Writing 1 & Writing 2 Strategy Guide
The TOPIK II writing section has four questions. Q51–52 are short fill-in-the-blank sentences graded only on grammatical accuracy. The two questions below — commonly called Writing 1 (문제 53) and Writing 2 (문제 54) — are full essays graded on content, structure, and language use.
What Writing 1 tests
You're given a graph, chart, table, or short survey result and asked to describe it in writing — not to give your own opinion. Typical source material includes 꺾은선 그래프 (line graphs showing change over time), 막대 그래프 (bar charts comparing categories), 원 그래프 (pie charts showing proportions), and simple survey tables. Graders look at three things: whether you covered all the data points shown, whether your paragraph is logically organized, and whether your Korean is accurate and varied.
Structure template
- 1. Introduce the data
State what was surveyed/graphed, and by whom if given. “OOO 기관에서 OOO에 대해 조사한 결과이다.”
- 2. Describe every data point, in order
Walk through each category/year left to right, or largest to smallest. Use trend and comparison expressions (below) rather than just listing numbers.
- 3. Close with a summary
If the prompt gives a reason or outlook, add one sentence summarizing the overall pattern. “이러한 변화는 앞으로도 계속될 것으로 보인다.”
Unlike Writing 2, this is usually written as one continuous paragraph, not multiple paragraphs.
Useful expressions
- 증가하다 / 늘어나다to increase / to grow
- 상승하다 / 오르다to rise
- ~배로 증가하다to increase by (n) times
- 증가하는 추세이다to be on an upward trend
- 감소하다 / 줄어들다to decrease / to shrink
- 하락하다 / 떨어지다to fall, drop
- 감소하는 추세이다to be on a downward trend
- 급감하다to drop sharply
- A는 B보다 (높다/낮다)A is (higher/lower) than B
- A에 비해 B는 ~Compared to A, B is ~
- A와 B를 비교해 보면 ~Comparing A and B, ~
- 가장 높게/낮게 나타났다appeared highest/lowest
- ~에 따르면 / ~에 의하면According to ~
- 조사 결과에 따르면According to the survey results
- ~를 조사한 결과이다This is the result of a survey on ~
- ~로 나타났다 / ~로 조사되었다was shown/found to be ~
Common mistakes
- Giving your own opinion about the data — Writing 1 is descriptive, not persuasive.
- Copying the question's wording directly instead of restating it naturally.
- Switching to casual speech endings (-어요, -죠) instead of formal written style (-다, -ㄴ다, -였다).
- Listing numbers (“20%, 30%, 40%”) without full sentences connecting them.
- Skipping a data point shown in the graph, or writing well under 200 / over 300 characters.
Put it into practice
Try these templates on a real past TOPIK II question in the 원고지 editor.
Go to TOPIK Practice