Weekly TOPIK Writing Podcast

What’s this all about?

• I want to take the Intermediate (soon to be Intermediate/Advanced) TOPIK test this year and pass with a Level 4.
• I think TOPIK Writing (+ the grammar, structure, and vocabulary necessary) is the hardest part of the test (and I think many students agree with me).
• I’m a really busy guy and don’t honestly have a lot of time to sit down and study.
• I like to listen to podcasts and audiobooks about a certain subject I want to learn – during my commute, while doing dishes, etc.
• Even after studying something, I easily tend to forget what I learned without some kind of audio repetition.

So, I thought, why not combine all these things and start making a weekly podcast dedicated to TOPIK Writing that I could take with me on my commute in order to continually improve my Writing?

Disclaimer:

• I don’t claim to be a TOPIK writing expert – I’ll just be presenting what I personally learn and want to remember.
• I also don’t claim to be a podcasting expert – so at least the first few episodes (or the first year of episodes) will probably be a little rough.

That being said, I just want to start getting something out there (because something is always better than nothing) that I can personally review as I study and that others might find useful as well. We’re going to be focusing on CONTENT, not Beauty.

Structure

• First Episode: Wed, February 5, 2013
• Length: *Unknown (though ideally 30 min or so)
• Releases: WEEKLY (Wednesday)
• Hosts: Aaron (the Student) and Sarah (the Teacher)

First Show:

Because I’m busy with a winter camp now, we need a little extra time to get started so that we can hit the ground running with this podcast. So we will start releasing episodes in February. Topic: 33rd TOPIK Test Sample Writings. The answer key for TOPIK is usually released the day after the test happens, in this case, answers are expected to be released on January 20th.

Anticipated Podcast Schedule:

1. Feb~July: TOPIK Writing Samples from 33 down (in reverse order)
2. Mid-July: Evaluation of the NEW TOPIK Writing format and sample answer
3. August~: Continuation of previous TOPIK tests + NEW TOPIK when available

Segments:

1. Intro & Welcome
2. Announcements
3. Beginner Writing Question & Sample (Reading)
4. Sentence-by-sentence translation
5. Focus on 2-3 grammar points or vocabulary word usages
6. TRANSITION
7. Intermediate Writing Question & Sample (Reading)
8. Sentence-by-sentence translation
9. Focus on 5 grammar points or vocabulary word usages
10. TRANSITION
11. TOPIK Writing Tips
12. Final Comments
13. Outro

Basic Facts about TOPIK Writing:

• Beginner essays tend to be: ~10 sentences long / 150-300 characters
• Intermediate essays tend to be: 12-20 sentences long / 400-600 characters

What do you think? Would you listen to a podcast like this?

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