How and where to pass HSK / HSKK
To pass the Chinese language proficiency test and finally get the coveted certificate from the Middle Kingdom, all you need to do is carefully prepare! Other “technical” details of the exam procedure are not worth a drop of your nerves – just read this article and focus on the main thing – Chinese – the exam nuances will be described by us.
This article will be interesting to those who are going to take exams for the HSK or HSKK certificate for the first time, especially those who studied independently and did not have the opportunity to attend the Confucius Institute or other educational institutions, where teachers explain everything.
About the exam
HSK (汉语水平考试 hànyǔ shuǐpíng kǎoshì) — is a Chinese language proficiency test for foreigners. HSK is divided into 6 levels of difficulty: the first level is the easiest, the sixth is the most difficult. After successfully passing the exam, a certificate of the appropriate level is issued certifying knowledge. You can already go with him, for example, to an employer (still not forgetting your head) or to enroll in a Chinese university (then HSK-4 and above is desirable).
This is what a lazy student HSK 4 certificate
HSKK (汉语 水平 口语 考试 hànyǔ shuǐpíng kǒuyǔ kǎoshì) – Examination in speaking Chinese. It is subdivided into three levels: beginner, intermediate and upper. After it is successfully passed, the corresponding certificate is also issued, which can help when applying for a job or entering a university. Read more about HSKK.
This is what the HSKK (initial) certificate looks like …
Here, perhaps, all the initial information about the exams. Later in this article we describe the procedure for passing each of them, but first we turn to the most difficult question for all who wish to pass the exam:
Registration for HSK and HSKK
The first thing you need to register on the Chinese site is Chinesetest.cn – remember your username and password, write it down, knock it out on a stone, cast it in granite, because they are extremely necessary!
After logging in, the site will offer you to register for the exam. Select the HSK level you need, then HSKK (if you want to take it), enter your personal data (you can use both a regular passport and a foreign country, just remember to take exactly the document you used for the exam) and, best of all, if you Upload your electronic photo. Not too large, for example, 800 pixels wide, so as not to load for a long time; Required on a light uniform background. This photo will be printed on the pass and on the HSK certificate itself, so even if you do not have an electronic photo, take or (surely!) Take a few 3×4 paper photos for the exam. Without a photo and correctly filled out personal data of the certificate you will not see. You can also bring an electronic photo with a flash drive.
When everything is filled in correctly, a sign appeared in the center of personal data on chinesetest.cn with the upcoming trials, it’s time to shell out.
On the website of the host university, you will definitely find receipts and details for the exam payment. Usually HSK and HSKK cost 300 yuan. each (as of September 2017) and slightly higher depending on the level. For HSK and HSKK a separate fee and separate receipts. You simply print the receipt, fill in your data and pay in the bank. Received checks and receipt are scanned (photographed) and sent to the specified e-mail. Pay online.
In response, you may almost immediately receive (or maybe not receive) a letter from the robot that receipts have been received. Do not forget to clearly and specifically indicate the subject of the letter (HSK registration, receipts), as well as the full name of the tester and tests (Ivan Ivanov, HSK-4, HSKK-beginning). Sometimes the response letters from the Chinese get in spam, you need to catch them there.
It is best to pay and register as early as possible! If suddenly, after a few working days after the payment from the institute, there is neither a reply nor a greeting, you need to call there or at least write by e-mail to find out whether the receipts have reached. After the end of the registration period, you will not be helped by anything; you will have to wait for the next, saving your bills until better times.
If payment has arrived, in the corresponding columns on the site chinesetest.cn this will be displayed, and you will be written by e-mail. Perhaps, in some universities, the registration procedure is somewhat different, but the main thing to remember is: chinesetest.cn is the main site, where all your information about exams and certificates will be, you cannot lose passwords from it. And another important thing: never delay! If you really want to take the exam, then pay and register as early as possible to avoid any hassle.
Before passing the HSK exam
Somewhere 10 days before the test, they will write you again by e-mail. In order to go beyond the threshold of the university, you need to have a pass. You can print it on the very same Chinesetest.cn, in the center of personal data (do you know what it means 打印?). On HSK and HSKK individual passes. If you have a pass without a photo, bring your passport (and photo!) To the exam. To print, you need only a black and white printer and A4 sheet, but the data must be clearly visible. In the pass will be all – the address of the venue HSK, the exact time and date of the test, as well as your data, which would not hurt to once again check for correctness. Keep the pass until the end of the exam.
So, the covenant day has come. You take along a pass, passport, photo (if necessary), simple pencils (preferably soft 2B and normal). Eraser also does not hurt. Do not need anything else.
Naturally, the test can not be late. Initially, when you arrive at the host university, everyone will crowd at the entrance, then they will start letting in, checking the passes, and from the lobby you will be taken to the audience whose number is written next to the address in the pass (eg, №63). In the classroom, the teacher will tell you the seat number. And it will begin …
In fact, everything will be clear to you without our story – the teachers explain each step in Russian, and if anything is unclear, you can always ask. The procedure is simple, like a normal school test, for the curious, we describe it further.
HSK procedure
The HSK test consists of three parts – listening (听力), reading (阅读) and writing (书写). Each part lasts a strictly defined period: listening – 30 minutes, reading – 40 minutes, writing – 25 minutes. (depends on the level!). It is impossible to hesitate, but because of haste, the hieroglyphs in the head are confused, which is why thorough daily preparation is so important – a real mushtra.
Prepare your pencils: you will be given a form in which you will need to paint the squares with the numbers of the correct answers with a soft pencil so that the testing computer can figure it out.
At first they usually ask to fill in the form with personal data from the pass. Then the exam begins: they put the sound recording with questions (the sound quality is very different from the usual mp3 for the worse), then they give 5 minutes of respite, after which they are allowed to perform a reading test, and at the very end – writing texts or sentences – depends on the HSK level.
Everything, the test is over, teachers will collect forms, you can go home (or on the train). The result will come in a month (sometimes earlier) in chinesetest.cn along with points.
If you live in another city, you will not have to go again for a HSK certificate – usually universities send it by mail with cash on delivery.
HSKK procedure
HSKK is different from HSK content. He is also shorter – about half an hour.
Pencils are also useful here, but most importantly, headphones with microphones (language laboratory) are installed in the audience, each examinee listens to tasks, then speaks into the microphone, trying not to pay attention to the neighbor.
Next, after the dial tone, you will repeat the sentences following the recording, answer short questions (10 seconds each), then sketching a draft and speak on two given topics (1.5-2 minutes each monologue). That’s it, HSKK is finished, your record is sent to China, and you – expect a result – everything is exactly like with HSK.