Newbie! Want to take French CLEP. Need advice and help!

[af2012]

Zedler,

I took the French CLEP & failed because of the audio portion. I can't stress this enough, listen to French conversations until your ears bleed or until you can understand 95% of what they are saying with certainty. In the French CLEP audio portion, you listen to a conversation between two people speaking in French and then an announcer comes on and says the question AND potential answers to you in French. There is NO reading whatsoever in this portion, all you see on the screen are the options A B C or D. Based on what you have heard and understand from the preceding conversation, question & answers, then you select the right letter. And the above writer was correct, it's a one-shot deal, no rewinding so you have to listen quickly *lol*. Had I known this ahead of time I wouldn't have taken the test when I did and I would have over-prepared for the audio portion.

Also, the audio portion is first, written portion is second. Get your headphones on & sound jacked up before hitting the start button for the test, the audio starts almost immedately upon hitting start. There won't be time for you to monkey around with volume when you are supposed to be listening to the test.

Hope this helps!

Amy

[BGSU_Alum_86]

The audio sections of the foreign language exams are delivered to you -- you will have no control at all except to mark your answer. You cannot adjust the volume once in it, you cannot hit "pause", there is no way to rewind and replay what you might have missed. The two audio segments are each 15 minutes -- you cannot speed it up or slow it down. Once they read you your possible multiple-choice options, you will have 10 seconds to select an answer before the audio starts up for the next question. It doesn't matter if you know the answer within the first couple of seconds; it will not start for 10 seconds.

[starlinghunter]

I agree with all the stuff about the recordings; I had a hard time hearing the muffled voices. They used an older man to speak, which doesn't help! I just made sure I was ready, and listening carefully before I clicked the play button, and I don't think I got any wrong on those.

I would have to disagree with OE800_85, because there were sections (this includes the listening) where you were given 5 possible ways to answer a question, and had to choose which was grammatically correct and/or relevant. I don't think my score would have been 68, if I hadn't worked on grammar/vocabulary.
A child's book is a fine way to become familiar with french in general, but you'll need to be able to understand higher levels of vocabulary, such as french radio or movies.
I would point out that there is a reading portion, where you go through an excerpt from a french author/reporter etc., so remember to read dif. types of literature. ( I read The Hound of the Baskerilles, and it was way more intriguing than if I had read it in English! )

Bonne Chance!

- Sam

[clep3705]

Pourquoi tout le monde rÃpondre en anglais?

La question d'origine, c'est comme demander comment se rendre à Carnegie Hall? Pratique, pratique, pratique!

[starlinghunter]

DÃsolÃ, mais mon orthographe francais n'est pas assez bon!

[Yenisei]

French is spoken at a different frequency than English, so that's one reason why you need to listen to it as much as you can prior to testing. Reviewing grammar is also important because a lot of verb conjugations sound the same and you have to discern them from the context of the audio or written material.