HSKK guide · HSK 1–2
HSKK Beginner (初级): free mock test & guide
The entry-level spoken Chinese exam, aligned with HSK 1–2. It focuses on repeating short sentences and answering simple questions.
Take a free HSKK Beginner (初级) mock test →Full length · records your answers · instant AI report · 16 languages.
Exam structure & timing
| Part | Questions | Answer time |
|---|---|---|
| Listen and Repeat (听后重复) | 15 | 10 seconds each |
| Listen and Answer (听后回答) | 10 | 10 seconds each |
| Answer Questions (回答问题) | 2 | 1.5 minutes each |
Total time: ~20 minutes (incl. 7 min prep). Preparation: 7 minutes, shared for Part 3 (Part 1 has no prep time). Part 3 questions are shown with pinyin. Listening parts play only once.
How HSKK Beginner (初级) is scored
Officially, graders rate each task type as High / Mid / Low; the total is out of 100 and 60 is a pass. Unanswered questions score 0, and the official part weights are not published.
The pass mark is 60 out of 100 (at every level) — the same at every level.
Tips for HSKK Beginner (初级)
- Start speaking right after the beep. Your answers are recorded and graded. A long silence at the start can eat into your response and hurt your score — begin within a couple of seconds, then keep going.
- Listening plays only once. Listen-and-repeat, listen-and-answer and listen-and-retell each play a single time. Practise holding a whole sentence in memory rather than word-by-word.
- Use the shared prep time wisely. Beginner gives 7 minutes and Intermediate/Advanced give 10 minutes of preparation, shared across the later parts — plan your picture description and question answers before recording starts.
- Practise with a real timer. Answer windows are strict (e.g. 10 seconds per repeat sentence, 2 minutes to describe a picture). Rehearse against a timer so the pace feels natural on exam day.
Practise HSKK Beginner (初级) free
Sit a full-length HSKK Beginner (初级) mock exam on TalkHSK: it follows the official structure and timing above, records your spoken answers, and returns an instant AI diagnostic report on pronunciation, tones, fluency and completeness.
Start your free mock test →Other HSKK levels
HSKK Intermediate (中级)
HSK 3–4
The mid-level spoken Chinese exam, aligned with HSK 3–4. It adds describing a picture and giving longer answers on everyday topics.
HSKK Advanced (高级)
HSK 5–6
The top-level spoken Chinese exam, aligned with HSK 5–6. It tests retelling what you heard, reading aloud, and building a structured spoken argument.
TalkHSK is an independent practice tool. Scores are AI estimates for practice only and are not official HSKK results. Exam structure and timing follow the official HSKK format; always check the official exam site for the latest rules.