Chinese education is becoming increasingly popular - studying there is often cheaper than at Western universities, and the government's ambitious plans for higher education ensure the growing quality of university programs. And contrary to stereotypes about the complexity of the Chinese language, learning it to enter a university is quite possible. “Theories and Practices” has collected useful information and tips to help you pass the HSK, a Chinese language exam for international students.

What is it

The standardized HSK exam was introduced in 1990 and has since been administered several times a year around the world. In 2009, the State Department of the People's Republic of China for Promoting the Chinese Language Abroad partially reformed the exam by developing a new version. The new HSK exam is brought into line with European standards for language exams, and its format is closer to the Chinese equivalent of TOEFL.

The reformed HSK is divided into six difficulty levels. Levels 1, 2 and 3 confirm basic Chinese language skills. Level 4 allows you to apply for an internship and study in China under a bachelor's program, and levels 5 and 6 provide the opportunity to enroll in a Chinese master's and graduate school.

The main feature of the HSK exam is that the written and oral parts of the exam are completely independent of each other. The oral exam is divided into three instead of six levels (to enter the university it is enough to provide a level 2 certificate)

How to take it


The most popular is the fourth level of HSK, which allows you to enroll in an undergraduate degree at a Chinese university in language, humanities and natural sciences. To successfully pass the exam, you need to know more than 1,200 Chinese words and communicate fluently with native speakers on an everyday level. This level assumes that the examinee has spent approximately 300-500 hours studying Chinese. In order to successfully pass the exam and receive a certificate, you must correctly solve more than 60% of the tasks, gaining 180 points out of 300 possible. The Level 4 written exam consists of three sections (listening, reading and grammar/writing) and includes a total of 100 questions.

The Listening section consists of three sections. It includes 45 questions in total and takes 30 minutes to complete. The first 10 questions are short situational dialogues or monologues, after which you need to indicate whether the statement given after listening to the dialogue is correct. The second and third listening sections (questions 11 - 45) are similar in type of task. The examinee is required to listen to the dialogue and choose from four answer options the most appropriate answer to the question posed to the dialogue. Answers require both a literal understanding of the spoken vocabulary and the ability to extract the essence from what was heard and paraphrase it.

Next comes the “Reading” block, consisting of 40 questions. The reading tasks in the HSK Level 4 exam mainly test the combined skills of reading + grammar. The first part contains multiple choice and a test with open questions. The second part tests the ability to consistently and logically construct sentences to obtain a small and coherent piece of text, as well as to understand the essence of what is being said and interpret it. You are given half an hour to complete all tasks.

The “Writing” block at the fourth level of the exam only superficially tests the ability to coherently and independently express one’s thoughts and put specific words into grammatically correct sentences. The exam does not require writing an essay. It consists of 15 questions and is divided into two parts. In the first (questions 86 - 95) you need to put the proposed words in the correct order. In the second part (questions 96 - 100) you are required to describe the picture using the word given by the creators of the exam. Everything is given 15 minutes.

The oral part is not part of this exam, but is an independent examination test for which you must register separately and pay separately. The most popular level of the oral test is the second. The oral part lasts 21 minutes and involves completing three tasks: retelling the text, describing the picture and answering questions.

You will be allocated 100 minutes for the entire exam, to which 5 minutes will be added to fill out the registration forms.

How to register

In Moscow, HSK takes place once a year and is organized by the Department of Chinese Philology of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University. The written part of the exam costs about 2,000 rubles, and the same amount will have to be paid for the oral part. Registration for the exam opens in advance and closes one month before the exam. It is possible to register online.

The results are announced approximately a month after the exam. You can find them out both online and at the test center. A certificate of any level is valid for 2 years.

Yulia Kuznetsova, Chinese teacher at ISAA Moscow State University

Train yourself for speed. Just train it. It is very important from the very beginning of preparation to do tests not in a relaxed state, but for a while and even in a hurry, setting a stopwatch. In language tests of other languages, the problem of time is also acute, but not so much. In the HSK exam, a minimum time is given for a huge array of tasks - only 100 minutes.

Pay special attention to hieroglyphics. No one can help you with memorizing hieroglyphs: you need persistent training of your memory, hand and associative thinking. The rule here is: “Sit. Remember. Learn".

