I actually passed my test

I mentioned a month or so ago, that I took a "Test of Chinese Proficiency".

I just found out today, that I passed. I'm actually a little surprised that I did.

The test is the HSK. It's THE test for foreigners trying to learn Chinese. There are 3 levels, and within each level there are 3 sublevels. (There is actually a fourth level that is new, and supposedly super easy. But, by everyone's opinion that one doesn't count.)

I took the level 1 test. I passed with a "C" (lowest possible) grade.

As I said, I'm actually surprised I passed, for a number of reasons...

• The test makers suggest the test for people that have studied Chinese in a classroom for 200-300 hours. I've studied in a classroom for 0 hours.
• You should know 1200-3000 characters/words. I know maybe 600.
• I did best on the reading section, worst on the grammar, and middling on the listening. Not quite what I would have expected before the test. But, reasonable enough based on what the test was actually like.
• It's graded on a curve. In the room where I took the test, there were 3 white guys like me, an African girl, a Russian girl, and 30 Koreans. I expected to be the one guy to boost the curve for everyone else. Of course, there are thousands of people across the world taking this test, all on the same day. Apparently, some of them knew less than I did.

I don't have the actual piece of paper certificate in hand yet. And, I won't celebrate until I do.

But, for now, it's enough to think that maybe I actually AM learning something over here.