Yesterday, I took the Test of Proficiency - Huayu test. This test was designed by National Taiwan University a few years ago ... it uses traditional characters rather than simplified.
The test has four levels ... beginners, basic, intermediate and advanced. Practice test books are available for each level. The mock test consists of 120 questions which should be completed in 80 minutes or less. I completed mine in a half hour and only had two incorrect answers. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty confident about the test. When I showed my Chinese teacher the practice book, he suggested trying the basic level. The basic test says that one should have studied 360 - 480 hours of Chinese. I'm not even close to that.
After the first question was read during the exam yesterday, I quickly realized that it wasn't going to be as easy as I had thought. I'm very happy I stuck it out with the beginners. The questions were nothing like the ones in the practice booklet ... no similarities at all.
The beginner level suggests that one should have taken more than 240 hours of Chinese in Taiwan. I think I've put in that many hours, at least ... it's hard to say. A passing grade is 78%. I hope I did enough.
The experience wasn't pleasant. I was very nervous upon entering the test room. I can't recall the last time it was that I actually took a test for something. The test examiners weren't overly organized which didn't help the situation.
The listening part consisted of four sections with ten questions per section. Instructions were to be read before each section. Question ten went straight to number eleven, which I caught and answered. It then went to some instructions. I thought maybe I hadn't heard correctly, so I erased my answer for number eleven. After the instructions, it went straight to question twelve but I was looking back at question eleven trying to make sense of it. When I couldn't, I realized we were going on to number thirteen, so I missed question twelve completely. Others apparently had the same problem as one guy started yelling frantically at the examiners to stop the test. Distraction was the last thing I needed. Nerves ... shot. Concentration ... shot.
I was so overwhelmed and very relieved to get out of there. What was I thinking when I went and applied for this test? I'm still trying to find the answer to that question.
I did go out and buy the basic I and basic II practice test books as I do plan to test again next year. The next test is in May. In looking over the basic books, there's no way I'll be prepared in time. I won't be close to the recommend amount of hours it suggests. Three hours per week doesn't add up ... especially when I plan to take a two - three month holiday.
The beginner test has shown me that I really should be on the high end of the required hours rather than the low. Grades will be mailed out on the 21st of November. Apparently one is able to retest if they didn't reach the passing grade.
Once again ... my fingers are crossed ...
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