heifeng Posted October 12, 2006 at 09:13 AM Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 09:13 AM Any thoughts on this C Test? http://www.hsk.org.cn/Intro_CTest.htm Anyone taking the C test 模拟考试 sunday after the Gaodeng HSK at BLCU? Anyone plan on registering for it (the C-Test) for it's first official test date this November? It's pretty new so I don't think there are cram courses for it yet. It sounds like it could be interesting, especially for those of us who masochistic enough to keep signing up for proficiency exams... I actually like the material covered on the Gaodeng HSK because it's pretty varied, if this exam is mostly econ stuff it might be pretty boring (to me at least)....ughhh..... I'm curious exactly how difficult the listening will be since it's emphasized more. I mean are they going to have conference call 噪音 and business negotiation at the KTV dialogues' or what? I'm not sure if there is already another thread on this, but I am interested in hearing others thoughts on this --maybe after this weekend we will know more.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushijiao Posted October 12, 2006 at 09:51 AM Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 09:51 AM Sounds like it might be worth a try. I think it is good to take these types of tests often. A question or two that you guess correctly or incorrectly could move you from one level to another on the curve. Also, for the Gao, who knows how standarized they've made the grading of the writing and the speaking. It seems to me that your same performance might be judged a 9 (or whatever), or below a depending on who is grading it and his/her odd subjective tendencies and pet peeves in grading. With that in mind, I see no reason not to take these tests often. You are bound to get lucky sooner or later. As far as this business test, I think it might be worth it to get good at business Chinese. Personaly, I actually started out in college in the business school, but then transfered because I hated it. But, slowly I realized that the business press is quite often the most factual. Business people can make a fortune if they are the first to figure out a social trend, and can figure out how to act upon it to make money. In other words, business people can't afford to get lied to. In China, as well, it seems that some of the business publications and TV shows are the most daring and bold when they see that a policy isn't working well. Since I'm mainly interested in Chinese social and political issues, it might be worth it to improve my (limited) business Chinese. Then that business Chinese would be useful in other areas. Also, one thing I like about the HSK's is that they force you to study things you wouldn't normally study on your own (especially if you are an independent learner, like me.) I would never have studied grammar if it weren't for the HSK. Same is true of writing characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted October 12, 2006 at 01:22 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 01:22 PM http://www.hsk.org.cn/Intro_CTest.htm除了获得各单项分和总分之外,参加C.TEST的考生还将获得一份分数诊断报告。分数诊断报告内容包括对考生听力理解能力、读写能力的评价以及对考生从事交际性工作的状况的推断。相信这份诊断报告会对考生的日常生活、实际工作具有很强的指导作用。 I wonder what this test report is about. The description makes it sound rather useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heifeng Posted October 13, 2006 at 06:52 AM Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 at 06:52 AM So here is the # where you can get more info for the C.test 82303685 I was trying to hunt down more info about this exam and called BLCU which then gave me the above number. The guy who answered the phone said we can take our test booklet when with us when we leave from the C.Test exam on Sunday afternoon. So I guess that can be used to study... It think he said can later obtain the score report (and zhengshu?) as well. Well, actually I'm not sure about the certificate part...somehow I always get nervous when I talk on the phone with people, but this guy actually seemed helpful... Since the exam was already rolled out in August in Japan , I wonder if there are exam booklets floating around on the iternet anywhere. Any of our Japanese friends have any info on this? oh yeah, here is info on registering http://www.hsk.org.cn/news/HSK入门级和C.TEST考点名单.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heifeng Posted November 22, 2006 at 11:25 AM Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 at 11:25 AM Ok, so for the maybe 2 people on this board who are interested in the C test guaging from the hot discussion we had on it before, I share my results since this is a new exam... (in case you don't know the HSK is more like the Toefl, the C.test is more like the Toeic) So we do get a report on almost every answer we gave and what the correct answer was and what percentage of test takers selected the correct answer we also get a summary of our total percentage in each section. I guess it is useful so you can diagnose your problem areas quicker. hsk.org.cn website doesn't really talk about this exam alot (I guess since it is soo new) but it does seem like they are modeling it after the toeic with the scoring from A-D, and judging from what your score and equivalent proficiency level is...http://www.lc.fcu.edu.tw/Foreign_language_division/faq.htm#difference So for yours truly, I received a "B' certificate, with total points of 653 and 87% (82% listening, 86% zonghe) So, since this test is too new, I don't know what to think ( I just looked at this website, and if this was the toeic, I guess I could be a cashier....http://www.toeictest.com.cn/appendframe.asp?id=97 score, yes! that was my goal.. It added that I 有比较强的汉语国际能力,能够用汉语从事交复杂或者专业的工作....i guess the key is in the work 比较...hmmm...yes, relatively.....ok....I'm guessing an "A"score could get rid of that 比较or replace it with 非常....