Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced Chinese

[mokoyo]

I was wondering if there was a clear standard for what defines a specific level of Chinese. For example, textbooks often use Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced to diferentiate between products. I was wondering if anyone had any clear idea of what those are defined by.

I consider myself to be at an okay level, but always have a hard time finding material that suites my level.

[tysond]

I notice that a lot of material is based around HSK Levels (1/2 = Beginner, 3/4 = Intermediate, 5/6 = Advanced).

I tend to use this link to get an idea: http://www.livethelanguage.cn/services/levels/ (haven't been able to find this table elsewhere).

[abcdefg]

For example, textbooks often use Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced to diferentiate between products. I was wondering if anyone had any clear idea of what those are defined by.

No. It's very muddy. An "advanced beginner" book in the Boya series for example, might be more difficult than an "upper intermediate" book in the Hanyu Jiaocheng series.

Furthermore, there is often great discontinuity between progressive books in the series, by which I mean that book 4 may be hugely more difficult than book 3 even though book 3 was only very slightly more challenging than book 2. It's as though the authors of one book haven't bothered to talk with the authors of the other.

An additional factor is that some books tend to be more aimed at building conversational proficiency, while others use more "shumian" 书面 language, focusing on boosting reading skills.

The take home message is that you need to try a book you think will be suitable, but be ready to put it aside if it's not, and pick another one to meet your needs. It's real difficult to get it right and often needs "fine tuning" as you go along. You and your teacher might agree to skip this part and to supplement that part with additional material.

Might add on the subject of textbooks, that some are just poorly thought out. For instance an example sentence intended to demonstrate one of the chapter's grammar points might also use 4 or 5 new vocabulary words from that same lesson. Just poor pedagogy; better to let the student first struggle with one new thing at a time.

Chinese textbooks, in my opinion, are an obstacle to be overcome as you move along the learning path. They are a necessary evil, but could be so very much better. Chinese educational methods are pretty backwards.

I will freely admit it's possible that I just never managed to discover that perfect book series that some other forum member will swear by. There will surely be legitimate differences of opinion on this topic.