Hello back to our blog! The 96th TOPIK results have been out for a while so we decided to share with you how the test was and our results.

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Hi everyone! Teri here. So, I am going to share a bit about my experience taking the exam. To give you some context, this was my third time taking the exam. The last time I took it, I got Level 3, and I had only studied for around three months. Since it was my second time taking the exam, I already knew the structure. It surprised me that I was able to answer the entire writing section—yes, even the long essay! At that time, I was sure I was going to get Level 4 at least.

The listening part was easy until I got to question 35, and the reading part included lots of vocabulary I had studied. When I finished the exam, I felt really good. But, as I mentioned, I got Level 3—and it wasn’t even a Level 3 close to Level 4. It was a Level 3 close to failing! Hahaha. So, for me, it was a little disappointing.

This time, I decided to enroll in the exam while I was in Korea, so I didn’t have much time to study. I’d say I properly studied for about a month and a half. Seolhwa recommended some books that she was using to study, and since I was in Korea, I was able to buy them. Those books were really good, in my opinion. The structure was easy to follow, and the content was clear!

On the day of the exam, I felt really nervous, and I think that didn’t help at all. I didn’t practice my listening skills much, and by question 40, my brain just stopped ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. I felt the most frustrated during the writing part. I had focused so much on learning high-level vocabulary that I forgot the vocabulary for basic and intermediate-level questions. The question where you have to describe a table was a nightmare. I understood the table, but not all the vocabulary. Even so, I decided to just follow the structure I had learned for answering that question.

As for the long essay, well… the time ran out before I could finish! I’d say I wrote about 380 characters when they announced that time was up. When that happened, I thought for sure I was going to fail, especially considering that last time, I was able to answer everything.

After the writing part, we had a 10-minute break. I drank some water and talked to the girls sitting next to me. I was surprised to hear that some of them had taken the exam three times and failed, so I felt proud of myself and thought, We all have the right to fail, and that’s completely okay!

For the reading part—now that I’m writing this, I realize I’ve never focused much on it—and you can see that in my results. I recommend focusing on all areas of the exam, because I usually focus more on the writing part and kind of neglect listening and reading. For me, the reading part gets tricky when it includes long texts, and you have to figure out the meaning of certain 속담 (proverbs) or expressions or guess the feelings of a character when they say something.

Even though I didn’t feel confident about my performance this time, I got Level 4! I think I’ve realized now that it’s okay not to answer all the questions, since some are aimed at higher levels. So, if you’re aiming for Levels 3 or 4, don’t stress if you can’t answer the last few questions. Also, if your actual level of Korean is 3 or 4, don’t push or blame yourself for not getting a higher level.

Learning a language takes time, and it’s important to enjoy the process! If you keep studying hard, you’ll reach your goals and achieve your desired level. I’m satisfied with the level I got this time, as I think it reflects my current Korean ability. I’d like to aim for Level 5 next year!

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Hi! Seolhwa here!

The 96th edition of the TOPIK was a bit challenging, at least for me. We started with the listening part and everything was going smoothly until around question 43 where my brain literally said ‘Shutting down’. I could hear the words really clearly, but for some reason my brain couldn’t comprehend what was being said. So, question 43 went by and I had two choices: panic and give up on the last questions or get back into a focus state until the end. Thankfully, I managed to listen to the next questions just fine.

For the writing part, I overestimated the time I had to write everything. In all the mock tests I have done, I managed to write everything in just under 40 minutes, but I made a big mistake while doing mock tests and that was… writing on my computer and not on an actual test paper. Therefore, at the exam, my brain took a lot of time to get used to writing on a 원고지 again, and that cost me the conclusion for the last essay.

The reading went by quickly, but I did have just enough time to finish. There weren’t any problems there as it is my strongest skill out of the three that were being evaluated.

And finally, my results! I wanted to get TOPIK 6급, but I received 5급 just like the last time I took it. I was a bit disappointed as I was only 20 points away from my goal, but I don’t feel bad since I know that getting level 6 is hard because most of the vocabulary is a super specialized one. I did get 30 points more than last time which is a big improvement. I am sure that next time I take it, I can take level 6, but until then, I still have a lot to learn. But, overall, I am happy with my results and my progress.