Taking the HSK? Already taken it? Report in here!

[Paradox]

Passed HSKK beginner today. But considering I've been studying for 5 years now, on and off with full time job, I would be disappointed if I hadn't! Pretty saddened by my low pass mark but it's still a pass. Eventually I might try to study over in China.

[fabiothebest]

9 hours ago, Paradox said:

Passed HSKK beginner today

I understand how you feel  I didn't try HSKK yet. Did you take HSK before? If yes, what level?

[dtcamero]

i'm taking HSK6 on sunday at Pace University in manhattan.

anyone else doing last minute heroics with me? lets get a test thread going.

[DavyJonesLocker]

On 11/14/2018 at 8:59 AM, Paradox said:

Passed HSKK beginner today. But considering I've been studying for 5 years now, on and off with full time job, I would be disappointed if I hadn't! Pretty saddened by my low pass mark but it's still a pass. Eventually I might try to study over in China.

 

 

well done, keep at it! Personally i much prefer to read about someone who took a long time to achieve a elementary or modest level in Chinese than someone who claims to have past HSK6 in a year. I have met far too many learners and spoke to too many teachers now to highly doubt this tall gived learners "internet" tales. Not saying it never happens but I am 100% convinced the reality is that the vast majority of learners take years to even achieve an intermediate level.  Then again no-one is interest in reading your thread, your blog or buying your book  if the premise is "I passed HSK 4 in three years and this is how I did it" ?

 

 

 

 

[mungouk]

4 hours ago, dtcamero said:

anyone else doing last minute heroics

 

Not sure about heriocs but I'm cramming HSK 4 vocabulary like there's no tomorrow and drilling mock tests, as I'm taking HSKK Intermediate on Sunday.

 

Best of luck to everyone taking tests on 2 Dec!  加油！⛽️

[mungouk]

OK I just got home after HSKK 中级 here in Singapore. 

 

This was a proper "internet-based" test, running entirely on a PC, in a custom program very similar to the one I used in Shanghai for HSK 3.  Unlike this previous experience, the Hanzi displayed were very high quality.  (When I did HSKK beginner I used a PC but it just had a voice recorder app to record me, and I had a paper exam sheet.)

 

We each had an allocated seat number, and all the tables had a modern laptop with a logitech headphone-microphone combo. We logged into the program and then there was a configuration screen to set playback and recording levels.

 

Unlike some reported HSK online tests, I could skip between all 3 sections at will.  

 

The invigilator/proctor gave a helpful short PPT presentation to explain how the software worked, for 中级 and 高级. She also recommended that we prepare section 3 (Q13-14) first, since it's harder. That was useful.

 

Unlike the paper test where you make notes on the exam paper itself, we were given an A4 sheet which was blank on one side and just had the Hanban logo on the other, so there was a bit more space to make notes.  You could also make your notes on the computer if you wanted. 

 

So, all very well organised... EXCEPT: There were about 25 of us in this classroom, taking 2 different exams.  The room became very noisy when people were giving their answers and this was really off-putting.  Because there was  中级 and 高级 happening at the same time, we weren't all in sync. I found giving my answers for section 2 and 3 much harder than practicing at home because there were all these other people talking really loudly while I was trying to think.

 

Maybe there were so many people because Singapore only has one test centre, and the tests only run 4 times a year here. When I did HSKK beginner in Shanghai I was the only person in the room, which was perfect.

 

Anyway, glad to have that out of the way now and I can get back to HSK 4 preparation (and maybe even having fun again!).

 

 

 

 

[dtcamero]

just finished hsk6. wow that sucked.

 

the computers were using a 90's era font that made text really difficult to read. in particular the listening section was bolded or something, making some characters totally unrecognizable. i actually laughed out loud sometimes at how badly they were rendered. this obviously was not good for my score.

 

all sections were noticeably harder than the practice tests. the psychology fill-in-the-blank section would have been difficult to understand in english.

the writing section would have been fine but ended with something involving chengyu describing a liability clause in a contract that was obviously key to the overall meaning, and i totally missed it. also the names were all transliterated so i had to spend time just memorizing how to write silly english names.

on top of that i ran out of time struggling with the awful IME trying to write a title and it just turned into jibberish.

 

overall a pretty disastrous morning ?

would love to hear other people's' experiences

[RaMa09]

Just did the computer based HSK4 in Sydney (Melbourne doesn't offer the computer based currently, so did it while on holiday over there). We met at the lobby of the building and it was a little bit 'pandemonic' as there were paper exams, online exams and some kind of kid's Chinese exams all about to commence and only the two teachers with elevator keys taking people to different rooms. Despite this I managed to find myself to the right room and computer. The exam was identical in format to the one that was suggested by others here: http://mnks.chinesebridge.com.cn/Mnks/Simulate/DefaultNew.aspx

 

I wasn't allowed to skip ahead to sections and once a section is finished you can't go back. You can of course go back and forward within the section you are currently in. The Chinese input used is the Google default Chinese input.I think if you get confident using the above link and learn the vocab, the test is pretty straight forward. 

 

Hope this helps.

