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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:08 pm Post subject: TOPIK 32 Results Are Out |
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Anyone else take the test this time around? I scored level 5. 70 grammar, 71 reading, 66 listening, 45 writing. Writing out 700ish characters in the less than 30 minutes you realistically have is pretty brutal. I actually couldn't finish most of the multiple choice questions on the writing section due to lack of time, and obviously my guesses were not good ones.
I also heard that the test format is changing? That the grammar section is being eliminated, the reading and listening sections expanded, and the writing being made much harder through the elimination of all multiple choice questions and the addition of a second essay. Anyone else hear something along those lines? |
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furtakk
Joined: 02 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 6:57 am Post subject: |
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The format is changing, but I'm not sure when. I think the next test will maintain the current format. I wrote the sample test in the summer, and it's pretty much what you said. There will also only be two levels. Intermediate and advanced will be combined into one test.
I wrote this as well. Flunked level 5 again... will be trying again in January. This time with more prep. |
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 6:29 pm Post subject: Re: TOPIK 32 Results Are Out |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Anyone else take the test this time around? I scored level 5. 70 grammar, 71 reading, 66 listening, 45 writing. Writing out 700ish characters in the less than 30 minutes you realistically have is pretty brutal. |
Your scores were pretty similar to mine: low 70s for grammar/vocab and reading, 60 listening, 50 writing. Does that seem typical? I spent a lot of time on the vocab/grammar and reading prep but didn't practice writing since there's no way to evaluate it anyhow. I have no idea how they grade writing, but it must be pretty strict since my texting Korean is pretty good haha.
Are you planning on going for level 6 sometime? I took the test a couple years ago and have definitely regressed since I don't live in Korea anymore, but maybe sometime down the road I'll try for it.
Congrats on the level 5 pass! It definitely felt nice to have something objective to "validate" my level. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:29 pm Post subject: Re: TOPIK 32 Results Are Out |
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| nate1983 wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| Anyone else take the test this time around? I scored level 5. 70 grammar, 71 reading, 66 listening, 45 writing. Writing out 700ish characters in the less than 30 minutes you realistically have is pretty brutal. |
Your scores were pretty similar to mine: low 70s for grammar/vocab and reading, 60 listening, 50 writing. Does that seem typical? I spent a lot of time on the vocab/grammar and reading prep but didn't practice writing since there's no way to evaluate it anyhow. I have no idea how they grade writing, but it must be pretty strict since my texting Korean is pretty good haha. |
I think high grammar/low writing is probably not just typical, but maybe even nearly universal; the grammar section is by far the easiest to study for and tests the smallest amount of real information, while the writing section is incredibly difficult to study for and tests not just writing composition, but also active recall (since we can't use dictionaries). It's hard for me to imagine anyone who casually passed the writing test, but bombed the grammar section.
| nate1983 wrote: |
| Are you planning on going for level 6 sometime? |
Yeah, but I'm in no rush, especially if the test is going to be changing formats to become more writing intensive. My study method (if you could even call it that, lazy as it is) tends to be very reading focused, so I need to work on my writing quite a bit before I step up to the plate again. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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| furtakk wrote: |
The format is changing, but I'm not sure when. I think the next test will maintain the current format. I wrote the sample test in the summer, and it's pretty much what you said. There will also only be two levels. Intermediate and advanced will be combined into one test.
I wrote this as well. Flunked level 5 again... will be trying again in January. This time with more prep. |
What were your scores? Was writing your worst one? |
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kengreen
Joined: 19 Jan 2011
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:02 am Post subject: |
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| I took the test. I bombed. |
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spicy
Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Location: Sinchon / Ewha / Hongdae
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:22 am Post subject: |
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my scores were similar back when i took it 9mo ago. all low-mid 70s with a 46 in writing, lol.
