Joan in GE Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Probably someone linked this already, but I can't find it.... I'm looking for the link to the schedule of when different AP exams will be changed. I believe this past year it was French, German, and World History? Has anyone compared the new and old French or other exams so far? I understand the French exam underwent major changes (taking out all grammar questions). Just trying to plan in relation to which prep books to buy! and what changes to make to our program... It seems like some will undergo major changes and others more minor ones... Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 I guess they have not yet put out a complete schedule of changes? I thought someone had a complete list last year..... From your link I found another link which says: What's Changing 2012–13 AP Biology AP Latin AP Spanish Literature and Culture 2013–14 AP Chemistry AP Spanish Language and Culture Revised Courses 2011–12 AP French Language and Culture AP German Language and Culture AP World History Any experiences with the three this year? Thanks! Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 My two youngest kids took the French test this year. It was hard because there aren't a lot of prep materials available (and no released exams, obviously). In some ways it's easier than the old test (no grammar and the email assignment is very straight forward -- you learn the formulas for openings and closings and it's easy), but the readings and listening excerpts are harder. We figure everyone's in the same boat, though, and I think ours were well-prepared. My youngest dd (8th grade) was tickled that the high school girl who was next to her in the exam said she sounded like a native French speaker on the conversation part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 My two youngest kids took the French test this year. It was hard because there aren't a lot of prep materials available (and no released exams, obviously). In some ways it's easier than the old test (no grammar and the email assignment is very straight forward -- you learn the formulas for openings and closings and it's easy), but the readings and listening excerpts are harder. We figure everyone's in the same boat, though, and I think ours were well-prepared. My youngest dd (8th grade) was tickled that the high school girl who was next to her in the exam said she sounded like a native French speaker on the conversation part. Thank you so much for sharing! It's good to see that you had a young person taking it. Please share (PM prn) how she did. I was concerned when I saw that it said you have to know all kinds of political and cultural information....What kind of political information did they ask? Cultural wouldn't be so hard, but if it is university level 'culture', then mine doesn't have experience.... Your children must have worked hard to have such a level at their age since it seems like they are not native speakers...Congratulations! Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I was concerned when I saw that it said you have to know all kinds of political and cultural information....What kind of political information did they ask? Cultural wouldn't be so hard, but if it is university level 'culture', then mine doesn't have experience.... Your children must have worked hard to have such a level at their age since it seems like they are not native speakers...Congratulations! Joan Thank you! We just started very young with videos (Tin Tin, etc.), songs, tutors for conversation, etc. They don't actually ask political questions on the test, but the readings and listening activities may be about politics. We just had our kids watch the news on the internet, read newspaper articles, etc. That was the hardest thing about the changes. The old test asked you to know basic French, but the vocabulary you need to understand a newspaper article is much more advanced. My kids both said the readings and listenings were much easier than what they had practiced, though, so maybe we were too worried about that! Also, in the practice materials, there were readers with different accents, but since my kids have had tutors from Cameroon and Quebec they were okay with that. I'm not sure if that was the case on the test, but they said the quality of one audio was very bad -- lots of static on the CD. We told them since everyone hears the same thing, it doesn't matter. You do have to bring cultural info into the presentation part. You have a topic on one of the themes and you have to relate it to your life and to life in a French-speaking country. We just practiced a lot, and they had a list of ideas to bring up -- movies they've seen, books they've read, facts about school, pop songs, etc. We especially made sure they were up on the francophone countries -- they had a tutor from Cameroon, we talked and read articles about AIDS in Africa and the earthquake in Haiti, we listened to African French pop (e.g., Senegal Fast food), their current tutor makes sure they are up on Canadian hockey,etc. They also practiced doing presentations on all of the themes. If you're in Geneva, you might have to make sure your kids are up to date with US culture! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) Thank you! We just started very young with videos (Tin Tin, etc.), songs, tutors for conversation, etc. They don't actually ask political questions on the test, but the readings and listening activities may be about politics. We just had our kids watch the news on the internet, read newspaper articles, etc. That was the hardest thing about the changes. The old test asked you to know basic French, but the vocabulary you need to understand a newspaper article is much more advanced. My kids both said the readings and listenings were much easier than what they had practiced, though, so maybe we were too worried about that! Also, in the practice materials, there were readers with different accents, but since my kids have had tutors from Cameroon and Quebec they were okay with that. I'm not sure if that was the case on the test, but they said the quality of one audio was very bad -- lots of static on the CD. We told them since everyone hears the same thing, it doesn't matter. You do have to bring cultural info into the presentation part. You have a topic on one of the themes and you have to relate it to your life and to life in a French-speaking country. We just practiced a lot, and they had a list of ideas to bring up -- movies they've seen, books they've read, facts about school, pop songs, etc. We especially made sure they were up on the francophone countries -- they had a tutor from Cameroon, we talked and read articles about AIDS in Africa and the earthquake in Haiti, we listened to African French pop (e.g., Senegal Fast food), their current tutor makes sure they are up on