AP Chinese Exam (non-native)

<p>Hey all – </p>

<p>I need a little bit of help. So I’ve decided that I want to take AP Chinese this year. The problem is though; my school doesn’t offer an AP Chinese course (only regular Chinese courses) and I’m not a native speaker – so I’d have to self-study which will be difficult also considering this’ll be a busy year (but it’s possible, right?). So far I’ve had 2 years of Chinese (not so promising I know), but compared to others I’d say I’m quite good at it. I have a natural thing for languages, and I’ve been to a Chinese speaking country for about a month. By the time I take the AP exam, I’d have 3 years of Chinese – but do you think that that along with self-studying everyday would suffice? I really love the Chinese language and it’s one of my best classes (got an A+ in it), and it would be a dream to get a 5 on the exam. Do you think it’s possible I pull this off? How? If anyone could give me some good input, <em>especially</em> those who have taken the exam before and <em>especially</em> non-native speakers who’ve taken it, I’d really, really appreciate it!! If you could also let me know how much you studied, what the curve’s like, about how many characters I should know & what resources you used, that would be absolutely amazing. Thank you!</p>

<p>It actually would be extremely difficult for u. i would not recommend. it. 3 years is definitely not enough in my opinion. Remember, there is a listening portion.<br>
Btw, which Chinese are you in? there are 5 levels/years. 5 being pre-AP. 1-4 are a lot easier than 5 and AP. the rigor increases by a lot. 1-3 easier for all languages since it is state curriculum (in my school). Chinese 1-3 lets you function at the level of a really slow/ stupid 1st grader/kindergartener. Only after 3 does the curriculum actually test what you have learned.<br>
if you are in chinese 5, i would think that you could take AP. It is completely possible. if you know a good 1-2 thousand word i believe u are fine. If you can function at the level of the fourth/ fifth grade in China, you are okay. You definitely dont need the vocab of a 4-5 grader(obviously more than 2k words there), u just need the comprehension. Also, study up ur culture. </p>

<p>You should also understand the process of learning Chinese, and be able to guess read some words u dont remember/ know.</p>

<p>Also, you should never compare yourself to others unless those others moved from China four years ago. If you can engage in a 20 minute conversation with any native Chinese speaker, ur speaking/ listening is mostly good enough. Most of us highschool students are generally lazy an dont work 15 hours a week to learn Chinese. </p>

<p>Hire a tutor. (native Mandarin speaker)</p>

<p>Also, grades arent very good representations of anything, especially in foreign language</p>

<p>Its doable, but u wouldn’t actually be knowing Chinese. First you would have to get rid of ur American accent. Then you would actually have to know 5k words. To be fluent as a foreigner, u have to have good tone and know 2k.</p>

<p>^Please improve your spelling. It kills me. </p>

<p>

This totally depends on the school; at mine, level 4 is AP.</p>

<p>@tacoperson123‌ com’on, i only spelled like 20 words wrong. thats average for the internet XD.<br>
other than the complete ignorance of grammar, there are not many words spelled wrong. i actually dont think there are any. this website has spell check, my dear. </p>

<p>@Kaiser1418‌ You did spell some words wrong but its no big deal.</p>

<p>I’m a non native speaker, and I don’t think we have anything to benefit from taking this test. Honestly, unless College Board makes different versions for natives and new learners, it’s a losing game. </p>

<p>@skieurope‌ that’s correct. thats why the state makes the first 3 years of chinese curriculum. my school just is somewhat jittery about letting students take Chinese AP because, u know, principles and schools want to look better. I do think it works though. after 4-5(some skip, add one year of AP) years of chinese, (also many students come from immersion programs ,and are–quite surprisingly-- non-natives) my school had a 76% 5 rate out of 42 kids. no one scored below a 3 also. Btw, if you are wondering how it is possible to take so many years of chinese, ppl not only skip, but also take in middle school (obviously)</p>

<p>That’s why i dont recommend jamie takes the test after only 3 years, (s)he is competing with tons of native speakers and kids who come from school like mine. Also, in my experience, even the best 4.0 Princeton grade kids have issues in learning foreign languages. In the cases i have seen, they have all at least 4 years of language (one accelerated) under their belt along with a experienced teacher who can pull from the experience of previous students. Unless (s)he is one in millions, which (s)he might be,or her/ his parents run a foreign language camp/program/etc, It would be very difficult. </p>

<p>@freezycool‌ i agree that the AP exam is a bit too difficult in Chinese, but i dont think they should discriminate agaisnt native speakers. Native speakers are rarely actually “native speakers”. Real native speakers have actually went to school/ lived in China. Many Chinese people dont even speak Chinese at home. Most American Chinese have English as their first language. It is nearly impossible to tell who is a native speaker and who is not.</p>

<p>If it was rational to make separate tests, it would also be rational to do so for all other languages. Not only that, “native speakers” should have easier English tests. Many Chinese students are placed at a disadvantage because their parents cant honestly help them with any school work (even math because it is largely vocab that is hard to translate). </p>

<p>i am not saying that there is not an obvious advantage to being a “native speaker”; there is. </p>

<p>College Board should really simply make 2 AP Chinese tests. It would be a bit like Spanish AP(normal vs lit), but u would take both after taking AP Chinese, so i guess more like Calc BC vs Calc AB . </p>

<p>You went off on a tangent, so I’ll respond to what’s relevant. I’m speaking strictly regarding the AP test. Clearly whatever situation you’ve witnessed is different… I am one of four non native speakers in my school’s Chinese program, and endure the same grading scale as students who not only speak at home with family, but attend Chinese school on weekends. More students at my school take the AP test as freshman, than anyone does after actually taking AP Chinese.
The point of AP tests is to measure what you’ve learned in school, in class, per the curriculum. It’s not discriminatory- native speakers can take HSK or such… </p>

<p>

That will never happen; it’s not cost effective given the low number of students taking the AP Chinese test. The only reason that AP Chinese and Japanese still exist at all is because they are computer based tests, so the expense of grading is much lower. As mentioned above, there are standardized tests in all modern languages that AP tests that are more appropriate for native speakers.</p>