HSK (Level III)
The HSK (Level III) assesses test takers’ abilities in the application of everyday Chinese. It is the counterpart of the Level III of the Chinese Language Proficiency Scales for Speakers of Other Languages and the B1 Level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEF). Test takers who are able to pass the HSK (Level III) can communicate in Chinese at a basic level in their daily, academic and professional lives. They can manage most communication in Chinese when traveling in China.
1、Test Target
The HSK (Level III) is intended for students who have studied Chinese for three semesters (one and a half academic years), with 2-3 class hours in each week. These students have mastered 600 commonly used words and related grammar patterns.
2、Test Content
The HSK (Level III) test is made up of listening comprehension, reading comprehension and writing sections and contains a total of 80 items.
| Section | Number of Items | Duration (Min) | ||
| Listening | Part One | 10 | 40 | About35 |
| Part Two | 10 | |||
| Part Three | 10 | |||
| Part Four | 10 | |||
| Reading | Part One | 10 | 30 | 25 |
| Part Two | 10 | |||
| Part Three | 10 | |||
| Writing | Part One | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Part Two | 5 | |||
| Filling out the answer sheet | 10 | |||
| Total | / | 80 | About 85 | |
The HSK (Level III) test will last for 90 minutes in total (including 5 minutes in which the test takers fill in personal information).
- Listening
- There are 10 items in Part One. The recording of each item will be played twice. For each item, a dialogue and several pictures will be provided. The test takers should select corresponding pictures based on what they hear.
- There are 10 items in Part Two. The recording of each item will be played twice. For each item, a short passage will be read out, followed by an assertion, which also appears on the paper. The test takers should decide whether the assertion made is true or false.
The first two parts with increasing difficulty assess students’ proficiency of pronunciation and semantics. The listening material of HSK (level III) is obviously longer than the primary level and the material are mainly dialogues and paragraphs. The overall ability of language comprehension is required for the test takers who should be able to understand and settle more Chinese characters in the limited time. Therefore, the related training should pay emphasis on the reading ability of long paragraphs and communication of long dialogues.
- There are 10 items in Part Three. The recording of each item will be played twice. Each item consists of a dialogue between two persons. A third person will then ask a question about the dialogue. There will be three possible answers on the test paper, from which the test takers can select the best answer based on what they hear.
- There are 10 items in Part Four. The recording of each item will be played twice. Each item consists of a four-to-five-sentence dialogue between two persons. A third person will then ask a question based on the dialogue. There will be three possible answers on the test paper, from which the test takers can choose best answer based on what they hear.
Part Three and Part Four mainly assess students’ knowledge about pragmatics of Chinese language. Based on the knowledge pronunciation and semantics, the test takers are required to know the collocation of words in long paragraphs. At the same time, the situations of dialogue are designed more variously which is not limited to the basic daily context. The dialogues can refer to various aspects of life. Thus, the teacher should be more flexible on the choice of context.
- Reading
- There are 10 items in Part One. In this section, 20 sentences will be provided and the test takers will be asked to correlate them.
- There are 10 items in Part Two. For each item, one or two sentences will be provided, in which one word/phrase is missing. The test takers should choose one of the suggested words/phrases to fill in the blank.
The first two reading sections are still pay emphasis on the master of Chinese grammar, but the test takers should have a command of more grammar knowledge with the larger number of items in the test. Thus, the teacher should notice students’ improvement, consolidation and increase of grammar knowledge.
- There are 10 items in Part Three. This part consists of 10 short passages, each followed by a question. The test takers should choose the best answer from the 3 choices provided.
This section focuses on pragmatics. The difficulty of the test increases with the longer length of material, from dialogues to paragraphs. Thus, the test takers answer the questions based on the comprehension of paragraphs, which require the student with higher ability of comprehension, judgment and communication. The teacher should help the student enhance comprehension of long paragraphs instead of merely dialogues.
- Writing
- There are 5 items in Part One. Each item lists several words. The test takers should construct a sentence using the words provided.
- There are 5 items in Part Two. Each item provides a sentence with several blanks. The test takers should fill in the blanks with the appropriate characters.
The HSK (Level III) assesses students’ writing of Chinese characters for the first time, which refers to both the accuracy of characters’ writing and the application of Chinese grammar. The test takers should know how to write the characters and how to use them in sentences accurately. Therefore, it is still vital to enhance students’ grammar.
3、Results Certificate
For the HSK (Level III), four results will be provided including listening, reading, writing and the total. The test takers must score at least 180 points to be considered passing.
| Max Score | Your Score | |
| Listening | 100 | |
| Reading | 100 | |
| Writing | 100 | |
| Total | 300 |
Summary:
The higher degree of difficulty in HSK (Level III) is shown on pronunciation, grammar, semantics and pragmatics. Noticeably, the new requirement for students is the writing of Chinese characters. Thus, during the training, the teacher should put emphasis on the identifying and writing of Chinese characters. Since the test takers of HSK (Level III) normally have relatively good knowledge of basic Chinese communication, they should be encouraged to write more Chinese characters along with more practical application.