Free · From the official HSK word list
How long will Chinese take you?
Your month for each HSK level, and today’s first words.
From zero, at 5 new words a day
HSK 2 by February 2027
500 new words: about 3 months.
- HSK 1December 202653% of a typical Chinese film’s words
- HSK 2February 202765% of a typical Chinese film’s words
Start today: your first 5 HSK 1 words
The most common words of HSK 1, each with its sound. Keep them, and Review brings each one back until you know it.
Now read at your level
How long does it take to learn Chinese?
The US Foreign Service Institute plans about 2,200 class hours for an English speaker to reach working level. Counted by words, the HSK list asks for 2,000 by HSK 4: about 7 months at ten new words a day, and 3 months at twenty.
How is my date worked out?
From the words on the official HSK list (2025 syllabus) between your level and your goal, at your new words a day, counted from today. Each word is one you keep and review until you know it. It is the time the words take; hearing them at speed and reading them in sentences take more, so treat each date as the soonest it can be.
How many new words a day should I learn?
As many as you can keep up every day. Each new word comes back in Review several times over the weeks after, so the reviews grow with your pace: five is a steady pace beside work or school, twenty a full-time one.
Can you learn Chinese in 6 months?
Six months is 1,820 words at 10 a day, past HSK 3, or 3,640 words at 20 a day, past HSK 5. That is enough to read graded stories and hold everyday conversations, not to work in Chinese.
More for the way there
Counted from the official HSK word list (2025 syllabus) and the subtitles of 117 Mandarin films. A date is the time the words take at your pace, so it moves when your pace does.