<p>I heard that for students in the US for whom French is NOT the primary language, only around 8 percent get 5's...and that there is an abnormally large amount of 3's given overall</p>
<p>I don't know the exact percentage, but I would agree with your comment. It is very difficult for a non-native speaker to receive a 4 on the French Language test, and nearly impossible to receive a 5. Most people probably get in the 2-3 area. </p>
<p>The reading and writing sections are OK, but the listening is somewhat difficult and the speaking is nearly impossible unless you speak French regularly.</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/french_lang/dist.html?frenchlang%5DHere's%5B/url">http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/french_lang/dist.html?frenchlang]Here's[/url</a>] the grade distribution for last year. It doesn't identify native vs non-native speakers, but ~32% end up with 4's and 5's. I took the test two years ago and walked out expecting a 2. I had taken 4 years of French, but my 4th year, which was supposedly AP French was completely useless - the teacher didn't even mention the AP exam until the morning of the test! I did a lot of practice with the Barron's book and audio cassette and surprisingly ended up with a 4. Don't decide not to take the test because you think you won't do well - give it a chance. It may cost eighty bucks right now, but it can end up saving hundreds in college tuition</p>
<p>kids at our HS get 4-5's and they are not native speakers...</p>
<p>at my school, usually there's 3 or 4 5's and the rest mostly 4's, and a few 3s... although most in AP french have taken french since for 13 years at the time of the exam, it isn't impossible to do very well. none of us are native speakers, but can pass fluently. even the kids that struggle the most in the class get at least a 3. I think the reputation outweighs the actual difficulty.</p>
<p>“although most in AP french have taken french since for 13 years” that’s probably why they get 5’s and 4’s. Most people take french 3-4 years before taking the exam…</p>
<p>[A.P.French</a> Language and Standardization of all World Language A.P. exams Petition](<a href=“Petition Online - Petition Online has been retired”>Petition Online - Petition Online has been retired)</p>
<p>this compares the AP french and AP spanish exams
AP french has a significantly lower pass rate</p>
<p>I think it’s only like 51% or something that passed the exam in 2008.</p>
<p>And the girl in our class who has been taking French since she was in Kindergarten thought the exam was hard. And a kid who’s just a freaking genius. So I’m hoping that it’s not just me who failed like no other…</p>
<p>That would match up with my school. We’re a “5 on AP” kind of school, especially in US History, Chem, and most often Calculus, but French…man. Last year there was one 3 as the highest score, and it was her second time taking it.</p>
<p>2009’s standard group (not including native speakers) for a 5 was around 8%. Very unfortunate. It’s also unfortunate that there are so many native speakers that take this test, because it goes against the rest of us who aren’t 'cause the curve is so high (approximately 80% for a 5). I’m feeling pretty dismal about the test :(</p>
<p>I think everyone is…</p>
<p>Native speakers need to stop taking this test (no offense to them, but really?)…</p>
<p>^ Agreed. Although I can’t say much myself because people like me who are native Chinese speakers probably screw up the curve for that test for the non-natives.</p>
<p>hey i’m not native and i’m pretty sure i got a 5, i thought it was extremely easy. but i have been taking french since kindergarten and language is my forte so i guess that’s why…i’m confident i got a 5</p>
<p>I think the test is curved by non-natives. Otherwise, the 5 percentage for non-natives might be 2 or 3%.</p>
<p>^ But 8% is still pretty bad. It should be around 15% at least, but the overall should be around 20% (1/5).</p>
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<p>I’m still confused on what this means… Could someone explain this to me?</p>
<p>You know how on Section S, they asked about your background in the language? They determine the curve on the people that answered “No” to one or both (I’m not sure) of the questions, not all the scores.</p>
<p>the guy that got into Upenn in my school said the test was messed up…got 5’s in 8 ap’s …1 4, and that was AP French/</p>
<p>Also if some natives lie that they don’t have a french background, that will hurt us.</p>
<p>Thanks, 314159265!</p>
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<p>Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. But I guess there’s nothing to do but sit and wait (and study for Calc!)…</p>
<p>sciencefrenchie</p>
<p>It means that the figure out the grade cutoffs and how hard the test was by only looking at the results of non-native speakers.</p>