(However, as a side note, it seems like this exam has been unleashed in Japan and recently in China. On Oct 15th it was given to fellow advanced HSK takers, wouldn't this skew the results? I mean everyone I knew ready for the HSK was really well prepared, so I'm thinking that everyone must of scored pretty high...so maybe, once this exam has more people randomly taking it, it will be easier, or easier to get a high score, no? Ok, feel free to add your thoughts if anyone has any=P) As for what I thought about the test, it was easier than the advanced HSK, only 1 part of the listening was really ^$*(*$ difficult (section L4 which killed me...ughhh), but everything else was a piece of cake, the zonghe was ok....and once again we took this exam after the advanced HSK with no idea what we were getting into, so in my opinion, if you can get an advanced HSK certificate and actually prepare for the C.test a bit, then you should be able to get a A score=) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushijiao Posted November 22, 2006 at 12:30 PM Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 at 12:30 PM Sounds like you did well. Also sounds like the HSK people used you as fruit flies, or something. I didn't end up taking this because I felt that I needed a break for a while. Maybe later. Heifeng, how business oriented was the test? If you were to take it again, what types of things would you use to prepare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heifeng Posted November 23, 2006 at 01:18 AM Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 at 01:18 AM I think it did cover similar topics as on the Toiec list. It DID NOT cover literature oriented pieces or anthropology type stuff. (some seemed like water-cooler talk and was actually almost entertaining...almost gossipy..hehe) The listening part that killed me in part 4 was a bit science related in that it talked about a type of eye infection that leads to blindness and was giving statistics and a ton of information. For the zonghe part 1 it is identical to the zonghe part 1 for the advanced hsk, which is then very easy (pick out the sentence segment with an error). Actually, I think that it is a wise decision to wait a bit until you can get your hands on some reference materials (the hsk website apparently has some actual questions from the exam. Almost all of the section where easier than the advanced HSK, so I would say if you take some practice exams you would be ok. Time is not a huge issue in this exam my friends and I were all able to finish in the alloted time ( They haven't picked up their scores yet, otherwise I would give more info on how they did since I think they already have 10's on the advanced HSK and probably did pretty well). If I where to retake the exam I would NEED to practice listening section 1 and 4 and just review the zonghe a bit more. IF this is suppose to be like the Toiec and go up to 990 points, I think someone getting a 700+ after reviewing the exam would be reasonable. I am not sure what the cut off is for the "A" certificate. I will ask around.... {ok, follow up I just called their office, they said the standard for an A certificate isn't really set, it changes with each exam (which I am guessing is different from the toeic which says xxx is a gold cert....xxx is blue...etc. I have the feeling the office peeps really don't know yet....ok, well I guess time will tell what we can actually use this certificate for in the future...) Ok, hope this helps! In hindsite, this might be the ideal exam for people who don't want to write an essay for the HSK (but you still need to be able to write some sentences to fill in the missing sentence in a paragraph) Overall conclusion, another pretty certificate, and less torture than the advanced HSK, and cheaper too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nina2006 Posted November 23, 2006 at 06:26 AM Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 at 06:26 AM I asked the teacher in HSK and they told me that A needs a score above 725. 724-575 is B;574-500 is C;499-425 is D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lau Posted November 27, 2006 at 03:49 PM Report Share Posted November 27, 2006 at 03:49 PM No zuowen - that sounds like a test for me! Thats the part where i failed to even get a C in Gaodeng HSK. My problem nr2 is - the last part of zonghe, where you have to insert the missing character, and i feel lucky if i have guessed two correctly... So, could I ask for more details of types of questions in the zonghe part of this C.Test? As far as i understood, the zonghe part in this exam is something inbetween yuedu and zonghe of HSK, am i right? You said, it has questions like the "find the part of the sentence that has a mistake in it" of HSK test. out of 90 questions, how many? and what else does it have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heifeng Posted November 28, 2006 at 01:47 AM Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 at 01:47 AM http://www.hsk.org.cn/news/C.TEST真题下载.htm Although this says it is the exam from August this was also the A-D exam we had on 10/15 . The listening part 1 graphics where pretty bad printed out though. It's much clearer to see on this file than on the actual exam. Have fun! (ps. that range