Today's HSK
chanelle77
April 17, 2010 at 11:10 PM posted in General DiscussionAnyone (else) taking the INT HSK today (or BEG or ADV yesterday)? Would love to hear your experiences later :-) Good luck if you are doing the test!
chanelle77
April 27, 2010 at 10:33 AM
Hey Changye thx for that! If I can do it in Nanjing I might take it! Keep you updated (btw no hsk results yet :-) )
changye
April 27, 2010 at 09:50 AM
I got good news for you diligent guys. The PRC has officially launched HKC（Oral Chinese Proficiecy Test (汉语口语水平测试）this month. The first test is going to be held in 北京市、天津市、上海市、江苏省、山东省、福建省、广西壮族自治区、重庆市 this year. The test takes only 30 minutes. Does anyone take it?
RJ
April 19, 2010 at 09:18 AM
http://www.hsk.org.cn/index_e.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanyu_Shuiping_Kaoshi#Current_Structure
Old (original) test structure:
| Test Rank (等第) | Chars/Words (cumulative) | Score (级别) | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK
Advanced |
Characters: 2865 Words: 8840 |
11 | Advanced A |
| 10 | Advanced B | ||
| 9 | Advanced C* | ||
| - | none | ||
| HSK
Elementary/ Intermediate |
Characters: 2194 Words: 5257 |
8 | Intermediate A |
| 7 | Intermediate B | ||
| 6 | Intermediate C | ||
| Characters: 1603 Words: 3052 |
5 | Elementary A | |
| 4 | Elementary B | ||
| 3 | Elementary C** | ||
| - | none | ||
| HSK
Basic |
Characters: 800 Words: 1033 |
3 | Basic A |
| 2 | Basic B | ||
| 1 | Basic C | ||
| - | none | ||
| *Generally signifies a professional level. **Generally required for non-language academic programs. |
|||
| Revised HSK Structure | ||
| Test Rank (等第) | Score (级别) | Certificate |
|---|---|---|
| HSK
Advanced |
6 | Advanced with Honors |
| 5 | Advanced | |
| HSK
Intermediate |
4 | Intermediate with Honors |
| 3 | Intermediate | |
| HSK
Elementary |
2 | Elementary with Honors |
| 1 |
Elementary
|
|
RJ
April 19, 2010 at 10:17 AM
In summary, the old HSK format contained 11 levels total and the new format only contains 6 levels. They did away with the basic levels and speaking is introduced earlier in the test (at lower levels). I have not heard of anyone who has taken the new test even though it was supposed to take the place of the old one in 2006. I have attached links to the official HSK site and a wikipedia article that explains the two tests fairly clearly. Today, a test score is rather confusing and/or meaningless, without knowing which test was taken. Go for it and good luck to all.
RJ.
chanelle77
April 19, 2010 at 07:52 AM
Xiaophil, yes I agree, they should be a bit more strict! Otherwise next time I might be temped to cheat *wink wink*. No just kidding!
Today I heard they will have the results within two weeks, so we do not have to wait to long :-)
Zhen, thank you for sharing your experience. This time was still the old version, I specifically looked for that one, because there is less writing(only 20 characters) :-). The new version scares me a bit! From what I understood is that one can do the "new" HSK the end of the year. Next year, there might not be an "old" version, so I thought I give it a shot this year.
To be honest, I think you will do very well in the exam! As you said, a little pressure is good for progress! For me it works to have something hanging over my head :-)
chanelle77
April 19, 2010 at 08:36 AM
Changye, yes, I understand your point of view! Difference is, I choose to have the pressure, if someone would force it upon me, would not work either :-).
Hkboy, true, the first time it might be a bit scary, but the more you do it...
