IPA /æ/ is between Spanish A and E. The exact pronunciation varies depending on the region, but I would say it is closer to the Spanish A sound in the first syllable of "clase" -- not the E in the second syllable.

This is hard to answer without showing you, but your tongue is centered in your mouth, not touching anything. The sound is made more with the shape of your mouth than with your tongue.

There are two common ways of pronouncing a short "a" in English, that in "apple" and that in "father". A good resource if you need help with pronouncing a particular word is Forvo -- see http://forvo.com/word/apple/#en and listen to the slight differences from different parts of the world.