Featured articles
A 20-minute daily Chinese study routine
A 20-minute session: 8 of SRS, 5 listening, 5 speaking or writing, 2 tones. What to cut at 10 minutes, and why 30 days is not enough.
A streak is not progress
A streak and XP are not Chinese progress. Track active words, first-pass listening, and three recorded lines. Sign in and use a paper checklist.
Anki for Chinese: when it stalls
Anki for Chinese works if you like building the system. It stalls on listening, tones, output, and what to study today. Keep the deck.
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Chinese Trainer on Android: the commute habit
The Android app is on Google Play: same account as the web, today’s SRS deck on the commute, and HSK 1–2 free. What the phone does — and does not cut.
Chinese with a full-time job
Learn Chinese with a full-time job: 20 minutes, a 10-minute floor, shifts, parents, commute audio. Saturday repairs. HSK 1 fits; fluency does not.
Does Duolingo work for the HSK?
Duolingo builds habit and recognition. It does not match the six-level HSK paper or mock the exam. When to stay, when to leave, and a bridge to HSK 1.
Does HelloChinese cover the HSK?
HelloChinese teaches tones and characters. It is not the six-level HSK paper or a mock. When to stay, when to add a syllabus, and a bridge to HSK 1.
Free vs paid Chinese apps
What a free Chinese app should include (HSK 1–2, daily caps) versus what AI and €5/month actually buy, without cancellation tricks.
How beginners should read Chinese
Read Chinese at HSK 1 with graded readers, not a newspaper. First pass without a dictionary binge, three unknowns max, then listen to the same text.
How to memorize Chinese characters
Five hanzi a day, radicals, stroke order, and a sentence. HSK 1 already uses characters in reading. Heisig is not the exam. No calligraphy.
How to speak Chinese alone
Speak Chinese without a partner: useful shadowing, a 30-second Monday/Friday recording, and tone 2 vs 3. Why exchange fails in month one.
HSK 1 in 8 weeks: a real plan
How long does HSK 1 take? An 8-week study plan: ~150 words, listening, two mocks. Not fluency. 20 minutes a day, not a crash course.
HSK 2 vocabulary in 12 weeks
How much HSK 2 vocabulary fits in 12 weeks: about 150 new words on top of HSK 1, 2 to 3 a day across 60 sessions, plus listening. Not a guaranteed pass.
Official HSK links for 2026
HSK 2026: register on chinesetest.cn. CLEC and chinese.cn. Six-level paper vs 2021 nine-band. This site is not the test center.
Pleco is not a Chinese course
Pleco is a dictionary, not a Chinese course. OCR and flashcards exist; they are not an HSK syllabus. Look up in Pleco; today's plan lives elsewhere.
The HSK 3 vocabulary jump
HSK 2 is about 300 cumulative words; HSK 3 is about 600. Cap new cards at 3 to 5 a day, write without pinyin, and open the list only if listening holds.
Tones Spanish speakers miss
Spanish has stress, not lexical tone. Drill mā má mǎ mà (妈麻马骂), tone 2 vs 3, 买/卖 at the shop, and flattened tone 3. Record the miss.
Traditional or simplified first?
Start with simplified if your goal is six-level HSK. Traditional if you live in Taiwan or Hong Kong. Do not mix decks in month one.
Typical HSK 1 exam mistakes
Typical HSK 1 exam mistakes in listening and reading: 四/十, 买/卖, pinyin as a crutch, two mocks. The fear is the paper, not talent.
What HSK level is conversational?
HSK 4 is the first level that sounds like conversation. HSK 6 is not fluency. Official counts, honest timelines, and what to study if you want to speak.
What’s inside Chinese Trainer
Honest tour of Chinese Trainer: HSK path, SRS flashcards, readings, AI tutor, and plans. What is inside, who it is for, and what it does not promise.
Why Chinese Trainer exists
Chinese Trainer exists because streak apps leave gaps in HSK, memory, and real use. Here is the method, who it is for, and who should skip it.
Why pinyin-first slows you
Pinyin is a training wheel, not a house. Classic HSK 1-2 print hanzi with pinyin. From HSK 3 the crutch ends. When to use it.
Why you forget Chinese words
The forgetting curve flattens HSK 1 pairs like 四 and 十. What SRS is, why Anki still needs deck work, and how a 15-minute queue holds.