By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Edward Olivet Chiamaka from Nigeria

The 60th TOPIK will be held in late October, and it will be the first ever official TOPIK test to be held in Nigeria. Thanks to the valiant efforts of the staff and director of the Korean Cultural Center Nigeria and especially Mr. Youn Peter who was formerly a staff member there and is now the teacher for the Korean language intermediate classes.

The Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) is for non-natives whose first language is not Korean or overseas Koreans who are learning Korean. TOPIK is administered by the National Institute for International Education Development (NIIED). TOPIK results are valid for 2 years from the time of the test results announcement. Some uses of the test results are: it can be used for entrance into Korean universities as a non-native Korean speaker, for acquisition of a Korean language instructor certification as a non-native speaker and for obtaining permanent residency or other specific visa types in Korea.

I remember during one of our classes last year, we made it known to our teacher that we hoped to be able to write the TOPIK exams one day so we could test our Korean skills and the knowledge we’ve attained at the Sejong Institute and KCCN, and just like that, he took up the challenge and made efforts to see this wish come to fruition. After a long process and communicating with NIIED, the Korean body in charge of administering the TOPIK test, now about a year later that dream is coming true.

The students attending the Korean language classes at the King Sejong Institute, the Korean Cultural Center Nigeria are all excited about this opportunity and have long since registered at the cultural center and are excitedly preparing for the exams and anxiously awaiting the exam date. The registration period was from July 16 to July 27, and there was a fee of 5000 naira for TOPIK 1 and 7000 naira for TOPIK 2. The results are scheduled to be released in late November.

I wish to use this avenue to congratulate the Korean Cultural Center Nigeria for this landmark achievement which will serve as a means to further promote Korea in the country and also wish all the aspiring Nigerian TOPIK Test takers; myself included, good luck! I hope this will be the first of many TOPIK exams that will be held in Nigeria.

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.