Most Chinese flashcard apps want you to pay for HSK packs, create an account, or install something. I couldn’t find a free browser-based option that just worked — so I built one.
400+ HSK1–3 vocabulary words. Spaced repetition. No account. No install. Open the page and start.
Try It
→ Open Mandarin Flashcards — free, works offline after first load
What’s Inside
The flashcard deck covers all of HSK1, HSK2, and HSK3 — roughly 400 words that form the foundation of everyday Mandarin. At HSK3 you can handle basic conversations, read simple texts, and pass the first three levels of China’s official Mandarin proficiency test.
Each card shows:
- The Chinese character(s)
- Pinyin with tone marks
- English meaning
- An example sentence
Click any character in the example sentence to see its individual pinyin and meaning in a popup — no dictionary switching needed.
The Story Reader
The tool also includes a story reader mode. Short Chinese stories are shown in English first. You read the English paragraph, predict what the Chinese will look like, then tap to reveal the Chinese version. This trains the habit of thinking in Chinese rather than translating mentally.
Why HSK1–3 First
HSK1–3 is where most learners stall. The words seem simple but there are subtle differences — 看 vs 瞧, 说 vs 讲, 大 vs 多. Getting these 400 words solid before moving to HSK4 makes everything after much easier. I kept this tool focused on that range rather than trying to cover everything.
What to Do After HSK3
Once you’re comfortable with HSK1–3, the Chinese Reading Lab has full reading passages at HSK4–6. The Chengyu Stories tool covers the idioms that start appearing constantly at intermediate level. And if you need to annotate any Chinese text you encounter, the Pinyin Annotator puts pinyin above every character instantly.
Leave a Reply