In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what “keeping up with the Joneses” is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.

The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.

It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.

Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States. “Keeping up with the Joneses” came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are “Jonses” in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

HSK TEST and HSKK TEST are both the internationally standardized tests that focus on the ability of candidates whose Chinese is not their first language to use Chinese for communication in life, study and work.

According to China’s Ministry of Education, any foreign students to be enrolled in Chinese university should at least hold a HSK Level 4 certificate.

Learners who want to apply for the Confucius Institute Scholarships should take the score reports of both HSK and HSKK.

All test takers taking HSK abroad are eligible (合格) to apply for the Chinese Test Summer Camp to experience Chinese culture and learn Chinese in a short period in China.

HSK and HSKK scores are valid for a long time. As a proof of the Chinese language ability of foreign students entering Chinese colleges and universities, the scores are valid for two years (counting from the day of the test).

HSK TEST

Test levels include HSK (Level 1), HSK (Level 2), HSK (Level 3), HSK (Level 4). HSK (Level 5) and HSK (Level 6).

Exam Object: HSK (Level 4) is mainly for candidates who have learned Chinese for four semesters (two academic years) with a schedule of 2-4 class hours per week and mastered 1, 200 commonly used words.

HSKK TEST

HSKK Test is designed to test the ability to express oneself orally in Chinese and includes the HSKK (Elementary), HSKK (Intermediate) and HSKK (Advanced).

Exam Object: HSKK (Intermediate) is mainly for candidates who have leaned Chinese for one to two academic years at a schedule of 2-3 class hours per week and master about 900 of the most commonly used words.

Many Chinese students may want to study abroad after high school.But at the same time,more and more foreign students are coming to China.

According to a report from www.the Students.com.397,63 International students came to China in 2015.China is now the third most popular country for international students,behind the United States and the United Kingdom.

In the summer of 2016, 55 students and teachers from Germany came to China and joined a joined a summer camp,they were interested in traditional Chinese culture.

They visited several schools in Beijing.They learned to make dumplings, play Chinese kung fu and do paper cutting. If they like Chinese handwriting,they can learn calligraphy. By communicating with Chinese people,they could have a close relationship with their new friends,they could know more about China.

In 2018, especially young people in Germany,have become more interested in learning Chinese.There are more cultural exchanges between Germany and China.German students have had chances to learn more about Chinese culture, history and its life today.Almost 400 German school have Chinese classes.Over 8,000 German students study in China.