Hanok Korean Class: FAQ

How many levels?
What type of books do you use? Do you have to pay for the books?
Why are the school fees so competitive?
Are there tests?
Is certificate given?
TOPIK
What is the class content?
Make-up lessons and others
I know some Korean, must I start from Level 1?
Instructor

How many levels?

There are 4 basic levels here. Different schools name their levels differently.

At Hanok, students may attempt TOPIK Beginner after completing the 4 levels. We do have students who attempted the TOPIK before completing and passed.

Currently, there are only 4 levels because our focus is providing students with the best Korean Language basic lessons. We do not believe in hiring a teacher and just getting a book to teach. Like primary schools only teach primary level, building a strong foundation is important. When students master the basics of the language, it is much easier for them to advance to higher levels.

What type of books do you use? Do you have to pay for the books?

For the first few levels, we use our own books and materials. The books in the market are mostly from the universities in Korea and are catered for students studying in Korea. Thus, may not be suitable for learners outside Korea. We have created our own books after years of researching and teaching to suit the Singaporean students so they can learn in the most effective manner.

Why are the school fees so competitive?

Simply because we are able to keep our costs down by focusing on passing knowledge to students. There are no fixed operating hours and we market through word-of-mouth. And also we are conveniently located near the train station outside the city center.

Are there tests?

There are level tests before going to the next level. Weekly quizzes are held for students and instructor to gauge students' ability. We believe continuous assessments help students to learn consistently and without pressure.

However, for students who know some Korean, there is a free online assessment for students who have Korean language knowledge.

Is certificate given?

Certificate is given upon student's request.

Please note that the only recognized certificate is the one issued upon passing TOPIK.

TOPIK

TOPIK content is covered in Hanok, but more is done to just pass TOPIK. TOPIK is a written examination and do not really gauge the fluency and speaking ability of the students. Hanok's aim is to help students to achieve a level of comfortability in communicating using Basic Korean Language in writing AND speaking.

Hanok students have successfully taken TOPIK after studying with Hanok for less than a year.

TOPIK, Test of Proficiency in Korean, is a written test designed to measure the ability of non-native speakers for written, reading and listening comprehension in the Korean language. There are past year papers free to download for students to practice. As no oral test is conducted, students are not required to speak proficiently to pass the test. :)

Standard (S) TOPIK is conducted in Singapore, usually every April and October. The test is held at Singapore Korean School. The test is not prepared by the Singapore Korean School, they are solely the Singapore administrator of the test. It is developed by the Korea Institute of Curriculum & Evaluation (KICE) in Korea. Singapore's MOE does not have anything to do with TOPIK or KLPT. Anyone can take the test as long as they make a registration fee of about $80. And note that TOPIK certificates have an expiry date of 2 years from the date of issue.

Students who need to take TOPIK are those with plans to study or work in Korea within these two years. These organizations are most likely to conduct interview, and TOPIK only tests your written skills, vocabulary and grammar ability. It is not a good gauge of your communication ability.

Otherwise students take TOPIK for self-fulfillment and to motivate themselves to study harder. :)

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