Sponsored post by TopikPrep, an online TOPIK practice site. FiveMinRead checked the facts and edited it for clarity.
In five minutes
TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) is the official Korean language test run by South Korea's National Institute for International Education (NIIED). Universities, employers and visa programmes in Korea ask for it, and a result stays valid for two years. There are two papers: TOPIK I for beginners (levels 1–2) and TOPIK II for intermediate and advanced learners (levels 3–6). You don't choose a level; your score decides it.
Most people who miss their target level don't lack Korean. They lose points to the clock, to the writing section, or to vocabulary they half-know. A short, regular plan fixes all three.
What the test looks like
- TOPIK I (200 points): Listening, 30 questions in 40 minutes, then Reading, 40 questions in 60 minutes. All multiple choice. Level 1 needs 80 points, level 2 needs 140.
- TOPIK II (300 points): Listening, 50 questions in 60 minutes, and Writing, 4 questions in 50 minutes, in the first session; Reading, 50 questions in 70 minutes, in the second. Level 3 needs 120 points, level 4 needs 150, level 5 needs 190 and level 6 needs 230.
- Writing in TOPIK II has two short sentence-completion questions, a 200–300 character description of a graph or table, and a 600–700 character opinion essay. The essay alone can decide whether you reach level 5.
- Since late 2023 some countries also offer an internet-based TOPIK (IBT) taken on a computer at a test centre. The content is the same kind of Korean; check which version your local centre runs.
The 8-week plan
Weeks 1–2: vocabulary and a baseline
Take one full past paper under real timing before you study anything. Your score shows the gap to your target level, and your wrong answers show where the points are. Then build a vocabulary deck from the words you missed, not from a generic list. Review it every day with spaced repetition: short sessions, spread out, testing yourself instead of rereading (our guide to spaced repetition vs rereading explains why it works). Twenty new words a day for 14 days is 280 words, roughly what separates a level 3 from a level 4 reading score.
Weeks 3–4: listening every day
TOPIK listening is fast and is played only once. Do 15 minutes a day: play a past-paper track, answer, then read the script and listen again while reading. The second pass is where you learn. Note the expressions that cost you points, such as 고 하다 (reported speech) and 는 바람에 (because of, for something unwanted), and add them to your deck.
Weeks 5–6: reading speed
In TOPIK II you have 70 minutes for 50 reading questions, about 84 seconds each, and the last passages are the longest. Practise with a timer and a rule: if a question takes more than two minutes, mark a guess and move on. Read the question before the passage so you know what to look for. Notice the connectors (그러나, 따라서, 반면에): they tell you where the answer sits.
Weeks 7–8: writing and full mock tests
For TOPIK II, write one graph description and one essay every other day. Use a fixed structure for the essay: introduction with your position, two reasons with an example each, a conclusion that restates the position. Stay inside 600–700 characters, because a shorter answer loses marks however good it is. In the last two weeks, take one full mock test per week under exam conditions, then spend the next day only on your mistakes. If you want ready-made timed mocks, TopikPrep has 50+ full TOPIK mock tests and 2,000+ practice questions (the site is in Vietnamese).
Common mistakes
- Studying only grammar books. Grammar matters, but most lost points come from vocabulary and speed.
- Skipping the essay. Many level 4 learners leave question 54 thin. A clear, complete essay of the right length is often the difference between level 4 and 5.
- Using formal speech badly in writing. TOPIK writing expects the written style (-다, -ㄴ다), not polite speech (-아요/-어요).
- Never practising on time. Untimed practice hides the real problem. Time every set from week 3.
Read next
For a deeper look at how to make study stick, read Spaced Repetition vs Rereading: the same method that builds a TOPIK vocabulary deck works for any subject.
