In a dark, dank bunker nestled miles under solid bedrock in the Himalayan Plateau lies the HSK Tribunal. Imposing men with soulless faces gather around a cursed table made from the bones of those slain by the HSK test. This tribunal exists for the sole purpose of exacting pain and suffering on those few warriors who enter the deadly labyrinth that is the HSK exam. With these exercises we give a guiding light to those lost in the caverns of this deadly maze.
chinopinyin
said on July 3, 2009
Apparently, there is a new HSK (http://oia.pdx.edu/confucius/about_hsk/)
6 levels are planned. For the first two levels, there are already sample tests available (http://oia.pdx.edu/images/confucius/hsk1_outline-sample.pdf and http://oia.pdx.edu/images/confucius/hsk2_outline-sample.pdf) They seem considerably easier than the current HSK beginner level.
The natural question that arises is whether you plan to provide HSK exercises using these new levels. I feel that they would be particularly useful for newbies and for people with an elementary level.
trevelyan
said on July 3, 2009
@chinopinyin - Gail and Echo can probably comment more productively on this. That said, the HSK is always under examination and re-examination. Complicating matters, there is an ongoing turf war involving it between two organizations which claim to have the overarching authority to administer and develop the test: BLCU and Hanban.For the last few years there has been a spat between the two and the test has been caught in the middle. Hanban is a newer organization and is trying to stake out its authority over everything related to CSL education in China. As such it has done things like refuse to authorize newer variants of the test developed by BLCU and deny accreditations on alternate tests to BLCU graduates and teachers. It has also tried to strengthen its connections with the university in other ways, as with the creation of a new HSK center at the university. Hanban ultimately doesn't yet have the authority to run the test in China, so is making efforts with its Confucius Institutes - the Hanban funded academic outreach organizations set up largely for PR purposes at various Western universities.This raises the question of what constitutes the "real HSK". Until there is a genuinely unified test both nationally and internationally you end up reading the tea leaves. Our test developers are working more closely with the community coming out of BLCU since they run the vast majority of HSK certifications and have historically been in control of things. We're keeping tabs on changes to the test of course and if and when the format or organizing body changes considerably we'll make the changes here to accommodate it. This being China, it will take a while for anything to happen.p.s. on a side note, getting certified at Level 1 in the HSK requires only a 33% success rate in answering questions at the beginner level. Since this is only slightly above what you'd expect to get right with simple random selection on a multiple choice quiz, there's a strong case to be made that the first level isn't prohibitively difficult as it stands. One reason most university admissions require intermediate certification with at least a six for Chinese language study.
menglelan
said on July 3, 2009
chinopinyin 谢谢！刚看孔子学院网站的新汉语水平考试 （初级1， 2）， 都非常容易。
menglelan
said on July 3, 2009
>>getting certified at Level 1 in the HSK requires only a 33% success rate in answering questions at the beginner level.
我不清楚这句话的意思。 你是说旧的HSK还是新的HSK？ 还有， success rate是什么意思呢？
Gail天堂的声音
said on July 3, 2009
@chinopinyin, hi, i have visited the websites you listed above, but they are not what i expected. actually there's only one website you can take as reference that is http://www.hsk.org.cn/. HSK today has two different versions, you can take either of them. the old version has three levels,HSK基础，初中等，高等. and the new one has HSK 入门级，初级，中级，高级。 actually HSK 入门级 is useless， and基础is relatively new. if you will take HSK基础，入门级or 初中级, please visit our HSK Beginner。HSK intermediate is for 初中等，so the one who take this exam have to visit both HSK beginner and intermediate. and HSK advanced for 高等。 moreover, the confucious center(hanban) and HSK center are two different institutes. HSK center is in Beijing Language and Culture University(BLCU), the uni i graduated from.
Gail天堂的声音
said on July 3, 2009
and about the levels. HSK Advanced in popupchinese is for Level 9, 10, 11 HSK Intermediate is for Level 4 to 8, HSK Beginner is for Level 1, 2, 3. and according to message from HSK center one minute ago, HSK 入门级(level 1 and 2)has been stopped.
bonita.delmonte
said on July 3, 2009
Wow. Those Level 1 and 2 tests linked to above are jokes. In my first year uni class we are supposed to be learning 600 characters. It devalues the HSK imo if they're giving out certificates for things it only takes a month or two to learn. If people don't need to work to pass a test it ends up being meaningless, except maybe as a way of collecting cash, in which case the more the merrier.Thanks for coming out!
