Kilo Lingo

Chinese · AP Chinese Language and Culture

The AP Chinese Language and Culture course, unit by unit.

A course built on the six units of the College Board's AP Chinese Language and Culture course framework, for students in their third or fourth year of Chinese. The College Board publishes no word list, so the vocabulary is ours: 144 topic groups chosen for the units' contexts, beyond the basics a student brings from Chinese 1 and 2 (about HSK 3). Each unit ends with an exam-skills chapter, and chapters 1 and 2 are free. Every typed answer takes pinyin, tone marks optional: you never need a Chinese keyboard. 1,389 words across 24 chapters, with the grammar the free-response tasks call for interleaved.

Start chapter 1 Explore the trail
24
Chapters
280
Lessons
1,389
Words
30
Grammar lessons

Practice sets in the exam's own formats (reading and listening multiple choice, story narration, the email response, and the course project's presentation and Q&A) start arriving in spring 2027, before the May exam. Until then, each unit closes with an exam-skills chapter of writing and conversation tasks with model answers.

Unit 1: Families and Communities

Family relationships across generations, getting along with people, community activities, and life in the city and the countryside.

  1. Family ties

    Family across generations: grandparents, filial respect, reunions and the generation gap.

    8 vocab · 81 words 1 grammar

  2. Getting on with people

    Friends, greetings and manners, what people are like, and how they feel.

    8 vocab · 73 words 2 grammar

  3. Community, town and country

    Neighborhoods and volunteering, hometowns and villages, and moving to the city.

    8 vocab · 69 words 2 grammar

  4. Unit 1 exam skills

    Practice tasks and an exam-style reader for Unit 1, Families and Communities.

Unit 2: Language and Culture

Festivals and food customs, Chinese communities from Singapore to San Francisco, and how Chinese is written and spoken: characters, pinyin, tones and dialects.

  1. Festivals and food customs

    Spring Festival and the festival year, red envelopes, dumplings, hot pot and tea.

    8 vocab · 75 words 1 grammar

  2. Chinese around the world

    Chinese communities from Singapore to San Francisco: migration, heritage and identity.

    8 vocab · 73 words 2 grammar

  3. How Chinese is written and spoken

    Characters, pinyin and typing, simplified and traditional, tones, dialects and accents.

    8 vocab · 79 words 2 grammar

  4. Unit 2 exam skills

    Practice tasks and an exam-style reader for Unit 2, Language and Culture.

Unit 3: Art and Creativity

Music and traditional instruments, opera, calligraphy and crafts, architecture, literature, film and fashion. Music comes first: it is the 2026-27 course project's theme.

  1. Music

    Traditional instruments, singers and concerts, Chinese opera and performance.

    8 vocab · 65 words 1 grammar

  2. Traditional arts and architecture

    Calligraphy, paper-cuts and crafts, temples, palaces, courtyard houses and gardens.

    8 vocab · 81 words 2 grammar

  3. Literature, film and fashion

    Poetry, legends and martial-arts stories, film, and fashion from the qipao to today.

    8 vocab · 70 words 2 grammar

  4. Unit 3 exam skills

    Practice tasks and an exam-style reader for Unit 3, Art and Creativity.

Unit 4: Science and Technology

Digital life from QR-code payments to livestreams, health and Chinese medicine, and innovation, data and charts.

  1. Digital life

    Phones and messaging, paying by QR code, online shopping, delivery and livestreams.

    8 vocab · 80 words 1 grammar

  2. Health and wellbeing

    Staying healthy, illness and medicine, Chinese medicine, tai chi and nutrition.

    8 vocab · 82 words 2 grammar

  3. Innovation and data

    Science and invention, AI and robots, and reading the numbers in charts and surveys.

    8 vocab · 83 words 2 grammar

  4. Unit 4 exam skills

    Practice tasks and an exam-style reader for Unit 4, Science and Technology.

Unit 5: Contemporary Life

School and careers, food, health and sports, and media, pop culture and travel.

  1. School, exams and work

    School life, test prep and college admissions, jobs and careers.

    8 vocab · 78 words 1 grammar

  2. Food, sport and leisure

    Street food and night markets, flavors, sports, martial arts and staying fit.

    8 vocab · 93 words 2 grammar

  3. Pop culture and travel

    TV and news, idols and influencers, free time, sightseeing and trips.

    8 vocab · 81 words 2 grammar

  4. Unit 5 exam skills

    Practice tasks and an exam-style reader for Unit 5, Contemporary Life.

Unit 6: Global Contexts

The natural world and the environment, history and policy, migration, trade, and getting around cities.

  1. The natural world

    Landscapes, wildlife and weather, recycling, clean energy and conservation.

    8 vocab · 77 words 1 grammar

  2. History and society

    Dynasties and archaeology, laws and public policy, money and an aging society.

    8 vocab · 74 words 2 grammar

  3. Transport and global links

    High-speed rail and city transport, trade, diplomacy and working across borders.

    8 vocab · 75 words 2 grammar

  4. Unit 6 exam skills

    Practice tasks and an exam-style reader for Unit 6, Global Contexts.

Units from the College Board's AP Chinese Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (effective fall 2026); the vocabulary, the grammar sequence, the readers and the tasks are ours. AP and Advanced Placement are registered trademarks of the College Board. Kilo Lingo is not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.