안녕하세요!! 토미입니다!
This time, I have invited Angika, one of my “Fast Korean” course students!
I will briefly introduce Angika.
She is from India, and currently living in Busan, South Korea.
And she is 31 years old.
To summarize her achievements, Angika proudly passed a TOPIK Level 2 mock test in just 3 months.
When I first met her on July 13th, she took a TOPIK Ⅰ mock test.
At that time, her scores were Listening 48, Reading 61, for a total of 109 points.
However, on the actual TOPIK Ⅰ test on October 19th, she scored Listening 89, Reading 74, for a total of 163 points, successfully achieving TOPIK Level 2!
Congratulations! 🎉
In short, her listening score jumped 41 points, from 48 to 89 !!!
Her reading score went up 13 points, from 61 to 74 !
Now let’s hear in detail how Angika achieved these results!
그럼 시작할게요!
※From this point on, it will be Angika’s remarks.
Self-introduction
I am from India, but currently I am residing in Busan, South Korea.
I received the Global Korea Scholarship in 2025 as a master’s student in Computer Science specializing in Artificial Intelligence.
The reason why took the TOPIK exam
What was your original motivation for taking TOPIK?
I actually received the Global Korea Scholarship 2025 and since then I started learning Korean both to complete my master’s in Busan National University and also to work in South Korea.
So for the past year, my focus has been entirely on learning Korean and that’s why I am so motivated to take the TOPIK exam.
How long did you prepare for TOPIK, and what did your study routine look like?
I studied for 3 months for my first TOPIK I exam and was able to achieve Level 2.
It may sound amazing to achieve Level 2 in 3 months, but it was very intensive.
My routine was mainly focused on completing vocabulary first and then learning grammar.
I completed this process within 2 months and dedicated one full month to practicing mock tests.
This was very crucial for becoming familiar with the question types, the exam format, and time management.
So that’s pretty much how my routine looked like.
Study, study, study.
Yes.
I know you have been studying so hard.
But about 3 weeks before the exam date, which was on September 26, 2025.
There was a fire at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon, and because of that, the official TOPIK website and several major systems went down.
As a result, things like test admission tickets, and exam registration were delayed for more than a month.
The Ministry of Education and the National Institute for International Education set up temporary systems and worked on restoring everything, and by late October, services started to come back online little by little.
Can you tell us what you felt at the time?
Which section did you find the most difficult — Listening, Reading? Why?
To be honest, both listening and reading are difficult.
But I feel listening is a little trickier because being attentive and focused to hear the audio while reading the questions at the same time.
But in reading, managing your time is very important as the passages are large.
Can you describe the atmosphere at the test venue on the exam day?
The exam had a serious atmosphere overall.
But there was an event that was a little disturbing.
While the listening test was going on, the person next to me kept moving his registration paper around on the desk.
It was quite noisy considering how quiet the environment was and the only focus was the audio.
I wouldn’t lie but it was really disturbing.
I am pretty sure I lost a score in that question.
Otherwise it was really great.
What was going through your mind right before the test started?
To be honest, I was blank most of the time and nervous the rest of the time.
I was not sure of what to revise and do but I just focused on keeping myself calm and relaxed.
And trusting me myself played a huge role in my exam.
What do you think made the biggest difference in helping you pass TOPIK?
Sticking to a schedule and routine is the key to passing the exam.
.At first, I did not believe that just having a schedule or routine could make such a difference.
On top of that I believe memorizing vocabulary is a game changer, but I should warn you, it is very challenging.
What advice would you give to someone in an English-speaking country who is preparing for TOPIK right now?
I truly believe people can learn a language quickly by speaking.
But I understand it’s not always possible to speak Korean in public and listen to it more.
But in that case I would suggest watching K-dramas and listening to Korean podcasts.
There are also many Korean-related events held around the world, so try to take part in them.
Connect with the Korean Embassy in your country and look for the global association events.
And definitely keep learning, because to be honest, it is not an easy language to learn.
Be patient, it takes time.
