Mastery

HSK 7-9 speaking test 口语

The HSK 7-9 oral test is a separate exam from the written paper. This is what is on it: every part, how many tasks it asks, how long you get to answer each one, and the criteria your answers are marked against. The structure and timings below are the same ones used to assemble the speaking tests on this site.

HSK 3.0 · 4 parts · 7 tasks · scored out of 100 · timed per answer, not per section

What HSK 7-9 asks of you, officially

At this level the standard expects you to work at the discourse level: PRELIMINARY skills in oral DISCOURSE; can use complex sentence patterns flexibly to state viewpoints, discuss and debate; fluent, coherent and logical with relatively rich content; adjusts register to the occasion and uses rhetorical devices, showing a certain awareness of intercultural communication.

Pronunciation requirement: accurate pronunciation and natural intonation. That is a floor to clear, not what separates a strong candidate from a weak one. Content, structure and logic are what move the mark.

At the top of this range (Band 9) the standard expects: express viewpoints and thoughts FULLY, ACCURATELY, FLUENTLY and APPROPRIATELY, with rich content, accurate pronunciation, natural intonation and IMPECCABLE LOGIC; rhetorical devices used flexibly; relatively good intercultural communication skills. Band 8 sits between: fully and appropriately expressed in speeches, impromptu talks or oral defenses, fluent and logical.

GF0025-2021 grades interpreting by the mode the candidate can sustain: Band 7 = formal CONSECUTIVE and escort interpretation, fluently; Band 8 = formal consecutive interpretation IN A SPECIALIZED FIELD; Band 9 = formal SIMULTANEOUS interpretation in a specialized field. Judge completeness and fidelity first — an interpretation that drops or distorts the source cannot reach a high band however fluent it sounds.

Quoted from GF0025-2021, 《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》, the official standard published by China's Ministry of Education and effective from 1 July 2021.

The structure

Part	Tasks	Time per answer	Points each
Read and speak 应用读说	1	3 minutes	20
Listen and answer 听材料回答问题	3	2 minutes	8
Express an opinion 观点表达	1	3 minutes	22
Interpret 口译	2	2 minutes	17

Read and speak 应用读说

A short practical document, such as a notice or a message, plus a task telling you which information to relay.

Read it, then speak the required information aloud, as if to a real listener.

The task names exactly what to relay. Everything else costs response time and earns nothing.

Example task

星湖市图书馆阅览室预约须知一、开放时间：周二至周日 9:00—20:00（周一闭馆整理），每日 19:30 后停止入场。二、预约方式：读者须提前一天通过图书馆微信公众号实名预约，并凭本人身份证原件入馆；未预约者当日恕不接待。三、入馆须知：（一）请勿将食品、饮料带入阅览室；馆内设有专门的休息区，可供读者饮水、休息。（二）请将手机调至静音，馆内须保持安静；如需接听电话，请到走廊。（三）阅览室内的图书阅毕后，请放回原处或统一放置在还书车上，请勿自行上架，以免图书错架。（四）每位读者每次最多可借阅图书五册，借期为三十天，到期前可续借一次。

你的朋友李明下周想去星湖市图书馆的阅览室看书和借书。你已经帮他预约好了下周三的名额，但那天你临时有事，不能陪他一起去。请你根据上面的《预约须知》，把预约的情况以及入馆时需要注意的事项告诉李明。（3分钟）

There is no answer key for a spoken task. What you say is judged against the criteria below.

How it is marked

Marked against HSK 7-9 口语 (spoken, CEFR C1-C2) — HSK 7-9 on a 10 point scale, holistically. This is the same scheme the grader on this site uses, not a summary of it.

Applied read-and-speak

worth 10 of 10

First check the required information points from the document are actually conveyed (missing or wrong key details cap the band). Then weigh organisation, appropriateness to the addressee/task, and fluency (judged from the transcript's content).

No credit 0 pts: no answer, off-task, or unrelated to the document/task.
Weak 1 to 4 pts: conveys little of the required information, or gets key details wrong; disorganised and hard to follow.
Adequate 5 to 7 pts: conveys most required information but with omissions/inaccuracies or weak organisation; noticeable pauses/errors.
Strong 8 to 10 pts: conveys the required information completely and accurately, well organised and appropriate to the task, fluent with only minor slips.

Listen and answer 听材料回答问题

An audio passage, followed by a printed question about it.

Answer aloud within the response time.

Hold on to the numbers and names as you hear them. Questions here usually hang on one such detail.

Example task3 questions on one recording

Show the transcript

如今，很多人习惯利用等车、排队这样的零碎时间用手机阅读，这种方式被称为“碎片化阅读”。支持者认为，碎片化阅读让人们随时随地都能获取信息，把原本被浪费掉的时间充分利用了起来；但也有人担心，这种阅读内容浅、跳跃性强，长期下来会让人难以进行深入而系统的思考。对此，专家指出，碎片化阅读本身并没有好坏之分，关键在于读什么和怎么读：如果只是漫无目的地刷一些零散的信息，收获往往十分有限；但如果能带着问题、有选择地去读，并在读完之后加以整理和思考，碎片化阅读同样可以成为系统学习的一种有益补充。

人们一般利用什么样的时间进行碎片化阅读？（30秒）

有人对碎片化阅读有什么担心？（30秒）

专家认为怎样才能让碎片化阅读变得有益？你同意专家的看法吗？请谈谈你的想法。（2分钟）

There is no answer key for a spoken task. What you say is judged against the criteria below.