There is a common opinion that the grammar of the Chinese language is quite simple, since it does not have the categories of gender and number, and the systems of agreements and tense relations are also simplified. But don’t delude yourself - there are also difficult aspects: syntax, sentence structure, conjunctions, word placement rules. You need to be very careful with them.

Nowadays, most Chinese courses are taught by native speakers. However, my teaching experience shows that at the basic and intermediate level of studying Chinese, a student should have a Russian-speaking teacher, because he can draw analogies between Russian and Chinese. This is very important. When there is no teacher who will say: “don’t be alarmed, the Russian language has a similar structure, and I will now clearly explain everything to you,” the student may get confused in elementary things. So you should not chase after a native speaker at first when learning Chinese.

You need to understand that the Chinese language is binary, that is, two characters most often mean one word, and the average Chinese word is two syllables. It is because of these sound features of the language that the listening section is quite difficult for students. While listening to any text or dialogue, short words are heard for a minimum amount of time. Such compression of information produces a kind of “tsunami effect.”

For the HSK exam, a brochure is officially published with a minimum list of words that you need to know to successfully pass the exam at any level. This is generally the specificity of the Chinese: they love to group, count, and systematize. It is a big mistake for any student to start cramming words from there, when they should not be crammed separately, but be able to be seen in context. Therefore, it is worth reading more of all kinds of stories, articles, texts. Approaching the exam with the question: “how many words should I know to get a certificate?” not viable.

Nikita Poverinov, 3rd year student at ISAA MSU

In my opinion, the HSK testing levels can be grouped by degree of difficulty: if levels 1-3 are almost equally easy to pass, then at level 4 the difficulty of the exam increases noticeably and does not change too significantly until level 6. I believe this is due to the fact that students usually master most of the basic grammar of the Chinese language in the first year, so the main difference between levels is only in the number of characters used; and since in many HSK tasks understanding the general meaning of a sentence/phrase is the key to solving them, knowledge of individual symbols is sometimes not necessary (I emphasize: specifically for passing the HSK, but not for learning the language as a whole!)

One of the keys to successfully passing the HSK is the ability to quickly cover and analyze a significant amount of text. This is especially useful when listening, when before turning on the audio recording you need to immediately look at and remember all possible answer options, so that you can then listen to the recording, keeping them in your head. By the way, there is no need to be afraid of not hearing anything: the announcers have standard Beijing pronunciation!

A few words about the tasks of the third part (writing): for initial levels they consist of simply reproducing a hieroglyph according to a given Pinyin transcription, for more complex ones - in describing pictures and writing short texts. This part mainly tests your ability to write Chinese correctly, so you don’t have to be tricky with hieroglyphs that you’re not sure how to write! If you want to pass the HSK, and not recklessly show off your vocabulary, a short but clear description of the image or a small, succinct text that satisfies all the conditions of the task is enough.

Hello, dear blog readers! You have been studying Chinese for some time and would like to test your knowledge, or you are going to enter a university that requires an HSK certificate, or perhaps you have some other reasons for taking this exam. We take it at the request of the university: in order to graduate and receive a diploma, you need to pass the HSK at least level five.

I want to say right away that this certificate can hardly be considered proof of good command of the Chinese language, since most of the tasks have answer options, which means you can choose the right one by guessing - this is one thing, and secondly, we met a huge number of people on our way, who easily passed this exam at level 4.5 or even 6, but their Chinese was far from perfect.

But still, for some reason and circumstances, you need to pass this exam, and therefore you decided to learn more about it in order, so to speak, to know the enemy in person. In this article we will try to answer all your questions. And if, by the end of reading this article, you still have questions, then ask them in the comments, or through feedback in the “Contacts” section, and we will try to answer you. So let's get started!

The HSK exam is a test of Chinese language knowledge that will not only help you test your knowledge, but can also be useful when applying to a university or when applying for a job in a Chinese company. The HSK exam is something like IELTS and TOEFL in English.

Official website of HSK

There is an official website for the HSK exam, by the way, here is the link: chinesetest.cn. There you can register to take the exam, view your results after passing, and also read a bunch of useful information about passing this exam. Fortunately for beginners, the site supports the Russian language.

What are the HSK levels?

