Chinese Vocabulary (HSK 1-4)
This deck contains all the vocabulary for the HSK textbook series in order from HSK 1 to HSK 4. Each word comes with an example sentence and audio to help you build familiarity and recall words more easily. I created this deck in tandem with the Chinese Language Pathway on the Natural Language Journey. You can find out more on how to learn Chinese for free here.
For a full video tutorial on how to use this deck, click here.
Although I try my best to make sure there are no mistakes or strange sentences, sometimes things slip through. If you notice any mistakes, please feel free to contact me via the contact form on naturallanguagejourney.com
HOW TO USE
Anki flashcards should be studied alongside the main lesson since vocabulary is best picked up over time with repetition. You can find the HSK flashcards by clicking on “Anki decks.” You’ll want to download the deck labeled Chinese Vocabulary (HSK 1-4). This deck only goes up to HSK 4, because I don’t recommend going above HSK 4 with a textbook. After HSK 4, I would instead encourage you to seek out more native resources. When you open the deck in Anki, it will look like the image below. You will likely need to adjust the number of new cards and reviews you see every day to match your study schedule and lifestyle. Go into the deck “options” and set the number of new words to what feels like a good amount for you. You may need to adjust it a few times as you get used to studying vocabulary.
There are two different card types you will be presented with. The first card type is a recognition card. This card will ask you to recognize the word and remember its meaning and pronunciation. Type the hanzi into the box, reinforce your typing skills, and your ability to recall hanzi. If you would prefer to write it on a piece of paper, that also works!
I also recommend reading the word and sentence out loud to the best of your ability. Luckily, Anki has built-in voice recording! Go to the “More” tab in the bottom right corner and select “Record own Voice” if you are on a desktop computer. On mobile, click on the three dots in the upper right corner, then select “Enable voice playback.”
The back side of the card will give you the hanzi, the pinyin, and the English definition. Grade yourself on how well you were able to recall the meaning of the Chinese word. Remember, if you don’t know the tones, you don’t know the word! Don’t mark a word as good unless you can recall the pronunciation and tones!
If you look at the bottom of the backside of the card, you will also see the stroke order for the hanzi and which HSK lesson this vocabulary word came from. Don’t worry about writing each word by hand, unless that’s something you would like to do. As a foreigner, you're not going to be writing by hand very often, so much more important to build your typing skills. I personally don’t like writing by hand, but for some people, it’s their favorite part of learning Chinese.
The second type of card is a recall card. You will be prompted with an example sentence with the vocabulary word removed and the English translation. Your goal is to type the correct hanzi in the given space. If you’re struggling to understand the sentence, you can click on “English Sentence” to see the translation, however, I would avoid this unless you need it.
On the back, you will see the pinyin reading, hear the audio, and see the key vocabulary word. Grade yourself on how well you were able to recall the vocabulary word.
Hopefully, you enjoy this deck and find it to be a useful tool!
For a detailed guide on how to use Anki and the HSK series to learn Chinese, click here.