Class Level & Description
modified version for KoreanLA : Korean Language and Culture Club – Los Angeles

(C) creative content. This document may not be copied or duplicated as whole or in part without prior written permission.

Following criteria is for classes and study groups hosted by KoreanLA. This document does not represent academic levels of Korean proficiency. However, it is meant to reflect standards published by many organizations, including KICE, TOPIK, Korean Language Institute and a few colleges and universities that run Korean language programs and studies.

This modified criteria is based on three elements the club KoreanLA pursues:

• Practicality
  
• Necessity
  
• Social networking

---

Beginners: 새내기
· I am an absolute beginner.
· I do not know basics of Korean sentence structure.
· I need to brush up my Hangul and basic knowledge in Korean language.

Novice (1): 초급 (1)
(Novice I~II)
· I can read and write Hangul although not perfectly.
· I can put together a simple sentence or a question when given words.
· I know how to conjugate a verb at least one way.
· I can recognize the difference between a sentence and a question.

Novice (2): 초급 (2)
(Novice III-IV)
· I can read and write Hangul comfortably.
· I can exchange basic greetings in Korean.
· I can introduce myself in Korean.
· I can talk about my likes and dislikes.
· I can make a sentence or a question is relatively easily.
· I know how to conjugate the verb in more than two ways.
· I know how to ask permission or a favour.
· I can say a few words at a restaurant to order food or buy staff at the market.

Novice (3): 초급 (3)
(Novice V)
· I can read and write Hangul with no problem.
· I know to count beyond 100 (one hundred) and know what "unit/classifier" is.
· I know how to read time and date.
· I can carry on predictable conversations (greeting, time, taking a phone, asking an age, talk about weather, time, ordering food, family, likes and dislikes, etc.)
· I am familiar with conjunctions (and, so, but, because, etc.) and can put two or three simple story together to tell a "story."
· I have a good idea between honorifics vs. non-honorifics, polite vs. non-polite, and formal vs. casual speech.

Intermediate (1): 중급 (1)
(Intermediate I~II)
· I can understand a half of what Koreans are saying.
· I can read a short story and understand it.
· I cannot understand Korean newspaper or magazines.
· I can initiate and maintain short conversations in a variety of familiar situations.
· Abstract ideas or every-day social issues is a challenging topic to talk about in Korean.
· I can communicate in an appropriate speech format that reflects honorifics, polite tones and formal/casual speech.
· I can make sentences in all of the following tenses: past, present, future, past progressive, present progressive and future progressive.
· I can make suggestions, offer and expression my intentions.

Intermediate (2): 중급 (2)
(Intermediate III~IV)
· I can get by if I lived in Korea.
· I can initiate and maintain a conversation in a variety of social situations.
· I can express my own ideas in flexible ways appropriate to the situation and the listener (honorifics, polite forms, etc.)
· I can understand most of what is being said.
· I can carry on a conversation at public facilities such as banks, post office, etc.
· I can talk about and describe variety of ideas, including familiar topics as well as abstract social issues.
· I have a fair understanding in Korean culture and history.

Advanced I: 고급 I
· I can utilize public system and organization without difficulties (banks, post office, markets, etc.)
· I can read, write, speak and understand Korean enough to have Korean-only speaking friends.
· I can understand Korean movies and soap operas relatively well.
· I can read and listen newspapers on every-day ordinary topics.
· I can understand and talk about abstract ideas and ordinary topics.
· I can understand and use colloquial expressions in daily conversation.
· I can carry on a conversation well at an advanced level but lack vocabularies
· I am a 1.5/2nd generation Korean and can carry on a conversation well at an advanced level. But I lack vocabularies.

Advanced II: 고급 II
· I can conduct business in Korean.
· I can discuss abstract idea and gain study to gain new knowledge in Korean.
· I use colloquial expressions when I speak in Korean.
· I recognize and understand dialects.
· I read newspapers and listen to radio. I can understand most of them.