Serene Zawaydeh: April 2024

What if… Higher Levels of HSK Chinese Tests could be Redesigned in some other way, other than the proposed new structure for HSK exams? By Serene Zawaydeh, April 3 2024

Modified on December 9, 2025

This Blog follows LinkedIn communication with Khanji School, creators of Chinesimple mobile app, about restructuring HSK exams. I have been using this app since HSK1, and used it extensively in every exam, HSK1, HSK2, HSK3, HSK4, and now I am using it while studying for HSK5. It is an excellent tool for practicing learning Chinese words and sentences in an interactive way. Chinesimple has introduced translations to different languages, and Arabic is a new addition. The Arabic content currently available was generated by AI. I reviewed the AI's Arabic translation for the interface. Please scroll to the end for some screen shots of the conversation.

With the existing HSK 2.0 structure of HSK exams, learning Chinese becomes more challenging at HSK5. The number of words doubles from 1200 in HSK4, to 2500 in HSK5 to 5000 in HSK6. However, the actual vocabulary that the student should be able to understand, seems to be higher than 2500 in HSK5. While trying to solve questions, the student encounters new words in the sentences in questions, as well as explanations of grammar points. But then, who is counting words?

Following are some suggestions about restructuring HSK exams at higher levels, in case some educators might be interested in some feedback from someone learning the language as a fifth language, outside the scope of university studies.

Keeping HSK1 to HSK3 content the same.

Currently, there are plans to change the HSK exams, adding new words from HSK1, making it comparable to the existing HSK3. This means that learning Chinese will become more difficult starting from HSK1, and the student might not be able even to complete one level. Some students quit studying after level 2 or 3.

Adding new exams for higher levels, without doubling the number of words from one level to the other, regardless of the number of exams needed to reach native speaker fluency level.
The number of new words required from each level could be fixed, for example, 600 new words in each level.

· Dividing the material of HSK5 and HSK6.

For example, having one exam for HSK5 上， and another exam for HSK5 下。 Taking into consideration that HSK5 上takes more than one year on its own. So having an exam after one year of studying for HSK5， without the need to create new material for HSK5. As the number of words is 2500, it could be even divided into 4 levels, and the student could take tests after finishing each quarter of the current material. If the student learns the material well, and gets a good grade, they can move on to the following stage with steady steps.

· Adding new HSKK speaking exams. Currently there are just three levels for HSK 口语。 The first exam is done with HSK3, the second exam with HSK4, and the third exam with HSK5. Some students do the intermediate speaking exam with HSK5, and could get a better grade, as they could use more vocabulary from HSK5, to explain ideas in easy pictures that require HSK4 knowledge. As for using the limited vocabulary learnt in HSK4, which is 1200 words, that would allow the student to pass the exam and could get some extra point above the passing note. This is for students who do not have access to native Chinese speakers on a daily basis, which is the case for someone living in China.

· The current 高级speaking test includes repeating a paragraph after listening to it only once. This seems to be difficult even for someone listening to a paragraph in their own native language. It would be interesting to know details about grades of people who have obtained an excellent score in this part of the exam, and specifically people who do not live in an environment where people speak Chinese on a daily basis. There needs to be some kind of fair assessment for the content based on what students were requested to learn.

· Currently, if a student takes higher level language courses with native speakers, the teacher would be using words outside the scope of HSK5, as native speakers does not have the words sorted into categories in their mind. The student encounters more vocabulary while trying to learn HSK5 material. The student is also expected to listen to music, watch TV and news, which bring about much more vocabulary in every sentence.

· In addition to the speed at which the question is given, only once, many Chinese words have similar pronunciation to words previously learnt. This is why it is essential to know how the word is written, to know the meaning of the word and to be able to repeat the sentences.

Chinese language learning should not be compared to other languages, as there are thousands of characters, and not a specific set of alphabets. When reading a new book, if one did not see the word previously, and did not learn its meaning, they will not be able to pronounce it and read it properly. This is different than reading a book for the fun of reading, as one would spend their time trying to figure out the meanings of so many words. There are also words that are used formally in writing, and words that are used in spoken Chinese. This is why learning Chinese means continuously looking up new words that were not encountered.

