In September, I took the Test of Proficiency in Korean, or better known as TOPIK. On the 1st of November, results were released via the TOPIK website so I went to check. No matter how many times I tried to log in, I couldnt. The reason being that there was no such registration number. WTF? I'm sure I took the test and that I wrote my registration number correctly. A little chat on MSN revealed that some of my other friends couldnt log in also, hence, I decided to phone the Singapore Korean School for help. The day I phoned them was a Friday and they told me that it was already 6pm in Korea so no one was working already and they could only get back to me on Monday. They then asked me for my phone number and my registration number before ending the call.
On Monday, I phoned the school. The lady who picked up the phone was seriously fucking rude to me.
Lady : You cannot log in? Have you added another 0?
Me : Yes, I did.
The reason why she asked this was because on that day of the exam, they realised that they forgot to add in one more zero to everyone's registration number. WTF? So unprofessional!
Lady : STILL CANNOT LOG IN?!
Me : Yes..(What the...of course la! If not why I call for what?!)
Lady : Okay okay, I'll check again, what's your registration number?
Me : xxxxxxxxxx
With that, she ended the call. I then decided to try my luck at logging into the website and holy smokes! I could log in! No wonder she was so angry. Then again, she had absolutely no right to bark at me. First of all, why ask for my phone number and registration number on Friday when they weren't intending to inform me that they rectified the problem on Monday and that it was okay to log in?! Next, why ask for my registration number again when...up till now, nobody has informed me that I'm able to log in le?! What's wrong man, seriously...
Anyway, logged in. Scrolled down for results. OMFG. Results were like fucking bad.
Vocabulary/Grammer : 50~60 marks (Cant remember the exact results.)
Composition : Cant remember exactly but it was a failing mark.
Listening : 51
Reading : 50+ or something like that.
I logged out and re-logged in. Nope, I didnt type anything wrongly. If I really got such lousy marks for composition, I understand because my composition skills are seriously bad, be it composition in English, Chinese, Japanese or Korean. All of my writing ability got sucked by my sister, explaining why she writes damn well. However, I cant believe that I got 51 marks for listening and 50+ for reading because I thought that these two parts were damn easy during the test. I even left early lor. I'm not boasting here but my listening is good ok! I was so disappointed and pissed at the same time when my friend told me online that she couldnt believe her marks because she got 100 marks for both listening and reading. Thanks, that helped me SO much. My total marks reached the passing mark for Elementary Level 1 but not Level 2 and my aim was actually Level 2. In fact, everyone else who took the test did damn well, according to that friend. Feeling damn pissed, I decided to email the people in Korea to ask if I can do a review on my marks. I'll quote exactly what transpired in the emails.
Me : Hi, I was wondering if I could have a review of my TOPIK test for the 12th TOPIK test? The reason is because I felt that I did quite well for listening and the reading part. Thanks.
Korea : Hello, I supposed that there is no doubt about the result. However if you would like to check your answer sheets, visit our office. You may check only your marking for the mutiple choices, not the statement and composition part. Best Regards.
Me : Where's the office? I live in Singapore.
And...ta-da! No reply up till now. I mean, seriously, if I cant do a review because I live in Singapore, kindly please at least give me a reply. A short 'NO' will suffice...but no reply at all?! That's intolerable! Firstly, I had to pay $50 for the test and I dont even get a letter saying whether I pass or fail. Even when I pass, I dont even get a certificate. Everything is on the website, softcopy. $50 is a lot of money lo, at least to me. JLPT cost me $36 and I got both the results slip and certificate, in hardcopy. Furthermore, the website sucks because so many people couldnt log in the first time. Anyway, I decided that it was my bad luck or I probably really shaded my answers wrongly so I decided to let it go.
Then yesterday, while walking towards the MRT with another classmate, she raised the topic of TOPIK. (Hee, rhyming sentence~) I told her that my results suck damn bad. She then told me to check again because the first time she checked, her results were bad too. However, when she checked a few days later, the results were better. WTF? The results can change? So, I decided to check my results again today. Amazingly, my results improved by leaps and bounds!
Okay, composition still sucks but at least it's a pass and listening marks were good. Reading also. The total marks meant that I passed Elementary Level 2 and not Level 1. WTF? Results really can change man. Scarely tomorrow I check the results change again. Then again, why the people in Korea didnt reply my email if they did a review for me?!
Digressing a little, the main toilet in my house is under renovation and because of that, I have to bathe in the other toilet as if there's water rationing like that. Will blog about it another day because this post is damn long.