How it is marked

Marked against HSK 7-9 口语 (spoken, CEFR C1-C2) — HSK 7-9 on a 10 point scale, holistically. This is the same scheme the grader on this site uses, not a summary of it.

Listen-and-answer

worth 10 of 10

First check the answer is faithful to the passage AND addresses the question (a fluent but wrong or off-question answer is 低/中, not 高). Then weigh completeness and coherence. Short factual questions need the right fact; the extended question needs developed, organised content.

No credit 0 pts: no answer or off-task.
Weak 1 to 4 pts: wrong relative to the passage or does not address the question; incoherent or almost no information.
Adequate 5 to 7 pts: broadly correct and on-question but incomplete or imprecise; noticeable pauses/repetition/grammar errors.
Strong 8 to 10 pts: correct with respect to the passage, fully addresses the question with sufficient, well-organised content, fluent.

Express an opinion 观点表达

A topic or statement. You give your opinion on it and support it.

Speak within the response time: your position first, then your reasons.

One clear position with two reasons beats a balanced essay. This is a speaking test, not a debate.

Example task

对于刚毕业的年轻人，有人主张“先就业，再择业”，认为应该先找一份工作积累经验；也有人认为年轻人应该坚持自己的理想，宁可多花些时间，也要找到真正适合自己的工作。对此你怎么看？请说明你的观点和理由。（3分钟）

There is no answer key for a spoken task. What you say is judged against the criteria below.

How it is marked

Marked against HSK 7-9 口语 (spoken, CEFR C1-C2) — HSK 7-9 on a 10 point scale, holistically. This is the same scheme the grader on this site uses, not a summary of it.

Opinion & argument

worth 10 of 10

First check a clear position on the topic is actually stated (no discernible stance caps at 中). Then weigh the strength/relevance of the supporting reasons and examples, logical organisation, and fluency (from the transcript's content). Reward developed, well-structured argument over mere length.

No credit 0 pts: no answer, or wholly off-topic.
Weak 1 to 4 pts: no clear position or almost no support; disorganised, incoherent, or very little information.
Adequate 5 to 7 pts: states a position with some support, but thin or loosely organised; noticeable pauses/repetition/grammar errors.
Strong 8 to 10 pts: clear position, well-supported with relevant reasons/examples, logically organised and fluent with only minor slips.

Interpret 口译

A passage in another language, to be interpreted aloud into spoken Chinese.

Speak your Chinese version within the response time.

Stay one clause behind the meaning. Interpreting ideas as units survives pressure; word-by-word does not.

Example task

In recent years, remote work has moved from a rare perk to a mainstream option at many companies. Supporters argue that it saves employees hours of commuting, gives them more control over their schedules, and allows firms to hire talented people regardless of where they live. Critics, however, worry that working from home can weaken team communication and blur the line between work and personal life. Most experts now agree that the future lies not in choosing one extreme, but in a flexible model that combines the strengths of both the office and the home.

请把下面这段话口译成中文。（2分钟）

There is no answer key for a spoken task. What you say is judged against the criteria below.

How it is marked

Marked against HSK 7-9 口译 (spoken, CEFR C1-C2) — HSK 7-9 on a 10 point scale, across 3 criteria weighted as below. This is the same scheme the grader on this site uses, not a summary of it.

Fidelity / accuracy

worth 4 of 10

Does the Chinese faithfully convey the source meaning without mistranslation, distortion, or invented content?

No credit 0 pts: no answer or unrelated to the source.
Weak 1 to 4 pts: frequent mistranslations or distortions of the source meaning.
Adequate 5 to 7 pts: conveys the main meaning; some inaccuracies or shifts.
Strong 8 to 10 pts: faithful, accurate rendering of the source meaning.

Completeness

worth 3 of 10

Is all important source content present, with nothing significant omitted or added?

No credit 0 pts: almost nothing interpreted.
Weak 1 to 4 pts: large parts of the source omitted or padded.
Adequate 5 to 7 pts: minor omissions or additions.
Strong 8 to 10 pts: complete; all key source content preserved.

Fluency / delivery mode

worth 3 of 10

Does the spoken Chinese read naturally and idiomatically (not word-for-word), coherent and grammatical? The official standard grades interpreting by the mode the candidate could sustain — halting, restart-heavy delivery indicates someone not yet able to hold formal consecutive interpretation; smooth, continuous, specialist-register delivery indicates the top of the range.

No credit 0 pts: unintelligible.
Weak 1 to 4 pts: awkward, heavily word-for-word, or badly disfluent — below the fluency a formal consecutive interpretation requires.
Adequate 5 to 7 pts: mostly natural with some stiff or literal phrasing; sustains formal consecutive interpretation but not specialist register.
Strong 8 to 10 pts: fluent, idiomatic, natural spoken Chinese, held continuously in specialist register.

Two ways to start

Take a free written mock first

A full HSK 7-9 written paper under the real clock, with audio that plays once. No account needed to start, and your first one is graded free. It is the fastest way to see whether the grading here is worth paying for.

Start a free HSK 7-9 mock exam

Sit the speaking test

The oral test is part of the HSK + 口语 plan. You record your answers under the real per-task clock and get them marked against the criteria above, with pronunciation scored separately.

See the 口语 plan

Still working out what is on the written paper? Read the HSK 7-9 exam format guide, or see free HSK 7-9 practice questions.