Hello!! So my school gave me AP Chinese when I didn’t request it; I was planning on taking my third year of Chinese (5/6). However, since I do speak Mandarin at home -but I’m not a native speaker- I decided to stay in the class. My main concern is the words since before this I only took Mandarin 1-4 (my school offers up to 8). I don’t know many words, and I will put in a lot of effort, but I was wondering, based on your experience, do you think I should drop out of the class? I’m also taking other APs that are equally as time consuming.
Hello jd2001,
I speak Mandarin Chinese at home and I don’t know a lot of Chinese characters either. Chinese characters are usually hard to remember what they mean. To me, it’s easier to know and memorize Chinese characters if you know how to speak Chinese. How many APs are you taking this year?
I’m taking 4 AP classes, including AP Chinese.
Just a heads up on the AP Chinese, it is language and culture, my sons are non native speakers, we were in a meet the teacher group with several parents that where native born and educated in China and they were complaining to the AP Chinese teacher that even though they were native speakers they didn’t know many of the sample “culture” questions on the AP.
I’m in the same situation as you: 4 APs including AP Chinese next year. Personally, I don’t think you should drop out the class. I also speak Chinese at home and am not the best, but I think you’ll be fine. My friends who could barely speak Chinese took the AP test and passed. If you’re super worried, you can just buy an AP prep book, practice speaking more at home, or ask your family for help (if you’re Chinese). Best of luck!
AP Chinese has a very high passing rate. If you speak Chinese at home you should be fine. Try integrating more Chinese into your daily life - reading articles, watching Chinese movies/TV shows, etc. Get prep books for review too. I used Strive for a 5 to review. It has 8 full length practice tests, with each focusing on specific themes like geography or education. There are a lot of things about Chinese culture and traditions in there, which I found really helpful. If you want more than just practice tests, I heard Barron’s is good. You’ll definitely get a high score if you are willing to work hard for it. Good luck!