SAT II Chinese

<p>CRAP!!! SIX other SAT II's???</p>

<p>Ya, I think that's how many spaces the appilication has for reporting SAT IIs. (correct me if I'm wrong)</p>

<p>^...puahaha..</p>

<p>that's so sad :(
dimyim. don't take it unless you're sure of an 800...</p>

<p>I understand what yall were saying...but what I'm saying is, if you don't have a 790 or 800, and are Chinese, it almost isn't worth putting on your application.</p>

<p>don't ii have to put my score on?</p>

<p>I think he means if you aren't going to be guaranteed an 800, it isn't worth it. Even if it's a 780.</p>

<p>is it true that being chinese discounts taking chinese sat 2s? how is that fair? it's the same as say, a fifth gen. french student taking french, right?</p>

<p>I'm not sure if it's the fact that you are chinese, or that it is a native languag/language spoken at home. I think that is a better criteria for discounting the SAT II than your heritage.
I don't think that many colleges discount it though...</p>

<p>but for a test like french, i would say native speakers might get a question wrong. but for chinese, since there are different characters, i think they might make the test easier, which is why so many people (probably 99% of them chinese) get an 800.</p>

<p>It's so unfair, to have an advantage like that.</p>

<p>it's not unfair, because the chinese kids grow up having to learn both english and chinese, and so they spend more time learning the language than other students. </p>

<p>different characters don't make the test any easier, in fact, i think they're a lot harder.</p>

<p>I meant the ETS might make the test easier because of different characters.</p>

<p>I'm not sure I understand your reason for why its not unfair.</p>

<p>Plus...there is no conjugation in Chinese, or anything huge in grammatics (I know yall' are gonna kill me for saying that), which makes it easier, for in the Romance languages, if you change the ending letter of the verb, it could change the meaning. I don't know too many people with an 800 in Spanish...and I know that a WHOLE LOT more people take the Spanish SAT II than the Chinese SAT II.</p>

<p>I don't know what makes it unfair though...it's not like some people are just blessed with the knowledge of a specific language...chinese speakers have to learn the language and the characters too...</p>

<p>I suppose the best thing to do would be to have separate curves for chinese and non chinese speakers, but how would you identify them?</p>

<p>Well let's say I've been studying Physics my whole life since I was a baby. Does this make me a native speaker in Physics? :) Should I not take the test because my 800 will mean nothing?</p>

<p>If you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic. An 800 in Chinese is not useless. Someone who gets an 800 knows the language well enough to earn such a score, obviously. If a lot of people do well it's either because the test is easier in comparison to most SAT2s, or more Chinese-native-speakers take the test.</p>

<p>It's useless in some cases because some schools discount the score if you are a native speaker.</p>

<p>Well, even so, I have never been one to advocate language tests in general. I think an 800 in Chem, Physics, Literature, World History, etc, is more impressive than an 800-language score.</p>

<p>The best thing to do would be for native speakers NOT to take the SAT II. A bunch of my friends were raised learning OTHER languages - such as Hindi, Gujurati, Punjabi, Urdu, etc - but there are no SAT II's for those languages.</p>

<p>Native CHINESE speakers should not be given any benefit over native speakers of OTHER languages.</p>

<p>The only reason why they have Chinese, Japanese, and Korean and all, but not Hindi and Punjabi, is because more students take them in school. It's the same reason why they're adding AP Italian, Chinese, and Russian.</p>

<p>If the original purpose of offering these SAT II's is to measure achievement exclusively for languages <em>that are taught in schools</em>, then those who did NOT learn them in school should not be messing up the curve and discrediting the exam.</p>

<p>I understand that being multilingual has its benefits. However, when it's a result of someone's parents raising him or her that way, THAT should not give the applicant any advantage. It's the same thing as bias based on residency. I can't stand the fact that if my parents had moved to Alaska instead of New Jersey, I would have a much better shot at practically any college. Sure, it brings about diversity. But if I moved to Alaska just before my freshman year at high school, it's not like I would bring much anything different to the table - and colleges would never know.</p>

<p>Ok, don't laugh ... </p>

<p>I'm Chinese and I'm going to take the SAT II Chinese (already registered) ... except that I'm not very good at Chinese. (Last time I took a practice test, I got a 740.) From what I've read on this thread, basically everyone who is decent at Chinese gets an 800. Does anyone know of any good prep materials for this test? Much appreciated. Thanks.</p>

<p>i still dont see any reason not to take it if you can earn a 750+</p>

<p>im aiming for 800 ofcourse, i've been to US for 4 years, ive had 6 years of elementary education in taiwan, and i'm a very legit chinese speaker, and i can speak for everyone who speaks chinese that chinese is perhaps one of the MOST difficult languages one can learn...</p>

<p>only because one is a native speaker of a language doesn't give him/her the full advantage when it comes to college admission...</p>

<p>For me, i speak and read chinese w/ no problem at all, yet when it comes to SAT verbal and writing, i face difficult challenges...For me, it's an obstacle to achieve a standard/high mark on the English sections of SAT...</p>

<p>just like some Native English Speakers, learning a 2nd language maybe just as difficult, yet some of them are only looking at the advantages of being able to speak his/her native language, but not the disadvantages of the extra work one has to put in...</p>

<p>legendofmax: 'Well, even so, I have never been one to advocate language tests in general. I think an 800 in Chem, Physics, Literature, World History, etc, is more impressive than an 800-language score. '</p>

<p>legendofmax, what about an american taking a french test/ chinese taking spanish? that's fine then? I heard some ivies (e.g princeton?) actualyl require a foreign language sat2. </p>

<p>I'm chinese too, and j. Wang i aboslutely agree wtih you. I am not planning to take the SAT2 chinese though unless i screw my other sat 2s up and desperately need an 800.</p>