Canadian hockey,etc. They also practiced doing presentations on all of the themes. If you're in Geneva, you might have to make sure your kids are up to date with US culture! Wow! I'm really impressed with all you did! Did you get your ideas from the AP Central site or elsewhere? I hadn't thought of working on different accents but it's an interesting idea... Thank you so much for posting.... ETA - are you planning on doing the new German AP? Joan Edited May 20, 2012 by Joan in Geneva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 We got ideas from the AP Central site -- sample syllabi, teacher forums, etc. There's a lot of useless info there, but once in awhile you come upon a great idea so it's worth wading through. In some cases, one thing just led to another. For example, a reading mentioned AIDS and our kids asked what that was -- that's how you realize what they don't know :)! We also realized that on some of the presentation topics, the cultural comparisons were a lot easier if they used a developing country rather than France because the differences are more obvious and easier for them to talk about. The differences between France and the US can be more subtle. We wanted to be sure they had plenty of ideas to draw on in the couple of minutes they'd have to prepare their presentation. Have you seen the Pearson test prep materials? They are the main thing we used outside of what's available at AP Central. http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZy9j We are doing German this year and biology, which is also new. I wish we could wait, but they only have so many years in high school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Is the conversation done with a proctor or with another student (and the proctor listening)? I'm wondering, because when dh and I took our German B1 exams, we found that the quality of the conversation partner made a big difference. (I not only had to be speaking in German, but also to take the very weak responses from my partner and try to weave them into a conversation that made some sense.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 The "conversation" is between the student and a recorded voice on a CD, so it's the same for everyone. The student has some written information that prompts him whether to respond positively or negatively, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Ah, so are they recording it for centralized grading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Yes, it's recorded. On a CASSETTE (!) My kids had to be shown how to work that ancient piece of equipment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 (edited) We got ideas from the AP Central site -- sample syllabi, teacher forums, etc. There's a lot of useless info there, but once in awhile you come upon a great idea so it's worth wading through. In some cases, one thing just led to another. For example, a reading mentioned AIDS and our kids asked what that was -- that's how you realize what they don't know :)! We also realized that on some of the presentation topics, the cultural comparisons were a lot easier if they used a developing country rather than France because the differences are more obvious and easier for them to talk about. The differences between France and the US can be more subtle. We wanted to be sure they had plenty of ideas to draw on in the couple of minutes they'd have to prepare their presentation. Have you seen the Pearson test prep materials? They are the main thing we used outside of what's available at AP Central. http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZy9j We are doing German this year and biology, which is also new. I wish we could wait, but they only have so many years in high school! Thank you so much! I had heard of Pearson's materials via Deb in NJ's group, but at the time hadn't realized how much the exam had changed...so didn't think I would need the Allons au-dela. But now that I see the need for all this cultural awareness, I see how they could be quite useful! So I'm glad you mentioned them. (Just ordering for next year) About German - we hope to do that too the following year. Even before it was hard to get AP German prep materials - they tended to be quite old...Please post if you find some for the new exam... All the best, Joan ETA - this thread was covering a bit of info too.. I've also read that there have been some changes in the Art AP (not sure if History or practical) but have to find out more... Edited May 23, 2012 by Joan in Geneva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I was looking at the AP German course guideline yesterday. It looks like it is much closer to the B1 exam than it used to be. I remember using Deutsch Aktuell workbooks back in my own college days. If I remember correctly, it had a fair number of exercises consisting of reading menus, schedules, newspaper clippings and other daily life type settings. This might be a good practice. It also looks like they have a lot of online practice material keyed to the workbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 I was looking at the AP German course guideline yesterday. It looks like it is much closer to the B1 exam than it used to be. That's a good thing for people over here.... I remember using Deutsch Aktuell workbooks back in my own college days. If I remember correctly, it had a fair number of exercises consisting of reading menus, schedules, newspaper clippings and other daily life type settings. This might be a good practice. It also looks like they have a lot of online practice material keyed to the workbooks. They certainly do have a lot of online materials. But is that link on your account? It says logged in to Student materials... Also, do you know what European level the book 3 corresponds to? Thanks, Joan PS We're still making your carrot soup. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 That's a good thing for people over here.... They certainly do have a lot of online materials. But is that link on your account? It says logged in to Student materials... Also, do you know what European level the book 3 corresponds to? Thanks, Joan PS We're still making your carrot soup. :-) Oddly enough when I searched for Deutsch Aktuell, that is what came up. I'm glad the soup is still bringing pleasure. It's already a little warm here for it. I don't know about correlations. You might try emailing the company and see if they know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 Thanks Sebastian... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 We just called for scores -- both of my dc got 5s on the French! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Outstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 We just called for scores -- both of my dc got 5s on the French! Félicitations+++ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.