Having taken HSK Level 4 last year, I am planning to HSK Level 5 asap! Well, I say that, and it will take some time to learn the extra 1300 words necessary to give me at least a chance of passing. (HSK 4 = 1200 words, HSK 5 = 2500 words). In order to get me on my way, I have loaded HSK 5 words into Skritter (http://www.skritter.cn/), and set the loading of new words to “fast”. As you can see, I did very well in September, but plateaued at towards the end of the month. Considering I “learnt” 200+ words in a month, I’m not surpised that I ran out of steam.

At the same time, I want to put what I learn to good use and I intend to start an email exchange with a number of Chinese friends. This will enable me to practice writing characters, reading characters and gives me the opportunity to pick up new vocabulary and grammar structures from native-speakers.