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Taking the placement test as a native Chinese Speaker

I got really bored, OK? I got so incredibly bored that I took the 75 questions one.

Questions I got wrong:

6. 你現在覺得_____嗎?

 A. 痛  C. 看起來  B. 因為  D. 不舒服

I chose A. The correct answer according to the test is D. To me, A is also acceptable, but D would be a slight bit nicer.

35. 兩千塊錢一個月的健身費用我可_____,一年兩千塊還差不多。

A. 中產階層  C. 投入產出比  B. 買不起  D. 承受不起

OK I messed up this one by choosing B instead of D. Moving on.

OK, Onto Dictations. My native language is Cantonese, not mandarin, so I expected low results with this one. Plus, the site itself often confuses traditional with simplified.

3. 這是一件清朝的瓷器,有着極高的收藏價值。
Supposed Answer: 這是一件清朝的瓷器,有著極高的收藏價值。

As a Native Speaker living in Hong Kong, we aren’t aware of the differences between 着 and 著 if there even is any in Traditional.

5. 除了吹牛,他還有什麼過奬之處?
Answer: 除了 ,他 還 有 什麼 過人之處?

OK I messed this one up. Moving on. Also, I SWEAR 吹牛 existed.

7. 現在競爭真激烈,我們要開發新的業務才行。
Answer: 現在競爭這麼激烈,我們要開發新的業務才行。

It sounded like Ʒəm instead of what it’s supposed to be (Ʒə mə), which made me confuse it for Ʒən…

11. 你如果對我的學歷或工作能力有意見就直說,我都可以接受,何必用一些小事來彎曲我呢?
Answer: 你如果對我的學歷或工作能力有意見就直說,我都可以接受,何必用一些小事來挖苦我呢?

We don’t use 挖苦 almost at all in Cantonese…

  1. 他什麼時候來上海呢?
    Answer: 他甚麼時候來上海的?

We use 什 instead of 甚 mostly in Hong Kong…

22. 俗話說得好,「留得青山在,不怕沒柴燒」,沒必要為了一個小人把自己的前途賠掉。
Supposed Answer: 俗話說得好,liu2de5qing1shan1zai4, bu4pa4mei2chai2shao1沒必要為了一個小人,把自己的前途賠掉。

OK, This one was messed up. You can’t argue with that.

24. 他那是什麼態度,搞得我一肚子火,真是氣死人了。
Supposed Answer: 他那是甚麼態度?搞得我一肚子火!真是氣死人了!

Who imported punctuation? Over here in Hong Kong, we don’t count punctuation as wrong when the teacher doesn’t read them out when dictating!

25. 你打車去吧,何必為了省這麼一點錢浪費一小時的時間。
Answer: 你打車去吧!何必為了省這麼一點兒錢,浪費一小時的時間。

Again, WE DON’T COUNT PUNCTUATION AS WRONG WHEN THEY AREN’T READ OUT IN A DICTATION IN HONG KONG! Also my language (Cantonese) doesn’t have 兒…

I agree the dictations are testing your ability to hear and type but then you have unexpected casualties. Like, how am I supposed to be marked wrong for male versus female ta? It’d be nice if you could kinda “mark” it yourself afterwards for the cases where the website is…overzealous. Definitely a useful feature in the exercise sections. (Though, in the exercise sections, the dictations come straight from the expansion sentences.)