HSK1 Exam Tips and Advice on Listening Section

Hey friends, how is your Chinese learning going? Are you preparing the HSK exams?

Are you having any issues in answering HSK exercises? Or are you wondering how to improve your HSK test taking skills?

When you are listening to HSK exercises, are you always unable to capture key points or complaining about lack of appropriate skills?

Don’t worry we at Hello HSK are going to give you some tips and advice in working though the HSK exercises from Level 1 to 6 along with some useful common phrases.

So let’s first start with some tips in HSK1 listening part.

HSK 1 listening part- True or false questions based on given phrases.

In HSK1-Listening part, there are four sections. The first section is a True or False questionnaire based on five recordings,. Usually the recordings are some phrases, for example, “打电话”, “下雨了” and “她的猫” etc. To handle with these items, you will be required to:

• Be familiar with the vocabulary of HSK-1, and be able to understand these phrases and match them with the pictures. The phrase containing a consistent meaning with the picture is the right answer, while the inconsistent ones are wrong.
• You should firstly observe the pictures and get a general understanding of them in their mind. You then should listen to the recordings and choose true or false based on the contents of the pictures.

Related common phrases:

1. mā mɑ hé nǚ ér
妈 妈 和 女 儿 (mother and daughter)

2. dǎ diàn huà
打 电 话 (make a telephone call)
3. zuò chū zū chē
坐 出 租 车 ( take a taxi)
4. chī mǐ fàn
吃 米 饭 ( eat rice)
5. xià yǔ le
下 雨 了 ( it is raining)
6. mǎi dōnɡ xi
买 东 西 ( buy something)
7. zài yī yuàn
在 医 院 ( in the hospital)
8. hē chá
喝 茶 ( have a cup of tea)
9. xiě zì
写 字 ( writing)
10. shí kuài qián
十 块 钱 ( ten yuan)
11. wǔ běn shū
五 本 书 ( five books)
12. tài rè le
太 热 了 ( too hot)
13. kàn diàn yǐnɡ
看 电 影 ( watch a movie)
14. dú shū
读 书 ( read a book)
15. wǔ diǎn línɡ sì fēn
五 点 零 四 分 ( four past five)

Second section in HSK 1 listening-Choose right pictures based on given sentences.

The second section of HSK-1 Listening is choosing the correct one from three pictures based on the five recordings,. The contents of the listening are mostly sentences, for example, “我喜欢这个电脑”, “这个杯子太漂亮了!”,”爸爸在工作” and etc. To handle with these items, you need to:

• Firstly you should observe the pictures and identify the contents in the pictures. If the content of the pictures are articles, pay attention listening to the recordings which the articles are involved and then choose the right answer,
• If there are some characters in the picture, the examinees should take note of their behaviors and facial expressions. By knowing what they are doing or whether they are happy or not and inferring the relationships between them.

Related key words:

1.pénɡ you
朋 友 (friend)

2.mínɡ zi
名 字 (name)
3.fēi jī
飞 机 (airplane)
4.xué shēnɡ
学 生 (student)
5.chī
吃 (eat)
6.mǎi
买 (buy)
7.māo
猫 (cat)
8.chá
茶 (tea)
9.xiě
写 (write)
10.hàn yǔ
汉 语 (Chinese)
11.shū
书 (book)
12.lěnɡ
冷 (cold)
13.diàn yǐnɡ
电 影 (movie)
14.dú
读 (read)
15.yī yuàn
医 院 (hospital)

Related common phrases:

1.bà bɑ hé mā mɑ
爸 爸 和 妈 妈 (father and mother)

2.qù huǒ chē zhàn
去 火 车 站 (go to the train station)
3.hěn piào liɑnɡ
很 漂 亮 (very beautiful)
4. hē bēi chá
喝 杯 茶 (drink a cup of tea)
5.bú kè qi
不 客 气 ( you’re welcome)
6.kàn diàn yǐnɡ
看 电 影 ( watch a movie)
7.bú rèn shi
不 认 识 ( do not know somebody)
8.bù xiǎnɡ shuō huà
不 想 说 话 ( do not want to talk)
9.zài chē li
在 车 里 ( in the car)
10.xià le hěn dà de yǔ
下 了 很 大 的 雨 (rain heavily)
11.zài fàn ɡuǎn chī fàn
在 饭 馆 吃 饭 ( eat in a resturant)
12.tài duō le
太 多 了 ( too many)
13.mǎi shuǐ ɡuǒ
买 水 果 ( buy some fruit )
14.dǎ diàn huà
打 电 话 ( make a telephone call)
15. 5 suì le
5 岁 了 ( five years old)

Third section in HSK 1 listening-Choose the right pictures based on given dialogues.

Before the third section HSK-1 Listening begins, you should carefully observe the five pictures on the paper and infer the possible questions: Who? Where? What?

• If the question is about “谁”, the answer may be occupation, family members and or animals.
• If the question is asking about “在哪里”, then the answers can be in the hospital, school, shop, restaurant or at home.
• If the question is about “做什么”, the answers can be eating, sleeping, drinking and shopping etc. Also, the main point of a picture may be about “天气”, for example, a sun is drawn in the picture, or the persons involved are wiping sweat, wearing a scarf or holding an umbrella and so on.
• While listening to the dialogues of the third part, you can write down the key words, for instance, “米饭”, “买东西”, “电脑” and so on. Then you should associate them with the pictures to choose the right answer.

