HSK 2 (2025)

The HSK (汉语水平考试, Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì) is a standardised Chinese proficiency test for non-native speakers. This deck contains all 200 new words in HSK 2 from the official HSK 3.0 syllabus, which will be used for the new exam from December 2026. Together with HSK 1, that makes 500 words.

The new HSK has nine levels across three stages, and HSK 2 builds on the basics from HSK 1. It’s also the first level with a writing section. The official syllabus lists 100 characters for writing across HSK 1 and 2, which you can practise by hand with our HSK 1-2 Handwriting (2025) deck.

Learning vocabulary in alphabetical order (which is how the official HSK lists are sorted) makes little sense, so we’ve instead sorted the words by how useful they are to learners, using frequency data from both spoken and written Chinese. That way, you can work your way through the deck knowing you’re learning the most useful words first, starting with words like 就, 让, 走 and 告诉. 过 and 花 appear twice, because the syllabus lists each of them twice.