for an A stuff, I'm still not convinced on b/c I read elsewhere that A-D is on a scale from 0-1000, E-F from 0-500 and that the standard for the A certificate isn't set....but maybe it is...I don't expect there to be a definite clear answer at this point....I think anyone in China long enough gets use to this =P ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lau Posted November 28, 2006 at 04:10 AM Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 at 04:10 AM great! i'll do a quick review, and then give the test a try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G - Steven Posted November 28, 2006 at 01:55 PM Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 at 01:55 PM Check this site out everyone: http://www.seattleu.edu/artsci/forlang/chin/HSK/Chinese%20Proficiency%20Test%20(HSK).htm You can find samples here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted November 28, 2006 at 02:57 PM Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 at 02:57 PM Aren't those samples for the mainstream HSK, not the C-test under discussion here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lau Posted November 28, 2006 at 03:24 PM Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 at 03:24 PM they are, Roddy, but i just took a glance at the types of questions in the C.Test, well, the problems in the zonghe part are somewhat HSK-ish. even more so - there's stuff from the intermediate exam as well. there seemed to be quite a lot of questions where the right 连词 need to be inserted, and some of the reading seems to be about 词汇. so, since i have never taken an intermediate HSK, some sample tests for practicing will come in handy. all i have are the 高级 books... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G - Steven Posted November 28, 2006 at 07:05 PM Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 at 07:05 PM Im sorry, I didnt know it was the C test you guys were interested in, but I figured a bunch of sample tests always come in handy, as the HSK site itself doesnt always have em available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djwebb2004 Posted December 12, 2006 at 09:45 AM Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 at 09:45 AM I haven't quite understood. Is the C Test higher than the Advanced HSK, or just different? You mean they test your ability to read newspaper stuff, politics, economics and social issues, but not literature or other stuff, and don't require you to write. is this to measure whether a foreigner could work in say a Reuters bureau in Beijing, rather than testing whether he could read Maodun's Midnight? Is that the point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heifeng Posted December 13, 2006 at 04:08 AM Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 at 04:08 AM From my understanding it is more like Toefl(academic) Vs. Toeic.(work oriented) and that's what those C.Test posters say... is this to measure whether a foreigner could work in say a Reuters bureau in Beijing, rather than testing whether he could read Maodun's Midnight? Is that the point? Maybe.... What is even more confusing to me is the BCT (Chinese Test,简称BCT。 商务汉语考试) and the C.Test....what's with all these exams all of a sudden (that no one out of Korea apparently uses...) Oh, I actually asked some of my classmates who also took the C.Test. Apparently they have a 9 on the HSK (Ok, I guess I assumed they had a 10 since they were really hard core about studying) and also got a "B" certificate with 580 points or so. However our teacher went on to tell us we should have done better and gotten "A" certificates...but that's why this teacher is good, he's actually lil' mean. Maybe the A on the C.Test will become the new "8" on the Chuzhong HSK. It's not that it's hard, but somehow it just stays out of grasp...hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djwebb2004 Posted December 13, 2006 at 05:38 PM Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 at 05:38 PM How many different tests are there? There is the HSK intermediate and advanced. Now you mention 1) C test and 2) Business test, and I know there are 3)Kids tests and 4)tourist test. Does "C" just mean "Chinese", giving it a trendy name "C TEST", or are there "A" and "B" tests. Can someone give a handy rundown of all that's out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted September 6, 2007 at 07:48 AM Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 at 07:48 AM Have signed up for this on the 16th. I'm not going to have any time to do any study for it, but I've had a look through the sample from the hsk website and it looks pretty straightforward and not massively different from the standard HSK - bit more compact, which is good. Can't get the mp3 for the listening to download though, so not sure what that bit is like. Also I have to admit to not quite seeing how the article about the evolution of flight is relevant to whatever it is this test is meant to test. To be honest I'm not even sure I know why I signed up. I was looking to see when registration for the main HSKs was open, and noticed that this one was coming up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted September 13, 2007 at 08:48 AM Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 at 08:48 AM Info is up on the C-test Oral section, here. Interview style, rather than speaking into a tape recorder, which is good, but only available in Beijing. Heifeng, did you do the speaking section at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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