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HSK Exam
Thursday, April 14, 2005-9:48 PM
I registered for the HSK exam this morning at The College of Chinese Language and Culture Jinan University in Guangzhou this morning.
The HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) is the official exam in China to assess Chinese proficiency in non-native speakers for people who want to or are studying in China and for people who want to work in China.
I got a little scared when the woman handed me the application. I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised that there was no English on it, but I still felt worried that I wouldn't be able to read it or, worse yet, would read it wrong.
At first, I avoided looking at the paper because I thought not knowing if I could read it was better than knowing I couldn't read it. I began looking at the application, slowly and meticulously, space by space.
I discovered I could read it, but it didn't take me long to discover my next problem. I had to write in Chinese on the application.
I haven't written Chinese characters in a long time. Even the ones I do know how to write, don't look very nice since I never learned the proper way to write Chinese characters.
I finished the form and returned it to the lady. Next she handed me an envelope and told me to write my name on it.
"Is my English name okay?" I asked her. I have a Chinese name, but don't like to use it very much. I still think of myself as a "Michael", not as a "Mu Mai Ke".
"No. I can't read it if it's in English."
I wrote my name, trying best to disguise my poor penmanship. That was it. I take the exam in the middle of May.
Some basic information on the HSK exam. There are three groups of people who take the exam: foreigners, overseas Chinese, and minorities in China.
The basic exam is intended for people who have received 100 to 800 hours of instruction. The basic exam has three parts: listening, grammar, and reading.
The intermediate exam is intended for people who have received 400 to 2,000 hours of instruction. The intermediate exam has four parts: listening, grammar, reading, and fill-in-the-blanks.
The advanced exam is intended for people with over 3,000 hours of instruction. The advanced exam has five parts: listening, reading, fill-in-the-blanks, writing, and speaking.
The exams are given all over the world including cities in the U.S. like New York, Miami, Houston, Seatle, and San Fransisco.
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