What if… Higher Levels of HSK Chinese Tests could be Redesigned? By Serene Zawaydeh, April 2, 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.  

 

 

Check out other Blogs I wrote about learning Chinese 

我的汉语学习方式—做完HSK四之后!  2023年2月13日

Learning Chinese: What kind of effort is needed to complete HSK4, and what is it like to study higher levels?    2023 年2月13日

What does the process of learning Mandarin Chinese look like? Some tips for new learners.”   2022 年1 月20 日

The Ongoing Process of Learning Chinese, HSK5.  2024 年1 月10日

Examples of Simplified Chinese. There is no end to learning 学无止境! 2024 年1 月22 日

Change is the only Constant Thing in the Process of Learning Chinese. 2024年 7 月19 日

Tips for Practicing Writing Chinese Characters. 2024年9月10日

What if… Higher Levels of HSK Chinese Tests could be Redesigned? 2024年4月2 日

Making up Stories using Chinese Characters. 看汉字写小故事！2024 年6月29 日

Lost Bag Story, Handwritten in Chinese; 2023 年3 月16 日

Examples of Simplified Chinese. There is no end to learning 学无止境! By Serene Zawaydeh. January 22, 2024

Examples of Simplified Chinese. There is no end to learning 学无止境! By Serene Zawaydeh. January 22, 2024

In my previous article, I listed some examples of Chinese characters: The Ongoing Process of Learning Chinese, HSK5. By Serene Zawaydeh. January 10, 2024. In this blog, I would like to take a closer look at Chinese characters and words.

Bearing in mind that English alphabets starting with AB, and Arabic alphabets start with أ – ب. What do the Chinese characters that start with these sounds look like?

We can start by typing pinyin that starts with a.  For example, “啊(ā)“，is used at the end of sentences; while “阿(ā)姨(yí)“ means “aunt”.

When typing “ba”, notice the different forms that correspond to “ba”, each having a different shape. All these shapes have to be memorized, and handwritten to be able to learn the language.

吧(ba)： b, neutral tone, used at the end of sentences, to indicate approval.

把(bǎ)： ba, first tone, used with a things with a handle, such as holding an umbrella, 把(bǎ)伞(sǎn)，

八(bā)： ba, first tone, number 8.

爸(bà)爸(ba) baba, fourth tone, neutral tone, means dad. It is interesting that 爷(yé)爷(ye) means (grandfather, father’s father), both have the upper character, 父(fù), which means father.

In Arabic, the letter can have diacritics (harakat), which change the sound of the letter. For example, the letter ب   can occur as   بِ – بُ – بَ – بْ - بٍ – بٌ - باً  

If a person knows how to read the “b” in English, or the “ب” in   Arabic, with the diacritics (harakat), they will be able to read the word that has this letter. They can read new words, as all words consist of a specific set of alphabets.

However, when it comes to Chinese, a new word can consist a combination of characters previously encountered, to give a new meaning. The sounds of the words are similar to previously learnt words. Words can consist of more than one character, and they are added up together to form a new word. A dictionary with pictures that gathers words by topic is useful to look at to get a broader idea of Chinese words.

The words in Chinese, are written without spaces in between. The person has to know which word consists of one character, or two characters, or 3 characters, or 4 characters.

Following is an example of a word that starts with “巴(bā)“. The character is used in names of countries, such as

巴(bā)拉(lā)圭(guī) Paraguay

Notice that the pronunciation of Paraguay, starts with a B, and not a P. Furthermore, the letter “ra” is written as “la” in pinyin.

While the Chinese written language is very rich in terms of the variations of the written characters, on top of adding the tones, the spectrum of sounds seems to be limited.  

While the letter “r” is a very easy sound to make, and is used a lot in many languages, it could be challenging for Chinese native speaker to say the letter “r”, although there are words with pinyin starting with “ru” such as “如(rú)果(guǒ)“。Meanwhile, in Arabic, the letter “r” and “l” must be distinguished, as is the case when saying Nimer “نمر “ or tiger, and Namel “نمل “ or ants.   

Following are examples of similarity of characters, and how radicals appear in different words.

入(rù) to enter， 人(rén) person，人口population

两(liǎng) both， 俩(liǎng) both, 众(zhòng) crowd， 从(cóng) from，肉(ròu) meat，内(nèi) inside, 内(nèi)容(róng)content

 大(dà) big, 太(tài) a lot，太(tài)太(tài)wife , 天(tiān) sky, 太(tài)阳(yáng) sun which is also 日(rì)sun， day of the month,
态(tài) status, 态(tài)度(du) attitude， 心(xīn)态(tài) mentality

The sound “bi” appears in words like: 避免(bìmiǎn)，闭门(bìmén)

Words like with the letter “c”

擦(cā):       to clean, 擦(cā)写(xiě):  to erase

四(sì)means four. The sound is more like the letter ص in Arabic, which is missing in English. It is different than the Arabic letter س for s. Therefore, the sounds in pinyin, do not correspond to the pronunciation of English letters.

As for the sound “d”, and there are several words, with the pinyin being “de”. Grammar points specify whether 的， 地， 得 should be used.

