Can you ace HSK 5 in a year?

[Angelina]

Maybe you can, if you study mathematics

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mathematics

 

 

[Guest]

Hi again and thank you for your responses, I didn't think this was going to escalate in that way.

 

I also want to provide my feedback about some things discussed here:

 

@lips @somethingfunny I agree with lips. I don't think those examples reflect a university level, at least not for courses after the first year.

 

@somethingfunny fortunately I don't have to worry about accreditation at all because I can validate my degree with the ministry of education of my country by paying a fee, and showing my transcripts and my diploma. If I want to work abroad I would follow the advice of getting a master's degree (I still have to stay for 2 years in my home country before going abroad again, it's part of the sponsor's agreement).

 

@realmayo and @Angelina your comments have been really really helpful, would you mind telling me more about your preparatory classes or first year of studies? Things like your schedule, quality of professors, class size, quality of student body, food (very important ), amount of free time, health services, and anything that may have forgotten to mention.

 

To add more context, when I checked the scholarship application from my sponsor, fluency in English was strongly recommended so I may assume that some of the educational resources that  I may be provided during preparatory studies and major studies will be in English.

 

By the way, even if Chinese higher education is underdeveloped to a certain point, it is much better than my country so I want to go for that, especially if get one of those scholarships . 

 

Finally, we can conclude that is is possible to get HSK 4 in a year and HSK 5 if you concentrate from day 0  24/7 (without counting sleeping of course)

 

 

[somethingfunny]

Massive sigh.  This wasn't a "Who has the biggest equation?" competition.

 

My point was that it is demonstrably more straightforward to study science and engineering in a second language than it is social sciences and humanities.

 

Fortunately, I have first-hand subjective knowledge of this, so I know it to be true.

 

Let me demonstrate:

 

Ask an 18 year old Chinese Maths student with zero English ability the following question: If y=x^2*sinx, find dy/dx.

They will almost certainly get the correct answer.

 

Ask an 18 year old Chinese History student with zero English ability the following question: To what extent can the statement "The Chartist movement was ultimately successful" be taken to be true?

Good.  Luck.

 

Fine, change it to something they know, like the communists, they're still not going to be able to write anything.  Fine, give them some English ability and they still don't know how to construct arguments in the correct way.  Etc.

[Guest]

@somethingfunny Oh sorry  forgot to mention that I still prefer a math test instead of a 500 words essay in Chinese, I was just pointing out that those examples didn't reflect advanced university level problems.

 

 

Edited March 30, 2017 at 06:26 PM by Guest
I forgot to add some things

[somethingfunny]

Nor did I claim that it did - that position was attributed to me by someone else.

 

However, as I do have a degree in science, let me point out that even problems in the final year of an undergraduate degree can still be "easily" done without good language skills.  Not all of them, but definitely a lot of them.  That's why no-one does research into second language learners doing Maths, but people do a lot of research into second language learners writing essays.  You could almost consider mathematics a lingua franca.

[thechamp]

Yes I think you're right about that maths stuff but I also think it's above the HSK 5 to get a question on various engineering subjects and then have to do maths based on those questions. The OP said anyway that he's going home after and if he can use his qualification from China in his home country properly then all's good really. 

 

This will happen so much more and there should be a sticky on this forum about it and people should record their experiences of how Chinese degrees are viewed abroad etc (cos it's really cheap to go to China and Taiwan for degrees so why not?). Also Angelina you should spend some time to write about what you and your class' experiences are when you graduate and how that works with Chinese employers. Especially interesting would be things where people need to be at a required professional standard e.g. medicine and engineering. 

[xit]

What level would be good enough then? What if someone who already has HSK 5 did a preparatory year, would his language skills be good enough to study say medicine?

[Guest]

@xit Well, according to the CSC if you want to study humanities/Chinese medicine, you will be provided with 2 years of preparatory studies. Theoretically speaking HSK 5 = 1 year of intensive studies so you would need another year to be prepared. 

 

Keep in mind that this is just an Hypothesis, there are several variables to take into account (hours per day of study, initial skills, cognitive ability, etc etc etc) in order to say that you needed that extra year.

[Angelina]

Quote

 

Fine, change it to something they know, like the communists, they're still not going to be able to write anything.  Fine, give them some English ability and they still don't know how to construct arguments in the correct way.  Etc.

 

 
 

 

 

For many people around here it ultimately comes down to this (the communists). I love talking about my experience and helping others. However, there are some people who refuse to listen and it feels like talking to a brick wall. I am planning to either continue doing research (if I find the right research group for me) or start my own company. Both of these options are easy to do in China, with adequate funding for science and an encouraging start-up culture available. 

Yes, mathematics is a universal language. 

Prospective students interested in studying in China should pay a lot of attention to their writing skills.

[Apollys]

On 3/30/2017 at 0:03 AM, werewitt said:

Quote

I managed to get up through HSK 4 vocab 

But did you manage to pass the HSK4 test? Not quite clear from that line.

 

Struggling to sign up for a test here in San Diego... The test center isn't responding to any of my attempts to contact them.  Anyway, I'm in the US, not immersed in the language in any way, just studying in spare time on the evenings or weekends.  In a more serious environment, progress would be way faster.

[geogeo]

You can pass HSK5 in a year of studying the content and tests absolutely, though as many have mentioned, you'll probably be training yourself to pass exams rather than actually have practical usage and enjoyment from the language

[歪果仁]

It took me 3 years to finish HSK 4 I am now working on 5. However I have a career and other commitments and I am studying Chinese as a hobby in a non Chinese speaking environment. If you can devote yourself to Chinese then you will improve much faster than me. So short answer I think is yes depending on your resources, talent and determination. 

[werewitt]

@MrDuque

https://bkrs.info/taolun/thread-66716-post-184619.html#pid184619

A summary translation (about getting from zero to HSK5 while studying in China):

 

"Possible but tough. Spend 5 month on drilling the HSK5 vocab with Anki and dictations, then spend 6 months preparing for the actual exam - reading, listening, understanding mechanics of the questions. It is possible to pass with a good score if you do this in a smart way and with iron discipline. I (that post's author) did, with an abysmal score of 224, but I did not put too much effort into it - had enough time for play. 

A good tactic is to first (before heading to China) learn for 2-3 months at home with a tutor and books. So that later you don't waste half a year doing tones and scribbling characters in A班 (basic level). Straight to Bt and simple texts, second half year in D班 which is closer to HSK5"

 

This may be adaptable to studying completely outside China, but will be way harder.

[Guest]

Ok so just to let you all know how this preparation program ended, I managed to pass the HSK4 in approximately 6 months and I was given an extra year to pass HSK5. (Although I have a classmate who managed to pass it in 9 months) 

 

I'll provide more comments about the experience in a new thread later.

[AaronUK]

37 minutes ago, MrDuque said:

 

 

I'll provide more comments about the experience in a new thread later.

 

 

Really great to get your update! I would love to hear your experience of study, hours a week, books, being able to get around and use your language etc

 

Are you planning to accept the further year language program?

[Guest]

@AaronUK Oh I won't take another year for language program, I'll start to study my major so the uni just gave me time during the first year to pass the HSK5

[roddy]

Excellent. Get your classmate along too.