Taking the HSK? Already taken it? Report in here!

[Coys1991]

Where you can find the testing centres in Shanghai? I will be going back there after this month and I want to take the test.  Any suggestions?

[edelweis]

on this website:

http://www.chinesetest.cn

at the bottom of the page click on

Global test centers

or

全球考点信息

[Coys1991]

ok thanks it looks like you need to make an account and such?

[edelweis]

You can look up information about test centers without an account.

 

But in order to register for a specific test date, you will need to create an account of course.

 

Please note that when you have registered for a test, you need to contact the test center in order to pay the fee.

And the fee must be paid before the deadline so that the test center has time to confirm your registration with Hanban...

[ChrisOei]

I've signed up for the HSK 1 (October 17 in San Francisco) and paid online. Oddly enough, I never received a welcome or confirmation email of any kind from them (I never got a "click here to confirm your email address" or "You've registered for ..."), though when I log in I see that my status is "Paid".

 

I'm wondering if there's some weirdness with the email address I used during the registration process (I did check my spam folder).

 

Did anyone else sign up online and actually get an email from them? Or not get an email from them?

[HerrPetersen]

I do not think, that they have an automatic reply system. I received an email shortly before the exam with them saying they still needed an electronic photograph. 

[NotChinese]

I sat HSK4 in May, so just thought I'd report in with it all.

 

I did it on site at Sichuan University, where I was studying that year.

 

I did the paper test and feared it would be harder. Personally I think it was easier...! It's all exactly the same, apart from you need to do the written part by hand so it takes a touch longer.

 

There are pros and cons to the written and computer based tests. Written test is good because there's a part where you need to rearrange characters to form a correct sentence. If, within these characters, you don't know one of them (or at least can't remember how it sounds), you can still simply copy it by hand into the full sentence. Whereas on a computer test you need to know the character exactly because you'll have to type the pinyin so you can enter it.

 

The good aspect to the computer test is that you don't need to memorise so many characters because you can just know their pinyin while maintaining a general idea of what the characters look like so you can find them in the computerised entry. However, personally I was fine writing it all by hand from memory. I'm glad I did the written version.

 

Also I can say I passed, woohoo! Got 246, which I must say I'm damn pleased with since I'd only been studying the language for 9 months at that time.

 

Final scores:

听力 - 83

阅读 - 90

写作 - 73

 

很得意！

[Mr John]

I finally partially overcame my fear of characters last month and took the HSK 3 test, computer version.

 

My results:

 

听力: 95

阅读: 96

写作: 96

 

I have already signed up to take the HSK 4 test (paper version) next month. While I know the HSK isn't a very reliable indicator of a person's real Chinese level, I was still pleased to achieve one of my goals for this year.

 

Best of luck to everyone else preparing to take the test!

[Milkybar_Kid]

HSK 5 passed with 271/300!

 

I need to work on my writing as that was the weakest area.

[LamChungFan]

Does anyone know what the point-range is for "中档分?"

[Sarah123]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm new to this board (and also fairly new to learning Chinese).

 

I came to China mid-august basically knowing no Chinese at all (I had done five complete beginners' evening classes back at home, so I could say my name and which country I come from, but that was it, really). After 10 weeks of studying full time - 6 hours of class per day/30 hours per week - I am now getting ready to do the HSK 4 exam on November 14. On mock tests, by now I usually get about 85-90 answers right, so I guess I do have a fairly good chance of actually passing.

 

Before I came to China, I thought HSK 3 would be the most I'd be able to achieve in 3 months, but somehow I progressed faster than expected. So... wish me luck, everyone!   

[edelweis]

Hello Sarah.

Are you studying at a private school?

what do you plan to do next?

good luck with the test.

[Sarah123]

Yes, I am studying at a private school. The first six weeks I had 4 hours of group class (small group, 3-5 students) and 2 hours 1-on-1-class every day, now it's 6 hours of 1-on-1-class every day. I also live with a Chinese flatmate who does not speak English, so that adds to practising my Chinese.

 

I'm not sure what to do next and how/if I will be able to continue studying Chinese. Right now, I am between two jobs, so it is an unique opportunity to be able to dedicate so much time to studying Chinese. I am not sure how/if I'll be able to keep it up once I'm back to work and back to my home country.

 

I've always wanted to find out how fast I would be able to pick up a foreign language under "ideal" conditions (i.e. living in the country, with lots of class, full immersion and dedication to nothing but language study), and Chinese sounded like a challenge. Now that I've gotten started, I really do like the language, it truly is fascinating, I love the way it is so different from all the other languages I've learnt before (all European). Right now, my main goal is to pass HSK 4 (to mark my progress at the 3 month mark), after that I'll see...

[roddy]

And how did you find our wonderful site?

[Sarah123]

I found the site when searching about how to prepare for the HSK test.

[Aphorisme]

Hi everyone!

 

I just took HSK 6 today. I would like to give you my opinion about the differences and similarities between mock tests (真题) and the real exam.

 

I did 10 mock tests during the last two months, and i passed them all. I got an average of 76 in listening, 70 in reading. I don't have any mark concerning writing, because i don't know what is expected from us, but a chinese teacher reviewed my writings and found it good. I really like writing and i spend a lot of time writing characters, so i assume that i would have got more than 60 in writing at each mock test. 

