The short answer
If the job posting names one test, take that one. If it accepts either OPIc or TOEIC Speaking, choose by how you speak under pressure and how much time you have. OPIc is a 40-minute interview of 12 to 15 questions from an on-screen avatar, Ava, about topics you chose in a background survey. There is no clock on any single answer, and you get a level from Novice Low to Advanced Low, with Intermediate Mid split into IM1, IM2 and IM3 in Korea. It costs KRW 84,000 including VAT, results come 5 days after the test from 13:00, and a retest needs a 25-day gap (all per opic.or.kr). TOEIC Speaking is 11 fixed tasks in about 20 minutes, with strict preparation and answer timers, scored from 0 to 200. In Korea it runs every Saturday and Sunday through December 2026 with results within 5 days, per YBM, and we found no waiting rule between sittings on YBM's pages.
Our verdict, which is TalkDrill's judgement and not an official rule: OPIc suits people who can talk at length about their own life and want the level name that Korean HR teams use. TOEIC Speaking suits people who start fast under a timer, want a number, or may need two attempts inside a month. Neither test has a pass mark. OPIc reports a level, and the ETS examinee handbook says the TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests "are not the kind of tests that one passes or fails". Your target is whatever your employer writes down.
- Posting names OPIc: take OPIc, and check on our OPIc levels page what the level it asks for means.
- Posting names TOEIC Speaking, or a score such as "130" or "150": take TOEIC Speaking.
- Posting asks for "IM2" or "IH" without naming a test: ask which test it means. OPIc and YBM's TOEIC Speaking table both use those names, for different results.
- Posting accepts both and your deadline is under five weeks: TOEIC Speaking in Korea is easier to fit twice, because OPIc's 25-day rule means a second result arrives at least 31 days after the first sitting.
- You live in Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam or Thailand: the official local registrars we verified all run TOEIC Speaking (see the country table below).
OPIc and TOEIC Speaking side by side
Every row below comes from the test body's own page or handbook, read on 21 October 2026. Where a page did not show a figure, the cell says so rather than guessing.
| OPIc (Korea) | TOEIC Speaking | |
|---|---|---|
| Owner and runner | ACTFL; run in Korea by Multicampus | ETS; run by a local office in each country (YBM in Korea, IIBC in Japan) |
| In Korea since | 2006 (opic.or.kr) | December 2006, with TOEIC Writing (YBM) |
| Where you sit it | A test centre, on a computer; your answers are recorded | An ETS-certified test centre, on a computer; your answers are saved as files (YBM) |
| Who asks the questions | An avatar called Ava (ACTFL) | A recorded narrator and on-screen tasks |
| Before the questions | About 20 minutes of orientation: Background Survey, Self Assessment, sound check, a sample question. ACTFL says the self-assessment picks one of five test forms. | Nothing to choose |
| Questions | 12 to 15, in two sessions: about 7, then a difficulty choice (easier, similar or harder), then about 5 to 8 | 11 tasks of 5 types, the same order for everyone |
| Test time | 40 minutes; about 60 with orientation (opic.or.kr). ACTFL gives 20 to 40 minutes on average. | About 20 minutes (YBM, IIBC) |
| Preparation time | None set. Each question can be heard twice. | 45 seconds for questions 1 to 4 and 11; 3 seconds for questions 5 to 10 (after 45 seconds of reading for 8 to 10). Question 10 is played twice. |
| Answer time | No limit per answer; the 40 minutes is shared | 45 seconds (read aloud), 30 seconds (picture), 15 to 30 seconds (questions 5 to 10), 60 seconds (opinion) |
| How it is rated | Holistically, by ACTFL-certified raters, on Function, Accuracy, Content/Context and Text Type | ETS raters living in North America score each task (YBM); the ETS handbook says questions 1 to 10 are rated 0 to 3, question 11 is rated 0 to 5, and the sum is converted to the scale |
| What you get | One level: NL, NM, NH, IL, IM1, IM2, IM3, IH or AL | A score from 0 to 200 in steps of 10, with an ACTFL-style level name on YBM's table |
| Results | 5 days after the test, from 13:00 (opic.or.kr) | Korea within 5 days (YBM); Japan 17 days after the test (IIBC) |
