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TOPIK II writing strategies: separate facts, comparisons and opinions
Read the official task instructions, build evidence-based sentences for questions 53 and 54, and review content, structure and language separately.
A fluent sentence can still answer the wrong task
A learner sees a chart and writes a thoughtful opinion about why one number increased. The Korean is grammatical, but the chart never supplied that cause. Another learner copies every number yet never states the requested comparison. Both answers can miss the task.
This advanced TOPIK II writing lesson practises one narrow, verifiable skill: separating supplied facts, supported comparisons and your own opinion. It uses the official TOPIK II writing guide currently hosted on the TOPIK exam site.
Test formats and instructions can change. Check the current official notice and the paper in front of you on exam day. This lesson does not promise a score, predict a topic or reproduce a live test answer.
Match the writing move to the task type
The official guide says 51 and 52 test discourse construction. The sentence before and after each blank constrains vocabulary, grammar, register and content. Adding an unnecessary idea can damage the original meaning.
Question 53 asks for a short information-based composition; question 54 asks for a longer reasoned opinion. Do not transfer the opinion-writing job into a data-description task without support.
Review three scoring dimensions instead of counting advanced words
| Dimension | Official focus | Editing question |
|---|---|---|
| Content and task performance | Complete the requested tasks with relevant content. | Did every requested point receive an answer? |
| Organisation | Build a clear, logical structure and use discourse markers appropriately. | Can the reader follow the order and paragraph changes? |
| Language use | Use accurate, varied grammar, vocabulary, spelling and suitable register. | Is each form correct and appropriate for written Korean? |
For question 53, the official guide allocates 7 points each to content/task and organisation, and 16 to language use. For question 54, it allocates 12, 12 and 26. These figures describe the cited guide; always follow the current official material.
Variety does not rescue an irrelevant answer. A useful revision order is task coverage first, organisation second, sentence-level language third.
Describe an invented dataset before explaining it
| Group | 2024 | 2025 | Supported statement |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 40 | 55 | A 집단은 사십 명에서 오십오 명으로 늘었다. |
| B | 35 | 50 | B 집단도 십오 명 증가했다. |
| Comparison | +15 | +15 | 두 집단의 증가 폭은 같았다. |
Every number in this table is fictional and exists only for writing practice. The first two statements report change; the third compares the size of the changes. All three can be verified from the table.
가장 인기 있었기 때문에 늘었다 would add a cause that the table does not provide. Mark that as an interpretation or remove it unless the task supplies evidence.
Label each sentence before adding it to a paragraph
| Layer | Example | Evidence status |
|---|---|---|
| Fact | A 집단은 이천이십사 년에 사십 명이었다. | Directly shown in the fictional table. |
| Comparison | 이듬해 두 집단은 모두 십오 명씩 증가했다. | Calculated from the two years. |
| Interpretation | 이 변화는 참여 기회가 넓어졌음을 시사할 수 있다. | A cautious inference; it needs context. |
| Opinion | 앞으로 접근성을 더 조사할 필요가 있다. | Writer’s recommendation, appropriate only if the task asks for it. |
Words such as 시사하다 or -을 수 있다 limit an inference; they do not create evidence. A well-qualified unsupported cause is still unsupported.
In question 53, stay close to the supplied material and the requested analysis. In question 54, label your position, reasons and examples clearly, while ensuring every required subtask is covered.
Build a question 53 paragraph from verifiable moves
| Move | Korean frame | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Introduce | 자료는 두 집단의 변화를 보여 준다. | Name what the data displays. |
| Report | A 집단은 사십 명에서 오십오 명으로 늘었다. | State one change accurately. |
| Compare | B 집단도 같은 폭으로 증가했다. | Connect the second pattern. |
| Summarise | 따라서 두 집단의 증가 폭에는 차이가 없었다. | State the supported overall relationship. |
The official guide for question 53 specifies 200–300 characters, an introduction-development-conclusion structure and a formal written style. It warns against inventing an interpretation unrelated to the supplied data and against bullet-style answers.
Count Korean characters according to the current test instructions and practise on the official answer format. Character count is not an English word count.
Turn a position into a complete question 54 plan
| Part | Planning note | Control question |
|---|---|---|
| Position | State the central claim in one clear sentence. | Does it answer the given topic? |
| Reason 1 | Explain one mechanism or consequence. | Why does this reason support the claim? |
| Example | Use a relevant, plausible case. | Is it evidence, illustration or personal observation? |
| Qualification | Name a limit or competing consideration. | Does it refine rather than erase the claim? |
| Conclusion | Return to the required practical point. | Did you answer every prompt bullet? |
The cited guide specifies 600–700 characters for question 54 and asks for a logical introduction, development and conclusion. It also recommends paragraph changes when the content shifts.
