Anyone in NYC planning to take the new HSK at end of 11?

[uchihak]

Hi,

I'm thinking of taking the new HSK 6 towards the end of this year and need study partners to study and practice together. Anyone else from NYC planning to do the same?

A bit of background: I've abt ~3000 characters under my belt, # of words, I don't know. Been studying Chinese for 5+ years and have pretty good reading and I'd say fair, listening and writing skills. Speaking is ok for basic communication, but I won't be giving speeches. Fortunately, I'm not taking the 口试 exam just yet....

[Wang7]

"..I've abt ~3000 characters under my belt, # of words, I don't know. Been studying Chinese for 5+ years and have pretty good reading and I'd say fair, listening and writing skills. Speaking is ok for basic communication, but I won't be giving speeches..."

Let's see; I've been studying for one year and I know about 400 characters. I guess I'm on pace with your learning acquisition, however,what strikes me as most interesting about your comment is that your listening skills are still marginal after five years, and your "communication" skills are "ok." Thank you for sharing, at least now I have an idea of what to expect as I continue my studies. Good luck on the exam.

Edited July 31, 2011 at 11:06 AM by Wang7

[uchihak]

well, marginal is of course a relative term. I can understand

100% of simple dialogues in movies,

80-90% (i.e. good ,I follow the discussion) of foreign talk shows like mei guo zhi yin (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/user/VOAchina#p/c/C03E0C9B3BAEE352/0/65WHjYh7FcM),

only 50-60% (i.e. only vague idea, do not follow the discussion very well, just know what they're talking about) of Chinese news like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Li0YfX5CY)

Part of the problem is the enormous variety of accents you encounter in the Mainland Chinese material.

Anyways, keep on studying and you'll see for yourself how much you progress. One thing you have to keep in mind though is that the Chinese are very forgiving of foreigners speaking Chinese, they have a pretty strong stereotype that foreigners (esp. Americans) speak terrible Chinese so whenever you do anything even half decent, they will offer effusive praise.

[Wang7]

Thank you for your encouraging and kind advice. Once again, good luck on the HSK.