Minh Duc, 10 years old, achieved 7.5 IELTS on his first attempt, thanks to his early passion for reading books and watching videos in English.
Nguyen Minh Duc, a 5/7 grade student at Luong The Vinh Primary School, Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, took the IELTS test on August 13. Duc's scores for the skills were Listening 8.0, Speaking 8.0, Reading 7.0 and Writing 6.5.
"I was very surprised when I got 7.5. Before taking the exam, I was afraid of difficult questions so I thought I would only get 7.0," Duc said.
The boy said he achieved this score thanks to always creating an English environment in his daily life, diligently reading books, and watching science movies.
Nguyen Minh Duc with IELTS score sheet, August 2023. Photo: Family provided
Duc's family said that their son showed a love for English from a very young age. When Duc was two years old, his kindergarten organized two 20-minute lessons with foreign teachers each week. From the very beginning, Duc showed great interest.
Realizing that their son had potential, the family invited a foreign teacher to tutor him when Duc was three years old. However, because they were afraid that it would affect his use of Vietnamese, his parents later decided to stop and only bought English books for children for Duc.
His passion for English has made Duc constantly seek out new English resources, in addition to the books his mother bought him. He discovered English children's book websites such as Epic or Razkid. By studying the stories there, Duc learned many difficult vocabulary words on various topics.
Therefore, when he encountered the Reading passages on the topics of video games, music and Soviet history in the real exam, Duc did not have much difficulty. He also did the Listening section quite easily because he often watched knowledge videos on the Internet, especially about history. Duc said that he had been able to watch these videos without subtitles for two or three years.
In addition, because his mother enrolled him in English speaking classes, Duc had a lot of practice speaking. He also regularly practiced dubbing movies in English by choosing 4-5 minute clips from his favorite movies like Zootopia and practicing speaking in the character's voice.
Duc's older sister also helped him. The two sisters talked in English at home, so Duc gradually developed good reflexes and spoke fluently. When faced with the topic "Describe a city you want to live in for a long time", Duc chose to talk about London because it has a long history and culture, and many beautiful architectural works. His answer helped Duc achieve 8.0 Speaking.
What Duc had the most difficulty with was the question in the Task 2 writing test. The question asked about the reasons and consequences of why many people are too busy with work nowadays. Duc believes that the reason is that people have to compete to keep their positions in the workplace and many people want to have a more prosperous life. This leads to distance in family relationships.
Because the topic was related to work, which is familiar to older candidates, Duc found it quite difficult to express the reason. However, because he had read many books and stories about this topic, he still completed the test, achieving 6.5 for the Writing skill.
Despite his high score, Duc said he has only known about IELTS for a year. He focuses on entertainment and exploring common knowledge about life in English instead of studying for tests.
"Every week I only spend about four hours studying all four skills in the format of the test," Duc said.
Duc’s family said they always try to create conditions for their son to develop comprehensively, not just in English. In addition to enrolling Duc in creative writing and public speaking classes, his parents try to take him to many places so that Duc can broaden his knowledge about life around him, such as Vietnamese geography. His mother also stipulates that Duc must spend time playing a sport every day.
Talking about letting her child study IELTS, Ms. Huong, Duc's mother, said that this comes from the desire for her child to learn the knowledge that she loves, without putting pressure on him. She does not encourage children to rush to study for the IELTS exam early, but it depends on their ability and interests.
Duc has never considered English as a subject but a hobby. Therefore, when he gets good results, he is happy but does not think that it is an achievement to brag about.
Nguyen Minh Duc in a race at the end of July in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Family provided
Ms. Van Anh, Duc's homeroom teacher at Luong The Vinh Primary School, commented that the boy is very bright and learns quickly. In addition to always getting perfect scores in English tests, Duc also excels in Math and has just joined the school's Drama team to compete at the city level. In July, Duc won the Gold Cup for the team at the 2023 World Scholar's Cup, held in Seoul, South Korea. This is an international academic competition, attracting more than 15,000 candidates aged 8-18 each year, competing in 6 fields such as science, history, or literature.
According to statistics on the IELTS homepage, only 10% of Vietnamese candidates taking this test in 2022 achieved a score of 7.5. The test has no age limit, but IDP - one of the test organizers in Vietnam - encourages candidates to register when they are over 16 years old.
Duc said he will continue to study English as he has always done, as a hobby. He hopes that next year he will be able to win a scholarship to an international secondary school, where there is a large library so he can indulge his passion for reading.
Khanh Linh
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