<p>I am planning on taking the french subject test either this june of my junior year or next October, during senior year. Either way, it can't be the listening test, which is okay, since reading/ writing are my stronger points. </p>
<p>I'm currently in IB SL French 3, and I have a pretty good teacher, but our class moves slowly. And I like French, so subject test will be a good way for me to show my skills for college apps.</p>
<p>Has anyone (not a native speaker) taken the test successfully, with 700+ ?</p>
<p>Also, which test prep book is the best? I know REA is supposed to be good, but the book is nearly $200. Is barrons/ princeton any good? Or would it be more beneficial to get a private tutor?</p>
<p>I took the test and scored a 800 last June. The only prepbook I used was Princeton Review. It was a good book for quick review because I honestly didn’t learn any French from it; it just helped me familiarize myself with the format of the test and came with two practice tests that I thought were fairly accurate of the actual test. If you actually need to brush up on certain grammar concepts, I don’t think this is a good book to get …
Sorry I can’t give you good suggestions for a good prepbook. But I do know a website that helps a lot regarding various grammar points: french.about.com It’s honestly an awesome source. </p>
<p>If you’re doing quite well in SL French, I wouldn’t recommend hiring a tutor since getting a 700+ shouldn’t be too hard. I find that this test is VERY vocabulary-based, so you have to cram lots of vocab! That doesn’t meant that you have to know every single word on that test though since the curve isn’t as harsh as that of other language tests. I find that the grammar was really straight forward. Just make sure you know how to use the various tenses, agreement with direct object, etc etc. The reading section … err, you just have to read carefully. If you tend to read slowly, try reading more literature in French (recommended by your teacher) and you’ll find that reading becomes a lot easier.</p>
<p>In case you’re wondering, I’m not a native speaker. I began French in freshman year and took AP french last year.</p>
<p>My son took third level French as a freshman in high school, spent his sophomore year in France in a French public high school, came back to AP French and scored over 700 on the SATII and IIRC a 5 on the AP exam. </p>
<p>So - not a native speaker, but substantially more background than a few years of high school language classes. He will tell you that he “speaks French like a kindergartener.” But he did go on to university and placed into the university’s third level and aced the course as the only freshman and the only A in the class.</p>