The HSK Exam
HSK stands for Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi - literally, Chinese Level Exam. It's taken mainly by foreigners who wish to have confirmation of their level of Chinese, either for their own interest, university entrance or job-hunting. Apparently it's also taken by Chinese nationals who do not speak Mandarin as a first language - presumably mostly those from ethnic minorities. I don't know how common this is.
The exam is available at three different levels. The first one is known as 'jichu' - literally foundation. This is where you come if you have only studied very little Chinese. As I understand it this is a relatively new addition to the HSK stable and I don't know much about it. According to the literature, this is suitable for those with between 100 and 800 hours of formal Chinese study.
The next level is known as 'chu, zhong ji' - elementary and intermediate level. This sometimes causes confusion, as 'jichu' is occasionaly translated as elementary thus making people thing that there are two elementary exams. I think what happened is that the HSK administrators decided to try and increase the number of people taking their exams annually and rather than divide and expand the elementary and intermediate levels they snuck in a foundation level at the bottom. I think this was unfortunate - mixing the elementary and intermediate level makes the exam look very daunting for those at lower levels, and the stated range of 400 to 2000 study hours is really a lot wider than it should be.
The advanced - gaoji - exam is the only one to include speaking and writing components (the elementary and intermediate exam includes some writing of characters, but nothing substantial). It is recommended for those who've studied for over 3000 hours.
some comments
A quick look at the above information will show that there are both gaps and overlap in the HSK coverage. If you've studied between 400 and 800 hours you could consider taking either the foundation or elementary / intermediate exam. Meanwhile, there's a great big gap between 2000 and 3000 hours of study - equivalent to about a year of full-time study.
I think the HSK is generally a very well-designed exam - I found that preparing for the elementary and intermediate exam improved my everyday listening and reading a great deal. The listening in particular requires you to master a lot of colloquial Chinese usage, while the style of the reading pieces are similar to those you will find in the notices and newspapers you come across everyday.
There are an increasing amount of good quality preparation materials for the HSK - but at the same time, there's also a fair amount of rubbish. One unfortunate habit of publishers is to print a 'comprehensive HSK course' which is actually just a bunch of sample exam papers with no guidance or explanation of answers. Another problem is that materials are very often in Chinese only - manageable for those at higher levels, but somewhat inconvienient for some. Still, it's all good practice. . .
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level one
This is the most basic of levels, suitable for those with up to 800 hours of Chinese study behind them. There are three sections, Listening, Grammar and Reading, taking a total of two and a quarter hours.
what does it test
The questions for this exam are based on the most common 3000 words, made up from 1600 characters.
so what's actually in there
Here's a part by part breakdown of what you'll see in the exam.
Listening: This lasts about 35 minutes with 50 questions.
Part 1. One speaker makes a statement describing a situation. You have four pictures on your exam paper and you need to choose which picture matches the statement. 15 questions. The nice thing about this is that you don't need to read the questions - just look at the pictures, and as if that wasn't enough, you even get to here the statements twice.
Part 2.You hear one speaker ask a question, and have to choose the one correct answer from the four given on the answer sheet . Again, you get to hear the question twice. Total of 20 questions.
Part 3. You'll hear a conversation between a man and a woman, or a longer statement by one person and then one or more question. You choose one of the four answers given. The conversations or statements are not repeated in this section.
Grammar. Two parts with a total of 40 questions, to be done in 40 minutes.
Part 1, 20 questions. You get four sentences, only one of which is correct. Can you find the correct one. Of course you can . . .
Part 2. 20 questions. Now you get one sentence, but this time there is a missing word and you have to choose between 4 possible words to fill it.
Reading. 50 questions with one hour to do them in. This divides into 2 parts.
Part 1, 20 questions. You get four or five paragraphs to read, each with a number of words removed. Each gap has four possible words it can be filled with. All you have to do is . . . yeah, you know already. Ok, Ok.
Part 2, 30 questions. 8 - 10 reading passages, ranging in length from a few dozen characters to about 200. There are up to 6 questions for each passage.
what do you actually get?
Assuming you reach a minimum level, you are given a Foundation A, B or C grade. Foundation A is considered equivalent to Elementary C (see the elementary / intermediate exam) and therefore considered adequate for entry to certain undergraduate courses.