Related key words:

1.nǐ hǎo
你好（hello）

2.ɡāo xìnɡ
高兴 (happy)
3.bà bɑ
爸 爸 (father)
4.mā mɑ
妈 妈 (mother)
5.nǚ ér
女 儿 (daughter)
6.ér zi
儿 子 (son)
7.huǒ chē zhàn
火 车 站 (train station)
8.xiè xie
谢 谢 (thanks)
9.xué xí
学 习 (study)
10.fàn ɡuǎn
饭 馆 (resturant)
11.māo
猫 (cat)
12.ɡǒu
狗 (dog)
13.xǐ huɑn
喜 欢 (like)
14. bēi zi
杯 子 (cup)
15.shū
书 (book)
16.xià wǔ
下 午 (afternoon)

Related common phrases:

1.zěn me yànɡ
怎 么 样 （how do you like）

2.dǎ diàn huà
打 电 话 (make a telephone call)
3.shén me shí hou
什 么 时 候 (when)
4.hěn ɡāo xìnɡ
很 高 兴 (very happy)
5. kāi chū zū chē
开 出 租 车 (drive a taxi)
6.zuò fēi jī
坐 飞 机 (take a plane)
7.yóudiǎnr dà
有 点 儿 大 (a little big)
8. shuǐ ɡuǒ shānɡ diàn
水 果 商 店 (fruit shop)
9.duō shǎo qián
多 少 钱 (how much)
10.jǐ suì le
几 岁 了 (how old)
11.duō dà le
多 大 了 (how old)
12. 20 fēn zhōnɡ hòu
20 分 钟 后 (after 20 minutes)
13.jiào shén me mínɡ zi
叫 什 么 名 字 (what’s the name of)
14.kàn diàn nǎo
看 电 脑 (watch something on computer)
15.hěn hǎo chī
很 好 吃 (very delicious)

Fourth section in HSK 1 listening-Listen to the sentences, Choose the right answer to the questions.

During routine reviews, you should try your best to grasp the 150 vocabulary words of HSK-1, memorizing them based on some certain categories. For example, if there are certain options like “商店”, “医院”, “学校”, you may infer that this item could be asking about a place. Therefore when listening to the recordings, you should pay attention to the contents after the words like “去…”, “在…” and etc.

• You should take note of those introductory contents if the item contains options like “爸爸”, “同学”, and “朋友”,..
• You can focus your listening emphasis on “做什么” if the options contain action phrases like “学习”, “工作”, and “坐飞机”.
• Additionally, you should pay attention to the descriptions about “天气” if the options are description words such as “大雨”, “冷”, “热” and etc.
• Meanwhile, you should not only get familiar with those 150 vocabulary words, but also learn simple questions phrases. For instance, “多大了” is asking about age, and the answer usually will be “……岁”. “多少钱” is asking about price, and the answer shall be “……块”. The answer to “怎么去” can be “坐出租车”, “坐飞机”, and etc.
• The last thing to remember is that you should pay attention to the corresponding contacts between different time, persons and events. For example, “昨天上午我去学校的时候，妈妈和爸爸去看电影了”. In this sentence, you should know that, “我” is the subject of “去学校”, while “妈妈和爸爸” are the characters involved in “去看电影”.

Related key words:

1.shānɡ diàn
商 店 (shop)

2.yī yuàn
医 院 ( hospital)
3.yī shēnɡ
医 生 (doctor)
4.xué shēnɡ
学 生 (student)
5.yǐ zi
椅 子 (chair)
6.zhuō zi
桌 子 (table)
7.shuǐ ɡuǒ
水 果 (fruit)
8.pínɡ ɡuǒ
苹 果 (apple)
9.mǐ fàn
米 饭 (a bowl of rice)
10.duō
多 (more)
11.shǎo
少 (less)
12.shén me
什 么 (what)
13.ài
爱 (love)
14.hàn yǔ
汉 语 (Chinese)
15.shànɡ wǔ
上 午(morning)
16.zuó tiān
昨 天 (yesterday)

Related common phrases:

1.hǎo dà
好 大 (too big)

2.tài duō le
太 多 了 (too much)
3.hěn piào liɑnɡ
很 漂 亮 (very beautiful)
4.wǒ de pénɡ you
我 的 朋 友 (my friend)
5.māo hé ɡǒu
猫 和 狗 (cats and dogs)
6.bú kè qi
不 客 气 (you are welcome)
7.xià dà yǔ le
下大 雨 了 (it is raining heavily)
8.qù nǎ li
去 哪 里 (where to go)
9.mínɡ tiān xià wǔ
明 天 下 午 (tomorrow afternoon)
10.jīn tiān zhōnɡ wǔ
今 天 中 午 (this noon)
11.chī shén me
吃 什 么 (what to eat)
12.yì běn shū
一 本 书 (a book)
13.sān bēi chá
三 杯 茶 (three cups of tea)
14.wǔ ɡe pínɡ ɡuǒ
五 个 苹 果 (five apples)
15.qián xiáo jiě
钱 小 姐 (Miss Qian)

Here are the tips we’d like to give you concerning the HSK 1 Listening part. We hope that they are useful to you. By the way, don’t forget to memorize vocabulary words since they are essential in doing HSK exercises.

In next article, we will give some insight for HSK1 Reading part.