#hsk3

劳动结束时，同学们坐在树下休息。

劳动 [láodòng] = work, labor (HSK 5)

结束 [jiéshù] = to end, to finish, to conclude

休息 [xiūxi] = to rest

不可同日而语 | Bùkě tóngrì ér yǔ

The two cannot be mentioned in the same breath

"不可同日而语" 的意思是不能放在同一个时间谈论, 用来比喻差别很大, 不能放在一起比较。例如: 通信技术进步太快了, 过去跟现在不可同日而语。

"不可同日而语", literally "(two things) cannot be mentioned in the same breath", is used metaphorically to mean that there is no comparison between two people or two things becaus of the significant difference. For instance, in terms of science and technology, there is no comparision between the past and the present.

I thought that since I'm trying my best to learn these characters and vocabulary I'd share what I'm currently learning.

So this story is very short and listed as “Beginner” HSK1-3, but man there were quite a few words I didn’t know 🥲 So here they are.

Here's the whole story if you want to read it!

一对 / yī duì / a pair, a couple

夫妇 / fū fù / married couple

一户 / yī hù / a household

邻居 / lín jū / neighbor

也许 / yě xǔ / maybe, perhaps

如何 / rú hé / how, what way

洗衣粉 / xǐ yī fěn / detergent (lit: washing powder)

评论 / píng lùn / to comment on, discuss

对方 / duí fāng / counterpart, other person involved

一番 / yī fān / measure word for speech in conversation

惊奇 / jīng qí / surprised, amazed

晾衣绳 / liàng yī shéng / clothesline (lit: dry clothes rope)

居然 / jū rán / unexpectedly, to one's surprise

悬挂 / xuán guà / to hang

玻璃 / bō li / glass

擦 / cā / to wipe

作出 / zuó chū / to come up with, to make (a statement/response)

判断 / pàn duàn / to judge, judgment

首先 / shǒu xiān / first

窗户 / chuāng hu / window

Example sentences:

一对年轻的夫妇对面搬来一户新邻居.

“那些衣服洗得不干净，也许那个邻居不知道如何清洗."

也许她需要好一点的洗衣粉.

就这样每次邻居洗衣服，妻子都会这样评论对方一番.

年轻的妻子惊奇地发现，邻居的晾衣绳上居然悬挂着一件干净的衣服.

然后我把玻璃悬擦干净了.

there’s a lot of new changes, so i’ll try to summarize a bit below:

in order to counteract the “unbalance” in the system - namely, that HSK 1 and 2 were relatively easy to pass due to them having 150 words each whereas HSK 5 (2500 words) and HSK 6 (5000 words) were a lot more difficult - the new system tries to spread out learning more gradually. specifically, each level has a set number of 300 characters in each level and a varying number of words which are made using the 300 characters you must learn for that level. in effect, this makes levels 1 - 4 harder, but 5 and 6 easier.

word lists have also been revised to remove outdated words (such as “fax”)

levels 7 - 9 have been added as well! they are more advanced than HSK 6 and supposedly supposed to be for academic purposes. however, from what i understand is that these levels share a word list and once you take the test you will be put in level 7, 8, or 9 depending on your score.

also, HSK levels are now subcategorized by level of proficiency. HSK 1 - 3 is beginner, HSK 4 - 6 is intermediate, and HSK 7 - 9 is advanced. it is now considered to have “3 levels” (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and “9 bands” (1-9).

these new changes will go into effect on july 1, 2021

there’s a lot more information, but this is just a quick overview! i would highly recommend reading more here if you are interested.