Source: School of Chinese as a Second Language
Written by: Zhang Shaowei
Translated by: Kang Jie
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On December 1, 2013, Sun Yat-sen University held the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) for more than 200 examinees from Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, India, etc. Half of these examinees are students from Zhongshan School of Medicine of Sun Yat-sen University and Southern Medical University. The test covered level IV to level VI of the new HSK and the advanced level of the new HSKK.
After the test, Aucharagram Ashna from Mauritius who is studying at Zhongshan School of Medicine of Sun Yat-sen University, and Basima Beegam from India, who is studying at Southern Medical University, said that they started to learn Chinese not long ago and this was their first time to take part in the new HSK. They didn’t have enough time to finish the test and they would study hard in the future. However, Ousseina from Nepal and Ahamada from Comoros, who major in clinical medicine at Zhongshan School of Medicine of Sun Yat-sen University and receive the Chinese Government Scholarship, felt that this test was easy for them. It is said that in some countries medical science is regarded as a subject for the upper class, and many students go abroad to study medical science. Sun Yat-san University has become a good choice for international students and the number of medical students attending the new HSK test is increasing every year.

The School of Chinese as a Second Language (SCSL) set up the first test center in South China for HSK in 1992 and new HSK in 2010. The new HSK is a standardized test that assesses non-native speakers’ abilities in using the Chinese language. It approximates the English TOEFL and IELTS. At present, the new HSK is popular among international students because it is important in their applications for universities in China and the Chinese Government Scholarship.

SCSL made careful preparations to meet the new requirements of the new HSK and offered tutorials to SYSU international students, covering question types and contents of different levels of the test. SCSL also follows Hanban’s principle of “test-teaching correlation” and integrates the new HSK into normal classroom teaching to “promote training through testing” and “promote learning through testing”. The new HSK not only tests and rates the Chinese language proficiency of international students, but also motivates them to study Chinese language, history and culture.