Nguyen Duc Thinh was born in 1994, from Thai Binh. Although he had an IELTS score of 8.5 before going to Canada to study, Thinh still faced many challenges in communication and cultural integration when living and working abroad. There was a time when he wanted to return home and lost confidence in his English ability, Thinh overcame it to work at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and is currently a reporter for The Guardian newspaper in Prince Edward Island.
Getting Started with IELTS 8.5 in Vietnam
Before studying abroad in Canada, Thinh had nearly 10 years of experience teaching English in Vietnam and achieved an IELTS score of 8.5, including perfect scores for Reading and Listening. However, few people know that Thinh's journey to conquer the language and develop his career was not always smooth.
Thinh said that in high school, he focused on learning English but mainly on grammar, paying little attention to Speaking and Writing. Since majoring in English at the Banking Academy, Thinh started to know about IELTS and registered for the test for the first time when he was about to graduate. As a result, although his Listening and Reading scores were high, his Speaking and Writing skills were only average (Speaking 7.0 and Writing 6.0).
After that, with the determination to improve his score, Thinh built a roadmap and studied hard. No longer applying the method of memorizing sample structures, Thinh focused on practicing all skills equally, especially the things he was weak at: Listening to Podcasts, and watching TV shows in English every day, practicing speaking naturally as well as reading and writing about many topics... "There were times when I stayed at home all day just doing IELTS, many days I was exposed to more English than Vietnamese", Thinh recalled.
This effort helped Thinh achieve an IELTS score of 8.5 on his second attempt. After achieving a high score, Thinh mainly taught English at home and started to explore creating a Youtube channel to share his journey and effective ways to learn English. This channel reached nearly 300,000 subscribers in 2018.
Culture shock when studying abroad in Canada
In 2019, Thinh decided to study Journalism and Communications in Canada after winning first prize in the British Council's IELTS Prize, along with a scholarship worth 190 million VND. However, when he first arrived in the land of maple leaves, Thinh suffered from culture shock to the point of having serious problems speaking English.
"In Vietnam, I mainly learned English through books or American TV shows... When I came to Canada, everything was different, from the accent, intonation, lifestyle... I lost confidence and couldn't speak as fluently as when I took the exam. I realized that life is not an exam, but a natural chain of communication. It's not the examiner asking me to answer, but with everyone, I have to know how to maintain communication, know how to listen, respond, and ask again - all of which is not easy," Thinh shared.
Once, hearing a fellow countryman mocking him behind his back: "This guy has IELTS 8.5 but his English is so bad, far behind me", Thinh realized that a high IELTS score is useless if he cannot communicate naturally. Disappointed with himself, Thinh thought about returning home. However, bound by the scholarship and not wanting to disappoint those who had high expectations of him, Thinh was determined to stay and challenge himself once again.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone to go further
Admitting that he is an introvert and has many fears, Thinh also understands that if he does not proactively step out of his comfort zone, he will not be able to change.
Therefore, Thinh proactively made friends with international students, participated in presentations, group discussions, and interacted more with local people. In particular, the Journalism and Communications major required Thinh to regularly interview strangers - a challenging experience but also a good opportunity to improve his communication skills.
After completing his studies at a local college, Thinh had the opportunity to work at Canada’s national broadcaster CBC – an achievement that not all immigrants can easily achieve. However, after 1.5 years here, Thinh realized that he was not suited to the work schedule that revolved from morning to 8-9 pm, with no time left for himself, so he decided to switch to working for the local newspaper The Guardian in Prince Edward Island.
Thinh always kept in mind: “If you go to a foreign country, you have to be able to do the job. An immigrant has to work even harder. To stand out and get noticed, you have to be even more diligent. I am willing to take on jobs that no one else wants to do.”
Thinh said that in June 2023, the editorial office needed someone to cover a new report of more than 100 pages exposing many negative aspects at a university. Although he had not followed the case closely for several years and had no knowledge of the complex issues raised in the report, and with only 30 minutes left before the interview with the school's senior leaders, Thinh still replied "Ok, I can do it" when asked if he wanted to take on the assignment.
“At that time, I answered very confidently even though I was panicking because I didn’t know where to start. On the way to school, I quickly skimmed through the 100-page report, grasped the background knowledge and made a list of questions. In the end, I interviewed smoothly and had a well-reviewed post,” Thinh recalled.
Or a few months ago, at a major event attended by provincial ministers, Thinh volunteered to take on the responsibility of writing the story instead of the person in charge who had quit, even though he had no experience writing about politics. “At that time, I just thought, if I didn’t know much, I could read, if I didn’t understand something, I could ask, and finally I completed the report,” Thinh shared.
Thinh believes that pushing himself out of his comfort zone and always saying “yes” to difficult tasks has helped him be ready to face his fears and seize good opportunities.
Currently, Thinh continues to learn many new skills, especially French - the second language in Canada - to have more opportunities in work and personal development.
The male reporter also cherishes the plan to return to the YouTube channel to share not only his experiences learning English but also his experiences living and working abroad with young people.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/cu-soc-cung-mieng-truoc-nguoi-ban-xu-du-dat-8-5-ielts-cua-thay-giao-tieng-anh-2327199.html
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