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(near) 0 to hero... or HSK4


Dvd

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Hello all,

I'm completley new to this forum, but in my recent searches (about HSK prep) i have often been directed to this site. Being that i have not found an adequate answer to my question i thought i would make an account and see if anyone had any thoughts.

I have lived in China for three years, but never officially studied it. I am confident in my pronunciation and have little trouble taking chinese words and writing out the pinyin - so I think i have a decent ear for Chinese, but this is where my confidence ends. I have the ability to hold a very basic and simple conversation in Chinese, but can easilly get lost if the person i am speaking to decides to ask more than a superficial question (where are you from, how long have you been here, do you like it here, etc). Similarly, i have an ability to describe things, but often in the most simple terms. In short, my chinese ability is far from good, but good enough to perform simple tasks.

When i look over the HSK material (levels 1-4) i know some of the words; say 20-40%, but can only read the characters for maybe 10%.

What i want to know, and i realize it is impossible to say with certainty, is how long would it take to pass the HSK4 test. Assume i am an average - above average student, able to study 4-6 hours a day, or 20-30 hours per week. The spoken component isn't my main concern, but more so the learning / memorizing the characters and listening components.

Again, i realize it's a very difficult question to answer, but I just want to hear some different opinions. Can it be achieved in 4 months of intensive study, or would a HSK4 level require over a year of studying?

Both optimistic and pessimistic answers appreciated.

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please excuse the mistakes in my post - i wrote it as quickly as possible during my lunch.

I've been in China for 3 years, but never officially studied chinese (like in a school or with a teacher)*

I know roughly 30% of the HSK vocabulary from levels 1-4, but can only read about 3% of the chinese characters for the same levels*

My question is, put simply: How long would it take (ballpark figures here) to obtain an HSK4 certificate assuming roughly 30 hours per week and no chinese ability?

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Dvd I'm at Tongji University in Shanghai studying for HSk level 4, we do about 6 hours a day and we're expected to take the HSk in March. That basically gives us about 6 months to get down 1200 characters/pinyin and etc. The courses here are so good that a high percentage of beginner chinese students manage the HSk level 4 in that time span. If you can put in the effort, it can be achieved in less than year. How much less is up to you.

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Eshton, what level were you at when you first started Tongji University and when did you start? This year? I'm looking at doing a language course at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. It's 20 hours a week, but this includes other lessons such as 'Chinese History', 'Chinese Art' or 'Chinese Calligraphy'. When you study for 6 hours a day, is that all language learning, or does that include other lessons which are not entirely language related?

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I took HSK4 and passed with a reasonably good grade (266/300) after 3 years of (mostly) self-study...

Assuming an average of 1h of study per day, that's 1095 hours of study.

Studying 30hrs/week, that gives about 9 months...

Only rough estimate, you know, and I really did start from scratch and by myself, and I did not always have the best study methods.

In your case (not starting from scratch) and eshton's (full-time student at a Chinese uni) it should take less time.

BTW you don't really have to learn to write all the vocabulary from memory for HSK4.

For the sentences to be reordered, you can copy the test booklet, provided you have a basic grasp of stroke order.

For the photo + word part, you can get by using simpler vocabulary for the sentence, provided you use the given word.

However, for the reading part, it helps to have read a lot before taking the test, so as to get your reading speed up. That may take a little while.

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@mackie1402

I started last month and I was a complete beginner. The only thing I could say was 你好 and the only characters I could read were 埃希頓 (which is the transliteration of my name). This semester, my courses are all language learning but next semester I'm supposed to do some "college preparatory courses".

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Thanks for the replies. two points to clarify:

Eshton, just to confirm when you began the course you knew no chinese or had you already passed the HSK3 (or 2/1)? This actually raises a new question - is the HSK4 material cumulative with the HSK3/2/1 or do you only need to show mastery of the HSK4 vocabulary?

Edelwise, pretty much the same question - did you begin with no chinese skills and after, roughly, 1100 hours of studying achieve a HSK score of 4?

Also, your test tips were pretty on point edel. Thanks again.

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@Dvd I knew nothing at all. I believe the the material is cumulative, considering that the most basic characters are found in the most complex ones. I haven't done my HSK yet but at the rate I'm going, I'll be doing in it March.

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@eshton: yes, I started from zero, self-studied for about 1100 hrs, and then took the new HSK4 test.

Actually I also took the new HSK3 (600 words) after just 1 year, but I realized that even with cramming the new HSK4 vocabulary (600 more words) I would have difficulties with the new HSK4 due to listening comprehension speed and reading speed and grammar and character writing skills... it takes more than just learning the words.