How many HSK levels are there? I heard that there used to be much more of them (I think 11). Some amendments were made about 8 years ago, so now there are only six of them. And this is good news, because not only have they decreased in number, but they say that their degree of complexity has also decreased significantly.

Entry level HSK

So, let's start with the initial level, which we roughly divided into HSK 1 and HSK 2.

HSK 1

To pass the first one, you need to have only 150 words. In general, the exam lasts 40 minutes and includes a listening and reading part. For each part, the maximum number of points is 100. The passing score is 120.

HSK 2

It differs from the first in the amount of required vocabulary - 300 words - this is 150 words from HSK 1 plus 150 new ones, as well as some tasks. The duration of this exam is 55 minutes. Passing score 120.

Listening consists of 4 parts. The first, second, third have 10 tasks each, and the last 4th part has only 5. Time 35 minutes.

Part one: completely identical

first part of HSK Listening 1.

Part two: as in HSK 1 listening part 3: listen to the dialogue and select the correct picture.

Part three: listen to the dialogue, and then answer the question asked by the speaker, choosing the desired option from three, as in the fourth part of HSK 1.

Part four: differs from the first only in its length (dialogue of 4-5 sentences).

Reading also consists of 4 parts: 1, 2, 3 with 5 tasks each, and the 4th 10. For all 25 minutes.

Part one: identical to HSK 1 part two reading section.

Part two: identical to HSK 1 part four of the reading section, although the sentences will be slightly longer.

Part Three: You will most likely be given a declarative sentence, followed by a statement below. You must put a check mark next to the statement if it is true, or a cross if it is false.

Part four: similar to part three: connect suitable sentences (numbers with letters) to create a dialogue.

Intermediate HSK level

The intermediate level includes HSK 3 and HSK 4.

HSK 3 is a vocabulary of 600 words and three parts: listening, reading and writing. The first two parts differ from the previous ones in their complexity and duration. In the third part, “letter,” you will be given pictures, and you will have to write sentences for them. The maximum score for each part is 100. The passing score is 180.

HSK 4 – vocabulary 1200 words and the same three parts. The passing score is the same.

High HSK level

HSK 5 and HSK 6 are levels for more advanced Chinese students. The maximum and passing scores are no different from the previous ones, but the level of difficulty has been increased significantly.

The texts are becoming longer and more complex, so we advise you to prepare well before taking the test. It won't work at random here anymore.

And here is a general table for convenience:

Cost of HSK exam

The cost of this exam depends on where you take it. For example, if you are planning to take the HSK in China, the cost will be as follows (information for 2017):

If you are planning to take the HSK in your country, then you just need to find the branches of the Confucius Institute. Today, the prices for taking the HSK at the Confucius Institute are as follows:

As you noticed, in financial terms it is better to take the HSK in Russia. But do not forget that in Russia this exam is conducted in writing, and in China it is possible to take the HSK online, i.e. on a computer, which greatly simplifies the task, and sometimes plays a key role for those who have problems writing hieroglyphs. So it’s up to you to decide - save and take risks, or pay more but take a more reliable path.

How is HSK done?

If you decide to take the exam in China on a computer, it happens something like this: before you get into the classroom where the exam itself will take place, you will be given a form with your personal data and indicated the specific place you should take. On the computer you have to enter your number, and then the exam itself begins.

The first part is listening. To do this, you put on headphones and test the sound. By the way, another big advantage of taking HSK online is the ability to adjust the sound. Having trouble hearing what the announcer is saying? Just turn it up loud. Adjust the sound carefully, because during the exam itself you are unlikely to be able to do this.

Have you adjusted the sound? Then we press the start button and immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of Chinese culture, because for a short period of time you will listen to a pleasant melody in the Chinese style, and then for a few more seconds the greeting of the announcer. Then we just listen to the questions and answer them.

You can see how much time you have left on the screen above. The total time of the listening part is 30 minutes. By the way, after the time is up, this part will automatically close and the second one will begin - reading.

If you finished earlier, you can move on to the next part yourself. Just keep in mind that once you have closed or you have closed one of the parts: listening or reading, you will not be able to return to it.

After listening, reading begins. Here you are free to calculate your own time, the main thing is that you have time to complete all the tasks from this part in 45 minutes. Did everyone answer? If there is still time left, we advise you to double-check everything, because once the “letter” part begins, you will no longer be able to do this.

