Korean Beginners 2025 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• be prepared to communicate about a variety of topics relating to their personal world
• elaborate and provide relevant details to address the questions in a way that engages with the examiner
• use a range of vocabulary, expressions and language structures to respond appropriately to the questions
• provide information, express ideas and comment on their personal world
• be prepared to respond to questions from a different perspective
• be prepared to respond to questions that relate to past, present and future aspects of their personal world
• use a variety of vocabulary, phrases and expressions
• manipulate the language to fulfil the requirements of the question
• be prepared to be interrupted by the examiner
• use Korean to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• use a wide range of language accurately and authentically
• provide clear responses to questions with minimal hesitation
• provide relevant answers to unexpected questions, rather than giving a rehearsed answer
• respond with correct intonation, including for English cognates, such as, 클래식, 힙합, 쇼핑
• use correct tenses in line with the intent of the question
• conjugate and use a variety of verbs across past, present, future tenses and conditional forms, for example, ~ㅆ어요, ~고 있어요, ~려고 해요, ~겠어요
• elaborate and justify ideas and opinions using authentic and personalised examples relating to past, present and future aspects of their personal world
• use a variety of adjectives, for example, 무서운, 편리한, 매운, 재밌는
• demonstrate a good understanding of various grammatical points including case endings, adjectival endings, and the use of modal verbs, for example, ~것 같아요, ~야 해요, ~ 수 있어요
• develop ideas by using connectives, adverbs of frequency and contrasting connectors, for example, 그러면, 그래서, 그러니까, ~보다 더.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using correct particles, for example, 은/는 좋아해요, 이/가 좋아요
• using Sino and pure numbers correctly, for example, 이 년 not 두 년, 네 명, not 사 명
• developing responses using a range of vocabulary structures
• having a clear understanding of words that have similar sounds, such as 공부, 공포.

Students should:

• read each question carefully
• make notes in the Candidate’s Notes column on the right-hand side of the page
• transcribe their response onto the lines, using the space provided for each question
• use the lines provided as a guide to the length of the response required
• ensure that their responses are clear and address all parts of the question
• use their own words and respond in English.

In better responses, students were able to:

• distinguish the Korean Sino numbers of similar sounds (Q2)
• identify and explain what the conversation reveals about Oscar’s personality (Q5)
• demonstrate understanding of the change of feelings one experiences during a conversation (Q9)
• demonstrate understanding of the extent of Somi’s satisfaction based on textual evidence (Q6)
• summarise the main points of the text, without simply translating the text (Q8)
• provide relevant and detailed reference to the text to support their responses.

Areas for students to improve include:

• reading questions carefully and responding accordingly
• ensuring the reference to the text is linked to the ideas being expressed
• revising vocabulary related to topic, such as time, date, direction, colour and extended family members.

Students should:

• read the whole text(s)
• address all parts of each question
• use the lines, table, chart provided for their response
• respond fully to the question by including details as required
• support their responses with evidence from the text where required
• use their own words, rather than giving a literal translation
• use the dictionary appropriately to find the correct meaning of the word(s) in context.

In better responses, students were able to:

• clearly identify the purpose of a message (Q12a)
• effectively compare both similarities and differences in a text (Q12b)
• provide a comprehensive response with the reasons why the manager made the offers, and provide detailed contextual information justifying their answer (Q13b)
• draw conclusions based on evidence in the text (Q14c).

Areas for students to improve include:

• responding in English where English is required
• not repeating information in questions with multiple parts (Q14).

Students should:

• write to the response length required
• address the audience, purpose and context required by the question
• apply the conventions of the type of text indicated in the question
• use the appropriate register throughout the response
• use a range of tenses and sentence structures and a variety of vocabulary
• respond using a variety of phrases and expressions
• use the dictionary correctly to access vocabulary and expressions that are meaningful in the context of their response
• plan their response prior to writing, and edit their work.

In better responses, students were able to:

• use a range of vocabulary and language structures effectively to address the requirement of the question
• write with respect to purpose and audience with applicable style and structure (Q15, Q16)
• compose a clear and effective email with a variety of ideas and information (Q17, Q18)
• produce a written text that is well organised, coherent and logical.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using their own words and language structures, rather than copying segments from texts in Section II
• using a variety of ideas in the response
• writing with accurate particles and spelling
• adhering to the suggested word limits.