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

[martian2]

Roddy, that was starting from scratch, I came out as an English teacher, and fell in love with the language. Studied by myself for 6 months, just chatting to friends and colleagues for practice, then got myself a long haired dictionary and re-arranged my life around studying! The month before the test was spent in preparation over-drive, 8-10 hour study days 5-6 days a week! A bit mental, I know.

There is a series of books they sell here in Shanghai which contains either 60 zong hes, or 60 listenings etc. I did all of the zong hes, plus more in other papers, so in total I probably did something like 80 zong he sections as practice. Really improved that grade up from probably a 4/5 to the 8 I got. Well worth looking for if you are taking the test again. Silver book, green trim. You probably think im totally bonkers now.

Anyway, i do feel an 8 overall is a misrepresentation of my true Chinese ability, I know its easy to criticize having done so well, but I still cant write that well. I just think I am someone who excels at tests, and who prepared real hard. Like others have said, the HSK tells you how good you are at taking the HSK, and whilst reflecting to a degree your Chinese level, it could be a lot more accurate. Now I just need the motivation for advanced....... What would be considered a great time for passing the advanced in?

[Loriquero]

Thanks guys, now I feel bad

[renzhe]

There is a series of books they sell here in Shanghai which contains either 60 zong hes, or 60 listenings etc. I did all of the zong hes, plus more in other papers, so in total I probably did something like 80 zong he sections as practice. Really improved that grade up from probably a 4/5 to the 8 I got. Well worth looking for if you are taking the test again. Silver book, green trim. You probably think im totally bonkers now.

I don't think you're totally bonkers, but I want to ask you for the name, so I can get it.

Zonghe is the thing that's keeping me from getting a good grade. Even lots of reading didn't help there. I guess it's a separate skill you need to attack specifically.

[martian2]

Hi ninja, i did a quick google search, these are the two books i used to take on the zonghe section. The grey and green book is the better one, it is 60 zong hes, the other is a mix of full papers and zong hes. They have a book for each section if you need it. I did all of the other series. Both series are great if you have the time to put in to ramp up that grade. Then, when you finally get you 8 and feel incredibly proud, nobody in the real world has a clue what it means!

Links:

http://www.chinesemall.com/esofhskcoex.html

http://www.blcup.com/en/list_1.asp?id=1512

[heifeng]

Links:

http://www.chinesemall.com/esofhskcoex.html

This book series is really good! I used this one: http://www.chinesemall.com/incoofhska.html when preparing for the advanced HSK and it has some really good grammer, reading, langdu exercises inside. In fact, If I had to keep just one HSK book, that would be the one I picked since it is just such a good reference outside of studying for the HSK as well.

[atitarev]

I took 基础 (Basic) last year - 2008 and my total score is 209. I'll update the details later but I did better with listening and grammar.

[zhen_shuai]

I also haven't taken the HSK yet this year. I'm a little worried since the only 'studying' I've done for the last year has been reading excerpts of classical texts that are waaaaaaay over my head. My teachers don't really do the whole 'living langauge' thing.

Last year I got 274 (听力 76　语法 63　阅读 66　综合　67) after 1 year of Chinese at a public university in the US and 1 year at a mainland Chinese university. And 1 month 补习班. I also took it a month earlier, pre-补习班 and got a 5, but I don't have the scores on hand.

I'll let you guys know how I do when I take it again in October!

[renzhe]

Thanks for the textbook suggestion, I'll try to get my hands on a copy later this year.

[paike]

听力 语法 阅读 综合 总分 证书等第 级别

72 71 74 63 282 Ｃ 中

My Zonghe score was pretty bad and about I only got about 2 characters correct, which means if I just got excellent at writing, the HSK would be a whole lot easier for me. I must have gotten most of the other questions right in that section.

Well, I've been studying on and off for three years. I study for a few months, then do nothing for a few months. My speaking is certainly my shining skill, but that doesn't get tested. This kinda bums me out because the Koreans I take my occasional Chinese class can't speak at all and there pronunciation is hilariously wrong, but our HSK scores are similar.

