Degree equivalent to what HSK level?

[XiaoXi]

I was just wondering what HSK level you would be at after a three year degree in Chinese taken outside China? Would you be at advanced level or maybe not quite?

Thanks.

Xiao Xi

[JamesGoff]

Well this would depend on many things

- HOw hard you worked

- How much Chinese you do for your degree

- How much time you spent in China during your degree

_whether you just learnt ot pass exams or actualy developed fluency etc etc etc

[Ding Yiyi]

I don't know exactly, but if you can't make it to China to take the test there are test dates in the US. I couldn't find any

The HSK website: http://www.hsk.org.cn/english/Default.aspx

If you go to "Test Info" you can look at what they designed each test to reflect, but based on my research I would expect that if you haven't ever been to China that you would probably want to take the Intermediate or Advanced tests. If you want, on the main page there are links to practice HSKs, so that you can get an idea of where you fall on their scale, and how difficult each of the tests are (on a side note, a perfect score on the HSK-Advanced, means that you're bordering on fluency). Have fun, and I hope this helps.

[trevelyan]

Can you read a newspaper?

The HSK doesn't focus on literary or classical texts. Look at contemporary news sources like Xinhua (or www.newsinchinese.com if you want supporting annotation). If you can understand the general gist of the news articles but have dfficulties with the specifics you are probably somewhere around level 5-6. If you can metally segment the text properly, including all of the foreign loan words, you will be at level 8 or above.

Not really a scientific test, but pretty accurate given what I've seen of the HSK materials. If you can read a newspaper you can get through the reading comprehension section without much difficulty.

[rose~]

Also, it depends on where the degree would be. In the UK, people who study Chinese automatically spend an academic year in China, whereas in the US a major in Chinese does not only study Chinese but many other subjects as I understand. Whilst the US system leads to a strong broad education, and they have higher rates of people studying more concentrated subjects via a Masters anyway, from what I have seen the UK students emerge from a four year degree in Chinese with a higher level as we operate on a different system, focussing on one or two subjects.

In answer to your question, a UK student should be at least level 8.

[dan ni er]

I think it really depends on how much work you put in. EG I've met some people who have done a Chinese degree in the UK, spent a year in China, but would still struggle with HSK advanced.

[XiaoXi]

Wow thanks for so many replies! I was wondering what kind of level a degree gets you to roughly. Mainly to compare for example someone who has through self study got to Intermediate or Advanced HSK then they have the equivalent of degree level Chinese or more.

With the HSK, what exactly is level 5, 6 or 8? I'm only aware that there are Basic, Intermediate and Advanced levels. I don't know about these numbers.

Thanks again,

Xiao Xi

[Ding Yiyi]

The numbers range from 1-11, 1 being a beginner with little contact to any Mandarin, 11 being the best measured (probably fluent, but I can't say). A level 6 or 7 is required by most universities to attend their normal classes, and level 8 is required by the topmost universities such as Peking University. Follow the link I put in above to figure out where you would fall within these numbers. The website I gave is the official HSK website, and whilie it doesn't list places outside of China, it gives you a good idea of where you are by the practice tests. Look around on it for yourself and get familir with it. If you look on Chinese book websites you can find HSK prep materials, a few things about that though: I've never looked through any HSK book, or taken the HSK, so I don't know if the books are good, and I'm not sure if you can get them through Amazon.com, but I have seen them advertised on a China-based website called www.lovemandarin.com . Its worth asking those that have taken the HSK and/or used the materials I just talked about to gain a better understanding of it.

Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced are the three tests that comprise the HSK, you choose one of them and they rate your Mandarin ability from there. Beginning measures levels 1-3, Intermediate measures 4-8, and Advanced measures 9-11. Again, look at the website I posted above for all this information.

[pandaxiongmao]

The HSK Elementary-Intermediate test actually tests for levels 3-8. Intermediate would probably be considered levels 6, 7, or 8 on that test. But otherwise, that information is accurate.

[XiaoXi]

Oh I see, thanks. So I'm wondering, if you have for example a HSK advanced certificate then is that equivalent to having a degree? I guess employers wouldn't really recognise it as such but technically it is. I mean a degree in the sense that you can apply for a job that requires a degree candidate and not one that necessarily relates to Chinese at all.

