HSK study planner: I have N weeks — what do I study?

How the plan is built

The words are the HSK lists this site publishes on the HSK pages, every word above your current level up to your target, one level at a time and commonest first within each level. They are spread evenly over your study weeks, so a week can straddle two levels — that is why some weeks carry two level tags. The grammar points come from the grammar library and the stories from the graded readers, each at the level it was written for, spread over the same weeks so that you meet a pattern around the time you meet the words it uses.

A plan of four weeks or more ends on a review week with no new words: re-read the lists, clear your review deck, sit a mock test. Shorter plans have no room for one and are all new material.

The pace check counts new words per study day. Up to a handful a day leaves time to review, around fifteen is a focused hour, and past about twenty-five the words arrive faster than they can be remembered. When a plan is past that point the page says so and tells you how many weeks it would take at a steady pace, rather than printing a schedule that looks fine and cannot be followed.

Questions people ask

How long does it take to pass HSK 3?

From zero it is every word of HSK 1, 2 and 3. Set the planner to “Zero” and “HSK 3” and move the weeks slider until the pace reads steady — that is your answer at the number of days a week you can really study.

Is learning the word list enough to pass?

No. The list is the vocabulary the exam draws on, and the plan adds grammar and reading for that reason, but listening is half of every HSK paper. Put the words into sentences with the sentence bank and play the audio as you go.

Does the planner save my plan?

Nothing is sent anywhere but this page. The weeks you tick off are remembered in your own browser only, for the plan you ticked them on. Print the plan if you want it on paper.