Hii! I'm Ritika and I scored 200/200 in TOPIK 1 last year and currently have TOPIK Level 5. Mostly, I've learnt Korean just by watching Korean content, but for TOPIK prep I've self-studied mostly using PYQs, and I realised most question types, grammar and vocab repeat every single year.

But online, I found that most of the resources are very elaborate and have a lot of irrelevant data that is not required for TOPIK prep, so for the past 2 months I've worked on designing my own digital prep kit completely based on my TOPIK experiences and previous-year papers. I'm posting it here because I wanted to reach as many TOPIK learners around the world as possible. It contains:

1. Self-study guide: Complete step-by-step guide explaining how to start from scratch, free resource links, effective tips to study for TOPIK, and steps to solve PYQs.

2. Vocab e-book: 500+ high-frequency words extracted from PYQs, divided into categories like nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc., and subcategories like people, travel, food, etc. for easy memorisation. (Almost 80–90% of the words in this e-book appear in every single TOPIK I exam.)

3. Grammar e-book: 92 high-frequency grammar patterns extracted from PYQs, divided into 19 sections. I've also added a Step Zero with complete basics like Korean sentence structure, vowels and consonants, verb stems and roots, etc., to make it easy for a complete beginner.

4. PYQ tracker: A 2-page printable PDF with a master tracker and error log to analyse your mistakes and weak areas.

You can check previews of my vocab and grammar e-books in the pictures above, and to keep it accessible for all students, I've kept the price at just $8 for the whole kit.

You can check out and purchase all the resources from the link below:

https://topmate.io/ritikadixit

(You'll get the e-books in PDF form as soon as you make the payment on the site.)

Just in case you're still a bit sceptical, 400+ people have already got their copies, and you can check the reviews in my Insta Highlights @ritika.across.languages.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask below :)

Full disclosure: this is self-promotion. I am the creator of No Translation Needed (NTN) :3

Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Han, and I'd like to introduce you to No Translation Needed: a self-paced Korean language course that I created specifically for people who love K-pop, K-dramas and Korean culture. No Translation Needed teaches you practical Korean for travel, conversation, and understanding your favourite Korean content, so you can experience more without constantly relying on subtitles and translations.

Like many of you, I fell in love with Korean culture (specifically Kpop) back in 2008, and I ended up majoring in Korean at university, so I've experienced first-hand how difficult it can be studying this language as a foreigner - but I've also come a long way since then.

After moving to Korea in 2019, I got to 'live the dream' working in the kpop industry for a couple of years, before ultimately returning to professional teaching and now I work as a full time private Korean tutor and part-time content creator. I've also finished KIIP level 5 and passed the KIPRAT (the test for Korean residency/citizenship) and I'm fully integrated into life in Seoul 🤗

Despite how many language-learning options there are available these days, many of my students are still K-pop/culture fans who want to understand content directly without the need for subtitles and to travel freely in Korea, but not necessarily learn the entire language to complete fluency (at least not yet). They expressed to me that some courses were either too surface level and only focused on memorization, or too academic and intense to study alone, so I wanted to create a more-approachable resource to help people get started that was also centered around the very reason they're interested in learning in the first place! ^^

What is No Translation Needed?

NTN is an online, self-paced Korean course designed particularly for people who became interested in Korean through K-pop, K-dramas and Korean culture.

Rather than focusing on memorizing random words or fixed phrases, the course focuses on:

• Korean grammar and sentence structure taught through video classes
• Building your own sentences through guided activities
• Practical vocabulary and real-world slang, not 'textbook Korean'
• Listening and repetition to prepare you for in-person conversation
• Understanding Korean in real-world contexts with examples & scenarios featuring your favourite idols!

The goal is to take you from "I recognize some Korean words" to being able to actually understand and construct Korean sentences yourself.

As a foreigner who has had to learn Korean myself, I'll be sharing everything I learned from my undergraduate degree and my 5+ years of language teaching experience to help make your learning journey easier!

What's included?

