Before going for my morning bike ride today, I decided to print off the latest TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) test that people took (elementary level only) this year. For me, the test name is a bit meh... it sounds similar to TOEIC, and the word "topic", which I guess is what they were after, but "Test of Proficiency in Korean" feels clumsy. Korean Language Proficiency Test sounds better, but can't make any funky abbreviation. KoLapt, maybe? :p
Did the practice test after shopping with my sister. Here's my results for the elementary test:
Listening (듣기): 94/100
Reading (읽기): 79/100
Vocabulary and Grammar (어휘 및 문법): 91/100
Writing (쓰기): 73/100
Total (총액): 337/400
Average (편균): 84/100
(technically 84.25, but i rounded down.) ^^
There is a 30-point free writing question (150~300자로), which says:
어느 계절을 좋아합니까? (Which season do you like?)
왜 그 계걸을 좋아합니까? (Why do you like that season?)
그 계절에 특별한 무엇을 합니까? (What's special about that season?)
Here's what I wrote, on pen and paper, without using a dictionary:
한국에서 저는 가을을 진짜 좋아해요. 옛날에 전라남도의 시골에 살았는데 여름이 아주 습해서 편하지 않았어요. 그런데, 가을이 나왔을 때 날씨가 따뜻하게 편해져서 여행하러 갈 수 있어요.
전라남도에서 유명한 산은 "내장산"라고 있어요. 다른 계절에 가면 "예쁜 산이 아닌데"라고 생각하겠지만 거울에 가면 단풍나무의 잎이 빨간색, 노란색과 주황색으로 아름답게 바꿔요.
갔을데 여친이 없었어도 거기서 진짜 좋은 시간 아직도 보냈어요. ㅋㅋ
There you go. I'm hoping, that an online friend of mine, Equinox, over at Mountain and Field, who has taken a few TOPIK tests, could give me a mark (and maybe some comments, if he has a bit of time ^^) out of 30. Thanks for the email, Equinox, and the 18/30 for the written part.
Just after I took the test, I went to check out Brian in Jeollanam-do, and found this interesting article.
9 years ago
6 comments:
WOW ANDY I'M IMPRESSED THAT YOUR LEVEL OF KOREAN IS SO HIGH FOR NEVER STUDYING IN A LANGUAGE CLASS. You owe yourself a pat on the back for being able to teach that stuff to yourself -- I certainly couldn't!!!
Maybe you have a talent for learning languages
Hey Andy! I'd never heard of TOPIK but there is, in fact, KLPT! :) (pronounced KLIPT for short???) Check this out: http://www.klpt.org/english/
My horrific Korean teacher actually printed some of this mess of to teach to us one session. Befuddled comes to mind..Lol. You're so good with Korean. I'll be there one day! Keep practicing...:)
Thanks Jen. I didn't really teach myself anything. When you're in the middle on nowhere, where no-one speaks your language, eventually, relying on people to get shit done gets damn depressing, and since I had an interest in Korean anyway, I just picked stuff up as I went, always asked my Korean friends questions about Korean, and carried my electronic dictionary anywhere.
I don't have a talent for learning languages... also, i don't think I have the interest. Korean has the right amount of difficultly for me to keep interested.
Hey Joia, I know what you mean. Some of this stuff on the test kinda got me a bit bamboozled, because it was no where near what I would use in the real world. Give me a test where I gotta travel around Korea, ask for directions, buy bus tickets, ask ajuma's for discounts, and I'd pass with no problems :p
And thanks to a friend who also did the 초급 test, and found a mistake in the answers, which gave me an extra 4 points in the vocab/grammar section *^^* 아싸 ^^
When I took the beginners' test---wow, almost eight months ago---I got As in listening, reading, vocab/grammar, but a C on the writing part. I kind of wish we got it back so I could see what we did wrong. I always tell myself that this is the day I'll start writing a journal in Korean, or start really hitting the books . . . I've got to make time to boost my score before the next test in April. Any idea how to get the writing up? Other than just write write write and read read read?
I think the best way is to just write, write and write. But also, get feed back on your writing. Maybe, write a couple of things a week, and get a Korean friend (who can actually explain Korean grammar and other language things - I have a very small list of friends who can do that well, all the other try to turn a simple question into a 50 minute lesson), and get them to check it, and give some corrections and explanations, etc. Maybe, get a language partner, and get them to do the same in English, just to make it fair.
I found the reading in the 초급 section easy enough, but I rarely read things like that when I was in Korea. When I read something, and found words I didn't know, I always checked them in my dictionary. But, I found that I would only remember what I use often.
Currently, I'm working through a mid-high elementary book, mainly covering easy shit that I didn't know/learn, while I was there in Korea. It explains things well enough. I knew a bit of the stuff in the next book in the series (which is low-mid intermediate), but it would always refer back to the mid-high elementary book for a few things - and they turned out to be things i didn't know, or things i knew but didn't use, coz it made my head hurt :p
Post a Comment