HSK -- Necessary?

[yonglan]

Having studied and lived only in Taiwan, I know that there is a test called HSK and not much more. I am aware Roddy has done a detailed write up on part of it and other threads have talked about certain aspects of it. I also went to the official site. Questions remain.

Who cares? Do jobs in China actually want you to pass this?

Is it practical? Does the test test you on useful language?

I ask the two question above because in Japan some foreigners think it's so cool to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (now to be replaced or something), which is required for foreigners to enter a Japanese university. But every foreigner in Japan I've come across who works in a Japanese language environment says their employer didn't ask about the test and they didn't take it. They say that potential employers want to know if you can use the language not whether you passed the JLPT. It's also legendary for being linguistically pointless (like TOEFL in the US) for what it tests.

So,

1) Is HSK meaningful to getting a job in China (in a Chinese language environment)? Do you know people who needed it for a job?

2) Does the test test the real language?

One other point of confusion. It appears that HSK is divided into 11 (or 3) levels (Elem: 1-3, Elem-Inter: 3-8, Adv: 9-11), but that the vocabulary is divided into 4 levels (A, B, C, D). What?

[roddy]

I"m not sure jobs would ever request it specifically - seems to me that employers needing Chinese speaking foreigners can't yet be picky enough to say 'must have HSK 8 or equivalent' - they just say something like 'Good Chinese' and leave it at that.

You could use an HSK Cert as evidence of your 'good Chinese' but if you don't have one they'll happily trust you / test your Chinese themselves. There's not much general awareness of the HSK, and I've always had to explain what it is (which can be handy - 'Difficult? oh yes, very, very difficult . . .')

You need it for university entry (or at least, so the universities say - has anyone turned up without it and used 'equivalent qualifications'? ) though.

As for the 'real language'' - yes and no. The reading and listening sections use realistic pieces, and I found preparing for the HSK did wonders for my real-world Chinese. No, however, in that they don't test your speaking at all until Advanced level, and then only by getting you to talk into a tape recorder - and speaking is a pretty big part of real-world language. Writing skills beyond the character level are also ignored until Advanced. Thinking about it, if the HSK was more balanced in this respect, I probably wouldn't be struggling with the huge gap between my productive and receptive skills - although that's just an attempt to shift the blame, probably.

The vocab / exam levels thing I covered here but not very completely - I just had the look through my handy handbooks I promised to have way back then, but didn't find a specific answer.

Roddy

[beijingbooty]

HSk will be totally revamped for next year.

I think this year is the last year for the old style.

the new style will address the exact issues that most people complain of.

The new exam will be a more effective measure of real world mandarin skills.

[beijingbooty]

apart from being necessary to gain entrance to a chinese university, the hsk probably is of little worth.

However it is a great goal to work towards for a learner, and it is great fun testing yourself in a formal environment like that.

HSK gives "do it yourself" learners an actual goal to aim towards and a certain standard to achieve.

[roddy]

Where have you heard it will be revamped? Maybe I'm going to have to take it again

Roddy

[yonglan]

Thanks, Roddy and Booty.

[beijingbooty]

i read about it in the latest glossy promotional brochure booklet they have produced. That was released at the beginning of this year.

It is quite a flash looking publication. the info regarding their intentions to revamp it is in there.

[ChouDoufu]

that's interesting.. I have a friend who works in the HSK office of BLCU, creating those nasties. I'll be sure to try and ask my friend about the changes.

[roddy]

Yeah, I'd love to hear about that - I checked the website, but couldn't see anything. Can you give us some details, Mr Beijingbooty?

Roddy

[beijingbooty]

OK guys, I will back up my claims with a short extract from the official HSK glossy brochure released in Jan this year:

The publishing of the new edition of the HSk in 2006: the fourth general meeting of the state committee for the chinese proficiency test was held recently in which the working scheme for the reform and development of HSK was formulatetd. In accordance with the requirements fo the state committee for the chinese proficiency test, the office of the the state committee for the chinese proficiency test wil supervise research conducted by the beijing language and culture university and many other famous universities in china, on various subjects related to the reform and development of hsk and has set a target date of 2006 for the PUBLSHING OF THE NEW-EDITION OF THE HSK. This new version of hsk will PLACE MORE EMPHASIS ON PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS. its reliability and convenience will also be enhanced, and the new edition of hsk will MORE FAITHFULLY REFLECT THE ACTUAL LEVEL OF EXAMINEES IN ORDER TO BETTER MEET THEIR NEEDS.........

