한국어능력시험

The Singapore Korean School

My Korean class at the Singapore Korean School for this semester is coming to an end next week. After that it will be a three weeks break before the next semester starts on 10 Jul. However, I am still not too sure if there will be 3 students to make up the next class. If there isn't, I guess I will have to wait for the following semester to try my luck again. Meanwhile, perhaps I will just concentrate on preparing for the TOPIK on 16 Sep.

TOPIK or Test of Proficiency in Korean is a test administered by the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation. TOPIK follows a six-level grading system. To obtain level 1 or 2 grade, candidate will need to sit for the Beginner level test paper. A score of over 50 and less than 70 will give a level 1 grade while a score of 70 and above will give a level 2 grade. To get either a level 3 or 4 grade, candidate will instead take the Intermediate level test paper. Finally, the Advanced level test paper will differentiate the level 5 and 6 grader.

TOPIK is divided into two sessions of 90 minutes each with a 30 minutes break in between. The first session comprises the section on vocabulary grammar and writing. The second session comprises the section on listening and reading. Each section is worth 100 marks. The full mark is 400. The TOPIK score is determined by taking the total mark from the four sections and divides it by four.

I am not too sure whether there is any TOPIK study guide like those used for KLPT available out there. If there isn't, I will still have the study guide which I bought in Shanghai to fall back on. I guess I really need take test to study hard. Just to make sure I study hard enough perhaps I should take the KLPT on 28 Oct as well.