HSK Basic

Learn Chinese - Study tips for the Chinese HSK Basic test.

Before going into details about preparing for the HSK Basic test, first the student should have a clear understanding of the components in test, as well as the rationale behind the certification level that has been set for HSK Basic. Both will be described briefly below.

In HSK Basic, there are three basic units: Listening, Grammar and Reading.

In the Listening Unit, there are three different sections. Section I questions comprise of a short piece of recorded phrase, repeated once. After listening to the phrase, the students have to respond by selecting the picture that best depicts the phrase. Section II questions are in the form of a recorded question, also repeated once, and the student must select a reply that best answers the question posed in the audio recording. Section III questions consist of a dialogue between two people followed by a question based on the contents of the conversation. Unlike in the previous two sections, the contents for this section are not repeated.

In the Grammar Unit, there are two different sections. Section I questions comprise of four phrases containing the same words but with the characters in different order. The student must pick out the single grammatically correct phrase. In Section II, a character is left out of the sentence and the student must choose the most appropriate character that completes the sentence.

In the Reading Unit, there are again two sections to complete. Section I questions require the student to select the character(s) that best complete a passage describing a narrative or topic. In Section II, a short piece of text is provided, and the student is asked to select the most appropriate answer to a question relating to the content of the text.

Since the lowest grade awarded for the HSK Basic certification implies that the student should have a Chinese vocabulary of roughly 600 characters, it is recommended that anyone considering sitting for the test should be familiar with at least 900 characters if you want to be able to pass the Grammar and Reading Units of the exam comfortably. At this stage of your Chinese study, you are not expected to be able to converse fluently, and this is reflected in the weighting and contents of the test components. However, you will still need to be quite familiar with a range of daily expressions and phrases, since much of the content in the HSK Basic test (Listening, Grammar and Reading) derives from everyday topics and conversations. The most challenging or difficult part of the test is probably the Listening Unit. Since spoken Chinese is heavily reliant on the different intonation, accent and stress applied in the pronunciation, it is possible that some students will struggle with the different voices in the dialogues, particularly between the male and female voice over.

The test and certification level has been set to allow students who achieve a grading of A in HSK Basic (equivalent to a grading of C in HSK Elementary-Intermediate) to qualify for study in Bachelor’s Degree for Science, Engineering, Agriculture, and West Medicine in Chinese universities. These degrees require a solid level of reading comprehension as well as basic writing skills, hence the HSK Basic test has been structured so that it is possible to achieve a grading of A even if you are not particularly strong in with the listening and spoken aspects of the Chinese language. Therefore, it is a good strategy to place more emphasis on the Grammar and Reading Units of the test, since you are allocated more time in these sections. Nonetheless, if you intend to progress further in your Chinese study, it is critical to improve your listening and speaking skills through a lot of practice. Reading and grammar skills can be acquired through self-study, but the best way to improve on your listening skills is to engage in conversation with a native speaker on a regularly basis.