최선을 다하겠다

Starting from this week until perhaps next year, there won't any Korean lesson for me. However, there are still many things that will keep me busy. One of those is my preparation for the Korean Language Proficiency Test or KLPT. The test date is 28 October and the test centre is NUS Extension. Less than 20 people sat for this test at NEX last year and from what I know, the number is not going to change much this year. In my honest opinion, NEX students who have completed Conversational Advanced Korean level 6 will still struggle to pass KLPT because they lack practice in grammar and vocabulary and I am speaking this from personal experience. It is therefore not surprising that only about 10 students did well enough in the placement test to get into the current KLPT preparation class.

It didn't seem that far away when I last took my KLPT a year ago. It was sort of a baptism of fire and revelation for me. Just imagine, spending one year to study Korean only to discover that I might not even get pass the lowest level for KLPT. However, it was a good start. My KLPT result gave me a good indication of how much more effort I need to put in to be considered proficient. The rest, as they said, is history. I have been doing my preparation for the coming KLPT using the "purple book" or the intermediate-level KLPT preparation book. I have completed all the questions on grammar, vocabulary and reading. I am quite satisfied with my progress as I am able to achieve about 70% correct answers. I shall be working on my listening skills next.

I bought the "orange book" recently so that I can continue to study when I am finished with the "purple book". Of course, my level isn't anywhere near to advanced level yet. I have tried certain sections of the book but I can probably get only 2 out of 10 questions right. One thing I do discover is that, in advanced level, there are a lot of words that are borrowed from the Chinese language. Perhaps, advanced level may not be that difficult if I can read the Chinese word behind each of the Hangeul character. I will not strive to complete the book this year as I will likely be back again for KLPT next year. I hope by then, I will find this book a lot easier. Whatever it may be, I will do my best.