How Hard is the HSK?
If you have not taken the HSK, it’s pretty hard to understand what it represents. It is one of the most demanding language tests there is, and is not something to be laughed at.
What is funny are terms like ‘advanced Chinese’ to describe University classes (especially ones not in China) that barely prepare you to test at the very bottom of the Intermediate version of the HSK.
10 Semesters of Chinese = What Level in the HSK?
To figure out just how hard the HSK is, let’s take a look at the story of two people: myself and a classmate.
We both started out in the same Chinese 101 course. After two semesters, we went to a intensive summer program in Shanghai that counted as two “semesters” back home, then took two more years of Chinese before coming to China.
While teaching English “full time”, we both took another two semesters of Chinese.
In all, we had studied four years and ten semesters worth of Chinese. How do you think we did on the HSK?
Intermediate HSK Test… Is it Really Intermediate?
There was no chance we would score on the advanced portion of the HSK, so we both signed up for the intermediate portion. You can score anywhere from a three to an eight on this portion of the test, a four representing the minimum qualification to study a limited number of majors at a Chinese university, and a six allowing you to study any subject as an undergraduate.
She scored a four, and I scored a high six. So four years of Chinese study yielded the following two results:
Lower Intermediate / Intermediate
Pretty discouraging, huh? If you want to do well on the HSK, get ready to study your ass off.
How much actual HSK-specific preparation did you do? I know people who spend a few semesters just doing HSK specific preparation and if you did very little of that(not to mention attending those HSK-prep classes) then it might be expected for you to get a high mark. HSK is not a measure of your language as such, just as the English tests for foreigners are not a measure of their language either. It’s more of how much preparation you have and how many times you go over the various answers etc. The people I know who got high marks on the HSK were people who spent 7 hours a day on top of preparation sessions looking through those booklet things themselves.
Hi Zhongguoist - I spent several hours a day for a couple of months prepping for the HSK, working through several books full of practice exams and the like. To put it another way, a person who had been through the exact same curriculum as I had (we attended all of the same classes in college and came to China on the same program) scored a 4 - she probably would have done better with significant test preparation.
You’re right, prepping for the HSK does help. But just like the SAT or GRE, you can probably prep as well on your own with a good study guide as you can by taking a class that teaches from said study guide.
i’m going to take the HSK Advanced this year, and have no idea what it tests.
Huh? Have you taken the mid level HSK exam?
The mid level is similar, just a lot harder, and there is a speaking and essay section that isn’t part of the mid level exam.
i havent takent the mid-level, but i know what it tests. ive lived in china for almost 9 years so taking the Advanced is only natural, imo.
I’m just a bit nervous about the essay. I went to Chinese middle school, and for the Han Yu Kao Shi I had to write a 1000 word essay. But once (since i was a kid at the time and my chinese was “poor”), my teacher asked me to read my essay before the class of around 60 students…to make a long story short, I humiliated myself w/ incorrect grammar and have been horrified with essays ever since.
The essay seems like it wouldn’t be so bad - it’s the ‘integrated’ portion that always seems to be the hardest. Since basically it relies on your ability to choose the exact right word and also remember how to write it. Heh… pain in the ass. At least with an essay you can always choose how to express yourself.
Good luck with the advanced. If you went to a Chinese middle school and have been writing by hand / reading Chinese all these nine years you should do fine. I know I wouldn’t pass the advanced.
yeah even if i don’t do well, i’ll take it again after i move to Xi’an this year. i’ll most likely be studying chinese there for one year, and then get into a uni program elsewhere.
if i go to a uni in Beijing/Shanghai, do you know if the credits I get at the uni in Xi’an can be transferred?
No idea, heh. But my guess is yes, if you can test into the Beijing / Shanghai University.