New HSK (3.0) · study plan
HSK 3 in 20 weeks
HSK 3 is the big step of the early levels. The word list doubles from 500 to 1,000, pinyin disappears from the paper, the writing section asks for your own sentences, and there is a separate speaking test.
Twenty weeks gives you fourteen weeks for the new words and grammar, time to get used to reading without pinyin, and a few weeks to prepare for the speaking test.
- Start from
- HSK 2 comfortable, including reading without looking at pinyin most of the time.
- Time
- about an hour, 6 days a week (about 120 hours in total)
- New words
- 500 (1,000 in total up to HSK 3), about 36 a week
- Grammar points
- 26, one or two a week
Weeks 1–2
Reading without pinyin
Make HSK 1–2 automatic in characters.
- Reread the HSK 1–2 stories with pinyin switched off. Time yourself.
- Do vocabulary quiz rounds at HSK 1 and 2 in “Chinese → English” mode until you score 90%.
- Take the HSK 2 practice test in exam mode as a baseline.
Weeks 3–16
New words and grammar
The 500 new HSK 3 words and the HSK 3 grammar points.
- Learn the week’s new words. Use the listening quiz to check them by sound.
- Study the week’s grammar points, do each quiz, and write two sentences of your own for each.
- Read one HSK 3 story a week and listen to it twice.
- From week 8: write five sentences a week with given words, as in the writing section.
- From week 12: answer one speaking question a week out loud and record it.
| Week | New words | Grammar points |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 36 | 把 |
| 4 | 36 | 被 · 越来越 / 越…越… |
| 5 | 36 | 只要…就… · 只有…才… |
| 6 | 36 | 如果…就… / …的话 · 不但…而且… |
| 7 | 36 | 除了…以外 · 一边…一边… |
| 8 | 36 | 又…又… · 先…再 / 然后… |
| 9 | 36 | 为了 · 得 / 不 (可能补语) |
| 10 | 36 | 到 / 住 / 走 / 上 |
| 11 | 36 | 起来 / 下去 / 出来 · 才 / 就 |
| 12 | 36 | 又 / 再 · 跟…一样 |
| 13 | 36 | 极了 / 得很 · 什么都 / 谁都 / 哪儿都 |
| 14 | 36 | 一点儿也不 / 一…也没 · 应该 / 得 / 必须 |
| 15 | 36 | 好像 / 看起来 · 或者 |
| 16 | 32 | 不是…吗 · 存现句 |
Weeks 17–18
Practice test and speaking
All four sections under test conditions.
- Take the HSK 3 practice test in practice mode, including the speaking part.
- Play back your speaking answers. Are they at least four or five sentences, with a reason or an example?
- Clear your mistake list.
Weeks 19–20
Test weeks
Timing and review.
- Take the practice test again in exam mode, in one sitting.
- Re-read the grammar points you missed in the test.
- Prepare for test day, including the separate speaking test time if it is on another day.
What you will use
- HSK 3 word list: mark words as known as you go, and export to Anki if you use it.
- Vocabulary quiz for the week’s words, in reading and listening modes.
- HSK 3 grammar points, each with examples, audio and a quiz.
- HSK 3 stories (4) with audio and questions.
- Writing practice with sample answers.
- HSK 3 practice test in the new format, and your mistake list.
- The HSK 3 guide for the test format, topics and timings.
If you fall behind
- Keep reading without pinyin even if you fall behind on words. It is the skill most HSK 3 candidates underestimate.
- If speaking practice keeps getting skipped, do it on your commute: answer one question aloud in your head, then out loud at home.
- Two extra review weeks in the middle are fine. The plan works at 24 weeks too.