Advice for the AP Chinese Exam?

[Rhuang]

Fist off, have you taken the test?how was it and what level do you consider yourself out of 10 (10 being near fluent?)

 

I am currently very uncomfortable with speaking chinese due to my lack of practice and strange grammar. My listening skills are enough to pass the listening section, but I want to improve that area too. I have almost lost all hope in my Ap Chinese class at school. My teacher is always busy and doesn't explain things very clearly. SO, I was wondering...

 

-What is the best way to approach the speaking section? I find that i say "uhm" a lot and use incredibly simple words like "dong xi" (its quite embarassing listening back).

 

-If I don't understand a character or what was said, how should I answer the question?

 

The test is in a few weeks!! o.O.....well this is stressful...

 

 

-If you have any further advice, please share! I need all the help I can get! AI YA! haha

[LiMo]

I'm afraid I've never taken this test specifically. I did do a speaking test at my university and it was difficult. If you don't have native speakers to practise with then I suggest you try to create a dialogue situation yourself. Perhaps with questions from your text book. Read them out as fast as you can and then try to answer them. Remember it's a test not a job interview so you can say anything as long it makes sense. Assuming there will be questions about yourself perhaps you could just make up a character that you think is fun and learn to introduce yourself that way.

 

In terms of what to do if you don't understand, I would look at native TV dramas on Youtube and practice copying what they say when they are lost for words or struggling to explain something. Throw in some 那个 nei4ge if you can, it's a very common filler word that you may have come across. Presumably you are allowed to ask them to repeat the question, here's how I might do it:

 

不好意思，我听不清楚，请再说一遍

bu4hao3yi4si, wo3ting1bu5qing1chu5, qing3zai4shuo1yi1bian4

 

Sorry, I didn't catch that, can you say it again please?

 

I've heard 听不清楚 is better than 听不懂，because it means you didn't hear them clearly, so it suggests that the problem isn't with your Chinese just that the speaker might have been unclear or that it's a little noisy and hard to hear them.

 

I think the key is to just sit down. Give yourself a time frame, say 40 minutes, and think about the types of questions they are likely to ask you. If it is anything like the tests I had then they are mostly looking for grammar and collocations. Once you have worked out likely questions and topics go through the grammar points you have learned in class and drill them till you know them like the back of your hand.

 

因为。。。所以。。。

 

And so on. This will all be much more effective if you can get a friend to help you, not always possible I know, but it will be the closest simulation you can get to the actual test then.

 

That's all I have for now. Good luck!

[Silent]

 

 

-If I don't understand a character or what was said, how should I answer the question?

Don't know the AP Exam, but first choice would be get a clarification. If that's not possible, it being a language test, give an answer that shows what you do understand and presents your skills as well as possible.

[Rhuang]

@LiMo thank you for taking the time to answer my post. Wouldn't "na ge" only really work when referring to something?Like let's say, if I were describing someone's appearance, wouldn't it be weird to say "na/nei ge" because it would seem like im referring to a "that one thing"? Also is "wo jue de" a good filler or just annoying? and is there any filler for "uhm" or "hmm" that would make me sound less confused? 

Unfortunately, on the test there is no physical person asking me questions, its just a recording and then me recording my timed answer...

Thanks again (: .

 

@okay, thanks

[LiMo]

Oh, that's a little more problematic. As far as I know it is a generic filler word and it's specific meaning is mostly irrelevant. "wo juede..." is probably fine, I hear Chinese people use it all the time. In terms of fillers it is a lot more difficult when there isn't a live person to interact with, for example, you could practise saying something like, "That's interesting, I've never thought about it like that before, let me see..." but that really only works in casual conversation anyway, in a test the questions are unlikely to suite that kind of response. As you've noticed Chinese people don't really say "um" but if memory serves they do say "urrrr" and other sort of throaty sounds, but I don't think this will help much. I suppose you will just have to hope you can keep those moments to a minimum. Sorry I can't be of more help.

:/

[Rhuang]

Okay, thank you for trying to help! I will just keep practicing

[charlottezz]

Are we allowed to do this with the keyboard on the AP Chinese Exam?

Where it helps string together phrases that I then can choose?

 

THANK YOU!