AP Chinese

Course Description

This AP course aims to deepen students’ immersion into the language and culture of the Chinese-speaking world. The course engages students in an exploration of both contemporary and historical Chinese culture. Students will learn about various aspects of contemporary Chinese society, including geography and population, ethnic and regional diversity, travel and transportation, climate and weather, holidays and food, sports and current affairs. This course prepares students to demonstrate their level of Chinese proficiency across the three communicative modes: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational. This course also prepares students for the Chinese Language AP Exam given in May of each year. A student may receive college credit by earning a passing grade on this national examination.

Course Objectives

AP Chinese is a course that follows the College Board course guidelines for AP Chinese Language and Culture and prepares students to be successful on the AP Chinese Language and Culture exam. Emphasizing the use of the Chinese language for active communication, the AP Chinese Language and Culture course has as its objectives the development of advanced listening comprehension, reading without the use of a dictionary, expanded conversational skills, fluent and accurate written expression, and a strong command of vocabulary and structure of the Mandarin Chinese language. Course content might best reflect interests shared by the students, e.g. the arts, current events, sports, etc. Additional emphasis is given to exploration and understanding of both contemporary and historical Chinese culture, integrating the study of the Chinese language with the study of Chinese culture. The AP Chinese Language and Culture course seeks to develop language skills and cultural understanding that are useful in themselves and that can be applied to various activities and disciplines rather than being limited to any specific body of the subject matter. Extensive practice in the organization and writing of compositions should also be emphasized.

AP Chinese Exam

The AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes in length. It assesses Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational communication skills in Mandarin Chinese, along with knowledge of Chinese culture.