posted by enyan617 on May 6, 2012 | 10 comments
Hi! Well, I must say that after several times of looking up things online in both English and Chinese, it wasn't until finding Popup Chinese that I was able to get clear answers to my questions of the different HSK tests - the difference between the old tests and the new tests.One other question about that is, what about the speaking tests? Hoe do those fit in with the written tests? Do you have to take them to pass certain levels?The main thing I wanted to ask is...So, I'm a American that grew up in China speaking Mandarin as early as English. However, I never really had any formal Chinese training, so while I can speak and understand fluently, my reading is quite slow (although pin yin is no problem) and my writing is even worse. I have almost no problem when I do Chinese writing on the computer or phone (typing in pinyin), and I have fairly good Chinese handwriting too, but if I don't have the character to look at, I often don't remember how to write the character. So my write-by-memory skill is only like 2-3 grade Chinese public school level, with some random more advanced characters too. I want to take the HSK as soon as I can, but I want to find out which would be the best level for me to take, and what I should do to prepare for that level.I just found this website tonight and already really like it! Listened to several of the podcasts. Very cool...and fun too.
P.S. I currently live in Shanghai, and am working between high school and college right now.
Noah.Pflugradt on May 7, 2012 | reply
Personally I've found that the combination of skritter and Popup chinese works very well. I use Popup to learn to understand chinese and Skritter for learning how to write and for the endless repetition of characters. I can't advise using only skritter though, since chances are high that you'll be frothing mad within a week or two of doing nothing but writing. Popup adds some much needed relief from that and more importantly, teaches how to use the words in context.-- Noah
@enyan617,Hi, welcome to site! 欢迎你加入我们泡泡中文大家庭！As you have known, HSK tests are divided into 6 levels. However, the speaking tests （口试） are separate. There are three levels of them: beginner, intermediate and advanced (初级、中级、高级). You can take them separately. I don't think you would have problem to take the advanced test if you are already fluent in speaking Chinese.All the tests are made up of three parts. The beginner tests are about 17 minutes in total (7 minutes to prepare). There are "listen and repeat", "listen and answer questions" and "answer questions" three parts. Questions are like using 1.5 minutes to 介绍一下你的一个好朋友. The intermediate tests are around 21 minutes (10 minutes to prepare). There are "listen and repeat", "look at a picture and talk about it", and "answer questions". Questions are like using 2 minutes to talk about 你一般是怎么安排你的周末的. The advanced tests are 24 minutes in total (10 minutes to prepare). There are "listen and retell", "read aloud" and "answer questions" three parts. Questions are like using 2.5 minutes to answer a question like 有人认为辩论可以让双方取得一致的意见，有人认为辩论会使双方更对立，你怎么看？About written tests, I'd suggest you can go to bookstores and take a look at 新汉语水平考试大纲 made by 国家汉办. Each level has its own book including one sample test, so you can see which level is more suitable to you. One tip that will help you to take HSK tests (or basically any tests created by Chinese people) is to take as many sample tests as you can before the real one, so that you can train yourself to be able to finish the tests in the required time and learn the skills of how to answer questions. 祝你好运！--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
@Noah.P thanks for introducing Skritter. I looked at it. I really like it, except that you do all the writing online and with a mouse, so it's harder to write well, and it doesn't really drill my hand muscles into how to write the characters. But I do really need to work on my writing....@Echo 非常谢谢你的及时回应。你对那些口试的介绍对我很有帮助。哦，我也很喜欢听你跟David的podcasts.Hannah 恩妍
Noah.Pflugradt on May 8, 2012 | reply
I've bought a Wacom Bamboo tablet for it. It cost about 50 Euros. I've read that in China you can get writing tablets that work just as well for about 20-30 US-$. And then it actually trains your muscle memory.
But I don't think you actually need it. You can make your own offline writing sheets with the HSK vocab list and Excel, print them and then just use those to practice writing.Test
@enyanskritter is awesome, but I agree with you about the mouse/computer issue. It`s a big drawback, compounded by the fact that it uses flash player, which renders it useless on iPhones. That said, they`ve annouced that they`ll be releasing and App soon. If you sign up to their newsletter you`ll get an email when it comes out. :)
zhujunqiang.2007 on May 30, 2012 | reply
如果你想提高你的书面语。额。。。就是汉语书面表达能力，如果程度只有小学2-3年级。。。可以试着去看看那个年纪的书嘛。很可爱的。。哈哈
alisadeghian1372 on May 31, 2012 | reply
i want to take exam (HSK)in the 17 day of junebut i am lost time for registered for this exam may you help to me ?thank you
@alisadeghian1372,
I'm a bit confused by your comment. We don't run the registration procedures for the HSK exam -- that is usually handled by the various institutions paid by Hanban, so if they have deadlines we cannot help with that. Was there something specific that you needed?
Generally, if you're looking for background information on the HSK exam, copies of the wordlists and/or tips on how to prepare, you might want to take a look at our page dedicated to the HSK test. If you visit our study center and scroll down, the last paragraph has links to test questions which might be useful as well.