[RaMa09]

Just got my HSK4 results, pretty happy overall as I was looking to get an over 80% average. In hindsight, I probably should have done more work on the writing section, as it's the only section where during the practice exams you aren't really able to determine whether you are right or not.

 

 

 

[mungouk]

OK, HSKK results are out and I failed 中级... ? 

 

 

Can't say I'm too surprised given that the conditions were hellish.  I might try again later this year.

[fabiothebest]

6 hours ago, mungouk said:

HSKK results are out

I'm sorry mungouk, but probably you can pass it next time. I didn't attempt HSKK yet and I had to google the minimum passing score which seems to be 60, so not so far from your score. Good luck, I'd like to try it too sooner or later..for now I'm preparing for HSK 3/4.

[道艺]

On 11/29/2018 at 1:40 PM, DavyJonesLocker said:

"I passed HSK 4 in three years and this is how I did it"

I'm coming on 8 mo. soon and am studying the HSK4下, I plan to test before I reach one year in China. I'll be sure to blog about it now ;D

[PJ]

Hello, can anyone tell me the exact font and font size used on the online exam?  If it helps, I take the exam in New York city at Pace University (it seems there are some different formats reported by takers above).

 

I just took my HSK 5 yesterday, and think I got crushed, which kind of shocked me.  But I think it's just the fonts.  They are so small and fuzzy that it really slowed me down on the reading and listening (just reading the answers was hard) -- I the way someone put it above was apt, "90's era".  I was regularly getting around 70% on the reading and listening sections on mock exams, and the only major difference on the real exam was the font (the going back, etc, are small differences also, but I don't think they affected me).  On this exam, i think I will be lucky to get 50% on either section, which is extremely disappointing (and likely not passing, even though I think I got nearly 100% on the writing).

 

Thanks!

[mungouk]

9 hours ago, PJ said:

can anyone tell me the exact font and font size used on the online exam? 

 

Based on previous discussion here, this varies from one test centre to another.  It seems the software isn't even the same in some places.

 

I got the same for HSK 3... Hanzi text was not anti-aliased, low resolution and hard to read.

 

 

[dtcamero]

11 hours ago, PJ said:

can anyone tell me the exact font and font size used on the online exam? 

 

i took the online test at Pace U in nyc. it was like reading chinese on a ‘90s era flip-phone screen.

i’m sure the font and size were quite standard, it was more a rendering/resolution issue. 

doing that test on a mac would have been quite easy by comparison.

 

here’s an image of what low-rez characters look like:

[Tomsima]

2 hours ago, mungouk said:

Hanzi text was not anti-aliased,

Same with mine from what I remember. Unbelievable really...don't understand what the logic is behind this. My eyes started watering halfway through the test. I ended up walking out and booking a paper test from two weeks later. No problems, much much easier. 

[PJ]

Thanks everyone!  I didn't expect such quick responses.  This is really helpful -- at the least for my self-confidence, but maybe I can get more pointers from you guys as well!

 

2 hours ago, dtcamero said:

i took the online test at Pace U in nyc. it was like reading chinese on a ‘90s era flip-phone screen.

i’m sure the font and size were quite standard, it was more a rendering/resolution issue. 

doing that test on a mac would have been quite easy by comparison.

 

Dtcamero, thanks for your expertise, it's also helpful coming from a more advanced learner, so I know it's not just my "low" level.  The sample texts are also helpful so I can show some of my Chinese friends that I'm not just a total idiot.  I was wondering if you have a suggestion:

1)  What the exact font is -- is it 10pt Firefly?  (You showed Firefly, and I read above someone say it looked like 10pt; either way I see I don't have Firefly by default on my MS-Word) and

2)  Once I identify the font, how best to study for this low-res font?  I can probably get used to them if I can find the fonts -- I read someone above write that he studied using those fonts and had no problem on the exam (but that was 7 years  ago, and he didn't list the exact font, how he found it, or how he then studied with it).  It may be difficult if I have to keep finding text sources and then copy-pasting into Word and then changing the font.

 

Assuming they are not changing the font -- and I'd rather not have to go to another city just to take the exam -- I'll need to get used to this font for future tests...  Crossing my fingers I squeaked by on the HSK5 so I can only have to take one more exam later!

 

Thanks so much in advance for anyone's guidance!!!!!

[mungouk]

2 hours ago, Tomsima said:

I ended up walking out and booking a paper test from two weeks later.

 

Wow!  

 

Ridiculous isn't it really, considering the lengths they go to in order to standardise the paper tests.

 

[mungouk]

22 minutes ago, PJ said:

What the exact font is -- is it 10pt Firefly? 

See above. There's no guarantee it will be the same anywhere.

 

There does, however, seem to be a high probability that it will be shit. 

 

(this might be considered authentic learning... if you've tried to read Hanzi on a dot-matrix LED display on a train for example, this is an important skill!)

 

 

 

[PJ]

1 minute ago, mungouk said:

See above. There's no guarantee it will be the same anywhere.

 

Yes i saw your message about that (thanks!).  That's why I was asking dtcamero specifically, since he has experience in my exact testing center  ?

 

Hope you passed your HSK3!!!  ?