TOPIK is fast approaching this year! (only 70 days dies) For those who are learning Korean, chances are eventually you’ll take a shot at the TOPIK (test of proficeincy in Korean) exam some time, so I thought I would upload a few things to help make it a little less daunting. In this post we’re going to cover the /types/ of questions you’ll be asked on the listening portion of the test in the order they’ll appear on TOPIK I!
For a break down of the differences between TOPIK I and TOPIK II click here!
1-4 다음을 듣고 <보기>와 같이 물음에 맞는 대담을 고르십시오
Listen to the following question and choose the correct answer as in the example.
i.e:
Spoken: 책이 많아요?
Answer: 네, 책이 많아요.
As far as I can tell, these questions are testing your ability just to confirm or negate a question properly.
5-6 다음을 듣고 <보기>와 같이 다음 말에 이어지는 것을 고르십시오
Listen to the following and give the correct response to what is said.
i.e:
Spoken: 여기 앉아세요.
Answer: 고맙습니다.
These questions are testing your comprehension of the sitaution. Everything will be formal.
5-6 다음을 듣고 <보기>와 같이 ( )에 알맞은 것을 고르십시오
Listen to the following and choose the correct answer to go in the bracket, as in the example.
The 47th exam I practiced with didn’t have a question like this but I can only assume it’s very similar to the last question type and could be used in place. It’s testing your situational understanding. There will always be an example for you to reference.
7-10 여기는 어디입니까? <보기>와 같이 알맞은 것을 고르십시오
Where is this taking place? Choose the correct answer as in the example.
i.e:
Spoken:
1.내일까지 숙제를 꼭 내세요
2. 네, 선생님.
Answer: 교실
These questions are testing your knowledge of daily conversation. Listen for key words like homework and teacher here.
Protip: Koreans are very respectful in addressing people of different professions, so listen for something like 선생님 (Teacher) , 사장님 (boss), 의사님 (doctor), 기사님 (taxi driver) etc
11-14 다음은 무엇에 대해 말하고 있읍니까? <보기>와 같이 알맞은 것을 고르십시오
What is this conversation about? Choose the right answer, as in the example.
i.e:
Spoken:
1.이 아파트에 살아요?
2. 네, 5층에 살아요.
Answer: 집
These dialogues are very short and they’ll make several allusions to what the thing is. For example, family might list a variety of siblings, aunts, uncles. As far as I can tell these use a lot of the clustered words or just synonyms because they’re banking on you knowing at least one of them. They’re not trying to trip you up here.
15-16 다음 대화를 듣고 알맞은 그림을 고르십시오
Listen to the following conversation and choose the right picture.
I can’t give you a very good sample here and you won’t get an example before but essentially they’ll show you 4 pictures all pertaining to a situation (shopping, traveling, at the doctor) and in each there will be a clear difference in the actions. Listen closely and pick which part of the process the two people are at (i.e checking luggage, on the plane, finding seats etc)
17-21 다음을 듣고 <보기>와 같이 대화 내용과 같은 것을 고르십시오
Listen to the following and choose the answe that correctly summarizes the content of the conversation.
i.e:
Spoken:
1.(남자) 요즘 한국어를 공부해요?
2. (여자) 네, 한극 친구한테서 한국어를 배워요.
Answer: 여자는 한국어를 공부합니다.
These ones are also very easy, very short dialogues, no more than 4 lines. All the answers will be semi-closely related so you won’t get three about studying Korean and a throw away “the man likes apples” but they’re all obviously different.
For example, the other three options with this question were “the man is a student” “the woman attends school” and “the man teaches Korean” so all on topic but not a “most right” AP type question.
22~24 다음을 듣고 (여자/남자의) 중심 생각을 고르십시오
Listen to the following and choose the answer that summarizes the woman’s* main idea
Read your question closely and listen closely, it will either be about the man or the woman’s opinion/POV. All three questions will be the same in that regard so you can just listen closer to that person if you’re starting to get tired. (these sentences are going to more complicated and you won’t get any more examples)
random example **not an official test
Spoken:
Man: 오늘 좀심을 먹어하자
Woman: 응. 불고기와 과일을 먹고 싶어요.
Man: 하지만 단 은식은 건강에 졸지 않습니다.
Woman: 오늘 일을 해 많아서, 에너지를 없어졌요. 그래서 단 읍식을 궨장히 먹고 싶어요.
Answer: 피곤할 때 단 음식을 먹으면 좋습니다.
These questions are all going to use ~(으)면 좋다 (it’d be good if/when xx) so know this structure. (I’ll make another post about it so check my Korean tag). Essentially, they’re testing your ability to infer someone’s desires based on context clues. The woman cited her long work day and lack of energy for why she wants to eat sweet food, so logically you can asume that she thinks, when you’re tired, sweet food can be good.
Listen to the following and chose the correct answer
Again no good samples here but essentially these will give you a specific prompt per question (i.e why is the woman telling this story?, pick the answer that summarizes the content) these questions are meant to separate 1급 and 2 급 so all I can say is study your vocab a lot? Read the questions quickly before they start talking so you can focus your listening
들은 내용과 가튼 것을 고르십시오 / 다음을 듣고 대화 내용과 같은 것을 고르십시오
Pick the answer that summarizes the content of the following / the following conversation
This question pops up fairly often so recognize it. You’ve done it earlier on the test, it’s just that the listening gets progressively harder on you.
Ultimately, knowing the question types will help you immensely in paying attention and knowing what you’re supposed to answer. I’ll upload a reading question guide, too!
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