Students Participate in National Spanish Exam

by Hannah Fineman, SSLI ‘25

Today, the high school students who take Spanish participated in the nationwide National Spanish Exam. The exam is held by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese and is given once a year in schools all over the country.

Students worked hard on today's exam.

Shay Ginsburg, a sophomore who took the exam today, explained that the test “evaluates students’ vocabulary, grammar, listening, reading, and writing skills. Our test was online, with a combination of multiple-choice questions about vocabulary and grammar, listening questions, and reading questions. The test is timed and ideally takes under two hours.” Ginsburg shared that she “took the national Spanish exam because there are no consequences. Poor scores don’t appear on transcripts, but high scores can earn students medals. Last year, I won a gold medal, and a lot of my friends won medals, too.” 

One proctor, Señora Volpin, explained that the Spanish department strongly encourages students to take this exam because "if they do well on the test, they can earn a medal and a certification, and it can really help with the college application." Señora Volpin shared that after the exam, the students "are usually worried that they didn’t do well, but they end up doing really well. I’m confident that at least one of them will earn a medal.”

Due to the fact that the test is based on the material students learned in the previous year, they have to review those topics in preparation. Elinor Schlissel, an eleventh grade student, shared, “To prepare for the National Spanish exam, we go over some grammar concepts and look over briefly some of the concepts we learned last year since that’s what the test is on. But also, our Spanish class this year is conversational, so a lot of the concepts that are on the test, we use in our conversations in class.”

Samson Mildron, a junior taking Spanish, revealed that he “didn’t prepare for the national Spanish exam. The beauty of the national Spanish exam is in its spontaneity. This national Spanish exam is unique as it is not a test you study for; it is a test where you simply see how much you know without studying. It is in essence what other tests aspire to be, as it is a true ranking of understanding.”

Mildron continued, “Señora Cahn helps us prepare for this exam by always encouraging us and even demanding that we speak only in the Spanish language when we are in our class and beyond. Speaking is the way to learn a language, and Señora Cahn's dutiful pursuit of inspiring her students to speak ... has contributed to our success in the exam.”

Similarly, Schlissel said, “I took the National Spanish Exam because Señora Cahn really wanted us to. The exam also doesn’t count for anything towards your grade, so there is no harm in taking it. And if you end up doing well, you can get a medal.”  

Mildron concluded, “After taking the test, I feel a renewed connection to Spanish. I have been reminded that reading and listening in Spanish are my forte, and I am happy that I’ve gone through this experience with my Kehila.”

Hannah Fineman is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since November 2021. Hannah is currently a junior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: hfineman25@schechterli.org