New words sound like words previously encountered, and there isn't one specific sound for one unique word, and a lot of words sound similar. When given a specific word in English, you would be able to read it in one way. There is only one word that is written this way, and it gives a specific meaning. Imagine learning a new word in English, only to find that many words can be pronounced this way as you keep learning new vocabulary. This is what learning Chinese is like.

五wǔ，无wú，悟wù，物wù，务wù，勿wù，舞wǔ，吴wú，误wù ，午wǔ

One part can be used to make several words, when combined with other parts. Example:

植物 plant ，动物 animal

Restructuring HSK exams at higher levels, could be for the benefit of expanding knowledge of Chinese language, beyond the scope of studying inside China. Comparing Chinese language tests to tests of European language tests, is irrelevant, and will only make it more difficult for new students to learn the language.

Chinese is an interesting language to learn, and students need to be able to continue studying it at higher levels, without spending over a year for one higher level, while studying in their home country. Studying Chinese at higher levels, requires finding new ways to learn, in order to be able to acquire the big amounts of information. The student needs to continuously adapt the method of learning at higher levels, and needs to find out if there are new sources being developed, and who might be sharing their knowledge, from students who already achieved great results, and learn from them if they step into the teacher's role, during their studies.

The ability of Chinese kids to pick the language from their parents and teachers, should not be a basis of comparison, when comparing adult students of other nationalities who speak other languages.

It should also be taken into consideration that studying Chinese in China, and being surrounded by Chinese speakers on a daily basis, is unlike studying outside China, in an environment that does not have Chinese speakers on a daily basis.

Studying in China accelerates the student’s learning experience. Meanwhile, it is not obvious, how the learning process is done, for someone living outside China. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the only way for a student to learn the language is in China. Students should be given the opportunity to keep progressing in their learning experience, and to have a fair assessment at higher levels, in order for them to continue their learning journey in their home country using online resources and apps, if they do not have the opportunity to study in China.

Students who are interested in learning the language, should be to have their own path of continuous education, regardless of age limitations, and should be able to assume new jobs, with organizations that do not have age limitations. Their interest in learning Chinese could attract new students within their network of different age groups, to study the language. They will also know of obstacles that are faced while learning the language; can contribute to the process of learning the language while sharing their learning experience; in addition to using the material that is created by new teachers within their society, in the local language. This is of great use at higher more complicated levels.

Previously, my Chinese instructors were all native speakers. However, after taking classes with Chinese language teachers of Arabic origin, who learned Chinese, and went on scholarships, it turned out that learning Chinese with Arabic translation is very helpful. While English has been the intermediate language while learning Chinese, Arabic resources and books provide direct translation from Chinese into Arabic, and make it possible to directly understand the meaning. I have also been reading books with translation from Chinese into Arabic, figuring out the meanings of new words translated into Arabic.

Chinese is learnt one word at a time.

The student is required to watch movies and songs while studying for higher level. However, there is a lot of information to be grasped. Translation of the lyrics of the song, along with the word in Chinese, and the pinyin, the meaning in English, all being displayed along with the video of the song. Pop up questions also appear in the middle of videos, in an application like Language Player. It is interesting to listen to Chinese songs, and they have nice meanings. However, words that are just seen without being written down, might be recognized when seen the next time, but need more effort to be understood, including writing down the word several times, and then it has to appear several times in sentences, to be eventually remembered. So learning thousands of new words, is very time consuming. This is why having more higher level exams would be better for the learners than having one exam that could need more than two years of studying, while the validity of the exams is two years. It should also be taken into consideration that Chinese learning will take years, to reach the high levels.

Chinese native speakers spend 12 years learning the language at school. So this could be the period of time needed to achieve full native proficiency. So why are there just 6 levels, and why would the foreign students be expected to have such big jumps to level 5, and 6? Is that to make it easier to filter out the students at level 6? The new additional exam which classifies the student into levels 7 to 9, contains 11,092 words. There might not be a need for that, but it would be great if there are more assessments, than what is available now.

HSK 3.0

Information about the structure of the new HSK 3.0 exams was announced in November 2025. The new structure categorizes HSK1 to 3 as Elementary level with writing being required from the beginning; HSK 4, 5, and 6 are now Intermediate level; while HSK 7-9 is the Advanced level.