I spent a month in the states so I'm starting from scratch again. In a couple months, another test!!! Thundercats GOOOOOOO!

Anyone got some advice to pump me up!?!? =)

[heifeng]

Motivation~sure!

FYI always do the fill in the blank section first for the zonghe. Then go back and do the rest b/c you may be able to stumble across the character you forgot how to write in one of the questions of the other zonghe sections so you can go back and fill it in*.... (*disclaimer, I do not exactly recall the format for the intermediate exam, but I'm sure this still applies~ ALSO as a bit of random info you can usually see through the back of the test booklet so you may be able to get a 'head start' reading that last page of the zonghe section through the back cover as you wait for the exam to begin....wahahahah j/k...sort of)

Also, the good news is zonghe is the easiest to study for~it's much harder to suddenly be able to make super quick progress in the areas of listening or reading, so do some zonghe exercises, understand why you make certain mistakes, and get read to kick some tail feathers! yeah

Good job by the way on this exam too:D!!

[Loriquero]

The people taking care of the exam don´t allow you go further in the test. Under risk of take it away.

[heifeng]

Of course you want to STAY in the correct section, but you can do the questions WITHIN that section from last to first if you want. So when you are allowed to start the zonghe section, do the fill in the blank section first.

[Loriquero]

Oh!

[xiaoya]

Just took the HSK Basic in Perth, Western Australia yesterday. I've studied for a year and a half outside of China with the NPCR books and have only visited China once for two weeks. I didn't do too much study for it (glanced through the vocab lists and a book of practice tests) because I'm in the middle of my thesis and it simply wasn't a priority, but I think I did okay. Listening and grammar were definitely easier than the reading.

Does anyone know how long it takes approximately before results come back?

[Loriquero]

Around one month...

[JenniferW]

I took HSK in London in May, and it was a 2 month wait for the results, and that was what was normal for them.

[animal world]

I apologize if my question has been addressed many times before and if i post in the wrong thread.

I only discovered this past weekend that there's a testing center for the HSK close to where i live and i might be considering to take the exam next spring. It's only now that i'm starting to look into preparations and other particulars about the HSK.

Having read all the posts in this thread leaves me a little confused. Do you sign up for a certain level and based on your score it will be determined whether you passed, say, level 2, 3 or 4? If you sign up for Basic but you do really well could you end up with a level 4 because of your good showing? And vice versa?

At this point, I would have a tough time figuring out for what exact level to sign up so if someone can explain the mechanics of how to achieve those levels would be much appreciated. Also, didn't i read somewhere that the 11 levels would be streamlined or maybe they already have by now.

[roddy]

If you sign up for Basic but you do really well could you end up with a level 4 because of your good showing? And vice versa?

No. Best you'll get from the Basic is a 3, Elem/Int runs 3 to 8, then Advanced covers 9, 10, 11.

As for which one to take - first find out what exams your center is offering. You should also be able to get sample tests from the HSK site, or elsewhere.

[doraemon]

I took the HSK Intermediate examination two years ago and came out with these results, which I was really pleased with.

听力 97

语法 96

阅读 99

综合 95

Total: 388 (I know, the total score somehow isn't equivalent to the sum of my four scores above, but the certificate I received explained that it doesn't necessarily have to)

This year, I'm taking the Advanced exam (in Sydney), which is this Sunday, and I'm feeling really nervous even though I took lots of practice papers. I think listening and the 综合 section is alright, but I don't feel examiners get enough time for the comprehension sections, especially part 1 where you have to answer 15 questions in 15 minutes from articles 1000 characters each or something around there.

Also, I've never done the writing or speaking components before, so I'm really sure how harsh they would mark you. If anyone's done the Advanced exam, how hard is it to achieve a A-range mark in these two sections?

[doraemon]

Correction to previous thread: examiners don't give enough time for the comprehension sections.