Xiao Xi

[Ding Yiyi]

It isn't the equivelent of a degree, but it is the PRC's official test for people who learn Chinese. This number coincides with a whatever the test taker's specific ability is, and gives an accurate picture of your real language ability in the way a degree could never show. This isn't a measure of academic achievement, it is a meause of real language ability (or, at the very least the ability to understand the language and regurgitate grammar rules). Hope this helps, and look at the HSK webpage that I posted! You can find every little thing you need there!

[JamesGoff]

Yes i agree, a point add also.

That an HSK level wont count for a degree if for example an employer wants you to have one.

An HSK shows demonstrates language ability and not the attributes that a degree shows , e.g. effort, time, and money spent etc

Well you could combine the 2 and get a degree in chinese language form a University on the mainland and take your HSK exams every year !!

[XiaoXi]

But surely achieving a HSK level requires just as much effort and time as a degree? Since the end result of both is to read, write, speak and understand Chinese. I realise the test is different but technically the results are the same.

[JamesGoff]

well i have to disagree

When it comes to a Language degree , it is more easy to learn a language to pass the degree ( no to say that the given language ability is poor)

However the HSK and other language assesment tests, they are 'better' (may have an element of learning to pass the exams) at the assesment of ability .

Well there are many reasons why one cant say a degree is the same as HSK

1. what level HSK ?

2. a chinese degree from Oxford ( or any other top university (due to student motivation and teaching quility)) would give a student a much better ability than a poor university.

3. what level degree, in the UK a 2.1 ( 3.2 GPA in US i think) is genrally the mark students go for at University which demonstrates a good level of attainment but not the top. Now a scrap of 2.1 versus just missing of the top mark would put the student one who is much better than the other at Chinese with the same mark.

4 - its is rare for a Chinese degree to just soley concentrate on Manadrin study. It will involve History , Chinese Literature ect - these are not tested on HSK

5. Also most of the Degrees in the UK are modular based. therefore not all modules will be choose which are relivant to the umbrella Degree name.

probably more stuff if someone else wants to chip in

James

[XiaoXi]

Ok I agree with your fourth and fifth point but not the others. You're just comparing one university with other universites which is irrelevant. I'm talking about for example a HSK Advanced level certificate which is supposedly beyond a degree graduate. Both require incredible amounts of effort, time and work, whether it is through formal study at the university, private lessons or self study.

But like I say, your points about subjects other than purely the language itself are valid although I think you can't attain HSK advanced level without quite some knowledge of Chinese culture too anyway.

[wushijiao]

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

The HSK only tests your level in a general sense. In a more specific sense, it tests how well you do on the test compared to other people who are taking the test.

For example, take a look at this explanation of what the IELTS (an exam to test non-native English speaker’s English ability) band scores mean. The IELTS people have different standardized criteria for each band, and examiners are trained to know how to recognize each level. The IELTS people also sample the work of the examiners, to make sure they are not giving band 6’s in writing to people who should be getting 5’s. In other words, there is quite a bit of moderation.

http://www.ielts.org/candidates/afterthetestresults/article281.aspx

The HSK doesn’t work like that. Sure, any score is a fairly good indication of where you are “at” in your Chinese progress. But I don’t think a specific band score necessarily corresponds to any specific skill set, which is a bit unlike college courses. For example, the band “8” corresponds to the top 1.5% of people taking the test (if my math is not mistaken). On the other hand, a person who got a “5” on the same test also was able to do the same set of skills as the person who got an 8, just at a lower level of accuracy.

I haven’t met many people who have majored in Chinese, just three. Based on their Chinese ability, I would guess that, as far as taking the HSK Advanced, they could probably do ok on the grammar, speaking, the reading, and the writing, provided that they did a tremendous amount of practice. There is no reason why a person couldn’t become good at those skills outside of China. The listening would be much more difficult to achieve while living outside of China. The speaking is tremendously fast news-style Chinese. Then, from questions 26-40, there are extended real conversations about random things, often from original sources (like TV talkshows). I would speculate that it would be very difficult for a person who has never been to China to pass the listening. But then again, you are graded on a curve, so, as you can see from this chart, you have to stay in the 46th percentile and above in the listening, in order to not to be eliminated in the Gao. The 58th percentile is the cut-off for the C (9) level in the listening. Also, I would also wonder how well people who have never been to China do on the 初中 listening section. This section tests a lot of colloquialisms that might be hard for people who haven’t been in China to understand.

http://www.hsk.org.cn/Intro_hsk3.aspx

[mrtoga]

I have never actually come across a graduate of a western university with level 8 (or above) HSK. I suspect the actual level for the "average" graduate would be closer to HSK Level 5, as the reading speed and listening ability to achieve higher than a seven needs to be pretty fast.

