HSK Basic vocabulary

[gegehuhu]

I started my Mandarin studies from scratch one year ago, but of that year only three months have been formal, full time study. The rest has all been self-study. Needless to say, I feel I’ve progressed a lot. My character count is exactly 1000 (that is, characters I can write from memory – those I can recognize from memory is greater). I was under the impression that now would be a good time to take the HSK basic for the first time, just to see where I was at.

However, upon purchasing some practice books and tests (clearly labeled HSK basic, not Elementary-Intermediate), I’ve discovered hundreds and hundreds of characters and words that I’ve never learned, and don’t even recognize. This makes me think I’m not even ready for HSK basic.

I’m confused because I downloaded a list that purported to be HSK basic list, all the characters needed to master HSK basic, yet it was clearly incomplete.

Just how many characters am I actually supposed to know for the HSK basic, and where can I obtain the full list of them?

[roddy]

Where did you get the lists from?

The HSK vocab is divided across four levels - in Chinese they use 甲/乙/丙/丁 to refer to them, in English you might see Level 1,2,3,4 or A,B,C,D. The basic exam should use mainly items from the first two levels if I remember correctly.

[gegehuhu]

roddy - the list I'm talking about was from popupchinese.com

this 甲/乙/丙/丁 division you speak of - is this the original HSK or the revised?

My practice books and intended exam are the revised.

My practice book does not indicate any of the above categories you mention.

I'm still confused. Why would the basic exam incorporate vocabulary from levels 1 AND 2 if 2 means more intermediate? Shouldn't it just use vocabulary from level 1?

All this makes it sound like its not worth my while to take the HSK yet, but rather to wait until I'm at more of an intermediate level.

PS I didn't mention before, but I've been in China for the last year - that's where I've been studying

[roddy]

First off, are you sure you're going to be taking a revised exam? All I can see on the timetable for revised is an intermediate and advanced for December this year, and then there's nothing at all until December 2010. Also, the revised exams don't have anything I'd call 'basic' - there's 初、中、高。 I'd assumed you were talking about the original HSK's 基础。

The HSK vocabulary levels never matched up to the actual exams very well. See here, but don't expect it to make a great deal of sense. Those lists were originally produced for the original HSK exams, how relevant they are to the newer versions is anyone's guess.

The lists on PopupChinese.com are classed as Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. After a quick look, it seems these are HSK vocab levels 1, 2+3, and 4 respectively. That doesn't match up too well with the exam structure which is more (1+2 for the 基础), (+3 for 初中), (+4 for 高). And as for the last item on the beginner's list - this is, I suspect, an anomaly.

I suspect you've either got textbooks for 基础, in which case you really want vocab levels 1+2, or the revised 初级, in which case the relevance of these lists is less clear - they're probably as good a place as any to start, but you can't assume they're the be all and end all. You can also get the lists from here and HSKflashcards.com.

Confused? Can't blame you. The entire mess that the HSK has become is ridiculous.

[trevelyan]

gegehuhu,

On the vocab front, if I'd suggest getting in contact with Gail at gail@popupchinese.com for any detailed questions on test structure. She keeps on top of the administrative changes to the test for us. As roddy mentioned, right now the vocabulary lists are being revised out of an awareness that they don't map well to the test. But there is no sign of when any changed lists are going to be coming down the pipeline.

In any event, I'd suggest treating the wordlists as guidelines for core vocabulary you should be able to recognize rather than content that must be memorized for reproduction on demand. I'm assuming you've already created a free trial on the site. If a subscription isn't feasible you can always download the sample tests as part of the regular lesson pdfs attached to our practice HSK tests during your free trial. The words that are tricky to figure out contextually tend to come up in test questions again and again anyway.

@roddy - thanks for the ping re: the last page. updated.

[gegehuhu]

I realized that my practice book IS the revised, and is the elementary level (初级)

This would explain why there were so many words I didn't recognize from the old version's basic vocab list （基础）. Clearly, the revised exam's elementary level is quite a bit harder than the old exam's basic level.

I decided to skip the exam this month, and focus on preparing for the intermediate exam in April 2010.

Also, I now understand that the vocab lists don't match up to the actual test vocabulary 100%, and that's part of the point (they want to test your ability to comprehend unknown characters from context). I can see I've got my work cut out for me!

Thanks to all the responders for their help.