The AP Chinese exam is on May 5 of this year. I am going to put my thoughts in short phrases to make things easier to read.
-I am chinese but not a native speaker or fluent in the language.
-My mom speaks Chinese, but we don’t speak it at home
-I went to chinese school for a very long time, but it only helped speak my tones well. I skipped my school’s Chinese 1 and 2, so I’m lacking some basic knowledge in the grammar area.
-I am currently in an AP Chinese class of 4 ppl, but im the only one taking the AP, so my teacher isn’t really giving us AP exam practice things. Instead, STARTING NOW, she is having me work on the Barron’s prepbook.
I understand about 75% of what people are saying by listening to key phrases (that i sometimes don't know)
-my writing is okay(grammar a little strange), and my speaking needs some help. I can’t really think fluently if that makes any sense. I tried an audio conversation sample on college board from an actual test and I was so ready to answer it, but I didn’t know the words for the things I wanted to say.
-I only have TWO MONTHS until the AP exam, which I have already signed up for (so expensive!-making things even more stressful!haha)._.
-SO, I was wondering for those of you out there who teach AP Chinese, have been in similar circumstances or have taken the test, AM I READY? IF NOT THEN HOW CAN I PREPARE MYSELF IN TWO MONTHS(to get at least a 3) BY THE TEST DAY?
I am so worried that I don’t know enough vocab. Can one learn a ton of vocab and remember them under pressure in just 1-2 months?
I took the AP Chinese test last year and I scored a 5. My situation was similar but not the same as yours. I am/was fluent in speaking and listening Chinese, but I had never gone to Chinese school so I was never formally taught how to read or write. But I started teaching myself Chinese characters in 8th grade (i was in 10th grade last year), and a month before the test I had already memorized ~400 characters from the past three years. I wanted to know 500 characters before the test so I was able to cram a hundred characters in about a month.
What I did to prepare myself:
Everyday I would read a short story in Chinese. You can find them all over the internet. Then, using the Barron’s book, I would practice writing the email or the story narration. And by the time test day came around, I felt ready.
No problem! I would say that if you’re good at memorization, you can probably cram 100. Or, you could try to learn some two to three character phrases and that speeds up the character count.
@EveningSwan I am the same as you: good at speaking/listening, but lacking in writing (particularly reading). There’s only 2 days before the test so I can’t do anything drastic lol, but I was wondering if you had trouble finishing the reading/writing parts in the time limit? I’ve gone through the only released test (2007) and some practice questions, but it’s taking me around the time limit to finish the section. Every other native speaker on CC seems to think that the reading section gave too much time, so I’m worried if it’s only me having this problem?
@BunnyMonster You’re not alone! I barely finished the reading under the time limit while the ABC sitting across from me finished the reading with half an hour left. I think you should be fine if you’re finishing under the time limit. And even if you don’t, a couple omitted questions won’t hurt that much when your speaking/listening can easily make up for it. I practiced several writing prompts for the email and the story narration so time wasn’t too much of an issue there. What took the most time was reading the email prompt and thinking of a story that involved everything.
@EveningSwan Thanks so much for your response! There’s around 9 of us taking the exam at my school this year and everyone is a heritage speaker. It puts a little pressure to do well and snag that 5. Hopefully time isn’t an issue tomorrow!