| Valid for | 2 years from the test date (opic.or.kr) | Korea: 2 years, up to the same date two years after the test (YBM 시험관리규정). ETS: a score report is not reissued once two years have passed. IIG Vietnam: certificate valid 2 years |
| Retest rule | From day 26 after your last sitting in that language; one Waiver every 150 days lets you sit once sooner | No waiting rule in YBM's 시험관리규정 or on its other pages we read; Korea sits every Saturday and Sunday through December 2026 |
| Re-marking | Re-score requests are not accepted, except for reasons such as a system-error investigation (시험관리규정) | Score review for a fee, once, within one month of the test; results in about four weeks; the fee is refunded if the score changes (ETS handbook) |
| Fee | KRW 84,000 including VAT | Korea: shown at the booking step, not read by us. Japan: 6,930 yen. Taiwan: NT$3,300 for Speaking and Writing. Vietnam and Thailand: not on the registrars' pages. |
| Who asks for it | Multicampus says about 1,700 companies and institutions use OPIc for hiring, HR and training | Official registrars run it in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand. No employer count is published on the pages we read. |
Sources: opic.or.kr 시험소개, 수험자 가이드 and 시험관리규정; the ACTFL OPIc page; YBM's TOEIC Speaking 시험소개 and 시험관리규정; the ETS examinee handbook; and the IIBC TOEIC Speaking page.
What each test feels like from the chair
OPIc: a conversation about your own life
You spend the first twenty minutes choosing. The background survey asks about your work, home, studies, activities and interests, and the questions are built from it. The self-assessment asks you to pick the description that fits your speaking, which per ACTFL decides your test form and therefore the highest level you can be given. Then Ava asks. You can hear each question twice and answer for as long as you like. After about seven questions you choose easier, similar or harder questions for the rest. OPIc preparation, including ours, usually groups the questions into sets on one topic: describe something, explain your routine, tell a story from the past, compare then and now, then a role-play or a topic you did not choose. Our 60-question practice bank is built on those shapes.
TOEIC Speaking: eleven short races
Nothing to choose. The test runs the same eleven tasks for everyone in the same order: read two short texts aloud, describe two pictures, answer three quick questions, answer three questions using a schedule or agenda on screen, and give one opinion. The clock is always visible. For questions 5 to 10 you get three seconds before you must speak. The ETS handbook's own advice is "It is to your advantage to say as much as you can in the time allowed."
The same topic in both tests
Here is one topic, parks, as each test would ask it. Both questions and the answer below were written by TalkDrill in the style of each test; they are not official items.
| TOEIC Speaking style (question 5) | OPIc style | |
|---|---|---|
| The question | "Imagine that a city council is doing research in your area. You have agreed to take part in a telephone interview about parks. How often do you go to a park, and who do you usually go with?" | "You said you like going to parks. Tell me about a park you often go to. Where is it, what does it look like, and what do people do there?" |
| The clock | 3 seconds to prepare, 15 seconds to answer | No preparation clock and no answer limit; the question can be heard twice |
| A strong answer | "I go to a park about twice a week, usually on weekday evenings after work. Most of the time I go alone, because it's my quiet time, but on Sundays I often go with my sister and her dog." (written by TalkDrill, about 40 words) | A connected description of a minute or more, with a change over time or a short story inside it. See the IH model for Q21 in our practice bank. |
| What it rewards | Starting at once with a full sentence that answers both parts of the question | Length, organisation and moving between present and past |
That is the whole difference in miniature. TOEIC Speaking rewards the fastest complete answer. OPIc rewards the fullest connected one. People who are good at one are often uncomfortable in the other, which is why the self-check further down matters more than any general claim that one test is "easier".
