<p>Fluency deals above all with oral language faculty.</p>
<p>If "fluent" means "speaking at the level of a native speaker," then no, fluency is not required to get a 5. (Some days I'm almost [this definition of] fluent in Spanish or French, but it depends on--for instance--if I have been spending time in a country where the language is spoken, am focused, and am having a happy-brain day. Other days it's really hard to communicate in one or both of my learned languages. Then again, I have days when I have trouble communicating in English, too...)</p>
<p>If "fluent" means </p>
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</p>
<p>then I was fluent on the oral sections of neither the Spanish AP exam nor the French one. And I did all right on at least the Spanish exam. </p>
<p>I'm well above average at reading comprehension in English as well as in French and Spanish. No amount of studying and foreign language fluency will make up for poor reading comprehension. If you aren't strong in that area in English, then you cannot hope to be strong in it in your second, third, fourth, etc. language(s). (A side note: the other person who got a 5 the year I took the exam did not finish the reading section.)</p>
<p>Of course, like young_one mentioned, if you don't have the vocabulary and grasp of grammar, no matter how good you'd be at understanding the text in English, you'll be miserable at understanding it in a foreign language. (Although good English vocabulary correlates to ease of learning foreign language vocabulary.) But then again, you don't have to know every vocabulary word--or even most of the words--in the language to do well on the reading section, even if you exclude specialized, technical vocabulary with which even native speakers might not be familiar. </p>
<p>I'm also a good writer in English. That's another base skill that I believe you transfer into a foreign language, rather than develop independently in that language. If you're not a fluent writer in English, then once again, you can't expect high marks on the AP foreign language essay. (The fill-in part of the writing section is simply a matter of grammar. I guess you just have to be reasonably bright--in the right areas--to be good at grammar.)</p>
<p>The listening section is more a matter of being accustomed to hearing the language spoken. Listening comprehenstion isn't a skill that is taught or tested in English, so I think it is a skill that must be developed in the foreign language, independent of native language skills. </p>
<p>But now I've written a heck of a lot, so I'll quit.</p>