Intensive mandarin course - forming a group (Shanghai)

[anonymoose]

Has anyone ever received an HSK 11?

Yes, a German guy did once (allegedly), but soon after he met a suspicious death in Beijing.

[aussie_log]

Hi guys, intruiging conversation you are having. Hopefully you can offer some advice. Moving from Australia to Shanghai specifically to learn Mandarin. Can anyone recommend a good university/program where I can begin studies with the aim of commiting myself full time for 12 months, re-evaluate and continue after the 12 months? Speak zero Mandarin at present but looking to immerse myself around feb. Please help. Cheers...

[Scoobyqueen]

The HSK is graded on a curve. Getting an 11 on the Advanced is equivalent to scoring above the 96% among all takers of the HSK Advanced Exam, something very difficult when many of the test takers are Koreans and Japanese who already know a large number of Chinese characters

Maybe the OP belongs to this category.

[johndones]

As for the issue of grading on a curve I did not know about that, so maybe you are right that being in the top 4% might be hard.

I just want my score to be in the 80-90% range.

Of course I am not 100% sure that I can make it, but I do think it is possible and if I don't then the sole reason will be my laziness (in fact I do waste a lot of time).

But I am still VERY confident about being able to obtain HSK 9.

If I was to only follow my university coursework then I should be able to obtain HSK 8 after that year (or 7, I don't know how that curve works in this case), so as I'm doing a lot on top of that I think HSK 9 should not be any kind of a problem, so that is the absolute worse case scenario for me.

I am not korean/japanese/HKer, so I don't have the advantage of knowing most characters already. I'm not really western either if that interests anyone (but white).

Yes, on average I do learn most things faster than the rest of the people and I am have always been very good with maths, so of course I do think that I have some advantage over other people, but my learning method seems to differ a lot from other people too so I think it's very important as well.

I do not deny that my method might not work for many people, and neither do I want to "advertise" it, the only point that I'm really trying to make is that most people are very inefficient in their learning, and just stick to whatever other people tell them to do without experimenting themselves.

[renzhe]

Be sure to let us know how you do at the test in one year's time. It would be interesting to learn from your experience.

I think you'll find that many people here are extremely efficient when it comes to learning. Mastering a language like Chinese is really hard, though, and it takes time, not just talent.

You'll need to write ~500 characters by hand for the written part of the HSK advanced. Make sure you practice your writing, because you'll need to be fast.

Good luck.

[anonymoose]

You'll need to write ~500 characters by hand for the written part of the HSK advanced

The requirement is 400, but I don't think the actual number of characters has a big effect on the final score. I wrote approximately 300 characters and managed to get an upper 10 on that section.

Still, I agree, the faster you can write the better.

[abcdefg]

A lot of the Original Poster's comments in this thread, reminds me of a bright Russian fellow I met last year at a language school in Kunming where the instruction was one-on-one. Several of us were chatting during a break and someone asked how long he would be enrolled. His answer was "Only two weeks, but that's enough: I'm a genius." I think his answer was tongue in cheek, but I’m not really sure. He played a good game of chess.

[johndones]

Haha, that's funny, actually I'm almost Russian too (from one of the ex USSR sattelite countries) and used to love chess too when younger, but didn't play for a while now.

How much did he learn in 2 weeks?

[abcdefg]

How much did he learn in 2 weeks?

He had a knack for languages and applied himself. He actually learned quite a lot for such a short period of time.

Edited November 27, 2009 at 12:45 AM by abcdefg

[johndones]

I know that he learned a lot, because otherwise you wouldn't mention him, but "a lot" can mean too many different things when it comes to people that learn languages fast ;-). And did he learn many other languages earlier?

Actually I was always wondering how Russian people do on average, because I don't know any.

[Scoobyqueen]

Only two weeks, but that's enough: I'm a genius." I think his answer was tongue in cheek, but I’m not really sure. He played a good game of chess.

Arent genius (or what is the plural) per se quite good at hiding it? probably something about them having learnt that it doesnt go down well socially (at school).

[chrix]

the geniuses I've met so far in life have stood out in their abilities and behaviour that they did a poor job of hiding it. They never said it though, it'd be pretty easy for you to deduce it...