Hi There,
I am new to the flexiclass semester program and based in Singapore at present. I noticed that there is only 1 HSK test center in Singapore which conducts HSK L1 - L4 exams only on paper but provides online test in its center for HSK5 and HSK 6. That effectively requires me to learn to write Hanzi instead of just pinyin keyboard as in online exams. Their official website too doesn’t have an option to register to their latest “At Home Edition” for Singapore.
I’ve sent an email to the test center to seek help with this however are there any suggestions from anyone here or anyone has taken the online/at-home edition staying in Singapore before?
Thanks.
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Welcome to the forum @Senthil-Mandarin-Intro and great to hear that your semester started well.
I just checked on www.chinesetest.cn there are there really is onlye test centers for Singapore. This is ridiculously few and I would guess that a lot of centers stopped due to the pandemic and the number will increase again once thats over (I hear good things from Singapore, lets hope). So my the time you finish your semester this might already have changed.
考点信息--汉语考试服务网
However, that test center has two entries and one of them offers 网考 (online exam) 考点信息--汉语考试服务网
I would give them a call and ask regarding the 网考. The chinesetest.cn website is famously poor, but it is the official list. The best thing is usually to just call the center and ask. From what I see on there they have a 网考 in December.
Hanban has not published the exam dates for 2022, so dont wory about there being no dates for then, they will add them once the official exam dates have been published.
For the HSK at Home there doesnt seem to be one for Singapore, but it might be possible to register in another country. Has anyone on here taken the HSK at home recently anywhere around the world?
The regulations keep on changing, any recent experiences?
Hi Andreas,
Thanks for the response unfortunately in Singapore HSK L1 - L4 are all paper based. Only L5 and L6 are online for which we need to take our own laptops. I’ve contacted the official center via email and will await their response. Moreover I don’t think I would travel to another country for a home edition exam because the cost and risk are much higher than the HKS test itself. However would appreciate if someone who has taken HSK in Singapore (L1 to L4) could share some info on possibility to take an online test
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Let’s see what they reply. They had an entry for 网考。 So they should be offering the online test.
HSK at home means that you take the HSK from home which theoretically you should be able to do from anywhere in the world.
It is a Covid invention so how far it still exists next year and which centers will offer it and if they will require participants to be physically present in the country they are located (and if - how would they check that?) remains to be seen.
I would guess that after pandemic restrictions are over more test centers in Singapore would offer the HSK again too, especially the computer based one.
Test centers that don’t offer the computer based one do that because they don’t have enough PCs to administer it and not enough people taking the test to justify buying them. Singapore is a big mandarin learning country so there will surely be someone to fill that gap if the current center won’t.
The test center staff responded as follows
…quote…
The internet-based and home-based internet HSK exam is temporarily not available. We will update our website accordingly if there is any update for the internet-based exam. Please follow up our website www.hsk-crestar.com.sg.
…unquote…
I called them and they’re not sure whether they’ve had internet based test before but they said they dont have internet based test even for hsk 5 or 6 this year and for any other updates they shall update their website.
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ah very interesting. It sounds like the main test centers closed due to the pandemic and this is the only one left for the moment. Singapore should do hundreds of HSK exams a month in normal times, so there really should be more test centers competing for students and definitely at least some of them offering PCs.
I am pretty certain that this will go back to beforehand once the pandemic is over. When that is of course is anybody’s guess.
The alternative is lookig for a test center elsewhere in the world and take the “HSK from Home” exam via them, which technically should be possible, but I have never tried.