Learn Chinese Chinesimple HSK3

What the Chinese learning app covers

Chinesimple is a Chinese learning app from Khanji School, built around its HSK 3 course. The developer says the course is aimed at learners who already know single words and want to start forming longer sentences. Explanations are given in English.

The course works from sentences rather than word lists. Each lesson takes a familiar word and builds it into a fuller sentence, so a learner sees how ideas are joined. The developer says this is meant to help people restate what they have read or heard in their own words.

The app suits anyone working at HSK 3 level, and anyone preparing to sit that exam, who wants a single place for lessons, audio, review and practice questions.

How the sentence lessons link ideas together

The lessons use a birthday example. A learner who knows 生日 (shēngrì), meaning birthday, is shown a full sentence about buying a cake because it was someone's birthday. The lesson then points to 所以 (suǒyǐ), meaning so, as the word that gives the reason before the action.

A second example uses 如果 with 就 to set out a condition and then give advice, as in a sentence meaning if you are tired, have a rest. The developer says the learner is asked to think of someone they might say this to and try saying it aloud.

The exercises use these patterns to prompt a learner to write a sentence of their own, such as describing something they did that day in the same order: reason first, then the linking word, then the action.

Listening, dictionary lookup and pronunciation

Each example sentence comes with audio from a native speaker. The lessons ask the learner to listen for the word that connects the two parts of a sentence, and to listen again if the link is not clear.

When an unfamiliar word breaks the sense of a sentence, the app lets the learner open a Chinese dictionary. The entry shows the meaning and pinyin, which the developer says can be used to guide pronunciation. The learner can then play the whole sentence again.

The listening and dictionary steps are tied to the lessons, so a word looked up in a sentence stays in the context where it was found.

Flashcards and stroke order for recall

Expressions that a learner recognises on the page but cannot recall can be added to a flashcard deck. The deck is reviewed over time using spaced repetition, which brings cards back at increasing intervals.

For characters that are hard to tell apart, the app shows stroke order. The learner can follow the strokes and then try writing the character by hand, before looking for it again in the sentence where it appeared.

Saved words and expressions can be reviewed later from the flashcard decks, so the review and lesson content are kept in one app.

Continuing the course and tracking study

The app lets a learner move on to the next course module or spend a few minutes on review. The developer says daily practice suggests what to work on next, based on the learner's progress.

Progress is tracked within the app, including how many days in a row the learner has studied. The count is shown alongside the course position so the learner can see where they stopped.

Practice for the HSK 3 exam

Learners preparing for the HSK 3 exam can practise with vocabulary, sentences and exercises at that level. The developer says the material is organised around the HSK 3 course rather than a general Chinese curriculum.

The suggested method is to check whether the full meaning of a sentence is clear when it is read or heard. Any parts that are not clear can then be revisited, using the lesson audio, dictionary and flashcards.