HSK5 - What do you like to have in HSK5 // Let us know

Hello :wave: :wave:
We get some good feedback on HSK4+, particularly the free speaking one.
So we want to head to HSK5.
Do you like Free speaking with different theme?
How about watching video and discuss?
Do you have any ideas? please advise us :heart_eyes:
Thanks a lot

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I love the idea of a HSK5.

I’ve yet to take a free speaking class but looking forward to trying as I always prefer talking generally when studying!

I did a class in Italian about watching a video and discussing and that was also quite fun.

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Yes, watching a video would be great! In HSK4 we read real world articles, and in HSK5 we could to listen to real people talking, including fast/accented speech. These could be any topic like random clips of TV dramas, movies, news, songs etc (for example Chinese Zero to Hero has a lot of free content for both self-study and/or guided lessons). We could pause the video and say what we think we heard, the teacher would correct us and then we would discuss it. That could be a lot of fun.

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During the HSK5 exam students are required to write an essay about 80 characters long using provided characters and/or pictures. Right now Flexi classes improve listening, speaking and reading - maybe we can add a new category “Writing” in HSK5? For writing classes students would prepare an 80 character long essay that the teacher could correct and discuss. If students show up without a homework the teacher would write the essay using several random phrases from HSK5 and discuss.

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Thanks for the thoughts! This is very useful. I think the video is a good idea. Where to choose them from is an important question.
We will check out from 0 to Hero. All other suggestions are most welcome.
For writing, I think that’s a bit hard in a group class because it’s very individual. Reading and Listening can be done by people together, but writing needs to be individually checked and we might run out of time for that.

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I completely agree with the other suggestions. Video clips addressing different topics (and from different sources) would be very interesting. A teacher showed a commercial related to the topic we were learning about at the end of one of the HSK 4+ classes the other day, and it was a fun challenge. I’d love to see more content like that in HSK 5.

I also like Ben’s idea about adding a writing category, and I personally struggle with more formal writing styles. Could it be something like a “how to” of the writing process, where students study a particular model (i.e. essay) and then go through parts of the process together in class, maybe as a group writing activity? Even as a group writing activity, where each student is contributing sentences aloud and the teacher is correcting in real time, it would still be helpful and I think it could lead to some interesting discussions about word usage. It would also give students a model to refer back to as they continue to practice on their own.

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To be fair in my Korean Hangul classes so far I have actually been encouraged to write quite a lot and we’ve had no problems checking.

Simply hold the notepad up to the screen and the teacher gets a good view. Not quite the same of course but it can still work.

In Mandarin I’ve not been encouraged to write at all (for me I’m not hugely bothered as I prefer speaking), but I must admit I’ve enjoyed writing Korean Hangul and the teacher still gives good feedback.

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Echoing @Jessica-Mandarin-HSK_4 's comment, maybe we could share a Google document and take turns typing a sentence using the provided HSK5 vocab. Or worst case let the teacher type everything and just provide minor suggestions :slightly_smiling_face:

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LOVE the idea of writing classes!! It would definitely have to be typed though, I’m not handwriting more than a couple characters today or ever. :joy:

I agree with @Ben-Mandarin-HSK_5 , if we could all jump on a google doc or a similar platform where we can all type on the same screen it would be great. I also love the idea of getting prompts before the class so we could come with something already prepared.

On that note, it would be cool if there was a feature for maybe HSK4 and above where we could submit text to teachers for grading/revisions? I’m not sure what the best way to go about this would be, but kind of like in school where you submit an essay and the teacher just hands it back to you with revisions and corrections a few days later.

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Can we also have a class for the Articulate game that @Chloe-Mandarin-HSK_5 suggested in another thread? Maybe there would be an HSK5 word bank and we would have to pick from it and take turns guessing words within a time limit.

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Yes! Perhaps that could be part of a “free speaking” class or “fun chinese”. I would take those classes repeatedly :smile_cat:

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Another class we could take repeatedly could be a translation class. The teacher would choose a real-world article in English from a pre-approved list (such as the LTL blogs) and the group would attempt to translate it (or part of it) to Chinese. Then, if there is still time left at the end, we would discuss the topic. The translated article would ideally appear on the website later.

By the way, translation is one of the new requirements of HSK 3.0. Aside from that, I believe it’s a skill that needs to be trained on its own.

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Are you still accepting ideas? :grin:

I always wanted to take a “traveling in China” class where I would learn about provinces, major cities and minorities that live there. Each topic would introduce 1 province, for example in the 浙江 class we would study 西湖, tea and silk produce and a bit about history.

The idea is similar to the Free speaking/Traveling class but with fixed topics (the blogs there are super random).

Does that sound interesting?

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Yes!! I love this idea.

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Superb idea Ben. I’d be all over that also!

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Yes perfect - each time I have a new teacher I google the region where they come from…
In some years when I reach HSK5 :laughing: I will happily join these classes

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I love this idea . I love traveling too. We will have it definitely.
Thanks Ben a lot.

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Love tihs idea too. You’re very creative. I will find the word bank

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Is there an ETA on the HSK 5 classes? :slight_smile:

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I refresh the My Level page daily, looking for HSK 5 classes :joy: Surely they will be released any day now?

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