AAPPL Spanish cheat sheet

ILS tasks simulate real conversation; responses are scored on task completion, comprehensibility, and cultural appropriateness, not grammatical perfection.

Use the formal usted/ustedes forms with adults, strangers, and authority figures; use tú with peers, children, and in informal settings.

When you don't understand, use a repair phrase such as '¿Puede repetir, por favor?' or '¿Cómo se dice...?' rather than silence.

Ask a follow-up question after answering to keep the exchange going; one-word answers reduce the interpersonal score.

Common ILS prompt types: making plans, asking for directions, ordering food, describing a past event, and giving advice.

Respond in the same time frame as the prompt: past prompts require preterite/imperfect, future prompts require ir a + infinitive or future tense.

Register markers: usted commands use the opposite vowel (hable, coma, viva); tú commands use the third-person singular form (habla, come, vive).

Pronunciation scoring focuses on intelligibility: clear vowels (a e i o u are always pronounced), consistent stress, and linking words naturally.

If you make an error, self-correct briefly and continue; fluency raters penalize long pauses more than minor grammar slips.

PW prompts specify a text type (email, letter, article, essay, story) and a word count; follow the format conventions of that text type.

Email/letter structure: greeting (Estimado/a...), opening, body paragraphs, closing (Atentamente / Un saludo), and signature.

Use connectors to organize ideas: primero, además, sin embargo, por lo tanto, finalmente, en conclusión.

Past narration uses preterite for completed actions and imperfect for background, habits, and descriptions; combine both in a story.

Formal writing avoids contractions, slang, and English cognates used incorrectly (e.g., 'actual' means current, not actual).

Accents change meaning: el/él, tu/tú, si/sí, mas/más, esta/está; include them to avoid ambiguity.

Address all bullet points in the prompt; missing a required element caps the task-completion score.

Use varied sentence structures: subordinate clauses with que, porque, aunque, cuando, and relative clauses with que/quien.

Spelling and agreement errors (gender/number) are frequent; check noun-adjective agreement and subject-verb agreement before submitting.

IR texts include signs, menus, schedules, advertisements, emails, articles, and short literary excerpts; identify the text type first.

Skim for the main idea (idea principal) before reading details; then scan for specific information requested by the question.

Cognates help but false cognates mislead: 'embarazada' = pregnant, 'librería' = bookstore, 'éxito' = success, 'realizar' = to carry out.

Question types: main idea, detail, inference, author's purpose, tone, and vocabulary in context; match the question type to a reading strategy.

Pay attention to time markers (ayer, mañana, hace dos años) and verb tenses to place events correctly.

Recognize register and audience: formal vs. informal address (usted vs. tú) signals the relationship between writer and reader.

For inference questions, choose the answer supported by the text, not by personal opinion or outside knowledge.

Structural cues: headings, bullet points, bold text, and punctuation (¿? ¡!) guide where key information is located.

If a word is unknown, use context, word families, and prefixes/suffixes (des-, re-, -ción, -mente) to infer meaning.

IL audio includes announcements, conversations, voicemail, news, and interviews; identify the setting and speakers' relationship first.

Listen for the main idea on the first pass; on the second pass, listen for specific details such as numbers, times, and names.

Numbers, dates, and prices are frequent distractors; note them as you listen and verify against the question.

Distinguish similar-sounding forms: habla/habló, compro/compró, esta/está; tense and accent affect meaning.

Register cues (usted/tú, vocatives like señor/señora) reveal formality and social distance between speakers.

Common question types: main idea, detail, inference, speaker's intent, and next action; predict what to listen for from the question stem.

Signal words organize audio: sin embargo (contrast), por eso (result), además (addition), antes/después (sequence).

If audio is repeated, use the second hearing to confirm uncertain answers rather than changing correct ones without evidence.

Note the speaker's tone (entusiasmo, preocupación, enojo) from intonation and word choice for tone/inference questions.