If you have ever whispered a sentence in Spanish and immediately wondered if you accidentally confessed to a crime, you are not alone.
IB Spanish ab initio has a funny way of making beginners feel like everyone else got the secret rulebook. One day you are proud you can order a sandwich, and the next you are trying to explain your future plans, your health routine, and your opinions about urban life… in the same week.
This guide is your calm, complete map of Spanish ab initio: what the course is, what the assessments look like, what usually trips students up, and how to prepare efficiently for exams using RevisionDojo.
What IB Spanish ab initio actually is (and who it is for)
IB Spanish ab initio is the IB Diploma Programme language acquisition course built for true beginners. It is designed for students with little to no prior experience in Spanish, and it prioritises practical communication over literary analysis.
In other words: you are learning Spanish to function in everyday situations -- to understand, respond, ask follow-up questions, write short texts, and show cultural awareness.
The course runs over two years with around 150 recommended teaching hours. That time goes quickly, which is why a stable revision system matters more than motivation spikes.
If you want to see the dedicated hub for the course, start with IB Spanish ab initio Resources.
Quick checklist: what to master to do well in Spanish ab initio
Use this as a simple weekly compass. Strong Spanish ab initio students usually do these consistently:
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Practise Spanish listening little-and-often (short clips beat long marathons)
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Speak out loud several times a week (even if it is messy)
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Learn vocabulary by theme and in full phrases, not isolated lists
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Write in the formats your exam expects (email, blog entry, message, etc.)
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Review mistakes using feedback, then redo similar questions
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Simulate exam pressure at least once a week near exams
RevisionDojo helps you run that system with Study Notes, Flashcards, and the free Questionbank.
Course structure: the skills you are building in Spanish
The simplest way to understand the course is to think in five skill tracks:
Listening
You train your ear for everyday Spanish: announcements, conversations, short interviews, and practical information.
Reading
You learn to extract meaning from texts like advertisements, emails, short articles, menus, schedules, and social media style posts.
Writing
You practise producing clear beginner Spanish in specific text types, with the right register (formal or informal).
Speaking
You build fluency through interaction, not memorisation. The goal is to keep the conversation moving, even with simple language.
Culture and context
Culture is not an extra. It is how your Spanish becomes accurate and appropriate: how people greet, what is considered polite, and how topics look different across Spanish-speaking communities.
The five themes: how IB organises Spanish ab initio content
IB Spanish ab initio is built around themes that keep vocabulary grounded in real life. You will keep returning to them, and your exams will too.
Individual and society
Identity, relationships, daily life, social behaviours.
Leisure and work
Hobbies, holidays, travel, jobs, routines.
Urban and rural environment
Where people live, transport, community spaces, the environment.
Health and wellbeing
Food, exercise, illness, healthcare, habits.
Education and future plans
School experiences, ambitions, careers, plans.
A useful revision approach is to build a “theme bank” of high-frequency Spanish phrases for each theme, then recycle them in writing and speaking.
Grammar and vocabulary: what beginners still need to control
Spanish ab initio is beginner level, but the scoring still rewards control.
High-yield grammar to prioritise
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Present tense accuracy (this is your foundation)
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Past and future frameworks (simple, but reliable)
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Gender and number agreement (small details, big mark impact)
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Adjectives, articles, pronouns
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Question forms and basic connectors (because, but, however, although)
Vocabulary that pays off fast
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Time phrases (today, yesterday, next week)
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Opinions (I think, I prefer, in my view)
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Everyday verbs (to go, to do, to have, to want)
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Theme-specific nouns and collocations
RevisionDojo’s Spanish flashcards make this manageable in short sessions. For example, you can use the Mi barrio flashcards deck to rehearse vocabulary in context.
Assessment: how Spanish ab initio is graded
Your IB Spanish ab initio result comes from a mix of external exams and an internal oral component.
Paper 1: Listening and reading
This paper tests comprehension through recorded audio and short texts, using question types like multiple choice, true/false, and short answers.
To prepare well, avoid “passive listening” where the audio becomes background noise. You want active listening with a purpose: first for gist, then for details.
You can practise in an exam-aligned way via Paper 1 Spanish ab initio and reinforce weak areas with targeted drills.
Paper 2: Writing
You typically complete two writing tasks with clear requirements (purpose, audience, format). Examiners reward clarity, relevance, and appropriate text type conventions.
The hidden skill here is planning. Two minutes of structure saves you ten minutes of rewriting.
Internal assessment: the Individual Oral
The oral is around 10 minutes and usually includes:
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A short presentation based on a visual stimulus (about 1--2 minutes)
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Follow-up questions linked to the stimulus
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A broader conversation across course themes (often 5--6 minutes)
Your teacher records and assesses it, and it is moderated externally.
Practical tips that work (without turning your life into Spanish 24/7)
Build a tiny daily habit
Fifteen minutes of Spanish most days beats two hours once a week. Use RevisionDojo Flashcards for spaced repetition, and keep the habit so small it is hard to refuse.
Use exam-style feedback loops
Do questions, get feedback, fix the same mistake twice. That is how you stop repeating errors.
RevisionDojo’s Questionbank and Jojo AI grading tools are built for this: immediate feedback, mark-scheme aligned guidance, and a clear way to track what still needs work.
Practise speaking with constraints
Set a timer for 60 seconds. Pick a theme. Speak in Spanish without stopping. When you freeze, use survival phrases like “En mi opinión…” or “Lo que quiero decir es…”. Fluency is often just recovery speed.
If you want broader language skill advice that still applies well to Spanish, see How to Effectively Revise for Language B Exams and How to Improve Your Language B Speaking Skills.
Know where you stand with grade boundaries
Boundaries shift by session, but tracking them helps you set realistic targets and reduce uncertainty.
Use IB Spanish Ab Initio SL Grade Boundaries 2025 (Timezone 0) as a reference point when you are converting scores into goals.
Spanish ab initio vs Spanish B vs Spanish A (quick comparison)
Students often choose the wrong course for the wrong reason.
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Spanish ab initio: beginner route, practical everyday Spanish, designed for minimal prior exposure.
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Spanish B: intermediate, more complex texts and communication, assumes years of learning.
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Spanish A: near-native or native level, literature heavy.
If you already use Spanish comfortably at home or in long conversations, ab initio is usually not the right fit.
Closing: make Spanish feel smaller, then make it daily
The quiet trick of Spanish ab initio is that progress compounds. A few phrases become a paragraph. A paragraph becomes a conversation. And eventually you stop translating every thought before you speak.
If you want an all-in-one system to revise Spanish with less guesswork, use RevisionDojo as your home base: the IB Spanish ab initio hub, Paper 1 practice, Flashcards, Questionbank, and Predicted Papers to bring everything together.
Your goal is not perfect Spanish. Your goal is usable Spanish, under pressure, on exam day. RevisionDojo is built for exactly that.