的，地， 得， 德

One word, 得， can  be pronounced “得(děi)” or “得(de)” with neutral tone, or first tone 得(dé). It can be at the beginning or the end of a word.

我(wǒ)得(děi): I should                        
记(jì)得(de): remember                    
获(huò)得(dé): obtain,  得(dé)意(yì): proud of oneself

 “地“ can be pronounced “de” or “di”.

地(dì)方(fāng)   place;  地(dì) earth; 地理 geography;   认(rèn)真(zhēn)地(de) seriously

德 as  in 德(dé)国(guó) which means Germany. It is also used in names, such as 理(lǐ)查(chá)德(dé)  for Richard, where again, Li is used instead of the “Ri” sound in the English name.

Following are examples for words that have the sound “E”  

一(yī)，以(yǐ)，意(yì)，义(yì)，依(yī)，疑(yí)，衣(yī)，已(yǐ)

一(yī) means 1; while 2 is 二(èr)， and 3 is 三(sān).

“I” is so easy to write in English. Meanwhile, in Chinese, I means “我”. The stroke order is important when writing Chinese. My starting point for writing Chinese words was with this word. I thought it must be important to know how to write “I”. Practicing writing is very important starting from level 1. Otherwise, it would be impossible to continue learning Chinese at higher levels, as the words will be later shown without pinyin, and if one does not distinguish the characters, they wouldn’t be able to continue.

It is important to practice writing to distinguish the difference between words. For example

我(wǒ)找(zhǎo)到(dào)钱(qián), means I found money， where the characters 我，找，钱seem to be confusing at the beginning.
The character 我is part of some other words, such as 饿(è)  hungry，鹅(é) goose, 天(tiān)鹅(é) swan  which have similar sounds, while the same sound is found in 鳄(è)  which means crocodile.

Some more interesting words.

口(kǒu) mouth ,哭(kū) cry , 品(pǐn) product, 器(qì)utensil, 机(jī)器(qì) machine

噩(è) startling, while 噩(è)梦(mèng) and 恶(è)梦(mèng)both mean nightmare.

In order to get the required word, the two syllables of the word should be typed. For example:

Examples of the sound “fa”

发(fā) in 头(tóu)发(fà)hair, 发现(xiàn) to find, 发(fā)愁(chóu)to be anxious

火(huǒ) is fire, 心(xīn) is heart, mind

法(fǎ) in 法(fǎ)国(guó) France, 法(fǎ)律(lǜ) law

乏(fá) short of

 之(zhī) seems to look like the Z.  Other words that have this sound are:

一(yī)直(zhí) always， 直(zhí)接(jiē)direct

报(bào)纸(zhǐ) newspaper

只(zhī) only

辞(cí)职(zhí)resign

Several words have the sound G, such as:

个(gè) this，歌(gē) song，哥(gē)哥(ge)older brother，各(gè)自(zì)each, 隔(gé)离(lí)isolate  

The sound of 好(hǎo) sounds like هاو  and خاو。

The following words have different tones and sound more like خي and not like the English “he”.

喝(hē) drink，盒(hé) small box，河(hé) river，合(hé) together，何(hé)how ， 和(hé) with. These words sound like خِي

Words like 会(huì) can，回(huí) return，悔(huǐ) regret，汇(huì) collection. These words sound like خْوِي

悔(huǐ)has a component found in 母(mǔ) and 每(měi) 。 The part on the left, is the radical 心written vertically.

The sounds that are learnt at the beginning of level 1, appear in other forms and meanings, and can be the first or the second part of another word. When looking up the part of the word, it would be the similar to the meaning of two characters combined. Words can be made of one character, two characters, 3 characters, or 4 characters.

活(huó) live, 生活 life; 或(huò)or 或者 means or; 火(huǒ)车(chē) means train ; 火(huǒ)车(chē)站(zhàn)  means train station.

There are a lot of 成(chéng)语(yǔ)or idioms or proverbs that consist of 4 characters, which have a story behind them. Reading translations of Chinese proverbs into Arabic,  makes learning process not only focused on learning the Chinese language, but there is always food for thought as well.

The idiom 笨(bèn)鸟(niǎo)先(xiān)飞(fēi)  means: the clumsy bird flies early, or the slow need to start early, which means to work hard to compensate for one's limited abilities.

The character 鸟(niǎo) which means bird, appears in the word 鹅(é) which means goose, while 天鹅 means swan. 天(tiān)鹅(é)湖(hú) means Swan Lake.

湖(hú) the first part indicates that there is water which means 水, although it does not contain the first part with the two dots. The last part, 月(yuè)， means moon, and also means month.

For example, 泪 means tear, which has the first part, and the second part is 目(mù)which means ey， which also means 眼(yǎn)睛(jīng)， while glasses means 眼(yǎn)镜(jìng). It turns out to be that 眼(yǎn)镜(jìng)蛇(shé)means cobra. The last part, which means snake 蛇(shé) has  the same pinyin and tones as 社(shè)， 设(shè).  

