SAT / PSAT
SAT / PSAT Prep
History & Social Science
AP World History AP US History AP European History AP Human Geography AP US Government & Politics AP Psychology AP Macroeconomics AP Microeconomics
English
AP English Language & Composition AP English Literature & Composition
Math & Computer Science
AP Calculus AB/BC AP Precalculus AP Statistics AP Computer Science A AP Computer Science Principles
Sciences
AP Biology AP Chemistry AP Environmental Science AP Physics 1 AP Physics 2
World Languages & Arts
AP Spanish Language AP Art History AP Music Theory Start studying →
Unit 5 · La vida contemporánea

Contemporary Life

Unit 5 explores how daily life in Spanish-speaking communities has changed over the last 20 years, through education, entertainment, food and health, pop culture, sports, and travel.

6 core contexts
Unit 5 of 6
3 modes of communication
College Board aligned
← Back to AP Spanish Language

Choose your study tool

Six ways to master Unit 5, pick whichever fits how you like to study.

Flashcards
20 interactive flashcards covering the key thematic vocabulary and course concepts from Unit 5. Tap to flip, shuffle, and use keyboard arrows.
Open flashcards →
Cheat Sheet
A one-page visual summary of Unit 5, every recommended context, key term, and theme on a single screen.
Open cheat sheet →
Essentials
The core concepts plus a searchable glossary of every vocabulary term and idea you need to know for the exam.
Open essentials →
Visual Review
A slide-by-slide walkthrough of Unit 5: education and career, entertainment and media, and sports and leisure.
Open visual review →
MCQ Practice
22 multiple-choice questions in College Board exam style, written entirely in Spanish, with full explanations.
Start practice →
FRQ Practice
An Argumentative Essay task themed to Contemporary Life, with source summaries and a model answer showing how each point is earned.
Start FRQ →

Recommended contexts in Unit 5

The College Board's recommended instructional contexts for this theme.

Core Context
Education and Career · Educación y carreras
Schooling paths, career choices, and how work shapes daily life.
Core Context
Entertainment and Media · Entretenimiento y medios de comunicación
Television, film, streaming, and news, and how they shape public conversation.
Core Context
Food and Health · Alimentación y salud
Diet, wellness, and how food traditions connect to daily routines.
Core Context
Pop Culture · Cultura pop
Trends, celebrities, and shared references that shape a generation's identity.
Core Context
Sports and Leisure · Deportes y tiempo libre
Popular sports and how communities spend their free time.
Core Context
Travel and Tourism · Viajes y turismo
How travel connects people to new places, and how tourism affects local communities.

About Unit 5

Unit 5, La vida contemporánea (Contemporary Life), asks how daily life has changed in the last 20 years, what impact cultural values and traditions have on that life, and what shapes a person's perception of what matters today. This unit works heavily with the Instructional Guidance and Interview task types, which expose you to spoken, regionally varied Spanish at a complexity that closely matches the real exam.

Because the exam is not weighted by unit, Unit 5's content is tested throughout the year rather than on one exam day. This unit builds increasingly nuanced academic vocabulary, and connects naturally to earlier units: pop culture and entertainment link back to Unit 3's art contexts, while food and travel connect to Unit 1's community themes.

Unit 5 applies the 3 P's framework to everyday modern life:

Product
A popular TV show, a traditional dish, a national sport
Practice
Watching a telenovela, eating dinner late in the evening, following a favorite team
Perspective
What a community values in work, leisure, health, or entertainment
Up next
Unit 6: Global Contexts · Los contextos globales
Start Unit 6 →