On Monday, I phoned the school. The lady who picked up the phone was seriously fucking rude to me.
Lady : You cannot log in? Have you added another 0?
Me : Yes, I did.
The reason why she asked this was because on that day of the exam, they realised that they forgot to add in one more zero to everyone's registration number. WTF? So unprofessional!
Lady : STILL CANNOT LOG IN?!
Me : Yes..(What the...of course la! If not why I call for what?!)
Lady : Okay okay, I'll check again, what's your registration number?
Me : xxxxxxxxxx
With that, she ended the call. I then decided to try my luck at logging into the website and holy smokes! I could log in! No wonder she was so angry. Then again, she had absolutely no right to bark at me. First of all, why ask for my phone number and registration number on Friday when they weren't intending to inform me that they rectified the problem on Monday and that it was okay to log in?! Next, why ask for my registration number again when...up till now, nobody has informed me that I'm able to log in le?! What's wrong man, seriously...
Anyway, logged in. Scrolled down for results. OMFG. Results were like fucking bad.
Vocabulary/Grammer : 50~60 marks (Cant remember the exact results.)
Composition : Cant remember exactly but it was a failing mark.
Listening : 51
Reading : 50+ or something like that.
I logged out and re-logged in. Nope, I didnt type anything wrongly. If I really got such lousy marks for composition, I understand because my composition skills are seriously bad, be it composition in English, Chinese, Japanese or Korean. All of my writing ability got sucked by my sister, explaining why she writes damn well. However, I cant believe that I got 51 marks for listening and 50+ for reading because I thought that these two parts were damn easy during the test. I even left early lor. I'm not boasting here but my listening is good ok! I was so disappointed and pissed at the same time when my friend told me online that she couldnt believe her marks because she got 100 marks for both listening and reading. Thanks, that helped me SO much. My total marks reached the passing mark for Elementary Level 1 but not Level 2 and my aim was actually Level 2. In fact, everyone else who took the test did damn well, according to that friend. Feeling damn pissed, I decided to email the people in Korea to ask if I can do a review on my marks. I'll quote exactly what transpired in the emails.
Me : Hi, I was wondering if I could have a review of my TOPIK test for the 12th TOPIK test? The reason is because I felt that I did quite well for listening and the reading part. Thanks.
Korea : Hello, I supposed that there is no doubt about the result. However if you would like to check your answer sheets, visit our office. You may check only your marking for the mutiple choices, not the statement and composition part. Best Regards.
Me : Where's the office? I live in Singapore.
And...ta-da! No reply up till now. I mean, seriously, if I cant do a review because I live in Singapore, kindly please at least give me a reply. A short 'NO' will suffice...but no reply at all?! That's intolerable! Firstly, I had to pay $50 for the test and I dont even get a letter saying whether I pass or fail. Even when I pass, I dont even get a certificate. Everything is on the website, softcopy. $50 is a lot of money lo, at least to me. JLPT cost me $36 and I got both the results slip and certificate, in hardcopy. Furthermore, the website sucks because so many people couldnt log in the first time. Anyway, I decided that it was my bad luck or I probably really shaded my answers wrongly so I decided to let it go.
Then yesterday, while walking towards the MRT with another classmate, she raised the topic of TOPIK. (Hee, rhyming sentence~) I told her that my results suck damn bad. She then told me to check again because the first time she checked, her results were bad too. However, when she checked a few days later, the results were better. WTF? The results can change? So, I decided to check my results again today. Amazingly, my results improved by leaps and bounds!
Okay, composition still sucks but at least it's a pass and listening marks were good. Reading also. The total marks meant that I passed Elementary Level 2 and not Level 1. WTF? Results really can change man. Scarely tomorrow I check the results change again. Then again, why the people in Korea didnt reply my email if they did a review for me?!
Digressing a little, the main toilet in my house is under renovation and because of that, I have to bathe in the other toilet as if there's water rationing like that. Will blog about it another day because this post is damn long.
Congrats on your great results Jhuion! Did you take the intermediate exam a couple of weeks ago?
I'm hoping to get level 2 from the beginner's paper this time around. By the way, I created a website focussing on how to prepare for TOPIK (http://TOPIKrevision.googlepages.com). Please let me know if you have any suggestions for it.
Good luck with your Korean studies!
Thanks for the comment!
The TOPIK exam is only available in Singapore in September =( So I guess I'll have to wait till then to take the intermediate exam. =D