What to do after Duolingo Chinese

You know more than you think, and less than the web needs. Read stories at your level until real Chinese stops being a wall.

By Mandarin The WildUpdated 21 October 20263 min read

We make Mandarin The Wild.

Where Duolingo leaves you

When Duolingo launched Chinese, it said the course covers all the words and grammar needed for HSK levels 1 to 3, and about half of level 4.¹ On the 2025 syllabus, HSK 1 to 3 is about 1,000 words.²

That is a real start, and the hardest part, the sounds and the first characters, is behind you. But a course teaches words one at a time in short exercises. Reading asks you to meet them in long stretches of text, again and again.

学完了，下一步做什么？

xià yí bù: “I’ve finished. What do I do next?”

下xià一yí步bù

Adverb

next step

Why real Chinese still feels like a wall

We counted the words on ordinary Chinese web pages.³ The HSK 1–3 words, and words made of them, are about 48% of the words there. So on a typical page, about every second word is one you haven’t learned.

Readers follow a text on their own when they know about 98% of its words, and struggle well below 95%.⁴ At 48%, a web page is a puzzle, not reading. That is why so many learners stall right after an app: the next step is too big.

What you can read right now

Text written for your level closes the gap. We counted every graded story and article in our Library, with the words a Duolingo finisher knows (HSK 1–3, and words made of them; names left out).

Reading level	Readings	Words you know, typical reading	Readings you know 95% of	Readings you know 98% of
HSK 1	44	98%	36	21
HSK 2	70	98%	63	39
HSK 3	91	92%	21	7
HSK 4	52	87%	0	0
HSK 5	68	80%	0	0

So 120 readings are already above 95% for you, and 67 are above 98%: you can read them for the story, not the dictionary. HSK 3 readings are the next step: most sit at 90–95%, where one tap for each new word keeps you reading. HSK 4 and up wait until those feel easy.

Good first reads at HSK 3, each 96% or more known after Duolingo:

牛肉面在哪儿？ (How to order takeaway in Chinese)
奶奶的字 (Grandma’s shopping list)
地铁里的阿姨 (How to take the subway in China)
墙上的照片 (The photo on the wall)
学用筷子 (Learning to use chopsticks)
“996”是什么意思？ (What does 996 mean in China?)

A plan for the next three months

Weeks 1–4: HSK 2 and 3 stories, every day. Read one a day in the Library, and listen to it in both voices. Tap any word you don’t know and keep the ones that come back.
Keep your streak, move it to Review. The words you keep come back in Review, by sight and by sound, in the sentence you found them in. Ten minutes a day is enough.
Weeks 5–8: HSK 3 every day, HSK 4 once a week. When an HSK 3 story needs fewer than five taps, try a level up.
Weeks 9–12: real Chinese you like. A YouTube channel with Chinese captions, a show, a blog. With the extension, point at any word on the page or in the captions for its meaning in that sentence.
Check your level now and then. The level test tells you where you are in a few minutes, and How hard is this text? tells you whether a page is ready for you.

How we counted

A Duolingo finisher is taken to know the 2025 syllabus’s HSK 1–3 words; a word off the list counts as known when it splits into known words (一个, 回家). Web shares are our engine’s counts over the Mandarin part of FineWeb-2.³ Library shares cover every reading with an HSK level on 2026-10-21, cut into words as our reader shows it, with names, numbers and Latin letters left out.

Questions

What level is Duolingo Chinese?

At launch, Duolingo said its Chinese course covers the words and grammar of HSK 1 to 3 and about half of HSK 4. On the 2025 syllabus, HSK 1 to 3 is about 1,000 words.

What should I do after finishing Duolingo Chinese?

Read graded stories at HSK 2 and 3 every day, listen to them, and review the words you keep. A Duolingo finisher knows 95% or more of 120 of the 354 graded readings in our Library, but only about 48% of the words on a typical Chinese web page.

Can I read Chinese after Duolingo?

Simple graded stories, yes: most HSK 1 and 2 stories are 98% words you know. Real web pages, not yet: you know about half their words.

Is Mandarin The Wild free?

The Library, its recordings, tapping words and Review are free. A free account keeps your words.

Sources

Checked on 21 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.