HSC Korean in Context (NSW) study plan
HSC Korean in Context (NSW) · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Personal identity and family & Listening and responding in Korean
Build a personal vocabulary bank of 60 high-frequency words and expressions for family roles, relationships and self-description, and record each with a Korean example sentence.
Write and then speak a 90-second self-introduction covering family composition, hometown and daily routine, recording it twice to compare fluency.
Practise shadowing two short authentic listening texts on family life, noting three sound-change patterns (연음, 경음화, 비음화) you hear.
Draft ten personal questions you could ask a conversation partner about their family and answer each aloud without reading.
Your checkpoint
A one-page personal profile in Korean (150-200 words) plus a 90-second unscripted audio recording of your self-introduction.
Personal identity and family & Writing in Korean
Compare honorific and casual registers by rewriting the same family paragraph three ways (합쇼체, 해요체, 반말) and label the grammar changes.
Analyse two short personal-essay or diary-style texts to extract cohesive devices (그래서, 그런데, 반면에) and reuse at least six in your own writing.
Compose a 200-word diary entry describing a family event using past tense and connective endings (-아서/어서, -는데, -면서).
Self-edit your entry against a checklist of honorific agreement, particle accuracy and spelling, and log every corrected error.
Your checkpoint
A polished 200-word personal narrative in Korean with a marked-up first draft and an error log of at least 10 self-corrected items.
Korean communities and cultural heritage & Reading and responding in Korean
Memorise 50 terms for Korean cultural heritage, festivals and customs (명절, 세배, 한복, 탈춤, 판소리) and match each to a one-line Korean definition.
Read two intermediate Korean texts on traditional customs and identify main idea, purpose and audience for each in Korean.
Summarise one reading in 120 words using reported speech (-다고 하다) to relay what the author claims.
Answer five short-answer comprehension questions in Korean, practising inference rather than literal copying.
Your checkpoint
Two reading-response sheets (main idea, purpose, tone, two inferences each) plus one 120-word Korean summary using reported speech.
Korean communities and cultural heritage & Listening and responding in Korean
Listen to three authentic recordings about cultural traditions and take structured notes on who, what, when and why.
Transcribe a 60-second segment verbatim, then compare against the script and categorise every misheard item by cause.
Deliver a two-minute spoken comparison in Korean of a traditional custom and its modern version, using comparison grammar (반면에, -에 비해).
Build a 30-item listening log of unfamiliar expressions with context sentences.
Your checkpoint
A verbatim transcript of a 60-second recording with a categorised error analysis and a two-minute recorded comparison talk.
Education, work and future pathways & Writing in Korean
Compile 60 vocabulary items for education, careers and future plans, including job titles, application terms and pathway language.
Write a formal 250-word piece in Korean (cover-letter style or statement of purpose) using consistent 합쇼체 and appropriate connectors.
Draft and answer eight interview-style questions aloud, focusing on future plans and reasons for choices.
Review your formal writing for register consistency, then rewrite two paragraphs to raise the formality level.
Your checkpoint
A 250-word formal Korean text (application or statement of purpose) with a register-consistency checklist completed alongside it.
Education, work and future pathways & Contemporary social issues and change
Read two opinion pieces on youth employment or education pressure and map the argument structure (claim, evidence, counterclaim).
Debate one contemporary issue aloud for three minutes, stating a position, two supporting reasons and one concession.
Learn 40 terms for social change (고령화, 다문화, 청년 실업, 워라밸) and use 15 of them in original sentences.
Summarise a news-style text in 100 words, distinguishing fact from the writer's opinion.
Your checkpoint
A three-minute recorded argument in Korean on a contemporary social issue plus a 100-word summary separating fact from opinion.
Contemporary social issues and change & Reading and responding in Korean
Complete four timed reading sets (8-10 minutes each) on social issues and record accuracy and time per set.
Identify and label the writer's tone and stance in three opinion texts using Korean metalanguage.
Write a 150-word response to an opinion text agreeing or disagreeing and justifying with two reasons.
Review all logged errors from weeks 1-6 and re-test yourself on the 40 most frequent ones.
Your checkpoint
A timed reading results table (four sets, accuracy and minutes) plus one 150-word written response to an opinion text.
Listening and responding in Korean & Writing in Korean & Contemporary social issues and change
Sit two full mock listening sections under exam timing and review every incorrect item against the transcript.
Produce one timed 300-word persuasive piece in Korean in 40 minutes without dictionary support.
Record a five-minute integrated speaking response linking a listening text to a social-issues topic.
Consolidate a final one-page error sheet and rehearse your three weakest grammar points aloud.
Your checkpoint
A full mock exam pack: two scored listening sections, one timed 300-word essay and a five-minute recorded response, with a final error sheet.
Milestones
Week 2: You can speak for 90 seconds about your family and identity without notes and write 200 words with fewer than five self-corrected errors.
Week 4: You can summarise an unseen cultural-heritage text in Korean and transcribe a 60-second recording with at least 80% accuracy.
Week 6: You can write 250 words in consistent formal register and sustain a three-minute spoken argument with reasons and a concession.
Week 8: Mock results show at least 70% on both listening sections, a 300-word essay completed within 40 minutes, and a final error sheet of no more than 20 recurring items.