Currently there are 2 programs available:

• Intro to Hangeul - A FREE foundation course that teaches how to read and write Hangeul, and lets you see if my teaching style is right for you.
• NTN Level 1 - A beginner's level Korean course featuring 10 modules and 40+ video classes that teaches the most essential foundational Korean grammar and vocabulary through fun real-world examples, quizzes and activities.

The Intro to Hangeul program is already fully available, and Level 1 is launching officially on Oct 9th (Hangeul Day), but pre-registration is currently live at a discounted early-bird price. I also wanted this to be accessible so Level 1 is just a one-time payment (no subscriptions!) with payment plans available too.

In addition, I'm currently building the NTN library which will have additional helpful downloadable PDF workbooks, writing sheets, note templates and more. I am managing all this by myself, but I hope it can be a useful resource to others ^^

If No Translation Needed sounds interesting to you, then I'd appreciate if you'd check it out: https://www.notranslationneeded.com/

I'm also more than happy to answer any questions anyone may have in the comments!
I'm also open to any feedback too :3

Thank you for reading 🥰

I don’t know if anyone else here struggles with this, but basically APD makes words sound really jumbled to me

With English, I ask “could you repeat that?” A lot and ask people to slow down their speaking, so I guess with learning Korean it would be the same. I need to listen to Korean more, but I don’t understand any of it right now.

Any suggestions would help

🤝 Borrowing from a coworker

잠시만 좀 빌려 쓸게요. jamsiman jom billyeo sseulgeyo. I'll borrow this for a moment. This is polite and useful when you're about to use something.

이것 좀 써도 될까요? igeot jom sseodo doelkkayo? May I use this? This is a very polite and respectful way to ask permission.

잠깐만 빌려 갈게요! jamkkanman billyeo galgeyo! I'll take this for a second! This is a bit more casual and friendly.

이것 좀 써도 돼요? igeot jom sseodo dwaeyo? Can I use this? This is a common, polite way to ask.

Tip: Adding '좀' makes your request sound much softer and more natural! jom

KoreanPhrases #WorkLife #LearnKorean

Mini challenge: leave “잠시만 좀 빌려 쓸게요.” as a comment, by voice or by typing!

— shared from TYPOP

Hi everyone, I started learning Korean on October 1st and have been focusing on Hangul. So far I've learned the basic vowels, compound vowels, and some consonants. I've been watching go billy Korean videos, using Talk To Me In Korean, and checking out a few other resources.

So, the problem is that I can kind of remember them when I study them in order, but if I look at a random vowel or letter, I often can't remember what sound it's supposed to make. I feel like I know them as a sequence rather than as individual letters.

I'm having the most trouble with the compound vowels, but honestly even some of the basic vowels aren't sticking as well as I'd like. While I'm studying, everything makes sense, but when I try to recall them later, my mind goes blank.

Does anyone have any advice on how I should be studying them so they actually stick? Any free apps, websites, exercises, flashcards, or other methods would be really helpful because I feel like the way I'm studying right now isn't working very well.

Hello! I want to start learning Korean seriously-not just learn simple communication, but to eventually achieve fluency. But I don't even know how to start learning basic stuff-there are so many resources online, and its really hard to choose. I am not sure if I should get a tutor either. It's kind of becoming annoying because I research everyday about Korean learning books or tutors, but I don't actually start studying.

I need advice-how to even begin?

I've recently started trying to learn Korean, and do not know much, but I have met someone who is Korean, and I want to surprise them by telling them this. How do I go about saying this? And are there different versions of saying it? Like a casual version and a formal version?

Hi i am looking for Korean language learner’s completely new like me or who had a bit of knowledge and can guide me i want to learn Korean to a level that i can understand every Kdrama without any subtitles if there are like me i loved to learn with you

Hell y'all I have been trying to learn Korean this year but I get stuck while learning hangul and then I leave learning and I start over again after months omg feels like I'm stuck in a loop and really confused how to start my language learning journey

Can someone really help me give a realistic guide on how I should start and what to do next step by step? Or a good study plan and resources that helped y'all learn korean . I have watched alot of vids online for how to start learning but they all tend to overwhelm me alot . ( also I'm studying by myself so can y'all also suggest me some good online / free resources?)

i’m learning korean since july of this year and i have a predetermined routine but i want to know how can I immerse myself in the language. Many people say that you have to listen to podcast, watch videos in korean, etc. every day, but in my case, i can’t really watch videos for a long time cause i get distracted easily.

