A while ago, I reviewed the TOPIK One apps for Android that André Graziani has created. Unfortunately, those apps are currently only available for Android (although André did let me know in the blog comments that he’s working on porting those to iPhone now). In the meantime, however, here are some other promising looking apps that are currently available for iPhone and iPad:
Little by Little TOPIK Apps Overview
Little by Little apps are available for:
- Beginner
- Intermediate I
- Intermediate II
In four languages:
- English
- Japanese
- Simplified Chinese
- Traditional Chinese
And include:
Actual Practice Test
It also provides test results at the end to (1) check your answers and (2) check the meaning and pronunciation of words on the test.
TOPIK Vocabulary
This includes about 500 words that are used on the actual TOPIK test in a vocabulary list format. When you click a word, it opens with the same meaning and pronunciation screen that the Actual Practice Test Results page displays. To check pronunciation, BOTH a male (blue button) and a female (red button) voice pronounce the words.
Word Learning
This section includes 3 types of quizzes: (1) O/X, (2) Multiple Choice, and (3) an audio quiz.
- The O/X section is a bit like a Flash Card program. You simply click O if you know the word and X if you don’t know the word, and it will reveal the word in your chosen language if you don’t.
- The Multiple Choice section is a listening section. You hear a word and must match it with the definition in your chosen language below (4 choices).
- The third section, the audio quiz is actually a Dictation Quiz, where you hear a word and type it out with correct spelling.
Quiz Results
This section includes your vocabulary learning results in nice horizontal line graphs.
- Noun
- Verb
- Adjective
- Adverb
App Images
App Review
While the app does have an appealing design and interface, as well as some pretty interesting and unique features like the Dictation Quiz and the male/female pronunciation checking, I can’t help but feel like it’s just an overblown Flash Card app. It seems to concentrate a lot on vocabulary – even the Actual Practice Test (at least from the video) only asks you to fill in the blank with specific vocabulary words.
And judging from some of the app reviews, it seems like it may still be a little buggy on some devices.
Promising, but not quite all it’s cracked up to be
I’d say this app has potential, but it hasn’t quite reached the level of the TOPIK One apps which provide FULL Actual TOPIK Tests including the Vocabulary & Grammar, Listening, Reading, and Writing sections.
As an overblown Flash Card app, and given the bad reviews as well as the $4.99 price tag, I’d have to rate this app a 2.5 or 3. But since it is one of the few promising iDevice apps currently available (including an HD version for iPad), I’ll increase the score to 3.5. But if you’re looking to spend money on something that’s more complete as a TOPIK Test app, I’d recommend waiting until André finishes porting TOPIK One to iPhone.
Check out the video below to see this app in action:
Have you used Little by Little? What do you think? Do you have any better recommendations for iPhone and iPad?
I really liked the Little by Little apps back when they actually worked. They have not worked for me since ios6. The apps crash when i reach the MCQ listening section although other functions still work with no problem. it’s just the listening part that crashes the whole app for me. I’ve emailed them a few times but have never gotten a response.
That stinks. Sorry to hear that. I’ve actually not used these apps much myself. I prefer TOPIK ONE. But I’m also usually so busy I don’t have a lot of time to really sit down and play with new apps.
Little by Little looks like it provides a pretty good solution, so long as it works as intended to.
I also like the section where it requires you to type in the words as we can practice the spelling as well. Unfortunately I never reach that section as its after the listening portion 🙁