Anyone want to prove me wrong?

[Laska]

This is a very interesting question.

People with HSK test experience--would you be willing to share your history? Do you have a degree in Chinese? studying Chinese for four years at university, how did you do on the HSK? Had you lived in China before taking the test? How long did it take you to improve your score? What did you do to improve?

My impression is similar to Mr Toga's. Chinese teachers in the PRC say it is rare for a Westerner to get level 8. Is this true, or just a skewed perception?

[HashiriKata]

I think the word "degree" used by XiaoXi can be interpreted as 2 different things by different people, which could lead to confusion, but I think here XiaoXi probably means "the level of Chinese attained after finishing a degree in Chinese" (and not as "a certain level in university education").

Anyway:

A pass in an HSK level gives you an indication of your level of Chinese. It's therefore more specific and accurate as far as Chinese is concerned: all people who pass HSK Level 8 can be seen to have a similar level of Chinese. On the other hand, since a degree in Chinese would teach you (and test you on) a variety of things within which Chinese is only a component, so it's possible to graduate in Chinese without much Chinese to show (You can probably get away with just, say, an HSK Level 5 equivalent and compensate for this by being excellent at other subjects ). It's also conceivable that some graduates in Chinese speak Chinese like a native or pass HSK Level 11 without serious problems.

[heifeng]

Language background

I do have a bachelors in Chinese (I am not Asian and do not speak any other Asian Languages) but this wasn't my primary major in college so it wasn't what I spent most of my time studying at the time (yes this is my convenient lil' excuse) But as a part of the major I did study a year of classical Chinese as well as literature, business Chinese related stuff, linguistics...etc.(stuff not on the HSK) While in school I spent a whole 2 months in China...wow..this somewhat helped with listening, but mostly introduced me to karaoke and soap operas, which then improved my listening skills the most...

After graduating I decided to torture myself and just to try to keep up my Chinese, and without any practice (yes, still trying to include excuses), I decided to take the HSK and scored a 5 *ouch*. Then I retook it after looking up what type of questions would actually be on the exam to get a 7. My complaints on the 初中exam are simply that there will be a ton of people who are book smart but you can't understand wtf they are saying since at this level there is still not speaking portion...so a 7 or 8 certificate doesn't personally mean much to me unless I can hear somebody speak...

I then took the Advanced HSK this year after now spending a few more months in China and (I already talked about this in a previous post) scored 9 &10's but bombed writing (still kicking self...) so still failed to get an advanced certificate. I did attend some cram courses for the exam, and actually found out that I enjoyed such courses more than some of my previous courses simply b/c they get down to business right away and spend less time on the same old super saturated culture stuff . ( Not that it's bad to learn all that but I felt these courses on pure grammar and test prep somewhat refreshing...) Preparing for the exam also cleared up some questions I always had about when to use certain words as opposed to others in certain situations/搭配...etc. Also living in China did significantly help with the advanced listening section.

Since I personally like to accumulate certificates whether or not they will actually benefit me in the future, I am still aiming for my HSK 10...and then ultimately before I die hopefully an 11. I know a ton of Korean students that need to get, or already have a 10. Also they told me too many people now have 9's so in Korea a 9 is still relatively useless, or not good enough...

And lastly, in summary:

-Other than school applications and bragging rights, no one has really cared what level HSK I had since in most scenarios I can verbally communicate without any major issues (yet still tramatized by having to handwrite on the spot). However, at times I still want to have the advanced certificate just to have it since it seems most Chinese don't believe foreigners can actually speak Chinese, so I feel I need some actual proof or certificate recognized in China....although in the US I don't think the HSK is really useful outside of a university...

-However studying for the HSK has definitely pushed me a bit more and not let me forget my Chinese skills and it serves as a great way to feel humble in knowing that you are never really finished studying a language....

Studying for the HSK:

初中: Just buy a guide book and review a bit should just about do it.

高等: If u are in China 补习班 helps with grammar (so many people have 100% in this section), living in China and watching the news helps significantly with listening. However, you my friend are mostly responsible for improving reading and writing. Speaking, I never found really difficult on the HSK advanced, I think they are just generous at times though...