Whether you are a lifelong Francophile or just hoping to become one of the 320 million French speakers around the world, taking AP French Language and Culture is an excellent way to boost your language skills. However, achieving a high score on your AP French exam will require more than basic language proficiency. AP French students must also understand French culture so they can apply this knowledge to draw meaningful intercultural connections. So, how can you prepare? In this post, we’ll share an interactive AP French score calculator that will help you think strategically about your exam preparation, identifying your strengths and areas for improvement. We’ll also discuss the composition of the AP French exam so you know what to expect on exam day. Commençons!

AP French Score Calculator

AP French Exam Format

To effectively use our AP French score calculator, you first need to understand the structure of the exam itself. Students taking the AP French Language and Culture exam have just over three hours to complete 65 multiple-choice questions and four free-response questions across two sections. The weighting and timing of these sections are included below:

Section 1: Multiple Choice Questions

College Board breaks up Section 1 of the AP French exam into two parts:

• Part A includes 30 multiple-choice questions that test students’ skills in interpretive communication using print texts. This section is worth 23% of students’ scores and takes 40 minutes.
• Part B also tests students’ skills in interpretive communication across 35 multiple-choice questions. However, in this section, students will need to respond to both print and audio texts. Students will have 55 minutes to complete this section, which is worth 27% of their overall score.

Section 2: Free Response Questions

This section, comprising four questions, is worth 50% of students’ scores; each question is worth 12.5%. Students will have 88 minutes to complete this section, though a different amount of time is allocated for each question:

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College Board also outlines the eight skills the AP French exam assesses. They include:

• Skill Category 1: Comprehend Text

20-30% of multiple choice questions will test students’ ability to describe the literal meaning of texts and of quantitative data. The majority of multiple-choice question sets will include at least one question that assesses this skill category. In addition, three of the four free-response questions evaluate this skill, with the exception of Free Response Question 4: Cultural Comparison.

• Skill Category 2: Make Connections

Another prominent skill on the AP French exam is Skill Category 2, which tests students’ ability to draw cultural and interdisciplinary connections. 30-40% of multiple-choice questions will evaluate these skills, as well as all four free-response questions.

• Skill Category 3: Interpret Text

30-40% of multiple choice questions will also test how well students can deduce the meaning of a text and interpret its distinguishing features. Free Response Question 2: Argumentative Essay also evaluates this skill.

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• Skill Category 4: Make Meaning

As one might expect from a foreign language exam, Skill Category 4 tests students’ ability to determine the meaning of familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary. Although the entire AP French exam arguably tests this skill, it is only formally assessed in 10-15% of multiple choice questions, as well as all of the free-response questions.

• Skill Category 5: Speak to Others

As its name suggests, this skill tests how well AP French students can verbally communicate with others. Only Free Response Question 3: Conversation directly assesses this skill.

• Skill Category 6: Write to Others

This skill category allows students to practice their written communication. Students will primarily engage with this skill in Free Response Question 1: Email Reply.

• Skill Category 7: Present Orally

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Skill Category 7 evaluates students’ proficiency in oral presentations, including their ability to plan and research a topic. While some multiple choice questions will touch on this skill category, students will primarily encounter it in Free Response Question 4: Cultural Comparison.

• Skill Category 8: Present in Writing

Similar to Skill Category 7, this skill tests student’s ability to plan and research an issue for presentational writing. Again, students will encounter this skill in some multiple-choice questions, but it will primarily be tested by Free Response Question 2: Argumentative Essay.

Once you understand the AP French exam format, try experimenting with our AP French score calculator to see how the exam’s components can help you achieve different scores.

What can I expect from the AP French free-response questions?

Free-response questions often spark concern among test takers because of their more open-ended nature, a feeling that can be compounded when studying a foreign language. Taking time to familiarize yourself with the AP French exam format, including the focus of and scoring guidelines for the free response questions, can help address those concerns.

As we discussed, the free response section is worth 50% of your AP French score, and each of the four questions are weighted equally. Reviewers will score responses on a five-point holistic scale based on guidelines provided by the College Board. Below, we explore the focus of each free-response question.

Free Response Question 1: Email Reply

For this question, students will be asked to read an email in French and then compose a formal response. In their reply, students must include a greeting and closing, as well as a response to each of the questions included in the original email. This question also asks that students request additional details about something referenced in the original email. Students’ scores on this question will be based on a few criteria, including their ability to:

• Maintain the exchange and provide the required information.
• Communicate clearly in the formal register while using appropriate and, ideally, varied grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure.

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Free Response Question 2: Argumentative Essay

This free-response question significantly tests students’ reading comprehension and, of course, their ability to compose and clearly express their ideas in French. Before writing their essays, wills will work their way through three sources, which will dictate their essay topic. These sources will include audio and printed material, and will present a variety of perspectives on the topic. Students will have six minutes to read the essay topic and printed sources. They will also have two opportunities to listen to the audio sources. When writing their essay, students must create a well-organized draft that defends their position on the topic, while weaving in material from the provided sources to support their position. Reviewers will score essays based on students’ ability to:

• Appropriately address the topic within the context of an argumentative essay.
• Demonstrate their comprehension of the provided sources and integrate evidence from those sources in support of their position.
• Clearly present and defend their argument.
• Communicate clearly, using appropriate and varied sentence structure and grammar. Students will also be graded on their vocabulary, including the use of idiomatic language.

