TOP Huayu

Last week I decided to take a Test of Proficiency (TOP) Huayu. It's a certification test for Mandarin language organized by Steering Committee of the Test of Proficiency Huayu (SC-TOP). You can image it as a "TOEFL" test for Mandarin language. I enrolled on the test not only because it's free (at the time, a promotion I guess) but also because I want to measure how my Mandarin language goes. I took a beginner level, and the test was conducted at Technology and Science Institute of Northern Taiwan.

I've downloaded the sample mock test provided at SC-TOP website, and also review book 1 Practical Audio-Visual Chinese. I thought it was all enough. But the test was just not as expected. There are lots of new characters that I've never known before, and the audio voice was just so fast.

One Japan-born American I met at the test said that the real test is indeed a lot more difficult than the mock test, and he said that there are a special book for the test preparation. Darn! I just knew it at the D-day. I hope I'd knew that several weeks before the test.

Well, this is not an excuse, but a lesson. Next time, prepare well, in a way that read books that are specially designed for the test. What I was doing is just like "taking an English conversation class" for facing "TOEFL" test. That was just not right.

I hope I'll perform better for the next test. Jia you!