And now your finest hour has come! The “writing” part is what you take the HSK on the computer for. After all, here you won’t just get by with the checkboxes that you checked next to the selected answer option in the previous parts. Here you need to compose your own sentences or essay. Let's move on to the last part, the duration of which varies depending on the level.

And that's it, the exam is passed! Now you just need to wait for the results. And yes, don’t lose your form, because you can use it to find out your results online.

If you are taking the exam in your home country, it will most likely be in written form. You will be given assignments and a separate form where you will need to mark your answers - that is, color over the answers with a pencil or black pen.

Materials with each part are distributed in turn. After completing one part, the materials from this part will be taken from you, and given to you for the next one.

How to find out HSK results

You can find out your HSK results in two ways.

1. Wait for the certificate, which usually arrives no earlier than a month after passing the exam. Actually, your overall score will be written on it, as well as the points that you received for each part separately.
2. Go to the official HSK website without waiting for the certificate, because the results appear on the site earlier, and there is also complete information about the points you scored in each part. To find out your result on the website, enter your number from the form that you were given when taking the exam.

Yes, please note that if you do not pass, no certificate will be sent to you, and the money will not be returned. To pass the HSK exam, you need to achieve at least a passing score, which is different for each level. HSK 1 and HSK 2 have a passing score of 120, and all others have a passing score of 180.

About preparing for the HSK exam

In order to prepare for the HSK, it is advisable to first learn all the words for the selected level. You can easily and even download HSK words on the Internet.

Then purchase or download materials for hsk again. We advise you to purchase materials in two formats.

First, get a couple of textbooks with exam tests. After passing them, you will already understand what the HSK test of a particular level is like.

Secondly, you can also purchase manuals that will help you study and better understand the words from the HSK list you need, and in them you can learn grammar at the appropriate level.

At the moment, the author has studied the hsk standard course manual, which includes two books: one is texts with words from the list and grammar, and the second book is something like an exam test with answers. You may find something more suitable for you. If you have decent options, share them in the comments.

You can also study with a teacher or prepare for an exam online. Now there are many HSK preparation programs with Chinese teachers and even native speakers.

The above-mentioned official website of HSK will also help you, where you can also take an online test in Chinese. True, there is no part of the “letter” where you need to write an essay. The Chinese language proficiency test is a little simplified, but in general it gives a general idea of ​​the exam itself and its content.

How to register for the HSK

Again, if you are in China, then most likely your university will register you for the HSK. You will need a copy of your passport, two two-inch color photographs and, of course, the registration fee itself, the amount of which for each level we have already indicated above.

Please note that the registration deadline ends almost a month before the exam itself, so we strongly recommend that you register in advance. You can choose the exam form: written or online (on a computer). The amount does not change depending on the chosen exam form.

Once you have applied for the exam by choosing the online option, you may be asked to take a practice exam before the main exam to find out what the exam is like, so to speak. If this is not your first time taking the hsk test, you can skip this part.

Well, if you are taking it for the first time, then be sure to go. This is not even necessary to find out what the approximate tasks will be, but simply to at least mentally prepare yourself, to get used to the place or something.

You can also register on the official website. To do this, you will first need to register on the site or otherwise create your account, and only then sign up for the testing itself. By the way, this account will be very useful for you. After all, with the help of it you can also find out your results.

There is another way to register. It is the simplest, but it requires time and more physical movements - register at the center where the exam takes place. To do this, you need to find the nearest center where the hsk test takes place and register there. You can make payment in banks or by credit card.

You can find out where the nearest center for taking the hsk exam is located by clicking on this link “centers for taking the hsk exam” and indicating the location information.

China's Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (“汉语水平考试”), also known as HSK or Chinese Proficiency Test, is an international qualifying examination in the Chinese language. The exam is intended for non-native Chinese speakers.

The test was developed by Beijing Language and Culture University to identify the level of knowledge of the Chinese language, assess the skills of using Chinese in life, educational and work situations and has been used since 1992.

The HSK exam is held in many countries around the world at set times, under the supervision and with the participation of representatives of the diplomatic missions of the PRC.

