Hello, everyone! Seolhwa here. Today I prepared a post about how I am preparing for the TOPIK exam, with the goal of achieving level 6 in mind.

A little background, I already took TOPIK II 2 times, once I obtained level 5, and the second time… level 5 again, with just 20 points more to go to level 6. I was a bit disappointed, but I decided this year, in October during the 102nd TOPIK, it will finally be the year I get it. If you are also preparing to take the TOPIK too in hopes of getting a high score like level 5 or 6, the methods and routines I am about to introduce might just help you achieve this goal.

Resources

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Firstly, some resources I am using:

1)Past Papers
You can find them here https://www.topikguide.com/previous-papers/ and https://www.koreantopik.com/2018/07/download-topik-tests-pdf-audio-answer.html?m=1

2)Books made especially for the exam such as:
합격 레시피, Cracking the TOPIK Writing, TOPIK 쓰기의 모든 것, 토픽 한권이면 OK, 핫토픽

3)TV news and articles
Some YouTube channels where you can listen to news: https://www.youtube.com/@sbsnews8, https://www.youtube.com/@jtbc_news
You can fin articles at https://news.naver.com/ on different topics.

4)Korean teachers on YouTube
HANIJEMI https://www.youtube.com/@Hanijemi TOPIK STUDY https://www.youtube.com/@topikstudy4544

My study routine

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Now that we have the resources, let’s see how we can use them effectively.

1) Try to do a past paper from start to finish (don’t use the dictionary while doing so)

2) Correct it, note down exactly the type of question that you got wrong (중심 생각, 같은 것 고르기 etc.) and try to understand why you made those mistakes. If you don’t understand, you can take a picture of the question and ask ChatGPT to explain it to you

3) Now take the dictionary, reread the whole test and write down any words you didn’t know

4)Review words from a test paper you solved a day ago

5)Look for same type questions to solve in books that prepare you for TOPIK

6) When you finish all the past papers available, I recommend redoing them or just looking for new mock tests in textbooks

7) Watch news and try to write down everything being said. This improves your listening tremendously

8) Read articles and news
Look for new words + learn general things about different advanced topics that can appear on the exam

9) Don’t forget to prepare for the 쓰기 part as well. Since it takes longer, you can have a day per week when you just study 쓰기. The easiest way to improve your writing, especially the 54th question is to look for model essays (you can find them in the past papers answers, textbooks for 쓰기, or on YouTube explained by teachers). Read them once, copy them once, try to rewrite them from memory and then try writing your own version of the essay. Plus, if you have anyone that can correct them, a friend or teacher, ask for corrections.

I know these are a lot of steps, but you don’t have to do them all in one study session. Split them and do what you can. Don’t beat yourself up if one day you don’t finish a whole mock test or don’t have time to review. You can also do it the next day.

Final thoughts

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Achieving level 6 and even 5 is hard to do and requires a huge amount of vocabulary so you might not get it on your first try. If you are like me and you can’t get over 50 points in the writing part, focus on the other 2 parts. Redo the past papers until you know all the words and understand everything. Getting at least 90 points in both listening and reading is totally doable if you work hard enough.

Just give your best and don’t forget that even natives struggle in the last 10 questions of the exam!