have more up your sleeve than your GPA, clubs or sports record. Plus, it can get you out of those entry-level language courses. Bonus!

How to Prepare for the SAT Spanish Subject Test

To ace this thing, you'll need at 3-4 years in Spanish during high school, and you'll want to take the test as close to the end of or during your most advanced Spanish class you plan to take. Getting your high school Spanish teacher to offer you some supplementary materials is always a good idea, too. In addition, you should practice with legitimate practice questions like you'll see on the test. The College Board offers free practice questions for the SAT Spanish Test, too.

Sample SAT Spanish Subject Test Question

This question comes from the College Board's free practice questions. The writers have ranked the questions from 1 to 5 where 1 is the least difficult. The question below is ranked as a 3.

Se sabe que la playa de Luquillo es muy popular porque la gente de San Juan la visita ------- .

(A) en resumidas cuentas
(B) en punto
(C) a medias
(D) a menudo

Choice (D) is correct. The word that goes in the blank describes the frequency with which people in Puerto Rico visit a popular beach. The sense of frequency, as indicated by choice (D) a menudo, is appropriate.