Did you get your HSK scores?

baba

Haha, actually I wrote too quickly. I meant to say "Are you thinking about taking the ..." Anyway, I'm here if you have questions.

xiaophil,

"Are you taking the HSK in Australia?"..ah sorry mate,my Chinese probably wasn't clear enough in my last post.I was trying to say that I was contemplating maybe taking it one day [meaning the distant future as a vague goal on the horizon ].I think it's nice to start thinking about future goals [and to start to look into it a bit to help start crystallising one's goals],but I certainly have no immediate plans.Particularly if it's expensive I personally don't think it would be of much benefit to me until I get to a more substantial level...something that might have some meaning or weight.From memory when I looked it up I have in mind that it was going to cost me a few hundred dollars,but maybe I was factoring in a need to fly to another city.But yeah,I'd be really interested in checking it out a bit further including where to find HSK prep stuff ,so thanks for your reply and your generous offer of further advice.Cheers mate and jiayou :)

Baba

Are you taking the HSK in Australia? Is it more expensive there than in China? I always felt it was more expensive than it needed to be but still affordable. I think it is about 50 USD. I bet IELTS and TOEFL are much more expensive for Chinese students.

Anyway, if the vast majority of your studies comes from CPod, I would guess you can at least get level 3 in the elementary-intermediate version. If you really want to kick some gluteus maximus, I suggest buying some intermediate or higher 阅读 textbooks and carefully go through them. If you happen to follow my advice, having an electronic dictionary that allows you to draw the characters is almost essential if you don't want to spend hours looking up radicals. You could also use the draw function at nciku.com. There are also plenty of HSK prep books here in China. I wonder if they are easy to find outside of China, though. This is the best way to go if your main goal is to pass the test, but I find them boring so I only use them sparingly. (The 阅读 articles are actually interesting sometimes.) I plan to start using my HSK prep books again as the grammar sections are fairly useful.

If you have any specific questions about the test, please feel free to ask.

xiaophil,

hehe,I'm just being a twit mate.That and poor choice of words no doubt explain your confusion.No,not an inside joke.Bodawei's very funny reply to you put me in the mood.I was basically trying to say:

you oughta feel at home,you can continue to use your basket[meaning the same one he used at the market could be used for books],and they still have leaves there [vegie leaves and leaves of a book],and you can still wear your little red riding hood [well if he's going to have baskets of goodies...I was outing him here mate...only fair after he outed me as a dentist]...ok,now I'm truly embarrassed because that was me at my lamest...but anything for you mate,and it's all good Chinese practice no matter what rubbish is being written right and further you've kindly educated me with 自在..so thanks mate :} ps please don't ask me to explain any further though,there was nothing good here..let's move on,hehe. ;)

baba

Usually I can understand what you mean, but I'm afraid I don't quite get it. I think you mean "感觉自在" feel at home? You can continue using your basket, but in addition there are leaves there? Furthermore, you can still wear your little red cap? Is this some sort of Australian inside joke? Haha, it is fun trying to pick apart.

"Shopping for a textbook will make a nice change from veggies. :-)"

呵呵，真好笑 ：）

你应该感觉在家。。你可以继续用你的筐，还有那里也有叶，【而且你还可以穿你的小红帽】

Xiaophil

Thanks for the elaboration .. I admire your dedication.

I haven't read a text book in a long time; no doubt I should! Shopping for a textbook will make a nice change from veggies. :-) I've seen a couple of readers that interest me.

haha no way Xiaophil! no. way.

Bodawei

I have to make two things clear. One, I was sort of talking to myself above. When I don't really want to study, I often say to myself, "Phil, ya ain't in this just for buyin' veggies. Study harder." Two, working off of what I just said, I have seen many people do the immersion thing fervently, avoid anything academic in nature and end up with pretty remarkable results. However, as I read my textbooks I always come across words that I think, "Wow, I'm glad I know this," but I doubt I would have gained that knowledge through just 'living'. That said, I really don't know anything about what your specific studying habits, so it was premature to make it seem like you were only buying vegetables, haha. (That's not what I meant anyway.)

