Grade 9 student in Ho Chi Minh City achieved IELTS 8.5 on the first try

Trong Ban just achieved IELTS 8.5

That is Trong Ban - studying at Hong Ngoc Secondary School, Ruby School (Tan Phu district) with IELTS component scores of reading 9, listening 8.5, writing 7.5 and speaking 8.

Despite his high results, Trong Ban shared that his English learning is a natural and continuous journey, not stopping at an exam.

Immerse yourself in English through games and YouTube

Trong Ban started learning English very gently. When he was young, he often watched game videos on YouTube. Although he didn't understand much, listening repeatedly helped Ban gradually get used to the intonation and pronunciation of English.

That passion is nurtured when you continue to learn English by yourself through movies, stories or songs. Thanks to that, your English vocabulary and reflexes are accumulated every day in a self-absorbing, unconstrained way.

Every time he encounters a new word while listening to music or watching a movie, Trong Ban takes careful notes, looks it up thoroughly, and repeats it many times until he remembers it. At the same time, he creates more opportunities to come into contact with new words every day, such as making flashcards, writing notes on memorable objects in the room, etc.

When using your phone, you also switch everything to English, helping you to be exposed to foreign languages every day, almost "living with" English and speeding up your ability to absorb. You see this as an effective way to improve your vocabulary instead of learning by heart mechanically.

In particular, Trong Ban loves to learn English while playing games. These are games that require players on the same team to constantly talk to each other to coordinate smoothly during the competition. And because the "teammates" are all from different countries, the main language used is English.

So since elementary school, Trong Ban often talked in games. "I learned English by myself like that since elementary school. I never went to an English learning center," Ban said.

Conquer IELTS 8.5

Entering middle school, Trong Ban started learning English with clearer goals instead of just learning for fun. He started to try many international competitions such as international math competitions in English in the US, Australia, Singapore...

By grade 9, one of my important goals was to take the IELTS exam to see how good I was.

Trong Ban said he did not study for the IELTS exam at any center, but only studied with the guidance of teachers at school.

Trong Ban soon realized the huge difference between studying for exams and studying for fun and some pressure when reviewing.

For example, the writing section, especially the essay section, is Ban's biggest fear when studying for IELTS. He confided that as a secondary school student with little social experience, finding ideas for essays is always a challenge.

To overcome this, Ban actively reads newspapers and watches videos about society and current events. Each time, he learns a new perspective, a way of reasoning, and appropriate vocabulary to apply to his writing.

Trong Ban "takes advantage" of the teachers at school to help his friends edit their writing. The teachers are also very supportive, carefully editing each of Ban's essays so that he can learn from their experiences.

For the speaking part, Ban thinks the most important thing is to speak fluently, so you don't put too much emphasis on using advanced vocabulary.

You choose to speak as if you have experienced and understood what you know, which helps you feel more confident in the exam room, even when you don't have much time to think.

Mr. Vu Thai Duong - a teacher at the school - believes that an interesting characteristic of English is that the more you use it, the more you practice making mistakes - correcting them - and then practicing them again, the better your skills will be. Ban is a very clear example of that as he himself has a very good natural English foundation due to his frequent daily use.

Mr. Duong said that teachers mainly support students with additional methods, orientation and resources. Teachers often assign more in-depth readings, documents with academic content such as social and scientific content to help expand knowledge and vocabulary, serving the writing and speaking sections.

"However, your achievements depend largely on each individual's own efforts," said Mr. Duong.

Besides IELTS, he is also the first prize winner in the city-level excellent student contest.

In grade 9, Trong Ban boldly tried his hand at the city-level English competition for excellent students in the 2024-2025 school year and won first prize.

For Ban, this is a big playground, where he not only tests his abilities but also expands his relationships with friends who share the same passion. Thanks to this review process, Ban learns how to use more "advanced" grammar structures, apply academic vocabulary and cultivate logical thinking.

Ban shared that he used to be quite nervous before each exam, sometimes even afraid that he wouldn't have enough points to get a high score. But for Ban, daring to experience and step out of his comfort zone is to better understand his own abilities.

In the near future, Ban plans to take the entrance exam for the English major class at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted. He plans to continue improving his English skills and learn Chinese at the same time because learning foreign languages has become a passion for him.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hoc-sinh-lop-9-o-tp-hcm-dat-ielts-8-5-lan-thi-dau-tien-20250417093900584.htm