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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.