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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.
Shanghainese or Mandarin: what you need in Shanghai
Shanghainese is Wu, not a Beijing accent. In the office you hear Putonghua. At home, often 上海闲话. HSK does not measure Hu. Start Mandarin unless you have a Wu family.
SuperChinese and SuperTest vs Chinese Trainer if you are preparing for the HSK
Honest SuperChinese, SuperTest, and Chinese Trainer comparison for HSK prep: short lessons, item drills, and a daily queue, using public pages only and changeable prices.
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 today's Chinese study queue should contain
A short queue that ends: due reviews, few new words, one listening pass, one output line. Not the streak. What to cut on a short day.
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 Chinese Trainer uses a red panda
The icon is not a dragon or a giant panda. It is a red panda: a different species, still Endangered, and the one I saw in Chengdu beside China’s 国宝.
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.