Korean language proficiency test

On Sunday, November 10th, 2013, I took the Korean language proficiency test for the beginner level (level 5). I got my result in mid December and I PASSED!!!!! I got 77% (the passing grade was 60%).

I was so nervous about taking it since I had only started studying seriously from January of this year.
Plus it wasn't as if I were taking classes nor seeing my language exchange partner on a weekly basis.
I mostly studied alone at home... The only thing I had going for myself was all the K-pop I listen to and the Korean dramas and movies I watch.

I had a textbook that focused solely on the level  5 test so I used that the most in the few months before the test but I was quite overwhelmed by the amount of vocabulary there was... So, I spent most of my time writing the vocab out repeatedly and working on the practice questions in the textbook. Also, it came with a CD so I listened to that almost everyday. But of course, when I got bored I listened to TVXQ and Super Junior!!

This is the textbook I used to study

I have been using another textbook for my grammar study but this one had some too so I used both for that part. I wasn't too concerned about the grammar since I felt fairly confident for this level. I was studying grammar points that were not necessary for this level yet too. 

Like I wrote in my previous entry, I felt fairly confident with the listening part of the test. 

It was the vocabulary in the written part that got me... 

Plus I hadn't studied the part about how to read the words properly as much as I should have... What I mean is, in Korean, some words are written in a certain way but are pronounced differently. So, there is a part in the test where we have to phonetically spell out the word by reading the correctly spelt word. It's similar to the French liason where the consonant and vowels link with each other to make a different sound instead of one sound each. 

For example, in French, "my name is" would be "je m'appelle" and it's said all together quite smoothly. In Korean, the word for "many" is "mani만이" and is written as "man만" and "i이" but pronounced as "mani" and no as "man-i". Another example would be in English. We would write out "school" but pronounce it "s-koo-l"or write out "knife" but pronounce it "na-i-f".

Anyways, I passed so now I should study more and prepare for the Level 4 test. I hope to take this next year in November. I may take the Level 3 test at the same time.

But my main problem right now is that I can't speak Korean well at all...
My focus of study for next year will be to be able to speak more.
I plan to write a diary more often and read that out loud to my language exchange partner and gradually not look at the entry and just tell her like a normal conversation.
Hopefully I'll be able to go visit Korean too, next year!!

Wish me luck!!