South Korea with Iris

In the next section, you can see how points are distributed. You must have heard about the TOPIK exam. TOPIK is short for Test of Proficiency in Korean. And it is the most popular exam to determine the level of knowledge of the Korean language. Let's get to know this exam a little closer. The TOPIK certificate is asked for when entering a university in Korea when applying for a job when applying for a visa. Also, many universities in Korea can give you a grant in the form of a tuition discount depending on your TOPIK level.  History of TOPIK The very first TOPIK exam took place in 1997, and then only 2,274 people took it. And in 2021, a total of 330,016 people registered for the exam! Types of TOPIK Previously, TOPIK was divided into 2 types: B-TOPIK and S-TOPIK . What is the difference? S-TOPIK or Standard TOPIK is a regular TOPIK, i.e. for general purposes. A B-TOPIK or Business TOPIK for employment. S-TOPIK, in turn, was divided into elementary (1-2), intermediate (3-4) and adva

Last time I told you about Korean courses , so maybe it is time to talk about the Korean language itself? Korean language… The Korean language was not so popular…before the Korean wave became a worldwide trend. What do you know about the Korean language? Many people think that the Korean language is like the Chinese language, and there is no alphabet, only Chinese hieroglyphs. Today, I will share with you a few facts about the Korean language. Maybe some of these facts are familiar to you, maybe not. First of all, the Korean language or Hangeul (한글) was invented in the XV century by the 4th King of the Joseon Dynasty King Sejong Great. Before it, Korean people used Chinese hieroglyphs. Sejong King tried to make the language easy to study or use by any social level. Because, during the Joseon Dynasty poor people couldn’t even read, so they couldn’t learn about any announcements or news which were published on the board. So, Sejong King invented the Korean alphabet. Each letter was deriv

Travelling around is always awesome, and is full of positive emotions and memories. But during travel, we usually face different issues related to the foreign language. And today we will talk about South Korea and the Korean language. I started to study the Korean language in 2009 when I received a scholarship from Korean Foundation. My first language course was at Hanyang University. It was a short intensive program. The scholarship covered everything, except travel expenses. But still, it was a pretty good deal. The course duration is 3 weeks. A little bit of Korean language… Hangugo (한국어)— Korean language. Hanguk (한국)— Korea, Suffix ‘-o’ (-어) means ‘language’ During the courses, we stayed in the dormitory. There were 2 students in one room. The room was pretty wide: 2 tables, 2 beds, 2 wardrobes, toilet and shower room, etc. The classes were in another building. In order to get there from the dormitory, we could take a subway or free shuttle bus (about 15mins), or just walk (about 3