All students struggle with memorising Chinese characters.

At HSK4 level it's especially painful: You already know lots of characters, your speaking isn't bad, but you are still learning to read with children's books.

And there's a big problem with how HSK lists are organised, which makes them so much harder to remember.

Problem: HSK lists are organised alphabetically

At this level of language learning you need to move away from the frameworks of your own language, and into a "Chinese way of thinking".

So long word lists in alphabetical order is really unhelpful. To avoid this problem you need to create "Chinese connections" in your brain.

Solution: Chunking words into Chinese categories

Forget the alphabetical list! Instead, sort words and memorise into non-alphabetical groups like:

1. Word type: Nouns, verbs, counting words, connectors

2. Theme: Body parts, emotions

3. Core character: Learn 打 with two-character verbs like 打扰, 打折, 打针

4. Radical first: Use radicals to connect words like the "water" in 活, 汗

5. Confusing similarities: "Handsome" 帅 and "lion" 狮

6. Opposites: "Win" 赢 and "lose" 输

So, don't fall into the trap of alphabetical lists. Learn by "chunking" instead!