Free Response Question 3: Conversation

As its title suggests, this question tests students on their ability to listen and verbally respond within a conversation. Students will maintain a simulated conversation with a recorded interlocutor in which they will have five turns to speak. Before engaging in the conversation, students will be able to review an outline so they have a general sense of how they will be expected to respond over the course of the conversation. Students will have 20 seconds to complete each of their five responses. Reviewers will score students based on their ability to:

AP French Score Calculator (Continued)

• Maintain and complete the conversation.
• Provide required information with sufficient detail.
• Communicate clearly and appropriately, using varied grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary.
• Pronounce words clearly using a consistent register.

Free Response Question 4: Cultural Comparison

For their final free response question, students will have four minutes to read a prompt about one aspect of a French-speaking community and prepare a short presentation comparing that feature to their own community. During their two-minute presentation, students should demonstrate their understanding of cultural norms within the context of French-speaking communities. Reviewers will assess students based on their ability to:

• Appropriately address the topic within the context of the presentation.
• Draw thoughtful comparisons with supporting details and examples.
• Deliver a clear, organized presentation.
• Communicate clearly with correct pronunciation, using appropriate vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar.

By anticipating what skills the AP French free response questions test, students can more thoughtfully prepare for exam day. Students may also find it helpful to experiment with our interactive AP French score calculator to see how their performance on each free-response question contributes to their overall exam score.

Is AP French hard?

Using an AP French calculator can give you valuable insight into the exam’s structure and weighting. However, there’s one question it can’t completely answer: how hard is AP French? AP French Language and Culture is not among the hardest or easiest AP courses in terms of exam performance. However, it still has a very high pass rate, with 74% of students scoring a 3 or above.

While this percentage might indicate that French is one of the easier AP classes, it’s important to remember that AP French is an intermediate language course. In other words, there are no true beginners in this class. Students who take AP French likely have a solid grasp of the language, making it a self-selecting bunch who are better equipped to pass their exam. Therefore, the best way to gauge the difficulty of AP French is to assess your comfort with the French language. The more proficient you are in French, the easier you will find the course and its exam. You can also use the AP French score calculator to help quantify your proficiency and develop a personalized study plan.

What is the average AP French score?

Another metric that may help you gauge the difficulty of AP French is a breakdown of students’ exam scores. Below, you can see the distribution of students’ AP French Language and Culture scores from 2023:

While the average score is a 3.17, only a small number of students, 12%, earn a 5. In fact, only 1 student, of the 19,000 who took the exam in 2023, earned a perfect score. From these statistics we can see that, while the majority of students pass their AP French exam, it is still difficult to achieve a high score, a fact you can see illustrated when using our AP French score calculator.

How to get a 5 on AP French?

After reading those statistics, you might be wondering how you can earn your place among the 12% of students who score a 5 in AP French. In experimenting with our AP French score calculator, you will see that, to score a 5, you’ll need to earn high scores in both the multiple choice and free response questions of the exam. However, we can glean additional insights from examining areas where past AP French students excelled and struggled. In 2023, AP French students were more likely to struggle with multiple-choice questions that assessed listening rather than reading. For this reason, students might allocate additional time to practice listening exercises. Fortunately, the College Board has made this task easy by providing audio files for AP French students to practice with.

Tips for Success in AP French

While being cognizant of trends in student performance can be helpful, ultimately, your exam prep should be informed by your distinct strengths and weaknesses. Below, you’ll find some strategies to help you prepare thoughtfully and perform your best:

1) Do your research.

For any test, let alone one in a foreign language, it’s important to know what to expect. Reading this post is a great start. College Board also provides numerous resources, including sample questions, audio files, and sample scripts to ensure to feel prepared. Review these resources to ensure you feel comfortable with different question formats.

2) Diversify your skill set.

Learning a new language requires a range of skills. Students must be able to comprehend written texts, understand spoken language, and construct sentences within conversations. As past student performance indicated, some of these skills are easier to master than others. Reading a foreign language is typically easier for learners than speaking or listening (and understanding!) a foreign language. For this reason, it’s essential to craft a study plan that allows you to practice each of these skills, whether you are making your way through College Board’s exam resources or practicing your pronunciation with a classmate.

3) Practice and strategize.

While it’s important to practice your language skills generally, it’s also helpful to get a feel for the exam itself. Take an AP French practice test. Then, as you work, make note of which question types feel intuitive and which are challenging. Use these observations, as well as our AP French score calculator, to identify your main areas of improvement. With this information, you can create a study plan that’s tailored to your needs to ensure you perform your best on exam day.

AP French Score Calculator – Additional Resources

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