LOL, yes, should have thought about that! Test is not expensive (200 RMB) otherwise would not have done it. Extra info, for whoever is interested in the test in China, registration starts March 1st.

Also, noticed the revised version is in December.

Something else, yesterday went to the bookstore for some test material and accidenty found the NPC Reader textbook nr 6. The publication date is Dec 09. (I think it is delayed for 2 years). Someone might be interested in this here...

Chanelle, I don't know if you can or not, but I guess the answer is yes. Chinese are not known for turning away money ;).

Zhen, Thanks for the congrats. I have to say, I suspect your result would be higher than a 4. When I see you posting around here, I am always under the impression that you are at a higher level than me.

bodawei

I posted that on the fly. Actually, I would like to clarify a bit, but it'll have to be later. I hope it didn't hurt too much ;-)

Exactly, for me I would like to have some standard that I did not "waste" my 2 years in China with shopping & socializing ;-). And it might be useful if in the future I would like to continue more formal, be it for work or study...

So, plan to do

Basic on Sat 16.04 and Elly / Int on Sun 17.04 (if that is allowed).

Does anyone know this if you can register for 2 tests? I know that abroad you can, but do not know it same holds for China...

At level 6 and higher, moving up one level at a time is certainly an achievement (belated congratulations Xiaophil!). I just meant that at the level where I am, it's not very interesting to me personally.

I also think if I were studying more intensively I'd be more inclined to take the HSK, maybe annually.

I took the HSK Basic one year into my studies, to give myself a "Point Zero", a reference from which to measure my subsequent progress. I already knew then I had no interest in taking the test regularly. I would take it next only when I felt like I had achieved substantial enough progress (and feel now, 2 yrs later, that I haven't made enough progress since to merit measuring). I barely scored enough for level 3 then. If I took the Ele-Int today I hope to make a 4, but am not really interested in going through all that just to "move up one level" at a time.

And it's expensive (all these tests must be making so much money!). I think an Ele-Int HSK would cost me 8,000 yen in Tokyo. You do get the ugly-looking certificate with your photo in it sent to you from Beijing, to show for your expense.

But anyway I think I'm like Chanelle, it's something I would do to have some standard, "formal" indication of my proficiency.

Ouch, that hurt a little, but don't worry no harm done. :-) 'Immersion' in my real world does involve more than buying vegetables and 'occasional conversations', but finding ways to progress beyond these is a constant challenge. Interesting point about 'deemed basic knowledge of a literate Chinese person' - the bar is higher in China than it is in the West I think. I fall well short of 'deemed basic knowledge of a literate Chinese person'. Classical allusions are peppered through this person's conversation. I receive letters from a friend in Shanghai that cannot be translated from a dictionary for example - I need an educated native speaker to explain it all.

I agree you have to think a bit academically - I have posted here in the past arguing that a year's formal full-time study is a good grounding for the continuing education offered by ChinesePod. My question was really about the usefulness of the HSK - being 'academic' (assuming it is) is not enough. Is the HSK going to help you achieve the 'deemed basic knowledge of a literate Chinese person'?

And thanks - you are stimulating a review of my learning methods and goals. A quick look at my 'goals' for 2010 posted elsewhere indicate that the deemed basic knowledge of a literate Chinese person will have to wait for another year.

bodawei

Everybody has their own approach. For those who want to get around better and engage in occasional conversations, your method is fine. As to why one should study for the HSK, I look at it this way: if a person is born in an English speaking country, that person will have no problem communicating in English in most daily situations. But of course if one wants to speak and write English well, that person must think a bit 'academically'. Chinese is the same way, and there is no better way to get into the mood than to start taking tests that may or may not help one buy vegetables at the market but can measure how much one is aware of what the 'elites' have deemed basic knowledge of a literate Chinese person.

By the way, this response is just as much an answer to myself as a reply to you. I often think about the value of my learning methods and goals.

Anyway, forget the part-time job. I'll look for an internship ;).