Echo
said on July 3, 2009
@bonita.delmonte,
Yeah, and on the other hand, it is only useful for getting a job or sth else when you reach level 5/6 or above (according to the experience from my students and friends).
--Echo
echo@popupchinese.com
mat
said on July 3, 2009
Hrm, there was me thinking HSK stood for something so I had it as an eventual goal but if it's all in turmoil like this I think I wont bother.
Those tests linked above are quite amusing. Don't really have any desire to pay someone money to get certified for ridiculously low standards like that.
Stunned there's pinyin for everything.
menglelan
said on July 3, 2009
>>>there was me thinking HSK stood for something so I had it as an eventual goal but if it's all in turmoil like this I think I wont bother. <<<
The HSK is a complete mess on every level.
chinopinyin
said on July 4, 2009
@trevelyan
Thanks a lot for your detailed response on the new HSK, particularly the info on the BLCU-Hanban turf war.
If I understand you correctly, there are bound to be national (i.e. China based) and international versions of the test.
But why would popupchinese want to restrict its potential market and align with one side in this ongoing war or wait till there is some convergence between both sides in the (distant) future?
Most likely, an important share of your users does not live in China and these people may well take a Chinese test in a Confucius Institute. Why not offer them new HSK practice? Of course, to try to please everybody, it makes a lot of sense to keep producing your current HSK material
As menglelan rightly points out, your comment on the 33% sucess rate to achieve level 1 refers to the traditional HSK. In the new version, you will need a 60% sucess rate, so, unless you are really lucky, random guessing is not going to get you anywhere
Levels in the new HSK seem to be related to the Common European Framework (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages). There are well established exams for English, Spanish, French or German exam that fit into this framework. Thousands of students take these exams every year, so there is clearly a strong demand for these products. For instance, over 250.000 people take the University of Cambridge First Certificate in English every year (This is B2 level in the common european framework or, equivalently, Level 4 in the new HSK)
Of course, levels 1 and 2 of the new HSK (A1 and A2 in the common framework terminology) are pretty basic (They assume you know 150 and 300 characters, respectively). This makes a lot of sense, since they are designed for people who are starting to study a language. Popup chinese absolute beginner users are probably in this group (as are followers of chineseclass101). Easy exams are helpful in motivating people to keep on studying (This is probably more important for Chinese than for other languages) and mastering the basics is needed before proceeding to more difficult material.
Levels 3 and 4 in the new HSK are less basic (they require 600 and 1200 characters) and level 6 (the top one in the new HSK) is considerably more demanding (above 5000 characters). This is probably what you need if you want to study at a Chinese University (but this may not be the aim of everybody)
trevelyan
said on July 4, 2009
@mat, @chinopinyin, @bonita.delmonte,Hi everyone. Just to clarify, we're not picking sides in an administrative turf war. Our main concern is giving people the best materials possible to prepare them for university admission and effective self-assessment.As Gail commented above, the main point here is that the test linked to above by chinopinyin is not a "newer" version of the HSK Beginner test which is somehow easier than the current test and which is replacing it. It is a totally different test which is under dispute within the Chinese bureaucracy, and which is offered to a very small number of entry-level students primarily through Hanban working with Confucius Institutes it funds directly.It is totally confusing that there are different grades of the test which go by the same name ("Chinese proficiency test"), and that there are different bureaucracies wrangling over testing authority. But that is China and everyone here gets used to dealing with that sort of thing. If you thought things weren't confusing enough, there is also an HSK for Chinese citizens who do not speak mandarin as their mother tongue.The materials here are designed for people who are taking the HSK tests that the vast majority of people take when they require HSK certification for whatever reason. If you are preparing for the HSK exam and are not sure which materials are suitable for you given the test you are taking please send us a note at service@popupchinese.com and we'll get back to you.@mat - No need to get confused or disheartened. The HSK is a good test, especially at the Intermediate level. It isn't always effective at testing oral fluency, but it focuses on a lot of critical grammar and vocab points that are very easy to miss.
mat
said on July 4, 2009
Thanks, I take the point. I'm concious of looking at the "beginners" quiz here and I can't answer most of it. My vocab is there, I just don't understand the grammar rules.
Adult education just doesn't seem to cover this well enough - it certainly shows up an area to pursue with self study.
oolong_2000
said on July 4, 2009
lesson download
http://popupchinese.com/lessons/pdf/hsk-beginner/fill-in-the-blanks-exercise-27
HSK Beginner
said on July 4, 2009
@oolong_2000 - thanks for calling this to our attention. not sure why the PDF link was missing before but we've republished and it's there now.
