How to prepare for HSK?

Wan

榜眼
Hey forums!

I plan to take the HSK level six in about a month, and, while feeling generally confident in Chinese, I've never taken any exam like the HSK.
A friend told me what the exam will look like, and how it will be held. Now, I hate exams, particularly this kind.I read some sample essays and don't think they're that difficult, but I might not have enough time to finish reading. I also have to improve my listening skill.

What do you think is a good way to prepare for that exam? I downloaded the HSK flashcard lists for Pleco. What testing method do you recommend?

Thanks for your help
 
A

abdrifter

Guest
If you are an iOS user, look up "Chinese Plan-HSK6 Listening"; might be of help.
 

Wan

榜眼
I'm not, but thanks. I bought material with ten practicing tests, including audio files. And I want to print out the whole list of HSK vocabulary sorted by level and at least have a look at all of them.
 
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abdrifter

Guest
From what I gather, the test itself isn't limited to the listed vocabulary; the 5000 words of HSK6 is more of a sample range. Conversely, not all of the listed vocabulary will be present in any particular test. Anyway, hope it goes well!
 

alanmd

探花
Make sure that you have downloaded the latest (2012) lists, as there were some changes made from the 2010 lists.

There are official practice tests with audio files, as well as online tests, available for free on http://www.chinesetest.cn/godownload.do - these are exactly the same format as the test that you will be taking.

From what I can gather, you are expected to be familiar with the vocabulary that is given, and are also expected to be able to use words in context from outside that vocabulary. For example, if you read a passage about a trip to the zoo, you should be able to answer that the person's favourite animal was an Aardvark, even if you've never seen the word Aardvark before. You also have to be able to use the words in different contexts so grammar is important. I have posted some links to grammar resources on my site.

I have created some graphs of the HSK vocabulary (also on my site), but at the moment the best lists to print out are the flashcards.
 
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abdrifter

Guest
Just memorized aardvark, dolphin and wild boar in one fell swoop; I think I'm ready :).
 

Wan

榜眼
Got my results, failed with 168 points. I didn;t prepare well enough, and one month for preparation was a little short as well.
 
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abdrifter

Guest
What do you think were your major stumbling blocks?

I'd like to take the HSK 4 in about 3 months. :\
Personally, I began making real progress once I started drilling sample sentences containing words from the HSK list, instead of just learning the words by themselves, so I would definitely advise it!
 

Wan

榜眼
What do you think were your major stumbling blocks?

I'd like to take the HSK 4 in about 3 months. :\
Definitely the writing part: I didn't have problems with the essay when I was practicing, but I was so nervous during the test that the most common characters eluded me, or I had to think really hard. So I got particularly low points for that, where a mere sixty wood have sufficed.
 
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