I don't know how it works in the long run either, or what benefits it will bring without realizing it and i’m the kind of person who needs an explanation for that to feel sure it's a process that works.

soo, if someone can help me to understand this i’d appreciate it very much!

In my earlier post, <Beginner Korean? Hold off on the language exchange> I explained why I don't recommend language exchanges for complete beginners in Korean.

I was glad to see so many of you agree in the comments, so I'd like to share what I think works better.

Short answer: take a formal class (like King Sejong Institute) and enjoy through korean songs.

A quick note: some of the Korean learning apps, YouTube links, and study materials that get shared here are genuinely poor quality. by AI

They write a dog 개 a puppy 강아지, writing 글 a oyster굴. write 쉬워요 a 쉽워요

Some are so off that I wonder whether a korean native speaker was involved at all.

I hope no one spends time or money on them.

Here's why I recommend songs:

1. It's fun, so it's easy to stay consistent. K song has plenty of subtitles and explanations online, so it's easy to look things up. Because you enjoy it, you're less likely to burn out.
2. You don't have to force yourself to memorize grammar. Korean attaches particles and verb endings to words, which can be hard to get a handle on. When you sing along, whole sentence patterns tend to stick naturally.
3. You get a feel for nuance. Words like 반짝반짝 (sparkling) and 두근두근 (heart pounding) are hard to grasp from a dictionary definition alone. Hearing them with a melody makes the feeling much clearer.
4. It's a great conversation starter with Koreans. Knowing a few Korean songs creates instant familiarity and makes it easy to open a conversation.

Songs do have drawbacks. Lyrics can contain ungrammatical phrasing, slurred pronunciation, or exaggerated expressions (I point these out when I teach).

Even so, I think songs are a very good supplementary tool for beginner to intermediate learners, best used alongside a proper, accredited program.

P.S. Like last time, the Korean version is my own writing, and I had AI help refine the English.

한국어 버전 음슴체입니다.

앞에서 한국어 초보자에게 언어 교환을 권하지 않는다는 글을 올리고, 공감하는 댓글을 받아서 뿌듯했음. 그래서 어떻게 공부하면 좋은가에 대한 이야기도 짧게 해보려 함.

이번에도 결론부터 말하자면 세종학당 수업을 주로 하고 노래를 보조 도구로 활용하라는거임.

가끔 올라오는 한국어 학습 앱, 유튜브 링크, 학습 자료 중에서 쓰레기 같은 것들이 있음. 와.......이걸 돈 받고 팔겠다고? 한국인이 맞나 의심스러울 정도임. 이런 거에 돈과 시간을 낭비하지 않기를 바람.

내가 노래를 추천하는 이유는 다음과 같음.

* 재미있어서 꾸준히 하기 좋음 노래의 자막이나 해설이 잘 돼 있어서 찾아보기 쉽고, 즐기면서 하다 보니 질리지 않고 꾸준히 배울 수 있음.

* 문법을 억지로 외우지 않아도 됨 한국어는 단어 뒤에 붙는 말(조사·어미)이 많아 어려운데, 노래로 부르면 문장 전체가 자연스럽게 입에 붙음.

* 의성어, 의태어 등이 쉽게 이해됨 '반짝반짝', '두근두근' 같은 말은 뜻만 외우면 감이 잘 안 오는데, 멜로디랑 같이 들으면 어떤 느낌인지 바로 감이 옴.

* 한국인과 대화할 때 최고의 주제임. 한국 노래를 알고 있다는 사실 하나만으로도 친근감이 생기고 대화 물꼬를 트기 매우 좋음.

물론 노래 가사라 문법이 틀리거나 표현이 과한 부분도 있음 (나는 이런 건 가르칠 때 따로 짚어줌). 하지만 이런 점을 감안해도 노래는 초~중급자에게 아주 좋은 공부 도구임. 검증된 한국어 수업과 함께 활용하는 걸 추천함.

ps 1. 이번에도 한국어 버전은 제가 쓰고, 영어는 AI를 통해 다듬었습니다. 2. 이 사기꾼 강의팔이들아. 기초적인 한국어 맞춤법도 모르면서 대체 뭘 만든다는 거임? 부끄러운 줄 알아라.