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level 2
hsk elementary / intermediate
Please note that this is not the lowest level - there is also an foundation level.
The elementary / intermediate exam has four parts - Listening, Grammar, Reading and the cryptically named 'General'. The exam is taken in one sitting and lasts a total of 2 hours 25 minutes.
what does it test
The elementary and intermediate HSK exam is based on a bank of 5000 words, made up from 2205 different characters. These words make up 90% of those used in everyday conversation and writing. The exam focusses on everyday situation - you'll hear students discussing a teacher, not politicians discussing trade deals; and read about an argument on a bus, not a legal dispute.
so what's actually in there
Here's a part by part breakdown of what you'll see in the exam.
Listening: This lasts about 35 minutes with 50 questions. All questions are both spoken on the tape and written on the exam script - which is handy as you have time to read the questions in the pauses, but if you don't recognise a character you can wait for it to be spoken and hope that will help. It subdivides into the following 3 parts. One good thing about this part of the exam is that it does test your knowledge of colloquial spoken Chinese.
One speaker makes a statement and you answer one single question. 15 questions
You hear a brief exchange between a man and a woman and answer one question. 20 questions
You hear a longer speech from one speaker - it could be a story, part of a radio show, a university lecture, etc. You then answer between 2 and 5 questions on what you've heard.
Grammar. Two parts with a total of 30 questions, to be done in 20 minutes.
Part 1, 10 questions. You get one sentence with four gaps, marked A to D. You also get one word, and you have to decide which gap it should go in.
Part 2. 20 questions. Again you get one sentence, but this time there is only one gap and you have to choose between 4 possible words to fill it.
Reading. 50 questions with one hour to do them in. This divides into 2 parts.
Part 1, 20 questions. You read one short sentence, one word of which is underlined. You then have to decide which of the four words given below have the same meaning as the underlined word. This is probably the part of the exam that I am most dubious about - rather than testing your reading comprehension this is simply a test of your vocabulary - you could completely fail to understand the meaning and implication of the sentence, but if you know only the underlined words and the choices below you will be able to answer correctly.
Part 2 is a lot more challenging. You have 8 passages to read, with 3 to 5 questions on each (total of 30 questions). Passages start relatively short - about 130 characters - and get up to about five or six hundred (still only half an A4 page). The questions for each passage move from specific (what kind of person is Xiao Fang?) to general (what would be an appropriate title for the passage?).
General Blank-filling. My least favourite part, by far. 40 questions, 30 minutes, 2 parts.
Part 1, 25 questions. You're given 5 passages, similar in style to those in part 2 of the reading. This time though some fool has left out some words and you have to choose which of four options should go in the blank.
ParT 2, 15 questions. Now, if you are anything like me, you've been sitting through this thinking 'Hey, this is ok. I don't need to write anything - I can just learn to recognise the characters, I don't need to learn to write them - easy'. However, they've thought of everything . . .
You don't actually need to write an essay or anything. Not even a sentence. You read 4 short passages, each of which has a number of blanks. You need to decide which character should fill the blank and then write it on the answer sheet. No easy A,B,C or D options here - you actually need to drag the character up from the depths of your memory. Damn.
what do you actually get?
There are 6 possible grades (assuming you reach a minimum standard), Elementary A B and C, and Intermediate A B and C. These are sometimes expressed as one of six numerical grades from 3 to 8. Technically, an elementary C allows you entry to science and engineering courses in Chinese universities, while an Intermediate C gets you into arts courses. Personally, I think this is ridiculously low - I have the Intermediate C result, and I know I couldn't tackle either a science or an arts course - I would get very lost very quickly. Apart from anything else, the exam doesn't test extended writing - or even non-extended writing - which would surely be an essential part of any university course.
problems
Apart from the doubts I raised in the above paragraph, I'd also like to make clear that this exam has far too broad a scope. 400 to 2000 study hours is equivalent to between six months and two years of full-time study. This means that those of you who are nearer the 400 hours end of the scale will look at this exam, see all the intermediate content, and run home in tears. The only thing you can do is have realistic aims and accept that there will be large chunks of the exam that are beyond you. Also, don't look at an Elementary A as being in the bottom half of an Elementary / Intermediate exam - think of it as being at the top end of an Elementary exam.