The following words are variations for “shi”

是(shì)，师(shī), 视(shì)， 实(shí)，时(shí)，式(shì)， 试(shì)，十(shí)，识(shí) ，事(shì) ，史(shǐ), 诗(shī)

There are interesting words, such as ，雨(yǔ) rain，which appears in 雷(léi) thunder with 田(tián) or farm below it，while 雪(xuě) snow is on top of 山(shān) which is the mountain. Noting that in零(líng) which is Zero, the lower character is not the character found in今(jīn)天(tiān) which means today, but rather the character 令(lìng)，as in

令(lìng)人(rén)吃(chī)惊(jīng) which is means to shock, or to amaze. It is important to pay attention to the details of the characters.

Examples of more words that need to be distinguished.

来(lái) come, 米(mǐ) rice, 木(mù) tree, 术(shù) skill

Pronunciation of words and whether they are chang, cheng, zhang, zheng, sheng and saying the words with the correct tones without having the pinyin is a challenge.

尝(cháng) taste，长(cháng) long, 校(xiào)长(zhǎng)president with the character having two pronunciations, as 长(zhǎng) means to develop. When typing the word as 校(xiào)长(zhǎng), the pronunciation would be 长(zhǎng), while it would be pronounced as 长(cháng)  if typed alone. 张(zhāng) has a different tone, and is a classifier for flat objects.

While learning new words, it becomes possible to know the pronunciation

正(zhèng)确(què) correct, 保(bǎo)证(zhèng) guarantee， 整(zhěng) whole, 整(zhěng)理(lǐ) to arrange

成(chéng)功(gōng) success， 诚(chéng)，城(chéng)， 诚(chéng)实(shí)honest， 城(chéng)市(shì) city , 长(cháng)城(chéng) the Great Wall, 商(shāng)城(chéng) shopping center

上(shàng) on top， 生(shēng) be born, 学(xué)生(shēng)student， 省(shěng)province， economize， 剩(shèng)  remain

生(shēng) born，王(wáng) king，玉(yù) jade

The word 车means car, and the character is seen in 辈(bèi),   连(lián)，轮(lún)

The word 非(fēi) appears in 辈(bèi)， 靠(kào)

While 辈(bèi)， 背(bèi)， 被(bèi)， 贝(bèi) ，北(běi)， 悲(bēi) have similar sounds

If the word was not encountered previously, then it would not be possible to know how to read it and how to pronounce it. Here is an example:

缓(huǎn), means the verb “to delay” and the adjective “slow”, or “relaxed”.

It has the part 爱(ài) which means to love, 爱情 love, romance， 爱(ài)护(hù) to cherish / to love and protect，保(bǎo)护(hù)to protect, 护(hù)照(zhào) passport.

The complexity of the words and the topics discussed increases at higher levels, in addition to having more idioms. Meanwhile, the pronunciation of new characters seems to be like previously encountered words.

For example, there is no way of knowing that 缓(huǎn) has the same sound as  还(huán)给(gěi)， 换(huàn)， 欢(huān). This is another pronunciation for the same character 还(hái)  which contains the character 不(bù)，found in 否(fǒu)。To get the correct pronunciation, I had to write 还(huán)给(gěi)， otherwise, only 还(hái) would be obtained。

Writing the new words is important, and this should be done not just once, but several times. Therefore, I find writing the chapter’s text to be very useful. While writing, I notice the differences between characters, as the text is designed to draw the attention to the differences between characters.  Not only do I write down the text, but I also type it down, which helps with knowing if the word is right or wrong. For example, 睡(shuì)眼(yǎn) to sleep， and 睡(shuì)眠(mián) to sleep seem to be similar in meaning, and in writing, but they are two different words.

When typing Chinese sentences, no space is added between words. With the word being 1 character, or a combination of two characters, or even 3 or 4 characters, prior knowledge of the meaning of the word means that the reading will improve reading skills, spelling out the words and having corresponding pauses.

Chinese idioms provide a concise way of conveying an idea. The following dictionary of Chinese idioms sorts idioms by pinyin. As per the idiom, 学(xué)无(wú)止(zhǐ)境(jìng) , indeed, there is no end to learning.

 

Check out my Other Blogs:

我的汉语学习方式—做完HSK四之后!  2023年2月13日

Learning Chinese: What kind of effort is needed to complete HSK4, and what is it like to study higher levels?    2023 年2月13日

What does the process of learning Mandarin Chinese look like? Some tips for new learners.”   2022 年1 月20 日

The Ongoing Process of Learning Chinese, HSK5.  2024 年1 月10日

Examples of Simplified Chinese. There is no end to learning 学无止境! 2024 年1 月22 日

Change is the only Constant Thing in the Process of Learning Chinese. 2024年 7 月19 日

Tips for Practicing Writing Chinese Characters. 2024年9月10日

What if… Higher Levels of HSK Chinese Tests could be Redesigned? 2024年4月2 日

Making up Stories using Chinese Characters. 看汉字写小故事！2024 年6月29 日

Lost Bag Story, Handwritten in Chinese; 2023 年3 月16 日