posted by chinopinyin on June 4, 2010 | 7 comments
Nobody seems to be offering the new HSK tests and the number of students taking the new tests has sharply risen.
Do you plan to start providing them in the coming months?
Most people are taking levels 1 to 3, so it would make a lot of sense to start with those levels.
hi chinopinyin,
The current HSK questions *do* map over to the new exam. What is missing is support for the new graphics used on the HSK levels one and two (formerly HSK基础) on our site and in the PDFs. We also need to revamp our wordlists to accomodate the new breakdown level-by-level.
Development for all of this is planned for this summer, with a launch date of sometime before the new school year starts in September. Once that is done, we're likely to switch our emphasis over to the new HSK, if only to avoid confusion since it is the test most people outside China are taking at this point.
Best,
--david
chinopinyin on June 6, 2010 | reply
Switching your emphasis to the new HSK!! This is excellent news!!
The sooner,the better
I just took the new HSK test yesterday in Beijing. I took level 3 and level 4 - the 2 intermediate level tests.
I have been using the beginner level practice tests from this website to prepare for it, and I bought a book with full length old HSK sample tests. In general, they did a good job of preparing me.
From a vocabulary standpoint, the new HSK is a breeze. The levels of 3 and 4 were really different, especially on listening. Level 3 they spoke more slowly, and repeated everything twice. The level 3 characters I had to write from memory were SUPER easy - 家, 会, 花, 讲 and one other.
Even though I took both levels of listening and reading, I only had to take 1 speaking test - the intermediate level. The center I took the test at didn't administer it well. So in my opinion it was tough, and confusing. I didn't know when to start, how much prep time I had, etc. In the end, the preparation time was enough, but the questions were not easy.
My biggest surprise from the whole thing was time. I think they have added an element of time stress to the test. Taking full length practice tests from the older versions of HSK, I always had plenty of time at the end. This time it was not the same, I ran out of time and had to struggle to answer all the questions.
I hope some of this is helpful. I was really anxious about the new test and didn't know what to expect from it. I'll find out in a month how it all went.
@jstoehr,
Thanks for sharing these specific information with all of us here! I am sure it will help a lot of friends here who are going to take the new HSK.
祝你有一个好成绩！
--Echo
echo@popupchinese.com
beyond1215 on July 2, 2010 | reply
什么是HSK ???
@beyond1215,The HSK is the 汉语水平考试 (Hanyi Shuiping Kaoshi), the national Chinese proficiency exam used to measure second language mandarin proficiency. There are a lot more details on the test on our online HSK test page.--david
Andrews_seat on August 4, 2010 | reply
Do you have a better idea yet of the date you will switch to the new HSK?
@bob_trenwith,
Hi Bob. We're not planning on *switching* to the new HSK so much as adding support for the new test. The timeline for this is basically going to depend on when we have the next iteration of the site ready to launch.
This is under development now, but I don't have a concrete date yet. We were hoping for an early September launch, but I don't think we will hit that target. So sometime later this fall, but exact date uncertain.
Best,
--david