Korean Job Discussion Forums

Fox · Joined: 04 Mar 2009

Anyone else take it this time around?

World Traveler · Joined: 29 May 2009

No, but I wanted to. How did you do? I heard the 중급 and 고급 is hard!

Fox · Joined: 04 Mar 2009

I scored level 4, quite comfortable in everything except the writing section, which brought my average down to 80%. I really wish they would give back our graded essays. Everything else we can just look up later, but it would be nice to know exactly what was imperfect in my writing.

World Traveler · Joined: 29 May 2009

Wow, man, level 4 is quite respectable! You must have studied really hard. (Any good tips for how to get better at Korean?) Will you be taking the advanced level test next? (I want to do it someday, but that is years down the road. Even passing the intermediate level test for me seems like a pipe dream.)

Fox · Joined: 04 Mar 2009

I have not studied hard, just worked my way through the Integrated Korean line of textbooks in a casual fashion (while skipping all the exercises - too boring), with Anki to help retain vocabulary. I did study Hanja in a determined fashion for a while (learned about 1800 characters), and that helps with reading. Certainly trying advanced next year, or maybe even late this year.

You only need a fifty percent average to pass 중급 with a level 3. I think a lot of foreigners would be pleasantly surprised if they tried it.

World Traveler · Joined: 29 May 2009

Man, Fox, that is impressive! I have never met a Westerner who knows 1800 한자. That is quite a feat. As for the Korean language overall, you studied just casually, but were able to reach high intermediate? Again, I am shocked. (Maybe you are 천재.) How long have you been in Korea? (Even if it's been a really long time, what you've done is something to be super proud of. Most expats never achieve your level, even if they have been here 20+ years.) You inspired me. Now I'm going to dust off the ol' Integrated Korean series and get to work.

Fox · Joined: 04 Mar 2009

World Traveler · Joined: 29 May 2009

I've had friends who took the TOPIK who said they were the only white person there (in a room of roughly 200 test takers). @.@ Mostly foreign spouses (regardless of test level).

edwardcatflap · Joined: 22 Mar 2009

sweetkaiser · Joined: 18 Mar 2010

Fox · Joined: 04 Mar 2009

spaceman82 · Joined: 01 Dec 2009

Fox, I also took the test this time around. Did well for the most part, but like you, didn't do as well on the writing section and my average suffered for it. I think I just didn't use enough advanced grammar/vocabulary (looking at past tests' scoring criteria, that seems to be a requirement), but it would be nice to have the graded essay back to know for sure.

Fox · Joined: 04 Mar 2009

Maybe that was my problem as well. I tried to keep it reasonably simple for fear of using complex formations erroneously, but perhaps that's exactly what came back to bite me. What counts as "advanced" grammar and vocabulary here though?

It also wouldn't hurt if the questions were a little less lame.

spaceman82 · Joined: 01 Dec 2009

They have some arbitrary guidelines that you can glean somewhat from the scoring guides/sample responses to past writing sections. I remember seeing in one place that a respondent would get a certain number of points for using -는 데(에) in response to a certain question while other structures (I forget what they were, but, just to provide an example, -는 것 or -기) would receive fewer points because they were "less advanced." I think this was on a sentence building task, but my sense is that the criteria are similar.

With that said, I was like you in that I thought it'd be better to make fewer mistakes than to try to use a bunch of advanced grammar and then have my response sound unnatural. Maybe that was the wrong approach though... And yeah, having something a little more stimulating to write about than a time in the past I would want to go back to would help.

aq8knyus · Joined: 28 Jul 2010 Location: London

Remember that as English speaking foreigners in Korea we dont really need TOPIK. That might explain why there arent many ESL types taking the test. I got admission onto a masters programme in Korean studies with a full scholarship without a TOPIK score.

Although if you want to do TOPIK you guys should try the TOPIK master book by Darakwon.

It has 10 past papers along with detailed explanations and translations. They have one for 초급/중급/고급.

I can also recommend the Yonsei U 'Korean Grammar Practice for Foreigners' (외국인을 위한 한국어 문법 연습).

It is broken up according to levels and although it is essentially a grammar list they explain things neatly and the translations are good for the most part. It covers all the grammar you need to know at least.

Also in regards to Fox, have you tried Yonsei U's 'Academic Koreran Writing' (대학 강의 수강을 위한 한국어 쓰기)? I know its intended to prepare you for Uni but it shows you how to organise your thoughts in the Korean style. It also bolds very very very useful phrases/endings that help you to combine sentences more naturally.