A memorised template can organise space, but it cannot supply topic-specific reasoning. Replace generic claims with content that answers the exact prompt, and do not copy the prompt itself as your answer.
Use written endings consistently
| Conversational | Written alternative | Editing note |
|---|---|---|
| 증가했어요. | 증가했다. | Use the formal written narrative style expected by the cited guide. |
| 필요하다고 생각해요. | 필요하다고 본다. | State the view in written style. |
| 좋은 것 같아요. | 긍정적인 효과가 있을 수 있다. | Name the effect and control certainty. |
| 그래서요, | 따라서 | Use a discourse marker that fits formal prose. |
The official guide warns that conversational endings such as -ㅂ/습니다 and -아/어요 can lose points in the long writing tasks described there. Practise the -다 style consistently rather than changing only the final sentence.
Do not make language “advanced” by replacing every common word. Accurate, appropriately varied Korean is more useful than a rare word whose meaning or collocation is wrong.
Read a six-sentence self-review
수현은 도표를 본 뒤 수치의 변화보다 자신의 경험을 먼저 길게 썼다.
문장은 자연스러웠지만 도표에서 확인할 수 있는 비교가 거의 드러나지 않았다.
수현은 초안을 사실, 비교, 해석, 의견의 네 종류로 표시해 보았다.
그 결과 근거가 없는 원인 설명은 지우고 두 집단의 증가 폭이 같다는 비교를 추가했다.
또한 문제에서 요구한 내용을 도입, 전개, 마무리에 각각 배치했다.
마지막에는 문법만 고치는 대신 과제 수행, 글의 구조, 언어 사용을 따로 검토했다.
Read an English translation
After looking at the chart, Suhyeon wrote at length about personal experience before describing the numerical change.
The sentences were natural, but they barely showed a comparison that could be verified from the chart.
Suhyeon marked the draft as four kinds of material: fact, comparison, interpretation and opinion.
As a result, Suhyeon removed an unsupported causal explanation and added the comparison that the two groups had increased by the same amount.
Suhyeon also placed each required point in the introduction, development or conclusion.
At the end, instead of correcting grammar alone, Suhyeon reviewed task performance, organisation and language use separately.
The passage changes the order of revision. It checks whether the answer responds to the evidence and task before polishing individual forms.
Audit the task before polishing the sentence
- What is the task difference between questions 53 and 54 in the cited official guide?
- From the fictional table, state the change in group A without adding a cause.
- Calculate and compare the increases in groups A and B.
- Why is “It increased because it was popular” unsupported by the fictional table?
- Name the three scoring dimensions used in the official guide.
- Change 증가했어요 to the written style used in the lesson.
- For a question 54 plan, what should a qualification do?
- Give a three-pass revision order that follows this lesson.
Check the answers and explanations
- Question 53 describes and analyses supplied information in 200–300 characters. Question 54 develops the writer’s view on a topic in 600–700 characters. Check current instructions.
- A 집단은 사십 명에서 오십오 명으로 늘었다. It reports only the two supplied values and direction of change.
- Each group increased by 15, so 두 집단의 증가 폭은 같았다 is supported.
- The table contains counts for two years but no evidence about popularity or cause. Qualification alone cannot supply that evidence.
- Content and task performance, organisation, and language use.
- 증가했다. The -다 ending fits the formal written narrative style described in the cited guide.
- It should recognise a relevant limit or competing consideration while refining the central claim, not abandon the task.
- First check task coverage and evidence, then organisation and paragraph logic, then grammar, vocabulary, spelling and register.
Use an old publicly released prompt for timed practice. After writing, underline every factual claim, circle every comparison and box every opinion. If a sentence does not serve a required task, revise or remove it before counting characters.
A small listening check
Pronunciation help: Listen for the two numbers and the change verb
사십 명에서 오십오 명으로 pairs with 늘었다. Keep the starting value, ending value and direction together.
Listen and choose
Play the sound, then select the Korean you heard. The answer buttons unlock after playback. This is one short practice item, not a pronunciation assessment.
Listen before choosing.
Official task guide and practice boundaries
- Official TOPIK II writing answer guide — Six-page official guide for questions 51–54, character ranges, scoring dimensions and answer-writing cautions. Recheck the current exam notice before use.
- TOPIK official site — Use the official site for current registration, notices and released materials; this lesson does not replace them.
- Korean–English Learners’ Dictionary — Check collocations and formal written vocabulary while revising practice answers.
- Korean With a Local: balanced comparisons — Review comparison units and limits before describing a chart.
Reviewed September 4, 2026. Found a mistake? Send a correction.