HSK 1 is the entry-level Chinese proficiency test — 150 words, 40 questions, 35 minutes. Practice the full HSK 1 vocabulary list through interactive typing drills.
Practice HSK 1 – Vocabulary & Reading (Typing Practice) on TypingMandarin — interactive Chinese typing exercises with instant feedback. Type pinyin, see characters appear, and build muscle memory through audio-driven drills. Browse all Chinese courses.
HSK 1 for beginners: graded reading, and audio typing drills for real-life phrases.
自我介绍
新朋友
你感觉怎么样
谢谢
今天是几号
约会
问价格
点饮料
问路
聊聊家里人
天气
学中文
聊聊工作
生病了怎么办
看电影
HSK 1 is the first level of the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) — the official Chinese proficiency test. Passing HSK 1 proves you can understand and use about 150 of the most common Chinese words in basic everyday situations. This course walks you through every HSK 1 vocabulary word with typing practice.
HSK 1 is the entry-level test in the HSK exam series, designed by China's Ministry of Education for non-native Chinese learners. To pass, you need to recognize 150 core vocabulary words and a small set of grammar patterns. The test is fully written in pinyin and characters together, so you do not need to read characters from scratch.
The official word list covers daily essentials — pronouns, family members, numbers 1–10, days of the week, basic verbs like 是 (shì, to be) and 有 (yǒu, to have), and common nouns. A sample of the highest-frequency entries:
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 我 | wǒ | I / me |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 是 | shì | to be |
| 不 | bù | no / not |
| 在 | zài | at / in / on |
| 有 | yǒu | to have |
| 人 | rén | person |
| 吃 | chī | to eat |
| 喝 | hē | to drink |
| 一 | yī | one |
The single biggest mistake candidates make is studying the vocabulary list in isolation, then freezing when they hear the same word in a full sentence. Active practice — typing the word from audio, recognizing it in context, then using it in a short reply — is what locks the vocabulary into long-term memory.
You need 150 vocabulary words. The full list is published by Hanban (China's Ministry of Education) and covers everyday essentials like pronouns, numbers, family, food, and basic verbs.
Most beginners with no prior Chinese pass in 4–6 weeks of focused study (about 30 minutes a day). With daily typing and listening practice, some learners get there in as little as 3 weeks.
No. The exam has only listening and reading sections — no handwriting required. Every test item shows characters with pinyin above them, so recognizing characters is optional. You only need to understand what you hear and read.
You need 120 out of 200 points (60%) total. Each of the two sections (listening and reading) is worth 100 points.