one of my profs is on the test creation/grading committee. she said the writing is ridiculously hard because any error (spelling, grammar, spacing, etc) is -1 point, and that's not even counting composition/form/strength of one's argument. anything over 20/30 for the essay section is very good, with anything over 25/30 for the essay being exceptional. there are almost no perfect scores. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:38 am Post subject: |
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| spicy wrote: |
one of my profs is on the test creation/grading committee. she said the writing is ridiculously hard because any error (spelling, grammar, spacing, etc) is -1 point, and that's not even counting composition/form/strength of one's argument. anything over 20/30 for the essay section is very good, with anything over 25/30 for the essay being exceptional. there are almost no perfect scores. |
On a 700 plus character essay which you really have to complete in less than 30 minutes on a surprise topic, that's brutal. Why they feel the writing section needs to become more challenging, I don't know. It's already the make or break point of a notoriously difficult test. |
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| How long have you been studying Korean, Fox? For my school I have to do a translation test, basically translate a random Korean article of about 500 words in 3 hours, and a conversation test. So far I find studying for the translation test to be easier, we can use a dictionary, except that whenever they use an idiom it throws me off. The speaking test seems like it will be much harder. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:32 am Post subject: |
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Well, I've studied it since I got here, but not very hard. Translating 500
words in 3 hours sounds like cake, at least with a dictionary. Speaking is largely an issue of with whom you are speaking, but in a university testing environmemt I'd imagine you are unlikely to end up with one of those old people who are so hard to understand that they automatically get subtitled when on television. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 6:57 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Well, I've studied it since I got here, but not very hard. |
How the hell did you get good at Korean then? You must have an exceptionally good capacity for picking up languages and/or are a genius. |
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:17 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
Well, I've studied it since I got here, but not very hard. Translating 500
words in 3 hours sounds like cake, at least with a dictionary. Speaking is largely an issue of with whom you are speaking, but in a university testing environmemt I'd imagine you are unlikely to end up with one of those old people who are so hard to understand that they automatically get subtitled when on television. |
The translating isn't so bad, it's just that the topics have a tendency to be overly technical, up to the point of being academic writing. The speaking will be hard or easy based on how much control I have over the conversation I think. If I can keep steering it into topics I'm comfortable with I think I will be ok, but if they come in with a set topic that I don't know enough vocabulary for I'm in big trouble.
I think I would rather take the Topik than what I have, but every student has to take the same test regardless of language, except that languages like Spanish get much less time for their translation than languages like Korean and Chinese. |
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furtakk
Joined: 02 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:27 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| furtakk wrote: |
The format is changing, but I'm not sure when. I think the next test will maintain the current format. I wrote the sample test in the summer, and it's pretty much what you said. There will also only be two levels. Intermediate and advanced will be combined into one test.
I wrote this as well. Flunked level 5 again... will be trying again in January. This time with more prep. |
What were your scores? Was writing your worst one? |
Writing has always been the issue. I usually score around low 60s to low 70s in grammar, reading, listening, but the highest I have ever gotten on writing was 38. I started a new job recently and was quite busy the last 2 months so I ended up skipping the January test.
The April test will be the last time they offer the old format, so study hard if you need a certain score for something. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:21 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| Well, I've studied it since I got here, but not very hard. |
How the hell did you get good at Korean then? You must have an exceptionally good capacity for picking up languages and/or are a genius. |
Just persistence. At least 10 or 15 minutes a day, and it adds up. It's a finite challenge after all: once you master the grammar, and build up sufficient vocabulary, it's just a matter of activating it through practice.
Besides, it's not like I got level 6. I've still room for improvement even within the context of the test, to say nothing of outside of it. Listening to audio sources like the news or radio is still not easy at all. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Leon wrote: |
The translating isn't so bad, it's just that the topics have a tendency to be overly technical, up to the point of being academic writing. |
I think academic Korean writing is often easier to understand. The sentence constructions tend to be very clear, and you'll often get Hanja in parenthesis for potentially ambiguous words.
| Leon wrote: |
| I think I would rather take the Topik than what I have ... |
Yeah, me too, at least if they grade the speaking test anywhere near as harshly as the TOPIK writing test. "Oh, you mumbled, -1. And an overly long pause, another -1!" |
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