HSK Level 3 vs HSK Level 4

[phannahan44]

Hello all,

First time poster, long time lurker. Thanks to all who have provided invaluable information in many different areas of Chinese language learning. I've studied for about 3 years now, including one year living and learning in Hangzhou. I'm back in USA but have continued to work hard on writing and reading, since these are largely self-driven practices. I'd say I am capable of writing 500-600 characters at this point.

I have decided to shoot for the HSK in May. I am wondering if any other "intermediate" level students could comment on the knowledge gap between Levels 3 and 4? I have taken two practice tests of Level 3, in the past week, and have passed both. Thus, I'm inclined to shoot for Level 4, since I do have 6 months to prepare. Basically, I'd rather shoot for Level 4, and bust my a*s over the next 6 months studying the HSK Level 4 vocabulary list, than sign up to take Level 3, a level which I am able to pass now, 6 months out. Any thoughts / suggestions?

I hope I'm not rambling too much, and that there are others out there who have been in similar shoes.

Any and all insight much appreciated. Cheers.

[大肚男]

I have been studying Chinese for two and a half years as a hobby in the US, and I was faced with a similar decision. I decided to aim high, and took HSK 4 last week.

I'm still waiting for the results, but l feel good about my decision.

I guess it all depends on why you're taking the exam, if you need the certificate for school or work, I suggest you take something that you know.you will pass. however, if it's jusr for self gratification, then go for the higher level, it will be more satisfying and challenging

[rmpalpha]

In my view, the most noticeable thing that changed from level 3 to level 4 was the 600 new vocabulary items in the level 4 test, and the test definitely uses a good portion of that new vocabulary.

The grammar and general difficulty (other than vocabulary) was pretty similar. The level 4 test also has somewhat longer passages in the reading part, but most are still at most a paragraph long. The writing section is probably the biggest jump in difficulty as you have to write original sentences based on a picture and a given word in the level 4 test, whereas you only have to write a single character in each of five sentences in the level 3 test. I thought the writing section was much more difficult in the level 4 test, as they test word usage as well as context - for instance, 乒乓球 is something that you 打 (not 做), 汤 is something you 喝 (not 吃), etc.

I think, though, that if you're comfortable with the level 3 test, and study the level 4 vocabulary list (including how to use the new words in a sentence), you'll do fine on the level 4 test.

[phannahan44]

Many thanks to "Big Belly" (haha) and rmpalpha for the really helpful replies. rmpalpha -- I really appreciate your insight and it helps to know that, besides vocabulary, levels 3 and 4 are at least similar in structure and setup. I am now positive I will try for Level 4 in 6 months. There's no use taking 3 which I feel comfortable with even now. In the next 6 months I will just have to really focus on the new vocabulary words and learn how to write those characters too.

Thanks again guys, much appreciated. And good luck to all those out there studying for any level of HSK!

[milin]

When I took level 4, I had not practiced writing at all. I think I could probably write no more than 50 to 100 characters. I hoped to compensate the writing part with reading and listening.

Nevertheless, I scored a 5.5 on writing (and about a 7.5 on listening and reading), because in a large part of the writing section you just have to copy fragments of sentences in the correct order. If you don't really know how to write the characters, it will cost you a little bit more time to copy them accurately, but since I'm quite familiar with the techniques of writing characters I could achieve an acceptable score anyway. Since you already know about 500 characters, you should be able to do well on the writing part of level 4.

[phannahan44]

Thanks milin, that's very helpful.

Usually, in order to "learn" a character I learn first how to write it and then to recognize it when I see it. I am wondering.. how are you able to not write much but also read at a high level? Did you focus on flashcards and just memorizing what the characters mean, and what words mean? Any insight on your studying methods would help.

I need to learn about 600 new words on HSK Level 4 list in the next 5 months and, instead of learning to write them all, I think my time would be better spent just being able to know what each means, and how it's used in a sentence.

Any feedback much appreciated; thanks and congrats on passing!

[milin]

From the beginning, about 14 years ago, I spent 95% of my time on reading material, starting with elementary textbooks and later also books with just stories. And indeed, I used flashcards. But... in the beginning I *did* spend a lot of time on learning about radicals, writing techniques, and the etymology of characters (see zhongwen.com). I think after a few years of studying, I could guess the stroke order in most of the characters.

I didn't start learning to write characters until a few months before I tried level 5 for the first time (may 2012). But now I have a problem, because I learn just 1 character a day at the moment, and my current score is about 500 characters. In the writing part of level 5 you really have to write 2 stories of about 80 characters, and I can think of enough sentences, but every time there is at least 1 character I can't write. I think the 2 stories make up 60% of the score, so even if I give the correct answer to the other questions of the writing part, I can hardly get a score above 4.

Although in the test exams (of level 5) I did score a 6.0 once or twice on the listening part, that is now a big problem too. I'm even amazed I passed level 4 listening, because I didn't do much about that either. The only thing I did was listen to broadcasts on chinesepod.com (but just very irregularly), and I am now more or less able to follow the Intermediate (3rd) level of 5 or 6 levels.

The one thing I'm hoping for, is that it won't take long anymore before they will introduce computerized exams in the Netherlands. Because then I'm saved :-). Otherwise it could probably take me a long time before I will pass level 5 (on 2-12 was my 2nd attempt, and I think my grades will even be lower than last time).

