Question: Got into an argument with my teacher.. who is right?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
41

<p>In my school, I know two sophomores that are taking AP Spanish and some Juniors. But then again, they're native speakers, so I don't know if that counts. But I know an asian girl taking it too but she's a senior. </p>

<p>Also, we have AP French and you could take it senior year.</p>

<p>Both teachers that teach those languages are very strict on the students and made them work really hard. The Native Speaker Sophomore who's taking the class got a 80 in that class because of the level of difficulty but if you think about it, the class is always harder than the APs (at times), so.. yeah.</p>

42

<p>In my school you can go AP senior year if you get on the accelerated spanish class sophomore year. So it goes</p>

<p>Spanish 1 (9th)
Spanish 2 (10th)
Spanish 3 honors (11th)
Spanish IV honors (12th)</p>

<p>or</p>

<p>Spanish 1 (9th)
Acc Spanish 2 (10th)
Acc Spanish 3 honors (11th)
AP Spanish (12th)</p>

<p>-You should suggest something like that at your school.</p>

43

<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>

<p>


</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>

44

<p>Our school starts language in high school but we have ap classes and anyone can take them (even with 2-3 years of a language). We have ap spanish and I know a lot of people that pass that aren't native speakers...</p>

45

<p>yeah at my school they've removed ap spanish from the curriculum. What I've heard is that the AP test has been restructured, and therefore a more rigorous approach to teaching it must be implemented. Apperently they're going to cancel it for the next few years, which will give them enough time to properly teach the next sequence of spanish students (beginning down at spanish 1).</p>

<p>I think you're right though. Your score shouldn't be assumed for your regardless of anything. I suggest talking to your counselor about taking the course on apex (online). maybe you'll even get a free period out of it.</p>

46

<p>i completely agree with Anniushka. Her analysis is spot on.</p>

<p>And, I'm definitely not saying non-native speakers can't pass the test. I mean I did (albeit only with a 3). I'm simply stating that if you want to do better on the test than you'll obviously need to be very talented at the foreign language and the individual is probably the best one to assess themselves as long as they are realistic about it.</p>

47

<p>At my school we start in 6th grade, and you can only take the AP if you're in honors up until senior year (otherwise you take ____ 5)- this applies only to French and Spanish, not Latin. Generally speaking, your teacher is right, even at my school (VERY highly ranked public), people do generally badly on the exams unless they're a native speaker. Same thing applies ott he SAT II's. MY friend took the SAT II in Chinese, and got a 780- sounds good, right? Wrong. That put him in the 76th percentile.</p>