l
level 3
The advanced - gaoji - exam is the only one to include speaking and writing components (the elementary and intermediate exam includes some writing of characters, but nothing substantial). It is recommended for those who've studied for over 3000 hours
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There are three score levels for HSK Basic and their interpretations are as follows:
Level 1: The candidate has acquired the basic (low) Chinese competence. The candidate is able to understand simple sentences and express simple ideas and capable of simple communication in his or her daily life and study. A Chinese learner who has mastered about 600 common Chinese characters and the corresponding grammar can reach this standard, which is also the criterion for HSK Basic Certificate Grade C.
Level 2:The candidate has acquired the basic (middle) Chinese competence that can meet the demand of basic daily life, a certain range of social communication and study to some degree. This is the criterion for HSK Basic Certificate Grade B.
Level 3:The candidate has acquired the basic (higher) Chinese competence and can fulfill the minimal requirements in Chinese proficiency to be admitted to study in Science, Engineering, Agriculture, and West Medicine in Chinese universities for a Bachelor's Degree. This is also the criterion to grant HSK Basic Certificate Grade A, which is equivalent to HSK Elementary Certificate Grade C.
HSK Elementary—Intermediate Certificate and Score Levels
• Level 3: The candidate has the elementary (low) competence in Chinese. A candidate at this level can gain HSK Elementary Certificate Grade C, which is prescribed by the Ministry of Education as the minimal level in Chinese proficiency for an international student to study in a Bachelor's Degree programme in science, engineering, agriculture and western medicine in a Chinese college or university.
Level 4:The candidate has the elementary (middle) competence in Chinese and can gain the HSK Elementary Certificate Grade B.
Level 5: The candidate has the elementary (high) competence in Chinese and can be granted the HSK Elementary Certificate Grade A.•
Level 6: The candidate has acquired the intermediate (low) competence in Chinese and can get the HSK Intermediate Certificate Grade C.
Level 7: The candidate has the intermediate (high) Chinese language competence and is eligible for the HSK Intermediate Certificate Grade B.
Level 8: The candidate has acquired the intermediate (high) Chinese language competence and can be awarded the HSK Intermediate Certificate Grade A.
There is a bottom line established below Level 9 for HSK Advanced in order to set a criterion for awarding certificates and not to assess the basic, elementary or intermediate proficiency levels. Therefore, scores in this range are not to be referenced for determining the basic, elementary or intermediate Chinese proficiency levels.
Interpretation of the score levels of HSK Advanced
There are 11 score levels in HSK, of which Levels 3 to 5 signify the basic, Levels 6 to 8 the elementary and intermediate, and Level 9 to 11 the advanced.
Level 9: the candidate has advanced (low) Chinese language competence, which can be acquired after 3000 hours or more of regular modern Chinese language learning (or other equivalent Chinese learning experience). This level is the minimum standard to be qualified for the jobs requiring Chinese for communication and the standard by which the HSK (Advanced) Certificate Grade C is awarded.
Level 10: The candidate has acquired the advanced (middle) Chinese language competence. This level is the moderate standard to be qualified for jobs requiring Chinese as the communication language and the standard by which the HSK (Advanced) Certificate Grade B is obtained.
Level 11:The candidate has possessed the advanced (high) Chinese language competence. This level is the higher standard to be qualified for jobs requiring Chinese for communication and is also viewed as being qualified for a translator at the intermediate level. It is the standard by which the HSK (Advanced) Certificate Grade A is conferred
HSK is held regularly in Mainland China. The following is the time schedule of 2006 HSK tests.
I. HSK (Basic): 2 tests in 2006
The 1st test
Time: April
The 2nd test
Time: November
II. HSK (Elementary-Intermediate): 3 tests in 2006
The 1st test
Time: April
The 2nd test
Time: June
The 3rd test
Time: November
III. HSK (Advanced): 2 tests in 2006
The 1st test
Time: April
The 2nd test
Time: September
HSK tests will be arranged in light of the actual local circumstances in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other countries. For details about the time schedule please enquire at the local test center.
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