The Level 3 HSK exam involves reading, writing, and listening. Pinyin does not accompany every character. Students may take the online or handwritten test, depending on their preference. Prior to getting ready for the Level 3 HSK exam, you need to know the rules and test format.
Students who pass the test are able to use Chinese in their daily professional and academic lives. They can communicate about many matters in Chinese while travelling in China, and have memorized 600 Chinese characters in addition to understanding the grammar in the Level 3 HSK exam.
Content and Duration of Level 3 HSK
HSK (Level III) test is made up of listening comprehension, reading comprehension and writing sections and contains 80 items.
The test will last for 90 minutes in total (including 5 minutes in which the test takers fill in personal information).
Test Structure for HSK (Level III)
1. Listening
Part I contains 10 items. Test takers will listen to each item twice. Each item is a
dialogue. Several pictures are given on the test paper and test takers should select the one corresponding with what he/she has heard.
Part II contains 10 items. Test takers will listen to each item twice. For each item, one person says a short paragraph and the other person says a sentence based on the paragraph. The sentence is also given on the test paper and test takers should judge if its content is right or wrong.
Part III contains 10 items. Test takers will listen to each item twice. For each item, two persons make a dialogue of two sentences, and another person will raise a question based on the dialogue. 3 options are given on the test paper and test takers should select the right answer based on what he/she has heard.
Part IV contains 10 items. Test takers will listen to each item twice. For each item, two persons make a dialogue of 4 to 5 sentences and another person will raise a question based on the dialogue. 3 options are given on the test paper and test takers should select the right answer based on what he/she has heard.
2. Reading
Part I contains 10 items. 20 sentences are given and test takers should find out the
matchup relationship.
Part II contains 10 items. For each item, one or two sentences are given with one blank, and test takers should select the best choice from the options offered to make the sentence(s) complete.
Part III contains 10 items. 10 short passages are given, with each containing one
question, and test takers should select the right answer from 3 options.
3. Writing
Part I contains 5 items. For each item, several Chinese words are given and test takers is required to write a sentence with these words.
Part II contains 5 items. For each item, a sentence with one blank is given and test
takers is required to fill in the blank with the right Chinese characters.
Test Score Reports
Test score report includes listening, reading, writing and total scores. A score of 180 or more represents a pass.
HSK scores used for applications to Chinese Institutions of higher learning are valid for 2 years from the test date. Longer periods of validity may be recognized in other contexts.
6 Tips for Studying for the Level 3 HSK Exam
1、 Vocabulary and grammar
At level 3, there are a few conjunctions that can alter the meaning of a sentence such as虽然（suīrán,even though）,但是(dànshì,but), 终于（zhōng yú,finally）etc. So I suggest you learn those timely so that they may sink in. Since the new HSK follows the principle of “test-teaching correlation”, The grammar of HSK3 is based on the teaching materials you’ve learnt previously. During your preparation, you must keep building up you vocabulary and practicing the grammar by doing mock tests.
2. The Listening Portion.
After the listening portion of the exam, you will have five minutes to complete your answer sheet. There will not be any time after the reading section, so be sure to answer each question in the reading section as you go. (Focus on the proctor’s instructions. If you are confused or are having difficulty hearing the proctor, raise your hand to request assistance.)
3. The Reading Portion.
In addition to being lengthy, the reading portion does not include Pinyin. You should definitely practice studying Chinese without relying on Pinyin, especially if you normally use Pinyin a lot or have difficulty reading and writing Chinese characters. While getting ready to take the Level 3 HSK exam, you can use mock papers to increase your reading comprehension. Additionally, you can use some study materials specifically designed to help you read faster; for example, Chinese Breeze books will aid you in developing your Chinese reading skills.
4. The Writing Portion
In the first section of the writing portion, there is an exercise with the instructions “Put these parts of speech into the correct sentence order,” so ensure that you know where to put that time phrase. If you are uncertain about word order and time phrases, it’s best to study them for five or ten minutes daily until you take the exam; that way, you can gradually allow the word order to become a natural part of your use of Chinese. In the second section of the writing portion, you must write the missing character in the sentence; there are a total of five sentences. The missing character is given in Pinyin.
5、Do more official mock Papers
Practice official mock and Previous Year Papers with a timer running. Mock papers are carefully designed keeping exam pattern in mind. Do as many exercises as you can, check your answers and find out why you made mistakes. Keep a chart of your improvement so you can see your progress, which will motivate you more. You can easily download the HSK3 mock papers from the internet, or buy the HSK3 book on Amazon.
And I strongly recommend you should do mock paper online at least once before real exam, which helps tremendously.
6、Take HSK3 Test Prep courses
In addition to practicing mock papers, you may also consider taking an HSK3 preparation course. The new HSK is closely related to textbooks but somehow different from textbooks, especially in listening part, you will hear several sentences which you seem literally understand, but still confused.
For example (HSK3 Listening part II):
(recording)开始的时候，世界上没有路，走的人多了，也就有了路。
★ 路是人走出来的。( ) (judge it true or false according to the recording)
Explaination : Here this recording reads as “Kāishǐ de shíhou, shìjiè shàng méiyǒu lù, zǒu de rén duōle, yě jiù yǒule lù.” Literal meaning is “There is no road at the beginning of the world, but later more and more people walked by, then road came into being”. So the answer is correct.
More examples: “祝你学习更上一层楼” Literally means “wish you go upstairs in
learning” . Potential meaning is “Wish you to learn and strive for further improvement”
）”; “太阳从西边出来” (Literally means” the sun rises from the West“, yet Potential meaning is” this is weird which never/seldom happen before“
In order to have an enhanced understanding of Chinese culture, you should seek out a native-speaking Chinese teacher.
Additionally, an exam prep course will aid you when you study for the Level 3 HSK exam. You will be able to practice the kind of tasks found in the exam, get honest feedback on the answers you gave for the practice questions, and increase your confidence in taking the exam.
Here are some HSK3 practice books you could find on Amazon: