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[Review] Intermediate TOPIK 어휘 문법 다지기

With less than 2 months to the next TOPIK, it’s time to get serious about revision. I’m happy to have found yet another Intermediate TOPIK preparatory / revision book courtesy of TwoChois. Nothing beats the feeling of discovering great resources!

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As with other TOPIK books, this is also simply for revision purposes and should not be the main resource that you use to learn the language.

Onwards to the review!

An interesting aspect of this book is how it claims to focus on both the grammar and vocabulary aspects, which is rather rare as most TOPIK books choose to focus on either.

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Each chapter is neatly divided into the following:

  • Vocabulary (verbs | nouns | adjectives or adverbs)  + Exercises + TOPIK-based exercises
  • Idioms and Proverbs (dialogue style)
  • List of grammar points under the same theme (conditional, hypothetical, reason etc)
  • Explanations + sample sentences of each of the grammar points
  • More detailed grouping of grammar points (nuances, similarities etc)
  • Grammar exercises
  • TOPIK-based exercises

See? I already like whoever designed this book. So neat and well organised – and it flows well.

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At first I was slightly perturbed by the need of a ‘vocabulary’ list, which I thought was random. BUT, I greatly appreciate the part where they would have synonyms and antonyms, which I thought was a great way of organising the vocabulary that one might have learnt elsewhere.

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The exercises are also simple and yet relevant, those that you would actually do. I do like that they have the fill-in-the-blank types and then move on to the MCQ style questions that is common in TOPIK.

One aspect that I really liked was the proverb section. It’s introduced with pictures and a short dialogue, which succinctly tells you the meaning (the explanation is also at the bottom of the page) and the way to USE it. Which I think is very important, since most learners might understand the proverb but don’t know how to use it in a sentence.

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The grammar section is the main reason I liked this book. Very concise and great for revision. Each chapter starts out with a table of the grammar points and a sample sentence each, followed by the explanations of each.

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The explanations are relatively short and concise, which is why I think this book is more for revision purposes but I like how they included a number of sample sentences for each point.

The book then delves into the nuances of the grammar structures, grouping a few together based on perhaps their meaning or usage. Grammar points that can substitute each other (with no change in meaning) are also introduced and this helps learners to revise for TOPIK. There’s a question type which asks the learner to find a similar grammar point that can substitute the one in the question.

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The exercises that follow are also great! First, we get those fill in the blanks / write out a sentence type of questions, which helps to reinforce the concepts learnt. Then, we get the TOPIK-style MCQ questions. I feel that this is extremely useful (:

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All in all, highly recommended!! I think it’s a great book to invest in if you are at the intermediate level and I would think it is helpful in preparing for TOPIK!

What I liked:

  • Great organisation of materials, very well structured
  • Ample, relevant exercises
  • Good breakdown of grammar points and ample sample sentences
  • Proverb section is a plus!
  • Easy to digest and work through, not too overwhelming
  • Great as a revision resource

To be improved:

  • Nothing that I can think of!

Get your copy at twochois now!

TWOCHOIS (direct link)

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Here are a few other books I have that are good for intermediate learners! hehe perhaps I would do a comparison post next time! 😀 (I’ve reviewed them separately, feel free to search for them here)

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Do you have other intermediate Korean / TOPIK resources to recommend?

Please feel free to share! 😀

Comments would be greatly appreciated as usual! ^^

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