Update — 2 September 2026: HSKCourse.com has changed quite a bit since I first published this review in March. I’ve updated the parts below that are no longer current, including the subscription pricing, the new HSK 3 material and the addition of a graded reader library with comprehension quizzes. My original impressions of the course itself remain the same.
I was given the opportunity to try out HSKCourse.com and after a little over two weeks, here’s my honest take. I’m just excited about it.
Timing was good on my end. I’d been on a Mandarin hiatus for a while and needed to do some revision before getting back to my weekly speaking practice with a tutor on Preply earlier this month. So this came at the right moment.
The site covers video courses from HSK 1 through 3. Since this review was first published, HSKCourse has started rolling out its New HSK Course 3 material. From Lesson 11 onward, the HSK 3 course now uses the new version, aligned with the newer HSK syllabus.
What I liked
Honestly, the best way I can describe it is: it feels like having a tutor sit with you and walk you through the material. The teacher has a calm, clear voice and explains things in a way that actually makes sense rather than just throwing information at you. For new lessons I’d sit down properly and pay attention. But for lessons I’d already covered? I’d put my headset on and let it play while doing housework, folding laundry, washing dishes. It held up as revision even without watching the screen, which says a lot.
For HSK 3, each video lesson has four parts, each roughly 19 to 20 minutes. A full lesson is about 70 to 80 minutes if you do it all in one go, but you don’t have to. One part a day works just as well.
The structure for HSK 1 and 2 is slightly different. HSK 1 starts with Pinyin and Hanzi sections before moving into the lesson content, while HSK 2 opens with a quiz. By HSK 3 the format shifts to four full lesson segments. It makes sense as a progression. Since I’m already at HSK 3 level, I only had a quick look through the earlier levels, but it’s good to know the structure adapts as you go.
One thing I appreciated: he doesn’t just teach the language, he drops in bits of Chinese culture and daily life along the way. He’ll often explain something in Mandarin first, then repeat in English. After a while you stop waiting for the English part. That’s good training for the ears, and there are also plenty of HSK listening exercises throughout.
The vocabulary section has a word list with audio for tones, plus a test at the end. The grammar section covers things clearly with quizzes built in after each topic, not as an afterthought but right there in the flow.
A few extras worth mentioning: there’s a New HSK Vocabulary section organised by band level up to level 7-9 and the lists are downloadable. I went through the ones for my level and found it really convenient. The grammar section actually goes up to HSK level 5-6, so there’s more there than just what the video courses cover. And there are writing exercise sheets in PDF format, meant to be printed out for practice. I downloaded mine and used them on my iPad. Simple but useful.
What could be better
When I first wrote this review, I said I’d love to see graded reader texts, short articles or dialogues with comprehension questions to go alongside the lessons. That part has now been addressed: HSKCourse has added a graded reader library, with articles organised by HSK level and comprehension quizzes after each article. I would still like to see a clearer progress tracker for subscribers, especially something that shows which lessons or videos have already been completed.
Free access is limited. You get the first video segment per lesson and a partial look at the grammar section. Enough to get a feel for it, but you’ll need a subscription for the full thing.
Is it worth it?
I’ll be honest, it’s not meant to replace a tutor entirely, especially for speaking. But for self-learners who are already doing one lesson a week on Preply or iTalki or any platform for that matter, and studying the rest on their own? This is exactly the kind of resource that fills that gap. Not everyone can afford more tutor hours. Not everyone has the time. This lets you go at your own pace and actually understand the material, then use your tutor time for what it’s really for: speaking, not sitting through grammar explanations.
Pricing has changed since I first published this review. As of 2 September 2026, the quarterly plan is $14.90 a month, billed at $44.70 every three months. The annual plan is $6.90 a month, billed at $82.80 per year, and lifetime access is $129.90 as a one-time payment. The current plans include premium lesson videos, the reading library, grammar material, mock tests, the vocabulary bank and future updates.
My final take? If I were starting over, I’d use HSKcourse.com to build my foundation: grammar, vocabulary, structure, and keep my tutor for speaking. That combination would have served me really well. I’m genuinely looking forward to the rest of HSK 3 and hopefully all the way up to HSK 6.