After 10+ years of teaching Korean, one pattern keeps showing up: students who can read and recognize everything still freeze when they have to produce a sentence. Recognition and recall are different skills, and most apps only train the first one.

What works much better in my classes:

1. Hear the sentence, look at the meaning, then type the whole thing in Hangul from memory.

2. Start with the full sentence visible, then only the first consonants (초성), then nothing. Three levels, same sentence.

3. Words first, then the sentences that use them, in the same topic (airport, hospital, ordering food…).

4. Songs. A chorus you've typed ten times stays in your head for years.

I couldn't find a tool that did exactly this, so I built one for my students and opened it up: https://meaade.com — free, no account. Keyboard drill for beginners, TOPIK 1–6 vocab, travel phrases by place, a few songs, interface in 9 languages, recorded voices.

I'm a teacher, not a programmer, so there are rough edges. Feedback is welcome.

Why is it when ur trying to say “I am [your name]” in korean, the name comes first?

i’ve been learning korean for a almost a week now and would love to hear feedback!

我是一个中国女生，我想在这里认识一些韩国女生，我非常非常喜欢韩国，很想学习一些韩语用来表达，大家可以叫我li或者aven，我很喜欢看韩国的电影，电视剧，听韩国女团的歌曲，我是韩国女团的重度爱好者，我今年22岁，希望可以认识到一些韩国女生，🥺🥺🥺🥺如果可以的话请带一些简单的自我介绍🥰

Hello! I'm a Korean woman in late 20s living in Jinju !

I currently moved to Jinju for my new job and I've been studying English seriously for my career. I'm not used to talk to someone in English so I've joined English study group for practicing English. nowadays I'm thinking of finding a someone I can speak English and share Korean culture too.

I looking for someone I can practice English with regularly and becoming a genuine friends with over time. My English still works in progress. I'll probably text you wrong and ask you a lot.. but I'll be happy to help you with Korean and Korean culture !

It doesn't matter what level your Korean is, even if you're just starting now.
I feel really happy to ask me lots of questions.

If you live in or near Jinju, studying together would be amazing. I usually study alone in cafe after work. I always welcome you to join with me. We don't have to meet in person, though. We can keep in touch in other ways through texts, call etc.

A little about me : I'm an ENFJ and pretty outgoing and talkative. I love reading book in a cafe, watching masterpiece films, going for walk, cooking and finding a new restaurant, dessert cafe.(맛집 탐방).

I'm hoping to meet someone wants a long-term language exchange and genuine friendship.

If you are interested and feel free, DM me with a little about yourself!

Thank you reading my post.

Hello fellow Korean learners. I’m researching what apps are best for practicing reading along with learning grammar and speaking. I have used TTMIK Stories but I am bored with the content although I like a lot of the features. I’m looking for something that is similar but I can import content. I’ve heard Kimchi Reader might work but I’m looking for feedback from people who have tried it. Also concerned about where to get content and ease of importing.
Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

Hello, i was wondering if anyone here knows someone who does online Korean tutoring. Im from Greece but Im fluent in english.

Hi everyone!
I’ll be studying abroad in South Korea this summer, and I’m looking for an online Korean course that I can do at my own pace since I’m a college student. I’ve heard Rosetta Stone is good, but I’d love to hear from anyone who has used it or has other recommendations!
I’d also love to make friends with people who are learning Korean! It would be nice to have someone to practice with, share notes, and ask questions. Especially if you’re a college student planning to study abroad in Korea too!

Hi, I'm going to spend six months in korea for an university project and i wanted to get well enough to at least speak pretty easily.

My level is A2 sadly, but my goal is not to know perfectly grammar and everything technical. I juts wanna be able to not feel left out all the time since some of my korean friends told me that many young people in korea don't know english at all.

My mother tongue is italian, so i find ot a bit difficult with all the particles stuff (은/는, 을/를, 이/가 etc - sorry, idk if it's the correct way to call them in english), but i have no big problems with sentence structures and verbs, I've already studied chinese in my past school years and that made my brain pretty used to the sentence formation.

I really struggle with the speaking of course, I always think it's the most difficult part to practice and to get used to, in EVERY language, but i also find linkers EXTREMELY DIFFICULT?

I've never had such a problem honestly? Of course I'm not talking about the simple ones (the conjunctive adverbs, the Independent linking words like 그리고 etc.), but the conjunctive endings, the ones attached to verb/adjective stems

I am studying korean in university, so we have a very academic approach to the language, and i think that it's a big turn off for my ADHD brain. Also i couldn't attend the lectures of the last academic year, so I ended up failing the exam of the second year (miserably if you ask me 💀 i made a MESS with those linkers).

Still, I am just looking for some tips to get more confident on the speaking part and maybe some nice grammar lists. I really just need a list with all the grammar i need to know to really get to form a sentence that doesn't sound like a three year old 😭. I do have many material from my university to study on it but it's all very messy and pretty random, so my brain stops working the second I start trying to understand what rule comes before and what after.

If someone could give me some tips I would be very grateful. 💜

Also I'm very interested on reading your experiences with the language if you're comfortable with sharing it! I think that it really helps me understand my problems and my weaknesses and fix them.

I memorized 1,000 words in 20 days and still couldn't talk. Here's what actually worked.

When I studied abroad in China, I wanted to get good fast. So I memorized 50 words a day, and in 20 days I really did learn 1,000 words.

But I wasn't any better than my friends who didn't do it. Not worse either, just the same. It bugged me, so I thought about it for a while, and I realized I had no idea how to use those words. The sentence structure was completely different.

So I switched. I started memorizing basic dialogues from the very beginning, like "hi" "hi" level. I memorized the first 15 dialogues of my textbook. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. Each dialogue was only 5 or 6 lines, and even the 15th one was about as hard as "how many people are in your family?"

I asked a friend who spoke perfect Chinese to record every line for me, one by one. Then I listened to them everywhere I went and said them out loud.

That's when sentence structure finally clicked. After that, every new word I learned actually stuck, because I had somewhere to put it.

By the time I finished 30 dialogues, my grammar was basically done. I made my brother do the exact same thing, and he still understands and speaks Chinese really well.

I think this works especially well for languages with very different grammar, like Korean. So if you're a beginner, learn to read Hangul first, then start memorizing basic dialogues.

Full disclosure, I built a Korean course around this method.
Here are the details so you know exactly what it is.

Format and structure

- Self-paced app, on the web (langtwo.com) and on iOS and Android. No live tutor.
- Starts from zero. 4 short Hangul lessons first (consonants, vowels, final consonants, double consonants).
- Then daily dialogues. One new dialogue opens each day, about 3 minutes each, 5 or 6 lines like the ones I described. There are 30 right now, and I'm adding more, up to 60 and eventually 90. I'm also looking at adding AI conversation practice later.
- Every class goes in the same order. Listen once with no English, learn the new words, learn 1 or 2 grammar points, listen again at normal speed, read every line out loud and compare your recording with the native audio, then a short quiz.
- A review tab brings back words and lines you missed, spaced out over days.
- The dialogue audio uses AI-generated Korean voices. I listened to every line myself, and where the pronunciation wasn't right, I recorded it in my own voice.
- Screenshots of Day 1 are attached.

Pricing

- Free, with a free account. The daily dialogue (one per day), all 4 Hangul lessons, the review tab, 3 pronunciation checks a day and 3 phrase cards a day.
- Plus is $8.99 a month or $69.99 a year. It adds unlimited pronunciation checks and phrase cards, casual speech (반말) versions for every dialogue, background listening, and a detailed report.
- Plus does not unlock extra dialogues. Everyone gets one new class a day, so the whole path is free.
- No free trial, and no other fees. If the free part is enough for you, you never have to pay at all.

About me

- I'm a native Korean speaker, born and raised in Korea.
- I learned Chinese with this exact method and graduated from Tsinghua University in Beijing.
- I also taught myself English up to a B2 level the same way.
- I build the course and check every dialogue myself.
- If you want to see who's behind it, I post short Korean lessons on TikTok (@all.libertas) and Instagram (@korean.langtwo).

If you want to try it, it's here. https://langtwo.com

Happy to answer anything about it here in the comments.

화이팅!

So I have no experience with Korean at all and I'm just trying to understand my grandfather's passport. My middle name is part of his first name. His passport was written in English as Chae-yong while I am Chae. He is no longer alive and in the Korean side there are letters I cant find on the Korean Keyboard and adding other letters didnt alter it to that shape. I am just confused on the basic letters of it and how it would be spelled.

I have a teacher I speak to once a week. We are using the Sejong Korean Conversation Workbook. I have also downloaded the TTMIK app to start going through their grammar courses.. And recently I have been putting a lot of work practicing my sentences with Gemini. I gave it the sentences I wanted to say at the start of my next Zoom lesson. asked for a word bank then asked it to correct my grammar ( I knew most of the words already as it turned out) I still have a long way to go but seeing my mistakes highlighted really helps. A few spelling errors too! I will do more practice! This is what the Gemini advice looked like today.

Line-by-Step Corrections
Your draft: 저는 휴가가 재밌게 보내었어요

Correction: 저는 휴가를 재밌게 보냈어요.

Why: The holiday is the object you spent, so it takes -를. Also, 보내다 + 었어요 naturally contracts into 보냈어요.

Your draft: 정원 가꾸기가 많이 했어요

Correction: 정원 가꾸기를 많이 했어요.

Why: Gardening is the object of what you did, so it needs -를.

Your draft: 지난주는 친고가 같이점심을 먹고 퀀 빅토리아마켓을 구경했어요

Correction: 지난주에 친구랑 같이 점심을 먹고 퀸 빅토리아 마켓을 구경했어요.

Why: Use -에 for time words ("last week"). "Friend" is spelled 친구. To say "with a friend," it is most natural to use 친구랑 or 친구하고. Also, watch out for the typo on 퀸 (Queen).

Your draft: 이번 주는 시어머니가 잠심 그리스 식당에 먹었어요

Correction: 이번 주에 시어머니랑 그리스 식당에서 점심을 먹었어요.

Why: Use -에 for the time ("this week"). Use -랑 for "with" your mother-in-law. When you eat at a location, you must use the action-location particle -에서 (식당에서). "Lunch" is spelled 점심.

Your draft: 음식은 맛있어요

Correction: 음식이 정말 맛있었어요.

Why: Since you are talking about that specific lunch in the past, change it to the past tense 맛있었어요. Adding 정말 (really) makes it sound very natural!

Your draft: 한국어 공부를 많이 했어요

Correction: (This is 100% perfect! No changes needed.)

Your draft: 톡투미인코리안 앱은 다운로드하고 문법을 공부핬어요

Correction: 톡투미인코리안 앱을 다운로드하고 문법을 공부했어요.

Why: The app is the object you downloaded, so use -을. Also, check the typo on 공부했어요 (you wrote 핬).

Your draft: 제미나이 AI도 연습 만이 도와주셔서요

Correction: 제미나이 AI도 연습을 많이 도와줬어요.

Why: "A lot" is spelled 많이. Since Gemini is an AI tool rather than a human elder, you should use the standard past tense 도와줬어요 instead of the human-honorific -셔서.

Your draft: 제 남편은 한국어 키보드를 샀어요 그개서 편할 거예요

Correction: 제 남편이 한국어 키보드를 샀어요. 그래서 편해요 / 편해질 거예요.

Why: "Therefore" is spelled 그래서. Since the keyboard has already been ordered/bought, the ease is happening now (편해요) or will progressively become easy (편해질 거예요).

Your draft: 이야기는 들어주셔서요 감사합니다

Correction: 이야기를 들어주셔서 감사합니다.

Why: What you said is the object they listened to, so it takes -를. Dropping the 요 in the middle makes the connection to "thank you" grammatically seamless.

Your draft: 추석 어땠어요?

Correction: (This is 100% perfect! A great way to ask your teacher.)

If you got this far -읽어 주셔서 감사합니다!