 

I was quite self confident for today's test. Unfortunately, the organization was a mess as they changed the room without telling us. As a consequence, I finally found the room just one minute before the scheduled time...but the listening part had already begun ten minutes ago! I was furious, and i directly began by the second part of the listening. They allowed me to take the first part of listening after the writing section because it was their fault, but still i wasn't fully concentrated during the first half of the second part of the listening section as I was out of breathe after twenty minutes of a desperate search for the correct room...maybe it made the listening section harder for me.

Listening section

 

I found it way, way harder than during mock tests. It was the easiest section in mock tests, but it was the hardest one during the real exam. Sometimes, I even asked myself if i was looking at the good question because i found the answers disconnected from what I heard. I found it outrageously difficult, and in the third part I had five questions with 4 answers which were only -difficult- chengyus!! I never saw that while preparing mock tests. I literally spent my time guessing. 

 

Apparently, it's not uncommon for the listening section of the HSK6 to be way harder during the real exam. #184 also pointed it out, as well as #4 of this thread http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/39999-taking-the-hsk-already-taken-it-report-in-here-2013/.

 

I would be really lucky to get a 60...I think i will get 50.

 

Reading section

 

This section was easier than during mock tests, especially the fill in the blanks one. The synonyms were really easy to distinguish. Even the first part wad do-able (like getting a 5/6 out of ten was possible, even though i won't as as made two stupid mistakes). I finished with five minutes left. I think i can get a 75. 

 

Writing section

 

Classical. The text was the story of 周处, a guy that I never heard of, with a little moral at the end. As usual, I found the text really boring. Why can't they give us a real part of a newspaper ? Everytime it's an unauthentic story which doesn't really allow you to express fully your vocabulary. I love writing but I always found this exercise of summing-up such uninteresting texts really useless. Anyway, my writing was okay i think: a few grammar mistakes, and maybe one word that i wrote badly (祸害的”祸“). But i used the vocabulary of the text which was very basic so i feel frustrated right now. I'm hoping for a 70.

 

In overall, I would say that i found the real test harder than mock tests. Results in one moth!

[wushucrab20]

@Aphorisme  [Apparently, it's not uncommon for the listening section of the HSK6 to be way harder during the real exam. #184 also pointed it out, as well as #4 of this thread http://www.chinese-f...t-in-here-2013/.]

 

I found the listening portion to be pretty much exactly the same as the practice materials I used. In other words, I think as long as you are confident you can hear and understand almost anything from general everyday topics in Chinese and you were able to pay close attention to what was being said by whom, then you should do just fine.

 

I scored 100/100 on the listening for HSK 6 (mentioned earlier in this thread). That was almost two years ago and there are still plenty of things out there, faster, more technical, poetic, or authentic that are much more difficult to understand and follow than the HSK material. 

 

Let us know how you did though when you get your scores back!

[GotJack]

I took the HSKK (Spoken Exam) Intermediate level today in 济南 as well as HSK 4. Seems that HSK 4 has mostly been covered so I thought I'd point out my experience that might be helpful for people in future.

 

- You start by testing your microphone by answering 3 questions - Whats your name? What country you are from? and whats your student number? Having sat a few practice papers I assumed this was part of the test but it isn't. Once this is done a red number flashes up indicating how much time you have until you start. For me this was 20 mins once over you start the test in earnest.

 

- Section one you need to listen to 10 statements and repeat exactly. This section is extremely odd as I was doing it with a few other people in the room. It was very difficult for me to focus on my own voice, and the tones I was producing. Add to the fact it seems somewhat uncomfortable being tested on your speaking simultaneously. However if your canny, and struggle on this section, you could possibly delay slightly, listen to what others say and then have a go yourself (getting opportunity to listen to the sentence twice) I'd say you certainly have time, but its risky.

 

- Section two and three you get ten minutes to prepare answers to 4 questions. 2 are describing a picture, and two are answering a question. My pictures were related to a woman going on a date, and a couple packing a suitcase. My two answering a question were related to who was my biggest influence and what I though about companies being unwilling to hire new graduates. For each question you should speak for 2 minutes.

 

Overall I'd would say its a really poor exam. Sitting and speaking into a microphone whilst others around you do the same is really off putting and it doesn't really test your speaking ability IMO.

 

My main advice for future takers would be, be mentally prepared to completely focus on what you are saying and try and attempt to faze out of the other sounds! 

 

Best of luck!

 

P.S the test seemed to use words up to and including HSK 4

[BrianC]

As with GotJack, I too took HSK4 and Speaking Intermediate just this past weekend.  Simple background - though have lived in China 10+ years, have not studied much nor had to use the language much either, working in multinationals where everything done in English.  Having left corporate and in semi-retirement (for the moment), have really dedicated myself over the past 7-8 months to improve.  I think I did fine on the HSK 4 itself, and already thinking of possibly taking 5 some time mid next year (has anyone made this leap in 6 months?).

 

I agree with GotJack that the Speaking test is indeed odd.  I was fortunate in that I had a room to myself, but still, speaking into a computer mic in a room is odd.  I'm not sure how I did; repeating sentences so-so at best, as I definitely missed words, and on the four 2 minute problems, really not sure - I was able to talk for the full amount of time, but was really rambling in parts, and I'm sure on at least one I was fairly incoherent. We'll see, but I don't think I'll do the Speaking test again - I'm not sure what it really measures.

[zue]

hi every one, i just get my hsk 4 result

 

listening  96

 

reading   84

 

writing    59

 

I bit panicked the writing part didn't have enough time to write.. but hey i passed.  合格， but no idea the passmark.. is in 60 above  or what？ i thought if you get any one of them below 60 you won't pass?