New HSK

[greenbird]

Hello,

I'm trying to get more info on the new HSK, the Hanban websites have been helpful, but I can't find answers to specific questions. Has anyone taken the new HSK already? I've included the questions I have below, any info would be helpful. Thanks!

I understand that the HSK consists of two independent parts - the written and oral exam. however:

- Can I take these tests separately or do I need to take both the written and oral test on the same date/time?

- Must I take the written and oral exams at corresponding levels? For example, If I attempt the HSK Level 3 written test is it necessary for me to take the intermediate oral exam? or can I attempt the basic or advanced oral exam?

- If I pass the HSK level 1 test this year and attempt HSK level 2 next year, do I need to retake the basic level oral exam?

- Can I attempt any level of the HSK or do I need to clear these in a progressive order?

- What is the minimum passing grade for each level of the written and oral exam?

- What is the structure of the oral exam? Where can I find practice exam questions?

[JenniferW]

I'm taking an HSK exam in the UK in May. In England there are two HSK exam centres: at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and at the University of Sheffield, where there's a Confucius Centre. I'm taking the exam at the Sheffield centre - in other words in a centre within the network of global Confucius centres.

At Sheffield they're offering the new HSK - and chatting with the administrator there, she said they were told they have to switch this year to the new HSK. So, it looks as if there's a global roll-out of the new HSK through the Confucius centres of the new HSK. In time, even places like BLCU will have to follow, I think. But in the meanwhile, both systems look as if they'll run side by side for a bit.

[sleepy eyes]

Hey there. Apparently to start a Master's Degree I'd need an HSK 6 first. I assume this refers to the old test. What level should I strive for in the new one? And is this same level set for every single postgraduate course?

[afriday11]

Hey, I've been preparing for the HSK for a few months, and lately decided to take the new HSK instead of the old one. I've taken the practice level 5 test and got something like a 40% on the reading a writing section and an 80% (36/45) on the listening section.

you can take the test here

http://www.chinesetesting.cn/gosimexam.do

Does anyone else think think the listening section was really easy? Maybe it is just because I suck at reading and spend a good deal of my day chatting at the office not studying my HSK book.

I found one series of books to prepare for the hsk, but nothing else.

http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp/ref=sr_1_1?_encoding=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271751580&asin=B0035543I2&sr=8-1

Anyone know of any good books? For now I'm thinking about just continuing my study of the old HSK book, since they use the same vocabulary it seems to me.

[JenniferW]

As regards the level of the listening (compared to the level of the reading ..... I'm only at a low level in all of this, but this is because I'm only a very part-time student of Chinese, and not living or working in China. Last year I got the old level 2, and am about to go for the new level 3. For me, the listening last year was surprisingly low level, in the practice tests as well as the exam itself.

However, I took the exam last year in London, and I think none of us were full-time students, and chatting after the exam there were people who didn't find the listening easy at all. I came to the conclusion that the big difference is whether you've spent time in China, if nothing else, just hearing the language around you all the time, and then maybe also actually studying while living in China, so you're linking the day to day aural experience with your own learning.

It's going to be interesting to see what the new format tests are like!

[crazillo]

snip

I've decided to take part in the new HSK this June. I intended to do it after graduation first, as I assumed my level of Chinese would be higher by then, but I found that a lot of universities require an HSK when you want to enroll for graduate studies, even in Europe (e.g. Leiden, where I fancy to go). I'm studying at Beida now and we are lucky enough to be offered a free HSK preperation course. Hope this will help. The course has been running for a few week but my teacher thinks it is not too late to join. I was considering to do HSK 5 (new) but will stick with HSK 4 for now. I hope this equals the old HSK 6. Can anyone confirm this? Has anyone got any tips how to prepare?

[roddy]

I had a look at the sample of the New HSK 6 yesterday - got to say I was amazed by how easy it was. I only did the reading and listening:

Reading: Something like 45/50, with all mistakes being on the earlier sections where you have to spot dodgy sentences or choose the right sequence of words. The actual reading bits seemed very straightforward, and I was pretty much reading the question, scanning for the answer and getting it right. My impression of the old HSK was that if you did that they'd trick you by having information elsewhere in the piece that invalidated the 'obvious' answer. None of that. Finished fifteen minutes early.

Listening: 49/50. Again, I didn't find this problematic. Towards the end I realized that once you've heard the piece you can read the four possible answers and often figure out which one is going to be correct, even before having heard the question. This isn't something the old HSK would let you get away with, I think.

