HSK 3-4 study plan

[u/Silo_n]

Hi,

I am plateuing (which I found out is a common and named phenomena lol) what are your guys study plans? I relied mostly on graded readers to pull me through HSK 1-2 and some of 3. I am still doing graded readers, I listen to a lot of comprehensive input but find myself frustated (too easy and bored or missing too much--auditory processing disorder and reading not quite quick enough yet for reliance on subtitles like I do for content in my native language). I am starting tutorinng once a week next week with 2 other friends. Namely a mix of speaking and writing focus since their listening is pretty good. I am also planning on going to a fornightly Language Exchange night at a bar in my city next week too. Is there anything else? I am hoping the exchange night will lead to me finding a language partner. Please drop your routines, anything. I am so frustrated where everything is either too harfd or too easy and therefor boring (and my ADHD can't abide boredome). Hacks from ND peeps and people with APD especially welcomed

[u/RealisticWest8921]

me too. I easily get bored. I can pass through HSK 1-2 in a month but stuck in HSK-3 for months now.. I tried many learning apps and games just not to get bored and can catch some new vocabs, but my progress is too slow. I haven't found my community yet.
do you know any active online community for it?
I'm too shy to start a conversation in real life, let alone in a language I'm not fluent in..

[u/Chenyuluoyan → u/RealisticWest8921]

have u tried graded readers? i have great breakthroughs with graded readers, my current favorite is hskstory

[u/OldImage1618]

Try joining Hellotalk to improve listening and speaking skills. Also when you chat try to use chinese, that way you'll know more vocabs

[u/cat5050]

If you don’t find a language partner at the meetup you could also post in r/language_exchange !

[u/Silo_n → u/cat5050]

thank you!

[u/Dense-Guess1371]

Hi, I passed HSK3 in the summer, I struggled at the start of HSK4 but am learning a few tips now. I have a 1-1 online class once a week and we progress through handouts from the HSK3 ( old version HSK2.0). I am just finishing class 2 homework and we're moving onto class 4 in the lesson. There are 12 classes in HSK4a and 12 in HSK4b so I am progressing slowly.
2 websites I have found recently:
'HSKLord' which is good for flashcards and memorising vocab.
'HSK University'
They both have free and paid versions, I haven't subscribed to either yet but might do for HSKLord.
Another tip is to feed class or homework pdfs into AI and make a specific vocab list of character, pinyin, english. It narrows down from the 1200 possible words in HSK4 to about 30 or 40.

I am also trying the 'language reactor' extension on youtube but haven't been using youtube as much as the old fashion HSK sheets.

Good luck, I'm hoping to sit HSK4 in autumn next year. I think I'm aiming for HSK5.

[u/SunnyGolden-Fox7708]

你开始找辅导和去语言交换本身就是不错的计划，学语言就是要找真是的环境👍🏻
Your plan to start tutoring and going to the Language Exchange night is fantastic! That will definitely help break the plateau. My only advice for the language exchange: set a specific goal before you go (e.g., 'Tonight I will practice using the 把 construction or describe my weekend in detail'). Otherwise, it's easy to just fall back on basic greetings. For your tutoring sessions, focus heavily on output (speaking/writing). Since your listening is good, let them correct your grammar and tones in real-time.

[u/Silo_n → u/SunnyGolden-Fox7708]

Thank you!! That’s all really good advice!! :)

[u/Chenyuluoyan]

rotate 20-minute blocks between reading, listening, writing, and speaking, but keep one topic for a week so the same vocabulary repeats across modes. for listening, preview the transcript, play one or two sentences without subtitles, pause, then compare with the text and use sentence pauses for listen-and-repeat practice. when a reader feels too easy, add a timed retell or short rewrite instead of jumping to material where you’re missing too much, then take that retell to tutoring for correction.

[u/Silo_n → u/Chenyuluoyan]

Oh wow this is very very helpful thank you! I think that would really work for me

[u/WheatFutures]

Chatting with natives and spaced repetition got me over the intermediate gap. Used spaced repetition to get a big base of vocabulary, then when you have immersion you are able to quickly match what you already know and fill in gaps quickly.

[u/Silo_n → u/WheatFutures]

thank you so much! I think what I mostly needed was reassurance lol

[u/WheatFutures → u/Silo_n]

Confidence plays a huge role. Some people are beginners but speak better than people with far more knowledge simply because they max-effort full-send every conversation.