This is a significant change, as previously, HSK6 was considered Advanced with around 5400 words. Level 9 requires 11,092 words.

The Advanced Levels 7-9, are for university students (Master's/ PhD) and Chinese majors, for assessing higher-level application.

Technology and AI are being integrated into the test design, proctoring, scoring.

AI is already being used by students for learning Chinese.

Implementation of the new exams will make it difficult for the students learing HSK1. It would not come as a surprise if the numbers of students learning Chinese decline in the future.

Using ChatGPT while Studying Chinese

Technology is helpful for remotely learning Chinese. Making sentences is an important part of improving the students’ ability to communicate their ideas. However, these sentences need to be adjusted, and corrected by someone who knows the language. This is where ChatGPT can be a useful tool.

In the following example, I provided ChatGPT with several words that have the sound Zhong, regardless of the tones, and asked it to make a sentence, add the pinyin, and asked for an idiom for the sentence. Here are the results:

Me: Can you make a sentence with these words?! 中，钟，种，忠，仲，重，终，众，盅，肿，衷

ChatGPT:

在公园里，钟声敲响，忠实的仲友中，有一种重要的衷心，最终凝聚成了众人的力量。

Me: What does it mean?

ChatGPT: The sentence can be translated as:

"In the park, the bell rings, among loyal friends, there is a kind of important sincerity, which eventually gathers the strength of the crowd."

It depicts a scene where the ringing of a bell in the park brings together loyal friends, emphasizing the importance of sincerity and unity, which eventually becomes a collective strength

Me: can you add the pinyin?

ChatGPT: Certainly! Here's the sentence with Pinyin:

Zài gōngyuán lǐ, zhōngshēng qiāo xiǎng, zhōngshí de zhòng yǒu zhōng, yǒu yī zhǒng zhòngyào de zhōng xīn, zuìzhōng níngjù chéngle zhòng rén de lìliàng.

Me: Is there an idiom that can be used for this sentence?

Chat GPT:
Yes, there is an idiom that fits well with the theme of unity and strength depicted in the sentence:
"众志成城" (zhòng zhì chéng chéng). This idiom literally translates to "when the will of the masses converges, a fortress is formed" and figuratively means "unity is strength" or "many hands make light work." It perfectly captures the idea of collective effort and strength depicted in the sentence.

The collective strength of current students who are learning Chinese, and who have reached HSK5 and beyond, while learning in their home country, can be useful for future learners, who still have not started learning the language, and who will be faced with bigger hurdles starting from HSK Level 1, if the new HSK system is implemented. It is actually strange that the decision to change the HSK structure, should be based on a comparison of Chinese to European languages, as there is by no way any comparison between Chinese and European language. Why would the decision be made to go ahead and implement such a change to exams, which would not be for the best interest of foreign Chinese language learners?

The objective of the first few levels, is to determine whether the student is interested in the language, and can make a serious effort to study the language, and obtain excellent scores. If studying HSK1 is made too difficult, students will have to drop out, and will not be able to enjoy the learning experience.

If students drop out after HSK4, and no body voices their opinion about the exponential level of difficulty, the new exams will be implemented, and will not be for the benefit of future learners from different countries and different educational backgrounds.

Another question to bring up, is regarding translation of text in future HSK exams. If translation is required, which language should the text be translated to? The assumption should not be that all students can translate from Chinese to English, as there are other languages other than English. Students who are learning Chinese are also learning English, but it is not their native language. The question would be whether the student can translate to their native language, which is Arabic. And if it is Arabic, then there are different dialects. Would a translation be accepted if text was translated into Jordanian accent, or does it have to be translation into Modern Standard Arabic? The objective of the test is to test understanding, and there are many languages to which the translation can be made and it can be understood in different languages. This would make scoring of the tests more troublesome, and would require knowledge of Chinese native speakers, of other international languages and dialects, in case dialects would be possible. This is why translation tests should be separate, and could be specific to students who are taking translation courses. Questions in HSK exams, should not be vague as to the language to which the translation can be made.

Back to the "What If" question used as a title for this article. Some years ago, while I was living in Toronto, I attended an interesting presentation by Matt Murrie, entitled called "What if our socks didn't match?!", dated April 2013.

Following are screen shots from the LinkedIn comments with Khanji School.