Today’s #AtoZChallenge in China coincides with Mandarin Mondays so definitely it’s a challenge, but quite literally. It’s about a test to measure your level of Chinese language proficiency.
If you think learning Mandarin is difficult, well yes you’re correct. To assess how far are you in getting conversant, you need to take the Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì (汉语水平考试) or HSK test. It’s like the IELTS or TOEFL for non-native Chinese speakers. so in essence, it is more used for educational or professional purposes. It is administered by Hànbàn (汉办), a colloquial abbreviation for the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOTCFL).
Several weeks ago, a Chinese language trainer visited our office to assess expat employees’ levels of Mandarin proficiency. Some colleagues who’ve been here for a long time can speak and understand Chinese, but most of them say they can barely recognize characters nor write them.
And then it’s my turn…
After 20 minutes or so of rather a long conversation, the teacher said I’m on HSK Level I. But what the heck is that?
H is for HSK
According to the handout she gave us, the HSK consists of six levels, with each one corresponding to the level of oral and written knowledge of Chinese. Its basis is linked to a European system of assessing language proficiency (it is very technical that I think I’m not knowledgeable enough to explain this one).
So I’m on HSK Level I. Hǎo cool is that? (hǎo means good!) Actually, I told the teacher that I can read very basic characters and try mimicking tones because I’m listening to some Chinese songs. Though I’ve never had a formal Chinese language education (I can’t consider my last four one-hour sessions as a formal training because I almost learned nothing from it), I still continue self-teaching myself by watching YouTube tutorials, deciphering store and subway station names using Pleco, attentively listening to my Chinese colleagues’ conversations, and actively asking basic questions on how to say something in Chinese. This might sound so underwhelming to fast learners but in more than a year of being in Beijing, I must say that I can already recognize more than one hundred words and write about a third of them. A good friend told me that he also slowly learned the language 10 years ago — and now he’s almost as native as every Chinese in the office.
In my previous Mandarin Monday post about learning the first 100 Chinese characters every beginner needs to memorize, Learn Chinese Everyday says those frequently used characters make up 40 percent of the usage of Chinese, and that learning 800 more would unlock another world as they are the components of 11,000 phrases and words that make up 90 percent of Chinese publications.
But it sounds otherworldly!
Yes, it is. That’s why there’s the HSK to prep students. Level VI has half of those 11,000 phrases and words but I wonder how many years will it take me to fully grasp Chinese. If it took me more than a year to be assessed as a Level I student (I still need to take the test to legitimize that), then probably it would take me 10 years to get to Level VI — and that of course is when I take it seriously.
Thanks for reading my #AtoZChallenge in China! Tomorrow, we will know the top thing that many foreigners hate in living in China. Is it fake? No, sort of. Is it bad? Yes, very bad.
See more of my #AtoZChallenge: Chinese Adventure
A: Adventure on April Fools’ Day
B: Bāxiān guòhǎi (八仙过海 Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea)
C: Chuan’r (串 Barbecue)
D: Depression
E: Explore Beijing Through Photos
F: Fake in China
G: Great Firewall: What’s Next for China’s Thriving E-conomy?
Yes, but a trick here is treat them as pictures. That way you can easily remember them.
Oh, ok…Cool!
I would love to learn some Chinese. It’s still on my bucket list.
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