A Program of the Eric Shroyer (Suzhou, China ’13) used his CLS Alumni Development Fund to prepare for the Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì (汉语水平考试) which is the Chinese government’s official examination for Mandarin language ability. Eric worked with Professor Tong Chen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to craft a personal “Mandarin boot-camp” that was geared towards HSK vocabulary.
Eric recommends that anyone who is considering taking benchmark exams carefully research which exam best fits their academic and professional goals and develop a robust plan with specific goals and guidelines before beginning tutoring sessions. Be prepared to spend 1-2 hours preparing for each tutoring session and continue to review the material afterwards to effectively internalize it.