But as long as you really have to write characters by hand in the exam (as opposed to using a computer), I think it's certainly wise to start learning as many as possible as soon as possible. And there's another advantage: I regularly mix up characters, but when you know how to write them that happens less often.

[phannahan44]

Yeah.. I would honestly be surprised if they ever introduced computer testing in levels 4-6. I thought the whole point, when at that level of proficiency, was to be able to WRITE!

Thanks again for all the valuable information.

[rmpalpha]

They most certainly do offer computerized testing for levels 4-6 - I took the computerized test for level 4 this past October and have registered for the level 5 computer exam to be taken next March.

I'd say that the computerized testing provides a different type of challenge where you have to be able to type out the characters (as opposed to just copying them from the test booklet). I use pinyin input and have had trouble remembering how to pronounce a couple of characters in the sentence assembly exercise - this wouldn't happen in the paper test as I could just copy the characters.

[Sajimi]

Like 大肚男, I took the HSK level 4 exam recently (Saturday). Phannahan44, when I originally signed up, I was unsure as well which level I should take. I felt confident I could easily pass level 3 (since I did online tests and did good on them) but wasn't sure I'd do good on level 4 because the online tests felt really hard and I hadn't studied any of the vocab yet, so I signed up to take both levels 3 and 4. In retrospect, I shouldn't have bothered signing up for level 3 because it felt very easy (I'm saying this now, and then I'll get the results that say I failed and I'll look dumb, haha). I mean, level 3 still has a few "picture-style" exercises, which I though were reserved for levels 1 and 2 only. Also, you were asking about the "knowledge gap". Where I took the test, they read the instructions in French for level 3 and in Chinese for level 4, which I think is proof of the gap there is. Plus you hear everything twice in level 3, and only once in level 4. Level 4 and up is where it starts getting really tricky, IMO. So definitely aim for level 4.

After some proper studying (mostly learning the new vocab and then learning to use it in context), level 4 didn't seem that bad. I didn't know all the words but hopefully I did ok nonetheless.

My goal is (if I pass level 4) is to attempt level 5 in May, just to see what it's like. From what I gather though, I'm really going to have to work on my writing as that's a big part of the exam! I'm so used to writing Chinese with a computer now that I've forgotten how to write most Chinese characters. I was embarrassingly slow during the writing section of the HSK 4 ...

[大肚男]

Sajimi, where you allowed to take both exams at the same time? I would've liked to do that .

[milin]

In the Netherlands you can always do the odd levels (1, 3, 5) in the morning and the even levels in the afternoon (or vice versa), so you're always always to do 2 consequtive levels at the same day. In my home town it is even possible to also do an oral exam on the same day. But I don't know if other countries offer the same options.

[Sajimi]

Yes, I could take both exams on the same day Apparently a lot of people do this so they make sure no level is at the same time as an other. Took level 4 in the morning and level 3 in the afternoon. Makes for a long day!

I took the HSK in Paris but couldn't do the oral test the same day because one center manages the written part and another the oral part

[patphilly]

I am also studying for the HSK 4 after passing HSK 3 earlier this Spring. I indeed find that learning the 600 new words is the biggest hurdle.

It indeed IS possible to just take the list and memorize, say, 50 words a week on average, but it gets pretty tedious and i find that it takes time to really get the meaning right, as there is often not a exact equivalent in English, or it gets frequent to get faced with several words that have pretty close translations in English without really getting the nuance.

I wonder if most people just proceed by brute force (learning a given amount of words each day from the list and making frequent repetitions), or if any of you found any smarter way to proceed. I am thinking it would really be more efficient to learn the vocabulary by themes (i.e. all animals, all house-related words, all words for family members, verbs related to emotions, body parts, food-related words, etc.) I wonder if such a thematically arranged vocabulary list by HSK level already exists (via a textbook, or online?)

Thanks everyone for advice!

[phannahan44]

@patphilly that's a great point. I was thinking that just last night; I am taking HSK on May 12 and need to memorize about 400 words in the meantime. Challenging, for sure, but ultimately doable, especially if there exists "theme-based" notecards such as the kind you alluded to.

Anyone else have an idea where we could find theme-based HSK level lists, as opposed to the alphabetized versions around now?

Thanks for any insight!

[大肚男]

Milin and Sajimi, thanks for letting me know. In Miami, they had everyone in the same room at the same time, no matter which exam they were taking

[MoKangWei]

This year I am going to take my first HSK, I'm aiming for level four, but I'll have to wait until april and travel to another state to take it, is there a computarized version? How does it work?

[edelweis]

@MoKangWei:

some threads already exist about the computer based test:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/37003-hsk-computer-exam/

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/37311-new-hsk-level-5-computer-exam-%E2%80%93-preparation-tips/

you can try a computer based test at http://mnks.chinesebridge.com.cn/

click on the 完整版 link next to the desired level for a free full test.

(on the actual exam you will use the test center's computer, not your own computer.)

[bestma]

hi! i just passed level 3, and start study chinese 6 months ago! my teacher said that i break all thw scores in greece! (i come from Greece)

now i start studing for the level 4 and the lessons will start at September. i hope i will succeed! i will give a shot!

[mokushiroku]

6 months to pass level 3? That is fast!

From 3 to four, you don't need to make a huge leap in many areas. But you do need to double your vocabulary. And level 4 is the level at which you've really got to put more attention to your writing skills.

Good luck!