<p>First off I am chinese, however my native language is cantonese chinese and I was born over here in the states. I have been doing self-taught mandarin chinese (speaking, writing, reading) for about a year or two now and i'm pretty confident about my command in the language. (I'm talking about like being able to listen, read novels and newspapers etc.) Now my dilemma is should i even consider taking the sat II's for this subject since technically chinese is my native tongue just not the same dialect? Also i've been taking spanish for about 3 years now but my skills in chinese far surpass my skills in spanish. oh btw before i started self-teaching I couldn't read or write in chinese</p>
<p>Personally, I think you should, as long as you also take some other SAT II tests in different subjects. I did pretty much the same thing as you for Spanish and spent a few months heavily preparing for the AP Spanish test (I couldn't read or write either and my speaking skills were horrible) and ended up getting an 800 on the SAT II. I think you should take it just to show your proficiency in your language, especially since you've worked so hard to teach it to yourself. It shows a lot of personal motivation, IMO.</p>
<p>Yes, you should do it.</p>