Sunday, June 9, 2013

Testing My Nerves - Taking the KIIP Exam



After living here a few years, 
I've gotten it into my head 
that I need to get my hands on 

Is this a critically important thing to have? 
No, it is not.
It does, however, come with perks.
I like perks.


 GETTING STARTED WITH KIIP

One of the most important things I need to do is get my butt into the social integration program.  That requires first taking and entrance exam to determine my Korean level.

You do this by going to this website: www.socinet.go.kr and signing up for the evaluation exam.  You will need to make an account in order to register.  Also, you will most likely find issues using the website unless you are using internet explorer.  Even if you know Korean we HIGHLY recommend having a Korean help you with signing up and registering.  The website has many error messages for all sorts of things and it can be quite frustrating to navigate - even for Koreans themselves.  

Once you have signed up, you will need to print out a copy of your "Registration Ticket" and take it to the exam with you.  You also need your Alien Registration Card.  You will show them these two items to confirm you "Number" that is listed on a big sheet outside your testing area.  You will sit in a seat with that same number.


The test itself is two parts.  The first part is like a mini TOPIK exam.  It starts out easy and gets harder and harder.  My Korean level is not that high so I only go through 2/3 of the test before the time was up.  The longer the paragraphs got the more I was confused.  I'm pretty stoked about free classes to help get my Korean to the next level.


After the written, you will be taken to another classroom where you will take the spoken part of the exam.  They will test you in reading ability, reading comprehension, listening and speaking.  (This is where I totally, epically bombed some things.) 

They will call you out of the big room in small groups of 4-5 and you will all sit at a table across from some examiners and they will have you read and easy section of Korean.  Then they will ask you about what you read as well as some personal questions.  The section is actually very easy to understand and so are their questions about it and you. 

Once that is finished you wait a week to find out what classes they have assigned you to and where you will take those classes.  I have my fingers crossed that I won't have to repeat the entire first part of Korean because of another ridiculous "I Love Lucy" moment.

OTHER KIIP POSTS

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I just took the test last week. I just found out I am in LVL 2 Beginner. I was guessing my butt off on that test after question 6 and deciphered 2 questions of questions on the culture to possibly get the correct answer. When in doubt the answer is C (3) in that test.

You Are Here said...

That's the same level I started from as well. The test was so difficult for me at the time. I had no idea what was happening. lol. Good luck with L2! Just so you know. I've been working on a blog NaeNae Korean that has lots of learning tools and information for KIIP students. I'm trying to post helpful things each week. It's all different levels, but somethings might help you :) There is also a YouTube ChannelNaeNae Korean if you want to follow that. I've been doing a lot of research on kids books to read, songs to sing, additional resources to use for writing etc. Trying to help make other folks lives better than mine was while I studied.