HSK Rumours

[geraldc]

In a couple of weeks time I should be spending my Saturday morning sitting in a stuffy classroom in London attempting HSK beginners level (I decided I'd rather be a strong beginner rather than a weak intermediate).

However today a friend told me an interesting rumour. She was told that the May sitting is when the ethnic minorities in China take the HSK, and as a result, their higher marks affect the grades for everyone else (apparently it may push up the grade boundaries), i.e. they wreck the curve for the students outside of China, making the May sitting harder than the other sitting.

Anyone know if this is true or not? Or have any other rumours I can scare my classmates with?

[beijingbooty]

dont know about the rumours, but I just want to say that being a strong beginner is far better than being a weak intermediate. You have definitely done the right thing by choosing to sit the begin. exam first.

I did the same thing last october. I almost took the int. exam but now realize that would have been a disaster and would have shattered my self-confidence and self-enthusiasm. I have found that just 3-4 months after sitting the beginners. exam I am now ready to take the intermediate exam with a good degree of confidence. I think the progress curve sharply increases at this stage of learning mandarin.

[doumeizhen]

I just took mine intermediate exam with a decent level of confidence, although I am sure I wasn't prepared, and while sitting in the exam afterwards I realized that the scan-tron sheet is to be filled out from top to bottom, not left to right... something to keep in mind. Look at the numbers. http://www.chinese-forums.com/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif

If you have never taken a practice exam, I feel this is a good point to keep in mind!

as for the rumor, I do not know, but I might be taking it agaiin and would be able to tell you then!