Lessons learnt from HSK3/HSKK exams

In March, I took the HSK 3 and HSKK Primary exams (and passed both of them 🎉). Nevertheless, I want to use this opportunity and note down some lessons learnt from participating in these tests.

This is not going to be about what and how to learn, but more some personal insight into my experience of taking these exams in March 2025. For most readers, the section about the HSKK exam likely is more interesting, since this test has fewer resources online about the actual conditions during the exam.

TL;DR

• 📝 Prepare and check the registration data
• 📝 “Cursive” handwriting will not affect your grading negatively (if it is readable)
• 🎙️ Keep your spoken answers simple
• 🎙️ Listen carefully to the HSKK section 1+2 audio, because it won’t be repeated
• 🎙️ Prepare the answers for HSKK section 3 in your own language
• 🎙️ You can expect to hear others speaking as you simultaneously answer questions during the exam

📝 HSK3: before the exam

Not that interesting, this just documents my own stupidity. Click to expand...

Double-check your data when registering!

To participate in the exam, I had to register an account on the official platform several years ago. Unfortunately, since then, my passport has been renewed and I forgot to update my passport number. I was allowed to participate, because I coincidentally still was in possession of the old passport to prove my identity, but it felt like a close call.

Prepare your age in number of years

All participants must enter some personal information, in particular their age in number of years, on the test form. As if the previous issue was not enough—the next one is a bit embarrassing to admit. I had already turned off my phone and was super-nervous—so I had to ask one of the supervisors to google that for me. I simply was unable to tell them this data with certainty and feared giving wrong information could lead to negative consequences. In hindsight, I believe this data point is for their statistics only.

📝 HSK3: during the exam (more interesting)

Cursive handwriting is allowed!

During the test, one question struck me—also, the supervisors were not able to answer this: How is the handwriting going to be evaluated? Is it mandatory to cleanly paint the 汉子(hànzǐ), like most beginners would, or is it acceptable to write them using cursive, like a native speaker/writer would? I decided to play it safe and ‘painted’ the characters instead of writing them. Very soon after that, I contacted the official organisers of the test via email (kaoshi@chinesetest.cn) and received a response, which I am going to cite to avoid misunderstandings:

If your writing doesn’t affect the expression of the content, and there are no clerical errors, it won’t affect your rating. — 考试 <kaoshi(at)chinesetest.cn>

🎙️ HSKK: during the exam

Keep it simple, stupid!

To be more specific: Do not prepare complex answers for the first three questions—they won’t be graded anyway. After preparing my overly complex answers for those introductory questions, I prepared the answer texts for the last two questions. When the exam suddenly started, I was startled and messed up my answer to the first introductory question about my name. If I had prepared a simple answer, I would not have made myself even more nervous than I already was:

What I wanted to say was

你好(nǐhǎo)， 我的名字是(wǒdemíngzishì) 马蒂亚斯(mǎdìyàsī)。 我的(wǒde) 朋友叫我(péngyǒujiàowǒ) 小吗(xiǎomǎ)。

What I should have said instead was

我叫(wǒjiào) 小吗(xiǎomǎ)。

Those three introductory questions were:

1. What is your name?
2. Where are you from?
3. What is your Candidate Number?

Section 1 and 2: You only get one shot…

The first two sections require you to listen to a short audio sequence (usually one or two short sentences). The task is to

1. exactly repeat what has been said (15 questions),
2. and then answer the question, which was asked in the audio (10 questions)

The fact that the audio will only be replayed one time caught me off-guard. You have to understand what was said the first time. The HSK 3 exam allows you to listen to the audio two times.

Section 3: Prepare text and speak

The last two questions are presented in both Hanzi and Pinyin. You have a few minutes to prepare your answers. It’s best to write down what you want to say in your own language; you can translate directly while saying your text. This way you can write a coherent answer in your native language. Writing the answer in chinese characters took me too much time. It feels strange if you have to come up with something quickly at the end.

Additionally, I recommend practicing beforehand how many sentences you can say in 1.5 minutes. From what I know, you have to fill the given time relatively well. I don’t know how hefty short answers are penalised, but I think they do want to hear a bit from you. Optionally, make the last few sentences something that won’t be missed if not said, just in case there isn’t enough time to say it.

🎙️ Other insights

• The device to which the headset is connected has a button to increase the audio output volume
• The headset is not very helpful for blocking out external noise
• You can hear other participants during the exam. Everyone speaks at the same time, and at the beginning, most people say the same or very similar things. Therefore, focus very much on yourself and ignore other noises and participants.
• Looking out the window me a lot while listening and speaking.