AP German: Your Guide to the Course & Exam

If you’re a current AP German student or thinking about enrolling, you might be wondering what the semester has in store, and most importantly, how best to study for the AP German Exam. 

The good news is, you’re in the right place! In this article, you’ll learn more about AP German and the exam, including what you’re expected to know, the AP German exam format and length, and ways to get exam practice to make sure you’re ready to ace the test come exam time.

Learning with Busuu makes all the difference

Advanced Placement German can be challenging, but with the right tools, you can build the skills you need to get the most out of the course and perform your best on the final exam.

Build confidence

AP language courses focus on building communication skills. Busuu’s exercises help you practice writing and speaking so you can feel comfortable putting your German language skills to use.

Get feedback

When you learn with Busuu, you learn with a community. Your Conversations exercises are shared with native German speakers for feedback and encouragement to help you speak German more naturally.

Smart review

Study smarter with Busuu’s vocabulary and grammar review tools that automatically capture things you need to work on and turn them into easy-to-review snippets and personalized quizzes.

AP German: The basics

AP German is short for Advanced Placement German Language and Culture, the AP course for studying the German language and German culture. Advanced Placement courses are challenging courses for US high school students that many colleges in the United States accept in exchange for college credit or in lieu of beginner level university courses – that’s why they’re called Advanced Placement!

The AP German course is considered an intermediate-level language course by international language learning standards, so it’s equivalent to a high-level International Baccalaureate course or B1-B2 level German on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). 

The CEFR is the standard we use at Busuu, so if you’re looking to take bite-sized German lessons at the AP German level, you’ll likely want to start with the lessons at the B1 level. 

What do you learn in AP German language and culture?

When you take AP German, the goal is that you finish the course with a firm grasp of the following skills:

• Understanding & interpreting German text

• Making connections

• Making meaning from words and expressions in German

• Speaking with and writing to others in German – applying learning to interpersonal communication

• Giving oral and written presentations in German

Your lessons will be centered around these core themes:

• Families and communities (topics like citizenship, diversity and relationships)

• Personal and public identities (topics like stereotypes, generational issues and national identity)

• Beauty and aesthetics (topics like fashion, architecture, literature and visual arts)

• Science and technology (topics like healthcare, scientific research and technologies)

• Contemporary life (topics like current events, careers and social customs)

• Global challenges (topics like economics, environmental issues, politics and history)

The goal of AP German is to set you up to successfully speak and understand German at a college level, both for the purposes of future study and for communicating with German speakers, so emphasis is placed on fluency and the ability to make yourself understood. 

Frequently asked questions about the AP German test

Here’s everything you need to know about the AP German Language and Culture exam.

What is the AP German exam format?

The AP German exam is broken down into two sections, and each section has two parts as follows:

Section I

• Part A: multiple choice (30 questions)

• Part B: multiple choice with audio (35 questions)

Section II

• Part A: written free response (2 questions)

• Part B: spoken free response (2 questions)

How long is the AP German exam?

The AP German exam takes just over three hours to complete. Here’s the breakdown of time allotted by section:

Section I

• Part A: 40 minutes 

• Part B: 55 minutes

Section II

• Part A: 1 hour 10 minutes

• Part B: 18 minutes

What do you need to know for the AP German exam?

The aim of AP German is to teach you to understand and apply the German language, so the best way to prepare for the AP German exam is to work on your comprehension and fluency rather than reviewing specific areas and topics covered during the course.

To get a top grade in AP German, you’ll need to demonstrate your ability to:

• Comprehend and interpret text

• Make connections and understand cultural context

• Make yourself understood in written and spoken German using vocabulary, idioms and appropriate communication strategies

• Accurately apply German grammar, vocabulary and idioms

If you’re looking for what to study, in practice, this means broadening your vocabulary and working on your grammar in written and spoken situations so you can respond quickly to any written or audio prompt.

Read on for more specific study strategies!

Tips to excel on your AP German exam

Use these resources and strategies to make sure you’re ready for the final test.

Get targeted practice 

One of the best ways to prepare for the AP German exam is to practice with real material from past exams. Fortunately, AP has practice questions from past exams available for anyone to review.

Here are a few resources to get you started:

• Free response questions and top-scoring answers from AP German past exams

• AP German practice test questions (Scroll to the end of this very thorough document about the AP German course.)

• Busuu’s Complete German course – Free general AP German exam practice. Practice answering multiple choice questions based on readings and dialogues and get practice answering written and spoken free response

  questions
  

Learn smarter with spaced repetition

You know that old saying, “Work smarter, not harder”? Well, spaced interval repetition is a way of doing just that. It’s a learning technique where you study more strategically by learning in short, frequent bursts and then reviewing what you learned at specific spaced intervals (thus the name). 

Spaced repetition, when applied to online language learning (like we do at Busuu), works like digital flashcards. Basically, it’s set up to automatically review things you’ve learned based on a projected ‘forgetting curve.’ Studies have found that spaced repetition is much more effective than cramming when it comes to retaining information long term. 

With spaced repetition, you can learn and hold onto information more effectively, meaning less frantic studying to try to remember things you’ve forgotten when exam season comes around. That means you can prioritize new material, exam-taking techniques and more complex concepts when it’s time to study for your exams, rather than struggling to memorize old vocabulary.

Pro tip: Don’t stop with just your German studies! Put spaced repetition to use in all your courses to make studying less stressful by reviewing throughout the semester rather than waiting until the end to start looking back.

Harness the power of the internet

The great thing about being a student today is that there are so many free resources available to help streamline your studying. 

One such resource? Why, Busuu, of course!

When you learn with us at Busuu, you get:

• Lessons tailored to your proficiency level, designed by language learning experts 

• Built-in spaced repetition and review tools that capture what you need to practice most

• Multiple choice practice based on readings, audio recordings and dialogues

• Chapters focusing on German culture 

• Spoken and written free response practice

• AI-powered speaking practice

• Feedback from native German speakers and AI

Use Busuu to study for the AP German exam

Here’s how our online German course can help you ace the AP German Language and Culture exam.

Listening & reading

Hone your interpretation and comprehension skills with activities based around readings, audio recordings and interpersonal dialogues, followed by multiple choice and free response questions.

Productive skills

Get practice speaking out loud and improvising written answers in a safe learning environment. Build your confidence as you receive encouragement and feedback from native German speakers to improve your fluency.

Cultural context

Take lessons about German culture, art, history and social norms to build your knowledge base and vocabulary so you’re ready for whatever topics the exam throws your way. 

Now you know how to prepare for the AP German exam

Put your new knowledge to work – start studying now.

And the best part is, you can get started for free. 

So take the first step toward acing your AP German exam by starting Busuu’s Complete German course today.

Prepare for AP German now!