I thought, just see what it is and then when you do it seriously, you are used to it already!
changye
April 19, 2010 at 08:20 AM
You guys are really diligent. To be honest, even a bit of pressure discourages me from learning foreign languages, hehe.
hkboy
April 19, 2010 at 05:59 AM
Congrats. for taking the test. I'm curious if there is a speaking part for it.
chanelle77
April 18, 2010 at 01:23 PM
To be honest: quite scary :-). I really found it very, very difficult. Did you do one before? How did you do?
zhenlijiang
April 19, 2010 at 04:49 AM
Chanelle, Xiaophil, I think the last time Xiaophil took it the system was still the old one. That is, they used to have many more levels, from 1 to 11. I see now the highest possible (indicating Mastery) is 6. The highest level in Intermediate used to be 8, then 高级 used to be 9 to 11 I think.
I think I'll take the HSK (for the second time) in October. Wasn't going to until I felt sure I had progressed significantly since the last time, but it's time I put the pressure on myself to focus a bit more on my studies.
xiaophil
April 19, 2010 at 12:02 AM
The highest theoretical score is a 9 if I remember correctly. I just went to the official website, and it appears they have changed the website entirely. I can't find relevant information, so can't confirm that 9 is the highest, but I'm pretty sure that, 3 - 5 is elementary, and 6 - 9 being intermediate.
There wasn't major cheating in my class. Some guy was working ahead, and the monitor told him to stop. The head monitor did tell everyone to be quiet at the beginning and end of the exam. Almost nobody listened to her. After we all exited, I hung around outside to clear my head, and then when I saw the monitors come out, I heard them grumbling about all the talking. I think they need to learn to raise their voices. They are far too polite to people who are impolite. And as you said, they don't punish cheaters, so why should the examinees listen.
chanelle77
April 18, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Wow that is a decent score! I hope you did well! What is the highest score you can have for the intermediate? I thought it was 6, but from your answer I guess that is not right :-).
When the exam started, I had difficulties filling out the form and forgot to write down the numbers. I thought OMG I cannot even fill out the answer sheet :-)
Out of curiosity, were there people in your group openly discussing results / cheating? I sat in the front row and there was a group (of maybe Chinese minorities) who did not even need the full time for the exam *sigh*, and they were passing on C's and D's etc. in a language that I do not understand. The teacher came up many times, started chatting with the guy, and this was very disturbing for me....After 1 or 2 times, in Europe they would have been gone....Must be China I guess, on the one hand they appear VERY strict, on the other, they do not bother....
xiaophil
April 18, 2010 at 01:28 PM
Yes, I have done it twice. The first time I had such an awful feeling I didn't even check my score. The second time was about a year and a half later. I got a level 6. I wouldn't be surprised if I got a lower score this time. I felt that I wasn't at my best, but really... I didn't feel good last time either, so who knows.
xiaophil
April 18, 2010 at 11:47 AM
I took it today at Shanghai Normal University. I felt awful afterward, but that's normal. I have no ideal how well (terrible) I did. How was your first go at the HSK?
chanelle77
April 18, 2010 at 10:40 PM
Exactly, in Nanjing for instance you have Nanjing University and Nanjing Normal University, the latter is "better" for students who want to become a teacher.
bodawei
April 18, 2010 at 02:46 PM
Didn't really answer your question: the 'normal' refers to modelling, a useful teaching method.
bodawei
April 18, 2010 at 02:43 PM
师范大学 shifan daxue (normal university) - as orangina 'normal' indicates a university training teachers. The term 'normal' started with the French but as orangina indicates the US used it (possibly no more). If good enough for the US it is good enough for China. As far as I know the term was never used in the British tradition; never used in Australia. In China you can do a range of courses as well as teaching. (My university must be abnormal.)
orangina
April 18, 2010 at 01:48 PM
哈哈! My Nana went to normal university in the US, but I think they just call it a teaching program now....
changye
April 18, 2010 at 01:41 PM
Hi xiaophil
I always wonder why some Chinese universities are called "xxxx NORMAL university" in English. Are there also "ABNORMAL universities" in the PRC?
wangweixin8432
April 29, 2010 at 01:38 AM这个我没参加过，因为 我是华人，但是我觉得那玩意儿很难的，因为我看过题，有一些我都不会做的，只能说你try your best ！