Levels and scores: why OPIc IH is not TOEIC Speaking IH
Both tests use ACTFL's level names, which is why job seekers compare them. They do not measure on the same scale. OPIc gives one level from a holistic rating. TOEIC Speaking gives a score out of 200, and YBM attaches an ACTFL-style name to each band. YBM's own footnote says its "ACTFL sublevel classification is based on ETS' score mapping research". We found no official conversion between an OPIc level and a TOEIC Speaking score on the ACTFL, opic.or.kr, YBM or ETS pages we read.
| Level name | On a Korean OPIc report | On YBM's TOEIC Speaking table |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced High | Not on the Korean chart | 200 |
| Advanced Mid | Not on the Korean chart | 180 to 190 |
| Advanced Low | AL, the top of the Korean chart | 160 to 170 |
| Intermediate High | IH, one level | 140 to 150 |
| Intermediate Mid | IM1, IM2, IM3 (IM3 highest) | 110 to 130, reported as Mid1, Mid2, Mid3 |
| Intermediate Low | IL | 90 to 100 |
| Novice | NH, NM, NL | Novice High 60 to 80; Novice Mid and Low 0 to 50 |
Read the table across, never as an equation. An OPIc IH and a TOEIC Speaking 150 share a name and nothing else that anyone has published. If a posting accepts both tests, the employer has set its own equivalence; ask for it in writing.
- YBM's 레벨과 점수 page carries a second table in which Advanced High is 180 to 200. When we checked the page on 21 October 2026, that table sat under the page's TOEIC Writing tab and its descriptions are about writing. It is the Writing table, not an older Speaking one.
- Quote the Speaking tab: Advanced High 200, Advanced Mid 180 to 190, Advanced Low 160 to 170, Intermediate High 140 to 150, Intermediate Mid 110 to 130.
The two full explainers are our OPIc levels page, with one answer written at IM2, IM3, IH and AL, and the TOEIC Speaking scores and levels page.
Who asks for which, country by country
In South Korea both tests are booked locally. Multicampus says about 1,700 companies and institutions use OPIc; YBM and ETS publish no comparable count on the pages we read, and neither body publishes which employer accepts which test. In Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand, the official registrars we found and verified are TOEIC registrars. ACTFL delivers OPIc internationally, but we did not check an OPIc registrar outside Korea this week, so if a posting there asks for OPIc, ask the employer how candidates usually book it.
| Country | OPIc | TOEIC Speaking |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea | Multicampus. KRW 84,000 including VAT. Sittings through the year on the opic.or.kr calendar. Results 5 days after the test from 13:00. | YBM. Every Saturday and Sunday through December 2026. Results within 5 days. Fee shown at the booking step; not read by us. |
| Japan | Not covered on this page | IIBC. Speaking Test 6,930 yen including tax; Speaking and Writing 10,450 yen, 13,200 yen in the extended period. Test days 29 November 2026 (apply by 13 November, 15:00) and 20 December 2026 (applications open 23 October, 10:00). Scores 17 days after the test. |
| Taiwan | Not covered on this page | toeic.com.tw. Speaking and Writing NT$3,300; NT$1,650 aged 65 and over; free for low-income households. 22 November 2026 (register by 9 November; scores 8 December) and 13 December 2026 (register by 30 November; scores 30 December), then monthly through 2027 in seven cities. |
| Vietnam | Not covered on this page | IIG Vietnam. Speaking 11 questions in 20 minutes, 0 to 200 in eight levels; certificate valid 2 years. No fee or calendar on the page. |
| Thailand | Not covered on this page | CPA Thailand. Public sittings once a month on CPA's schedule; Speaking Only can be taken. No fee on the page. |
Registrar pages: IIBC TOEIC Speaking, IIBC TOEIC S&W, toeic.com.tw fees and test dates, IIG Vietnam and CPA Thailand. The full table, kept up to date, is on our fees, dates and results page.
Which suits you: a self-check
"Which is easier" has no general answer, because the two tests reward different habits. This table is TalkDrill's judgement from the formats above, not anything ACTFL, Multicampus, ETS or YBM says. Record yourself answering one question from each of our practice banks before you trust it.
