Chinese Test Result
After a long wait, resulting from the teacher-in-charge being away on holiday and no-one being around to send them forward till now, I have finally received my Chinese Language Test result. It was better than my expectation, but with the variation in scores that I had feared.
Listening 81% (even higher than my practice tests)
Grammar 94% (as expected, kicked butt)
Reading 91% (had expected much worse; this was when my powers of concentration were in free-fall, I must have guessed well)
Miscellaneous 69% (my fear, it was my biggest concern just prior to the test, plus in the third solid hour I was in a mental meltdown. It was my second lowest score for that section).
Regrettably with my low score in the last section, my total score fell out of the 'A' band score for Intermediate by a mere three marks (out of 400). Since there are fewer questions than points, 170 marks generating a total of 400, one extra correct answer would have got me there. But as a total score, it is better than all my practice tests - so I am happy with my results. I never quite got into that high band even with a pleasant atmosphere, tea in cup, breaks between sections and so on.
Now remains the choice of whether to go hell for leather at Advanced (and be massacred) or master Intermediate this year. Frankly, I consider only one a viable choice... Anyway, nice to finally know. I might get back to serious study soon.
3 comments:
You have just done Intermediate, right? Why wouldn't you go on and do the next level?
Well, yes I am intending to do the level up but there are reasons a cautious person may not.
First of all, I got a B grade (out of the three grades A/B/C). So technically I still have a lot of work to do in Intermediate.
Secondly, it is a rather large step up. There are more sections and many more skills and a required vocabulary that would be exponentially higher than the previous test.
But yes, I have secured a valid qualification so why not go crazy and throw myself upon mount improbable?
In fact, without a trip to China or Taiwan to study, I'm pretty sure I'll be destroyed by this test. There is just so much vocabulary I don't know.
The reading requires you to skim - a skill I should be able to pick up as I taught it for English. Now I truly do know how my students feel. But you also have to write out the answer completely (no choices). For each question you have roughly a minute to read the question, skim, find the exact answer and write it in. That is a stretch.
Other sections are diabolically constructed with all of the multi-choice options either sounding the same or totally out of my lexicon...
And they have writing. I haven't written anything substantial in Chinese in ages. And speaking... Oh dear.
And it will be another rollercoaster exam - one section plowing into another, and into another till you cry for mercy.
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