My HSK results are in
mark
May 14, 2009, 06:39 AM posted in General DiscussionI got my score on the HSK, a little sooner than I expected, actually. Anyway, I scored a solid level 3. If I'd done better on the listening section, I might have turned a level 4, but I didn't. I knew the "cloze" section was going to kill me.
Now, why should this be interesting to any Podie besides myself? Well, I have long been trying to understand what the Cpod levels correspond to in real life. I think my experience helps understand that some.
I don't think I can infer anything about how long one has to study Cpod to gain a certain level of proficiency, because I can't account for factors, such as, native ability, time available for study, motivation and effectiveness of study technique. In regard to duration of study, my experience is entirely annecdotal.
However, I think I can say some things about my level of proficiency with CPod versus real-life, that can be generalized. The Cpod lessons up through Intermediate are pretty easy for me, now. I listen to them once and pretty much get whatever is new in them. I can understand the advanced lessons after listening carefully a few times and studying the transcript. I no longer bother with reading the English translations of the dialogs, just the 汉字。And, I can write about 80% of the characters that occur in the average intermediate lesson by hand.
The significance of level 3 on the HSK is that it is an absolute minimum requirement for going to college in China and studying some subject not strongly related to Chinese language. When I think about foreign students that have just arrived in the U.S., and meet the minimum language requirements, someone who is very difficult to communicate with and marginally functional in daily life activities comes to mind. I think a Chinese person would probably have a similar view of me in regard to my ability to communicate in Chinese. I think the same would be true for other Podies, with a similar proficiency with the Cpod lessons.
mark
May 20, 2009, 04:21 AMKate, thanks, in an earlier post, I described my study materials. Briefly, I used a text from Barnes and Noble, Rosetta Stone, help from native speakers, movies, and a few other resources, but Cpod is my primary study material. I have never spent a day in a University course in Chinese. Also, my accomplishment is fairly modest; 7 years to be rated as "low competency" in Chinese. Maybe, 7 more and I'll be reading poems with Pete. :=)
dahouxiaohou
May 14, 2009, 08:35 AMThanks for sharing, I plan to take the test myself sometime in the next year, and while CPOD is excellent for everyday Chinese, I can see myeslf having to buy some exam technique books in the run up.
Cheers Mark, and congrats!
helenshen_counselor
May 14, 2009, 08:37 AMCongratulations!! Mark! :)
vikram
May 14, 2009, 09:11 AMCongrats Mark!
Would be great if you could share details about the test and your preparation tips with other poddies , should they appear for HSK in the future.
vikram
May 14, 2009, 09:44 AMTaking nothing away from Mark's great effort, but just wanted to know from the poddies who have appeared for HSK if HSK is more about cramming vocab in and 'understand' fluently than speak fluently? Similar to any of the ETS conducted english tests taken by foreign students for admission to US schools.
eddietsai
May 14, 2009, 03:04 PManyone know where/when you can take the HSK exam in new york? google hasn't helped me much =(
eddietsai
May 14, 2009, 04:25 PMnevermind found it.. 90 broad st
mark
May 15, 2009, 12:20 AMVikram,I found the practice tests to be helpful study aids. They let me simulate the actual test, find where I was weak and focus my study effort on those areas. To your second comment, I think any test lends itself to "studying to the test" meaning you can study in a way that improves your test score, but doesn't improve your practical ability to do what is being tested. Also, the HSK doesn't cover some important practical areas, like I didn't have to speak. Conversely, when I asked native speakers for help with the practice tests, they didn't have any trouble with the questions. So if you know Chinese really well, you should pass easily. Also, the range of possible questions and the time limits on the test probably make cramming not as effective as it would be in some subjects; a certain amount of facility with what you have memorized is required.
To others, I'm embarrassed by all the congratulations. Thanks.
azerdocmom
May 14, 2009, 08:33 AMCongratualations, Mark!
vikram
May 15, 2009, 07:20 AMThanks for the responses Mark and Henning.
user76423
May 15, 2009, 05:02 PMGreat job, Mark! Congratulations!
maialen
May 16, 2009, 05:17 AMMy experience with the Elementary/Intermediate level HSK is that you must be very comfortable with reading chinese. Not just the basics. Also, listening comprehension is truly important, cause the dialogue is at a native/quick pace.
By the way, when you say level three, do you mean "C" from the 初等证书 level?
mark
May 16, 2009, 05:36 AM对，初C。 差一点我考不上。
maialen
May 19, 2009, 09:44 PM恭喜了啊！^_^
kate22
May 20, 2009, 03:32 AMMark,
First off, Congrats!!!
Second, have you used anything other than CPod? If so, what? You don't have to list every textbook, etc... just if you've taken a university class, other software...
Thanks!
Kate
henning
May 15, 2009, 04:48 AMCongruatulations, Mark.
And I agree with what you said above. One has to be careful not to fall into a 吃不到葡萄就说葡萄酸-attitude. Even though they might not cover every aspect of fluency, all mockup tests on the HSK Basic and Elementery/Intermediate level that I have seen so far made perfectly sense.
Now the HSK Advanced is a different kind of ballgame. Those can be challenging even for some native speakers with a University degree.
bababardwan
May 14, 2009, 06:44 AMCongratulations mark and thanks for sharing.It certainly is very interesting to be able to work out what all this equates to.