<p>Let's say hypothetically that you are a Chinese person, but you can't read or write in Chinese.
How would it look to colleges if you take Chinese as a foreign language?
And how would it look if you take Chinese for AP Exam and SAT II?</p>
<p>would it depend on whether you were born in China or not and when you came to the US? but then again since you cant read or write i assume you were born outside China.</p>
<p>then i would say they would probably think you are taking the "easy way out." but of course i dont know what admissions officers really think.</p>
<p>I don't see anything wrong with taking AP Chinese. I mean, I'll just tell you now--I am Chinese. And I can speak Cantonese and write some Chinese characters, but I can't speak Mandarin or write a whole bunch of Chinese characters. For example, I would have a very hard time reading a Chinese newspaper.</p>
<p>I want to learn Chinese because if you look at the world economy, you may notice that many forward-looking men and women are learning Mandarin Chinese, because they predict that China will be such a large part of the world economy that to have an advantage in the future it is necessary to learn Mandarin. This is why I am learning Chinese (I don't take Chinese classes in high school, but I did go to Chinese school and listen to audio tapes.). And it makes perfect sense, if I know a very good amount of Chinese, to take AP exams for college credit and the SAT II (I didn't even know there was an SAT II Chinese). The fact that there even is an AP Chinese says something about the growing importance of learning Chinese. I would probably also take other SAT II's, of course, along with Chinese. Are you taking the easy way out? Well, I mean, I am in my fourth year of Latin and I'm teaching myself BC Calculus. Does taking the SAT II in Latin and SAT II in Math 2 count as taking the easy way out? No. So if you take Chinese as a foreign language, what would be wrong with taking AP Chinese or the SAT II in Chinese? Similarly, if you're a master at biology, why wouldn't you take the AP Biology test?</p>
<p>Well, this isn't about me but the person it is about was born in Canada now living in Buffalo. She is aware of how significant China will be in the world's economy and that is why she really wants to learn how to read and write.</p>
<p>I'm in the same position. I looked at an example test on the College Board site and it's probably not the test for me. I can speak fairly fluently and I can understand all the elementary characters. But when it comes to writing letters or answering certain statements in text, I'm stumped.</p>
<p>Heh, should have paid attention during Chinese school.</p>
<p>Haha, that's totally me. I can speak Mandarin, but I'm functionally illiterate. The sad thing is, I was actually born in China. But I left when I was three, so it's not like I actually got any education there...</p>
<p>I would think it would be good if she takes the test, right? It shows she's making an effort to connect with her culture. Most of the Chinese immigrants I know take the Chinese SAT II, even though it's as easy to them as breathing.</p>
<p>Taking the test if it's the language you speak doesn't really show colleges that you've excelled in a subject that you're studying at school. I mean, pretend that you took the SAT II in the English Language, which tests you on basic English. If you speak perfectly good English, what's the point of taking the SAT II English Language? It's the same as if you spoke Chinese perfectly and took the SAT II Chinese. I think colleges require or recommend that you take SAT II's because then they know that you supposedly have paid attention in class and have learned something. It's important nowadays for colleges to know that you actually learned the material in the courses you take. I mean, there's a lot of grade inflation in high school. Just because you got an A in algebra class doesn't necessarily mean that you know algebra.</p>
<p>^agreed.</p>
<p>okay so yes, chinese is going to be very important when it comes to world economics and knowing the language will most likely help when applying for jobs in the future and stuff. if learning the language is not solely for college purposes, i would say YES, definitely go for it.</p>
<p>if it is just for college.. i don't think it would be very beneficial for her to take the SAT/AP chinese since she IS chinese. it may look like "the easy way out." i even remember talking to an admissions officer with a friend and he said that "it isn't all that impressive when someone takes an exam in his/her native language and gets a perfect. it looks really awkward when they didn't do well at all." </p>
<p>so i guess.. it may not look IMPRESSIVE, but it won't necessarily look bad? that was my interpretation.</p>
<p>so yeah, i hope that helps? haha</p>
<p>@ lunar_years. Crud, I thought that was me because that's exactly what happened to me (left China at 3 years)</p>
<p>Haha, I left China a few months before I turned 3 years old. Lived in New Zealand for 5 years, and came to America. I took about 4 years of Chinese School in total and I'm still pretty much illiterate unless I use pinyin (which isn't used in the test).</p>
<p>I could learn Chinese Language and Culture, but I don't know where they offer it. And I'm definitely NOT going to self-study. Latin is hard enough.</p>