🇨🇳AP Chinese Review
How Can I Get a 5 in AP Chinese?
How Can I Get a 5 in AP Chinese?
Overview 🇨🇳
AP Chinese is often perceived as a strong-scoring AP exam for well-prepared students, but score distributions vary by year. No matter how confident you are, you should still take steps to make sure you're ready to take the test in May. Here are our tips on how to get a 5 in AP Chinese!
1. Know the Test 📚
You'll need to know the content covered on the exam as well as the format of the exam in order to earn a 5. The College Board has a unique way of testing your knowledge, so don't let that surprise you on exam day!
For more in-depth information about the format of the exam (including test-taking tips and tricks), check out our multiple-choice and free-response blogs on the AP Chinese hub.
Course Content
AP Chinese is organized around six course themes: Families and Communities; Personal and Public Identities; Beauty and Aesthetics; Science and Technology; Contemporary Life; and Global Challenges. Within those themes, students practice the three communication modes tested on the exam: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. You should be prepared to engage with cultural topics across all six themes, since no single theme is assigned its own exam weighting.
For the most current details, use the latest AP Chinese Language and Culture Course and Exam Description on AP Central/College Board. The course themes themselves are not assigned separate unit weightings, so you should be comfortable with all six themes and how they connect. However, the exam sections and free-response tasks do have specific weightings.
Exam Format
The multiple-choice section makes up 50% of your score, and you have 80 minutes to answer 70 questions. This section has 2 parts:
- Part A: Listening 🎧
- Identify the next line in a conversation.
- Answer multiple-choice questions based on Chinese listening selections and brief conversational prompts.
- The listening and rejoinder portions are paced by the exam system/audio, so you need to answer as the prompts are delivered and generally cannot return to those questions afterward.
- You can't revisit questions.
- Part B: Reading 📕
- Answer multiple-choice questions based on a variety of Chinese written texts, such as notes, emails, signs, advertisements, articles, and short passages.
- You can revisit questions.
The free-response section makes up the other 50% of your score, and you have 41 minutes to complete 4 tasks. This section has 2 parts:
- Part A: Writing ✍🏽
- (1) Story Narration
- (2) Email Response
- For the writing tasks, you type in Chinese using the exam’s computer-based Chinese input tools. Practice entering characters before test day, and be comfortable producing Chinese in either simplified or traditional characters consistently.
- Part B: Speaking 🗣️
- (3) Conversation
- (4) Cultural Presentation
2. Make a Study Schedule 🗓️
In the month leading up to the test, you should make a study schedule. Make sure to go over all of the necessary content and skills to prepare for the test!
Sample Schedule
| Week | Content | Skills | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Families and Communities + Personal and Public Identities | Comprehending and interpreting text | 2019 and 2018 FRQs, read or listen to 4 short stories in Chinese and write summaries of them in English |
| 2 | Beauty and Aesthetics + Science and Technology | Speaking to others and presenting orally | 2017 and 2016 FRQs, give cultural presentations on themes 1-4, practice speaking with a friend/teacher/family member |
| 3 | Contemporary Life + Global Challenges | Writing to others and presenting in writing | 2015 and 2014 FRQs, write 3 emails in Chinese |
| 4 | Anything you think that you need to focus on! | Anything you think that you need to focus on! | 2007 MCQs, 2013 FRQ |
You can use this schedule as a reference, but make sure to tailor your schedule to your own needs. If you need to prioritize one theme over another, make sure to incorporate that into your plans. Consider your other classes, too, and gauge how much practice you can reasonably fit into a week. Don't overload yourself!
3. Practice, practice, practice! ✏️
Last but not least, the best way to set yourself up for a 5 is to practice! Not only should you practice in your day-to-day conversations, but you should take AP-style practice tests. This strategy will help you understand exactly how the College Board asks questions. As you practice, take note of what you get wrong and review the concepts or skills that challenged you.
For the multiple-choice section, use this official, full-length AP Chinese multiple-choice exam. You should also read news articles or short stories in Chinese to prepare for the reading section.
📹Watching Chinese movies and shows is a great way to practice while having fun! Consider some Netflix fan favorites like Us and Them, Meteor Garden, The Rise of Phoenixes, The Untamed, and Put Your Head on My Shoulder.
For the free-response section, use these past FRQs. Make sure to answer the prompts on your own (the best practice!), but look at sample answers to get an idea of what the College Board wants as well.
If you have family, friends, or classmates who can speak Chinese, have conversations with them. Let them critique you on grammar and pronunciation and take note of what is difficult for you. 📝
Closing Thoughts 💭
To sum it up: practice. If you're struggling to understand concepts on your own, don't be afraid to ask questions! AP Chinese can be difficult, especially when it comes to speaking, but as long as you keep working at it, you'll be on your way to a 5 🥳