| If this sounds like you | Lean towards | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You talk easily about your own life, but a visible countdown makes you freeze. | OPIc | No time limit on any answer, and each question can be heard twice. |
| You start sentences quickly and like knowing exactly what is coming. | TOEIC Speaking | The same 11 tasks every time; three-second starts suit fast starters. |
| Your stories drift back into the present tense. | TOEIC Speaking, while you fix it | OPIc's higher levels lean on narrating in the past. TOEIC's tasks are mostly present-time description, short answers and one opinion. |
| Your ideas are good but your pronunciation is heavily accented. | OPIc, probably | TOEIC rates questions 1 and 2 on pronunciation and on intonation and stress alone. In OPIc, pronunciation is one part of Accuracy inside a holistic rating. |
| You may need two attempts in under five weeks. | TOEIC Speaking in Korea | Weekend sittings and no waiting rule on YBM's pages, against OPIc's 25 days (or one Waiver every 150 days). |
| Your target company records OPIc levels on its application form. | OPIc | Bring the result in the form they record; a TOEIC Speaking score has to be translated by the employer. |
| You plan to rely on memorised answers. | Neither | ACTFL describes rehearsed language as a Novice feature, and ETS reserves the right to cancel responses "substantially similar" to other TOEIC responses. |
Planning two attempts before a deadline
Many candidates sit twice: once to learn the test, once for the result. The calendars below use the published dates and rules; the first OPIc date is an example, so check the opic.or.kr calendar for real slots. The arithmetic is ours.
| Test | First sitting | First result | Earliest second sitting | Second result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPIc, Korea | Monday 2 November 2026 (example) | Saturday 7 November, from 13:00 | Saturday 28 November (day 26), if a sitting is open; sooner with a Waiver | Thursday 3 December, from 13:00 |
| TOEIC Speaking, Korea | Saturday 7 November 2026 (a listed YBM sitting) | Within 5 days | The next weekend sitting with open booking, such as 14 or 15 November | Within 5 days of that sitting |
| TOEIC Speaking, Japan | Sunday 29 November 2026 | Wednesday 16 December (17 days) | Sunday 20 December 2026 | Wednesday 6 January 2027 (17 days) |
| TOEIC S&W, Taiwan | Sunday 22 November 2026 (register by 9 November) | 8 December | Sunday 13 December 2026 (register by 30 November) | 30 December |
Two traps hide in that table. In Taiwan, registration for 13 December closes on 30 November, eight days before your 22 November score arrives, so you must decide on a second sitting before you know the first result. In Japan, check the IIBC application deadline for 20 December against 16 December, the day your 29 November score appears. In Korea, OPIc's rule is the tighter one: at least 31 days from first sitting to second result without a Waiver, against about a week for TOEIC Speaking if weekend seats are open.
If you prepare for both
A lot of the work overlaps. The table shows where one skill pays in each test, so you can build one routine and add the test-specific drills on top.
| Skill | Where it counts in OPIc | Where it counts in TOEIC Speaking |
|---|---|---|
| Describing a place or scene | Describe questions on your survey topics | Questions 3 and 4, describe a picture (30 seconds each) |
| Habits and preferences | Routine questions | Questions 5 to 7 (15, 15 and 30 seconds) |
| An opinion with reasons and an example | Comparison questions and social topics | Question 11, the only task rated 0 to 5 (60 seconds) |
| Telling a story in the past | Past-experience questions: the core of IH | No story task; at most a short past-tense answer in questions 5 to 7 |
| Getting or giving information politely | Role-plays: ask three or four questions, or solve a problem | Questions 8 to 10, answering from a schedule or agenda |
| Reading aloud clearly | Not tested | Questions 1 and 2, rated for pronunciation and for intonation and stress |
Your practice route on TalkDrill
- One question from each bank, recorded, today. Take one OPIc question from the OPIc practice bank and one full set from the TOEIC Speaking practice bank. Listen back. The test you were more comfortable in is usually the right one.
- OPIc: role-plays and follow-ups. Run the bank's role-play questions in TalkDrill role-play practice, and ask the AI mock interview to question you on one survey topic with follow-ups such as "what happened next?".
- TOEIC Speaking: read aloud and the clock. Use read-aloud practice for questions 1 and 2, then the task structures on our templates and 30-day plan page.
- Plan the dates. Use the 30-day roadmap or, in Korean, the IM2 to IH roadmap, and check your first-language habits on the mistakes by first language page. Everything else is on the OPIc and TOEIC Speaking hub.
TalkDrill is not affiliated with ACTFL, Multicampus, ETS, YBM or IIBC, and any feedback it gives is practice feedback, not an OPIc level or a TOEIC score.