To be fair, it's been some time since I did either of the old HSKs (did the Advanced in I think 2007, the Elem/Int way off in the mists of time) and my level is such that on these sections at least I certainly should be doing well. But I wouldn't approach the old Intermediate exam with anything other than trepidation and respect - no matter your level, there's a lot of info to absorb and consider, and any momentary lapse of concentration can really bite.

I'd say the New HSK 6 is equivalent to an old 6 or 7 - an intermediate pass, but not even a high one. Given that the New 6 is as high as it goes, that's a bit disappointing.

I can see the need for greater resolution at the lower level, and I like the idea of having exams mirror the Council of Europe (or whatever it is) framework if it's done well. But there's no way New HSK 6 is equivalent to Cambridge CPE or CAE, and that entire advanced level has been lopped off. This is unfortunate.

I'm maybe posting beyond my knowledge here (actually I almost certainly am). Really you'd need to sit down with the exam papers and compare what actual knowledge they require. So take the above as IMHO.

[Guest realmayo]

Thank you for posting the comparison. I've never taken the HSK but may well take the Elem/Intermediate towards the end of the year if it's still being offered. If not maybe the new one, not sure which level would be suitable. Hopefully practising the listening, grammar & reading sections of the old exam would help towards the new one.

[renzhe]

I didn't find the new HSK6 mockup test to be all that easy, certainly not easier than the old intermediate tests.

I guess that my level is slipping. I'll have to give it another try to make sure.

realmayo: check the Hanban mockups here

[Guest realmayo]

Heard from a Korean classmate that the new exam has already started in Korea, and although it's easy at the moment they expect subsequent exams to get increasingly difficult, as people get more used to it. No idea if that's true or not!

Thanks Renzhe, I will check them out.

[edelweis]

But there was no writing part in the old intermediate exam, was there? Did you find the new hsk level 6 writing difficult?

Regarding the level of fluency/ability to use the chinese language in a professional setting, would that added writing part be a better indication than the old HSK level 6?

[chinopinyin]

Here is an Excel file with the vocabulary of level 3. This complements the level 3 sentences that were kindly uploaded in this forum some time ago. Use the list at your own risk, since there may be some mistakes.

Edit: Here's the link to Edelweis' HSK 3 sentences http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/25053-new-hsk3-grammar-sample-sentences/

New HSK3 Words.xls

[edelweis]

hmmm

found this while browsing eblcu...

it gives the relative weight of the subjective parts of the New HSK, and also it says the non-subjective (multiple choice) questions are graded linearly.

[chinopinyin]

Many thanks Edelweiss. I guess this is the English version

http://english.hanban.edu.cn/content.php?id=5841

[edelweis]

well, almost... that English version does not have the extra sentence about the non-subjective part. But the Hanban Chinese page does have it.

各级别的客观题采用零一计分，线性转换为百分制。下表为主观题分数信息。

[chinopinyin]

Books with mock tests for the new HSK are starting to appear. For level 3 新汉语水平考试HSK全真模拟题集(3级)(附MP3光盘1张)(北大版新HSK应试辅导丛书) http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp?ref=DT_SMO&uid=475-3399244-4906228&prodid=zjbka03nf5

Has anybody used it?

[Guest realmayo]

...and also it says the non-subjective (multiple choice) questions are graded linearly.

Sorry, what does this mean?

[edelweis]

I think it means that if there are 40 multiple choice questions in the listening part, and your number of correct answers is, say, 34, then you final score for the listening part will be (34/40)*100 = 85 pts out of a maximum of 100. No question or sub-part/"group of questions" has a higher "value" than another.

As there is a defined "passing" global score (180pts for HSK level 3, which has 3 parts of 100pts each), this grading scheme appears to be different from previous HSK grading where scores and/or passing grade were adjusted depending on the global performance of all test takers at a given session (I don't know exactly how, but your individual score was effectively dependent on other people's scores - if too many people did very well on a given part of the exam, they would lower everybody's score on that part, or something).

I guess they could still "adjust" somewhat the subjective parts scoring though (writing part mostly).

[Guest realmayo]

Ah, ok thanks.

[HerrPetersen]

Does anyone know, where to look for test scores?

Here

http://english.hanban.org/content.php?id=5320

(at the bottom) it says three weeks after the tests the results are online. However I have no idea where to look