Drivers License

[jasoninchina]

In September I will be taking the Chinese drivers license test in Haikou. The test has 100 questions taken from a pool of 1000. They provide you with study material that has all 1000 questions and answers. It is a small booklet that is only in Chinese. The test itself however can be taken in Chinese or English. No study materials in English exists. I do not know the quality of the English translation.

I can understand about half the characters in the study booklet. Some questions I could possibly read and understand, other I have no clue. Its a pretty unfortunate situation to be in, but I need a drivers license. I am hoping to get some advice on some options that I may have. My plan at this point is to study the best that I can and take the test in Chinese first. Then, assuming I fail, I would take the test in English. For 80 RMB, I get two tries. And there isn't a penalty for failing.

My hope is that someone knows of some English study material that I am unaware of. I am assuming that it is a nationwide test, but I could be wrong.I must get 90% to pass. Thanks in advance for any help.

[imron]

I am hoping to get some advice on some options that I may have.

Pay someone to translate the study materials into English. Sell the English translation online to other people who might also want to study for the test in English.

[mikevwilliams]

There is an English translation of the driving test questions. Check your PM.

[imron]

Care to share more information so readers in the future can also benefit?

[jasoninchina]

Thanks Mike,

The questions appear to be the same. The layout is similar but different in many areas. There are more questions in the digital copy that Mike provided. Overall, I think this will be incredibly useful. I'll share more as I begin to study.

I'll leave it to Mike to post it. I'm not sure where the translation came from, so I don't want to post someone else's work.

[mikevwilliams]

OK, I've uploaded the files, so anyone who wants them can get them. I wasn't the one who translated these, I was given them by someone else.

http://www.wupload.com/file/110418263/DrivingTests.rar

Enjoy!

[rezaf]

I got mine2 years ago in Shanghai and it was very easy. They gave me a booklet of 100 questions with answers in English and the test was exactly the same 100 questions. Is it that easy only in Shanghai?

[Helios]

I've heard that you can take the exam in Chinese and have a translator with you, and just by coincidence, this "translator" can also assist you in answering the questions on the exam.

Source: I know one guy who did this in Nanjing, and I've heard from others they did this.

[jasoninchina]

@ Helios - If that turns out to be true, you will be in serious need of a high-five. I doubt it is, however, since I have the option to take it in English.

[Brandon-Learn Chinese]

I got my driver's license last July. I live in Beijing and we were given English training manuals. Sounds like its the same as yours, 1000 questions and answers, the translation is o.k but they use some weird terms. I took the test 3 times but my friends passed on the 2nd time. There are English materials. I don't know in your area but in the big cities they have the English manuals. I dont have mine anymore but I would recommend calling an driving agency and they might be able to help.

[Matty]

I intend to get my license here one day, but intend to skip any tests.

I'll apply for a Hong Kong license with my Australian license, then have that turned into a mainland license.

A little money, but I also get a 10 year Hong Kong license and no tests at all! ^^

[Helios]

@jasoninchina:

I asked my friend for details about how who got his license, and this is what he said:

The rules are different in every city. I've heard that in Shanghai they have an English version of the test, but why would anyone do that? You are allowed to hire a certified translator for the Chinese version of the exam and generally, in Nanjing, they charge 400rmb with a guaranteed pass; that is, they tell you the answers as you go.

This is in Nanjing, obviously, but maybe it is the same where you want to take your exam.

Good luck!

[jasoninchina]

Hey y'all,

I took the driving test this morning and thought I would give some info about the test. The study material that is posted in this thread is spot on. The translation appears to be identical to what I saw on the test. There are a total of 1,315 possible questions. 100 of those questions appear on the test. You must score 90 or above to pass.

The study material states that the questions are picked randomly according to a ratio (a diagram of this ratio is shown). At least on my test, in Haikou, I did not find this to be true. There were sections that were completely cut out. I would therefore suggest equal attention be given to the entire test. When I was first studying, I was simply reading through the material. After several hours of this, my wife then suggested taking it as a test. Which meant I needed to make another copy of the material without the answers or the chinese copy. So I spent a few hours going through the 300+ pages. Then spent another few hours answering the 1,315 questions. Suffice it to say, I didn't use my time wisely. I scored 86, so i'll be taking it again next week. When I'm finished, perhaps I will post the test version online if anyone is interested.

Paraphrased question that made me laugh

What should the driver do when encountering pedestrians using the crosswalk?

A. Stop and yield

B. Speed up and pass

C. Honk continuously

D. Alternate between high and low beam

Could they really blame me if I got this one wrong?

[rezaf]

Based on my experience in China I'd say honk continuously.

[jasoninchina]

So I failed the test again, but I did score higher (88). Hopefully, that means I'll get 90 next time. I found out that the Chinese study material has 725 questions, as compared to the english one which has 1315. Looking back I think it was a big mistake to try and study the material by taking it as a test. I wasted about six hours doing this. The reason I did this was because there is a chinese test you can take online. Apparently, it feeds your wrong questions back to you like a srs. Pretty cool idea, it just doing work with 1300 questions and doing it by hand.

Third times the charm, right?

[jasoninchina]

Ok, so I finally passed with 97.

The key was to highlight the difficult questions and review them. Remember, the study material linked above is nearly identical to what you will see on the test, but contains about 600 additional questions than the Chinese version. I would say one could pass the test with about 7 or 8 hours of study.