The brochure has more detail, but my hands are seizing up after all this typing, so hopefully this brief extract will help to dispel doubts in the minds of the non-belivers out there

2006 - new HSK format, so sorry guys, you might all have to resit it !

[beijingbooty]

here is the official website for teaching mandarin as a foreign language:

http://www.hanban.edu.cn/

it is a very cool website and has some interesting articles that are very suitable for learners to read through.

But it would seem that like 90% of chinese websites, it is hit and miss whether it works or not from one day to the next.

what is it with chinese websites, that they are so unreliable !

Even the beijing olympic website never seems to be working when I try it.

There are some serious deficiences with reliability of websites in China as far as I can see.

[roddy]

MORE FAITHFULLY REFLECT THE ACTUAL LEVEL OF EXAMINEES IN ORDER TO BETTER MEET THEIR NEEDS

Thanks - I'm looking forward to having my needs better met by a much easier exam . . .

Actually, if the HSK had a decent speaking component, I'd happily take it again, and if they make it possible to do it without having to write (ie a 'HSK(No-characters) and (Characters) version) or let you use computers I'd be

Roddy

[geraldc]

I have my intermediate HSK exam in 20 hrs time. Needless to say I haven't really done enough preparation for it. However I'm not that bothered as I'll be taking it again in 6 months time in an attempt to beat whatever mark I get this time.

I took the foundation/basic level 6 months ago, and tomorrow is my first attempt at the intermediate.

I was just wondering how many times have people taken their HSK?

[Phillip]

Can anyone confirm whether or not foreigners applying for Chinese language courses at, say, Peking University or Beijing Language and Culture University need to have sat the HSK? I assume not as they assess your ability when you get there. Dui budui?

[roddy]

I have my intermediate HSK exam in 20 hrs time.

So, how was it?

Phillip: If you are going for language courses, the HSK isn't necessary as they'll give you their own assessment. However, I think it's necessary for entry to actual degree courses.

Roddy

[geraldc]

So, how was it?

It was my first attempt at the intermediate level, and I kind of enjoyed it. I'm doing the exams for "fun", as there's no real benefit in me doing well in them other than for my sense of self achievement, so there's no pressure on me. I'll be having another crack at the exam every 6 months time, until I get bored and feel I'm ready for the advanced.

Like everyone else, the bits I could do, I could, the bits that I couldn't do I had to guess at.

I followed the standard exam advice and it worked well.

In the listening, try and read the possible answers before they read out the passage.

In the reading comprehension, read the questions before reading the article, to find out what you're supposed to be looking out for.

When I did the foundation, I came up with an appalling strategy of answering the questions in the reading comprehension in reverse order, because in all the practise tests, I'd found the later articles easier. Didn't really provide any benefit in the real exam though. This time, I answered the questions in the correct order.

As with most of the past papers/mocks I'd seen, the reading comprehension exercises all seemed to feature articles about wildlife. This time my favourite article was about the 娃娃鱼, a fish with 4 legs.

The final part where you have to write in the missing characters was depressing as I left so many blank spaces. No point guessing in that section.

After the exam was finished one of the invigilators handed out leaflets about the HSK (少儿) level, a new HSK for children. I don't exactly know what they hoped to achieve by handing out the leaflets to us, but who knows if I do badly in my intermediate I may have a crack at that one instead.

[beijingbooty]

I sat my hsk intermediate approx. 2 weeks ago.

There were only three other people in the class for a grand total of 4 students. The "kaoguan" had come over specially from Beijing to hold the exam for such a pitiful amount of people ! (but I think the basic exam had more students).

Surprising the "kaoguan" could not speak english. They travel the western world hosting the exams and cannot speak any english ? - what is with that !

I was surprised that with the local university only just up the road, there was only one student from there sitting the exam. It seems uni students dont bother with HSK too much. They seem happy with their own uni. mandarin exams.

I found the exam tough. I could understand it all quite well, it was just that I struggled all the way and was rarely 100% sure if I chosen the right answer. There were just too many questions where two answers were so simliar, that either could be right or wrong.

It didnt help when a protest march took place outside the building half way through and lasted for half and hour !

I dont know how they mark these things. If it is just a straight tally of scores then I am probably sunk, however if they make adjustments based on overall class scores and/or other computational adjustments then I may do better. Anyone know if this is the case, or is just a straight tally out of 100% ?

[Phillip]

Thanks, Roddy, for that. Now I don't have to go to a different country just for the HSK (it's not available in Taiwan).