Actually I don't know the exact number of hours I studied, 1100 is only an approximation. Some weeks I studied a lot more than 1 hour a day, then some months I hardly studied at all.

Also I did not specifically focus my study on material for HSK4, except that in the last year I learnt the words from the new HSK4 official 1200 word vocabulary list, but I also started reading novels that contain vocabulary that has nothing to do with HSK4.

Possibly if you could find enough material that deals only with HSK4 preparation, you could do a more focussed/shorter study.

You can find information about the new HSK tests on http://chinesetesting.cn

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Many thanks. I appreciate it - if anyone else has any thoughts / experiences please continue to post.

I realize 1100 is an approximation, but it seems a fair low-end estimate i think. It's a little more than what i have, but I am not starting from zero. My main issues will be character memorization and reading skills. I think if i put a concerted daily effort into memorizing the vocabulary, practicing my listening and speaking skills i can make considerable progress.

I plan to use HSK4 vocabulary to write out simple sentences or stories hoping that, at least, similar phrases pop up in the exam. Watching (perhaps children) shows with subtitles should help speed up reading skills.

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Hi Dvd,

It doesn't sound like you are truly at zero ability (as your listening comprehension will actually count for something), but to go from zero to HSK 4 (assuming you mean the "New HSK") would take between 6 and 15 months, depending on a) how much time you put into it, and b) how efficient your study methods are.

By this I mean, do you listen to your Chinese texts multiple times every day? Do you listen to podcasts when you wake up? Do you study flashcards from a flashcard program that knows exactly when you should study each card?

If you do absolutely everything right, and study in the most efficient ways possible, you could get to HSK 4 in about 6 months. If you can spend only 30 hours a week, I'd schedule around 12 months. (This might seem slow, but consider University students who study 6-15 hours a week - they would require around two years to reach HSK 4).

If you're interested in reading a little more, I recently wrote a blog post on this very topic: http://hackchinese.com/2012/10/24/how-long-does-it-take-to-learn-chinese/

Hope this helps!

Dan

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great post Dan, thanks. The links were quite usefull as well. The graph suggests 0-4 would take roughly 10ms of fulltime study.

One thing i didnt get was what you considered "full-time" study to be. You think 30 hours per week would require 12 months? so, 60 hours a week to achieve it in 6 months?

i hope to achieve it in 6 months, or roughly 6-700 hours of studying. i think it is definitely doable and will ultimately depend on my ability to maintain comitted to studying 5+ hours per day at least 5 days a week.

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"Full-time" would be about 40-50 hours a week, similar to a full-time job. Of course, it would be impossible to spend that much time in a classroom, but "full-time" would definitely be classes 5 days/week, one-on-one tutoring on top of that, and a heckuvalot of self-study. To be honest, if you had to cut out one of those (don't!), it would be classroom time. There is simply too much content to get by without hours and hours of self-study.

I'm curious - how did you choose HSK 4 as your goal? As opposed to HSK 3, 5, or 6?

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HSK4 is the minimum requirement to begin the masters program i want to get into.

40 hours a week of rote study would kill not only my desire to learn Chinese, but perhaps even my interest in China. I plan on doing at least 5 hours per day with 2 hours being "book study" (looking over words, reviewing characters, etc) and then 3 hours of more interesting activities (podcasts, books, tv, radio, real life communication, etc). In addition i plan on not using english in my day-to-day life. I will be moving into an apartment with 4 chinese people, so i hope that by speaking and studying Chinese daily I can pass the test.

I'm cautiously optimistic at this point.

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oh, may I ask what master you are aiming for?

Do you intend to start studying vocabulary and reading books related to that major?

Have you already started your study?

Do you intend to use a textbook series? a tutor?

Full time self study apparently requires a great deal of self-discipline and motivation, but since you have such a well defined goal I think you have the motivation part covered :)

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ya, but it is the self-discipline i worry about. It seems the HSK is very dependent upon your reading and writing skills. I initially thought there was a oral part, but from what i see there is not. I am still finishing up my job, which takes 90% of my time so i admittedly havent done enough research as of now.

At the moment I have 6 months to study for the HSK and then another 5 months before the program would begin. I will first study 100% for the HSK and then after i pass it (knock on wood), i will begin studying terms more related to my intended major, which is in comparative education.

So in response to your questions, some of which i already answered:

1. comparative education

2. yes, but only after i have properly studied for the HSK

3. No

4. I have multiple chinese textbooks, but i think i will develop my own study plan. I have lots of chinese friends, but none who are proper tutors / teachers, but i do plan on spending lots of time talking with chinese people.

Again, thanks for all the posts. everyone has been very helpful!

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