The written exam is divided into six levels (HSK 1-6). It is carried out in the form of a test, the tasks in which are divided into several parts: listening, vocabulary, reading, composition (writing). To successfully pass the exam, you must answer at least 60% of the questions correctly.

• Level 1- vocabulary 150 words - time 40 minutes
• Level 2- vocabulary 300 words - time 55 minutes
• Level 3- vocabulary 600 words - duration 1 hour 30 minutes
• Level 4- vocabulary 1200 words - duration 1 hour 45 minutes
• Level 5- vocabulary 2500 words - time 2 hours 05 minutes
• Level 6- vocabulary 5000 words - duration 2 hours 20 minutes

Passing score:

• Level 1- 120 points out of 200
• Level 2- 120 points out of 200
• Level 3- 180 points out of 300
• Level 4- 180 points out of 300
• Level 5- 180 points out of 300
• Level 6- 180 points out of 300

The certificate of successfully passing the HSK qualifying exam is an international state document of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, which has received recognition in many countries around the world. It provides the following features:

• - completing language internships for a period of 1 month, 1 semester, 1 year under the Hanban Scholarship Fund;
• - admission to Chinese universities for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs without preparatory courses;
• - is a recommendation when hiring and undergoing advanced training; it is taken into account in the personnel policies of institutions, enterprises and organizations interested in specialists with knowledge of classical Chinese.

Below you can download an information book about the exam. In it you can get acquainted with a sample exam paper, exam answer form, time requirements, necessary words and grammar for passing the exam, etc.

HSK is a test for the level of Chinese language proficiency, designed for foreigners for whom the Chinese language is not their native language.

The certificate is recognized throughout the civilized world and is the only form of certification for foreign students.

Who needs a Chinese proficiency test?

Basically, they rent it out:

1. Foreign applicants who are faced with the task of entering a Chinese university (the minimum requirement is passing the level 4 test).
2. People who go to China to work under a contract (some companies require a language exam certificate).
3. Foreign Chinese (who were born and resided outside the People's Republic of China and do not have Chinese language communication skills).
4. People who are interested in the Celestial Empire, its culture and simply want to add another mastered language to their life baggage.

Chinese HSK levels?

Certification consists of 6 levels language skills that require certain basic knowledge to successfully pass:

• HSK 1 -
• HSK 2 -
• HSK 3 -
• HSK 4 -
• HSK 5 -
• HSK 6 – 5000 words

In addition to vocabulary, you need to understand grammar, be able to write hieroglyphs and have practice in listening comprehension (to successfully pass the listening test).

What parts does HSK consist of?

• HSK 1-2 consists of two parts: listening and reading.
• HSK 3-6 consists of three parts: listening, reading and writing.

How long does the Chinese HSK exam take?

The time it takes to write a language test depends on its level of difficulty and ranges from 35 to 135 minutes.

At the same time, having finished one part (for example, reading), you do not have the right to start writing the next part (letter) until the time allocated for reading has expired.

These are the rules!

No matter how strange it may seem, the fact that you cannot use the saved precious time to write the remaining parts of the exam - people will run up to you and snatch the pen out of your hands if you try to continue writing openly. If it’s not noticeable, then of course you can try...)

How many points do you need to score to pass?

To pass successfully you need to dial 180 points. A certificate with the results will be sent to you at the address specified in the test registration form.

Official certification website -

On the website you can pay for hsk exam, track the results, get additional information about the place and time of writing the certification.

Successfully passing the HSK gives you the opportunity to:

• receive a scholarship for education at a Chinese university;
• gain an advantage when applying for a job;
• add to the list of your advantages over other specialists.

Remember, in order to pass the language certification, you need to invest a lot of effort and patience, because, like everything in life, it doesn’t come easy! Daily work and constant practice are the only way to success!

I would also like to say that the system of this language exam has many subtleties and nuances that you should be familiar with in advance, because some people cannot pass not because they lack knowledge, but only because they lack dexterity!

Very often, those undergoing certification are faced with the problem of lack of time since it was initially allocated incorrectly by them. To solve this problem, you need to take dozens of practice tests, analyze your weaknesses and strengths, and correctly formulate the tactics and strategy for writing the exam!

Nothing is impossible for a person - you just have to want it! And opportunities will appear by themselves, because everything we think about sooner or later becomes a reality!

And remember, the one who walks will master the road!