What is the HSK? China's Language Proficiency Exam | A Guide to Taking the HSK

Ah, yes -- the HSK. The woe of many foreign international students in China. This is the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (汉语水平考试)，and it is the test foreigners need to take in China if they are going to be in Chinese-speaking work or study environments. It's China's answer to the TOEFL and the IELTS, though probably not as difficult.

How difficult is the HSK? How hard is it? Well, it's split up into six levels with vocabularies of 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2500, and 5000+ words. It's a lot yeah, but less than something like the TOEFL or IELTS.

The HSK is a language test, so it's split up into three parts: listening, speaking, and writing - in that order. 3 parts, 100 points a piece, 300 total. How many points to pass the HSK? 180. 60%. Not bad, right?

There's more in the video - check it out! :)

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What is the HSK? China's Language Proficiency Exam | A Guide to Taking the HSK #hsk #hskexam #takethehsk

[trainerkareem]

I’ve been taking a Chinese course now, preparing myself for HSK 1. Wish me luck guys 👌

[longjiang]

I'm a native speaker. I took the HSK 6 exam and got only 82% on the writing (shortening). :-(

[Chaobai]

I am Chinese myself living in the UK, yet I still find your video very helpful. My daughter was brought up in the UK and although she has a good understanding of Chinese daily conversations, she hasn't learnt characters and grammar in any systematic way. Chinese is also harder to pronounce compared to English, so very often as a child, she chooses the simpler way to communicate with me or peers. I find HSK is a good way to let her get on with it. I mean the book itself is well organized and doesn't assume any understanding of Chinese before. So I am teaching her myself right now and she just passed HSK1. Letting her watch Chinese TV shows is also currently contributing to engaging her to Chinese culture and language but still has a long way to go. Great video Austin! Hope you enjoy the life in China.

[SimpleChineseYoutube]

I had to take HSK 6 a few years ago to be able to do my master's degree in Beijing. In fact, we were required to take HSK6 before we could even apply for our major, it was part of the required documents to submit. I remember struggling with the final part, 写作, because there were some characters I just could NOT remember how to write.

[jessiehorne]

Thanks for giving us a nice synopsis of what the HSK is as there are quite a few of your followers that will be taking the HSK exams hopefully soon. As always great video and wish you the best on getting your HSK 5+ credentials Austin.

[ThaiIsland]

I’ve never thought about taking the HSK but you’re right...why not. Watching Chinese drama recently but will sign up for a Chinese course this fall. Thanks for the motivation! 🙏🏼👍🏽

[ChubbyAndAway]

Great Video! I actually wasn't sure what levels had what requirements. Shooting for at least an HSK 1 in a years time. Good luck on the test!

[delarow]

Thanks for breaking it down and divulging the levels, I have been studying two hours a day for last 10 months with no plans of limiting my learning. A few questions: where along my journey should I start practicing handwriting the characters? (I can recognize many) is that necessary unless at a higher stage? Are levels 1, 2, and 3 seen as a joke? Also when you mention social media - weibo, qq, or wechat or all? Someone once bragged to me they had all three... Making it seem like 4, 5, and 6 didn't exist. Been a fan since 2013, thank you for consistency and continual delivery. Recently lived in China without using Chinese as at all and had a less than optimal time being worked to death in Guangzhou lol, now that I have a clearer vision of where I want to go with my new venture - language study plays a big part plus I owe it to ally close Chinese friends. I know great rewards will open in quality of life in Asia at the higher levels. Thanks again Austin!

[jonathandjing]

You have to learn full time Chinese to master any level, i am doing my full degree International Business 4 years taught in English, but also required to take hsk5 to graduate. Trust me, it is not easy speaking 4 or 5 levels, most of my classmates basically jsut learn to pass it in order to graduate. 95% of the time is spent in degree courses taught in English, class reports etc etc..

[meixingmichael]

This is definitely easier test compare to Toefl even the chinese students took english classes for more than 10 years

[ChemicalXzibit]

Just dropping by to show my support. I am a public school ENL teacher in America and find that you are a badass! keep making content

[sinyiechan]

As a Malaysian Chinese, my sister and I studied in a Chinese independent high school for 6 years. Surprisingly, when my sister applied for the ZheJiang university of China, she neednt take this the ones who attended the governmental schools
(My sister and I studied Science, our textbooks are all in english but the teacher in class speaks Chinese, and the people around us speaks Chinese too, so I havent talked much in Malay since I was a child hahhah )
Your video is inspiring!Thanks!

[jackgc]

Do you not feel as though your writing is up to scratch? Or have you just not had anyone mark it? I passed HSK 5 comfortably a couple of months ago (at Sichuan University). My worst mark was in the reading. I hadn't any papers beforehand so I struggled with the time management for the reading section. That's thing I should have practised. Good luck for when you take the exam!

[TheGretaoto]

Great video! Thanks for sharing such useful tips!!

[wuriyeon]

Recently, I am tutoring my foreigner relatives for the Chinese exam, because of HSK, I think I can't speak Chinese anymore.

[andrewwills]

Enjoyed the posh formal English impression!

[layslifestyle]

I think you got a quite lovely n unique Chinese accent. I like your accent x it's pretty posh for me as well. I got a very countryside accent n people would know where I'm from in terms of listening to me for a few seconds

[TheTaoWay]

Hey Austin, how much does the HSK cost to take? Great video by the way.

[yirouluo]

I felt a little bit surprised there is no speaking part in HSK. Besides, I am a Chinese native speaker, but sometimes I cannot remember how to write a commonly-used character neither, because nowadays we don't write on paper very often.

[JERRYGOODE]

Hi buddy awesome info I never knew what the HSK actually was till I watched your video. What level are you?