Lao Cai Minh Duc, 14 years old, achieved 8.5 IELTS on his first attempt, the first junior high school student in the province to achieve this score.
Nguyen Minh Duc, a 9C student at Le Quy Don Secondary School, Lao Cai, achieved 8.5 IELTS in the test on November 4. Duc achieved a perfect score of 9.0 in Listening, 8.5 in Reading and Speaking, and 7.0 in Writing.
According to Ms. Luu Thi Tuyet Mai, homeroom teacher of class 9C, Duc is the first 9th grade student in Lao Cai to achieve this score.
"I didn't dare check my score at school because I was afraid it would be low. The score of 8.5 was really beyond my expectations, I was a bit emotional," Duc shared.
Nguyen Minh Duc, a 9th grade student at Le Quy Don Secondary School, Lao Cai. Photo: Family provided
When he was in kindergarten, Duc was exposed to English because he enjoyed watching videos about trains online. Since the end of second grade, teachers have recognized Duc's talent for foreign languages and encouraged him to participate in English competitions. Duc's best achievement to date is second prize in the English competition for 9th graders in Lao Cai province last year.
Duc learned about IELTS through an introduction to the test at school. Wishing to take the test to have more opportunities in studying, Duc spent his 6th and 7th grade years to master the basic knowledge, as well as the types of questions for each skill. Since the beginning of this year, he has just started practicing with a frequency of 2-3 questions/week.
Achieving a perfect score of 9.0 in the Listening test, Duc considers this part to be a "savior" for IELTS candidates. His initial study method was to familiarize himself with the types of questions to master basic skills such as underlining keywords and paraphrasing. After each test, the male student checks his answers, finds any mistakes, and then listens again to better understand the content of the test.
Duc also practices listening using the shadowing method. Specifically, after recording the dialogue of the lesson, he tries to repeat exactly what he heard. This learning method also helps Duc improve his pronunciation skills.
Duc also had no difficulty in the Reading test, due to his mastery of basic grammar.
In the Speaking test, although he got 8.5, Duc shared that this was the skill he was most lacking in confidence in. This stemmed from Duc's experience in team training sessions.
"The constant lack of ideas prevented me from completing 2.5-minute speeches, so I didn't get full marks in the excellent student exam," Duc shared.
The male student and his friends, who had taken the IELTS test before, practiced speaking to correct each other's mistakes and learn from each other's experiences. In addition, he also referred to questions in test sets online to review.
In the Writing test, parts 2 and 3 required Duc to present a principle in the classroom or work environment. Duc talked about punctuality because, according to him, this principle helps students increase their awareness, learning productivity, and also brings a good image to the school. The male student acknowledged that he got a high score in this part of the test because of his clear and fluent pronunciation. He only used accents and did not overuse academic vocabulary related to the topic of the test.
For the Writing test, Duc said that part 1 requires analyzing a bar graph, part 2 requires candidates to compare group learning and individual learning.
Because it took a long time to analyze the graph, Duc had to write very quickly to complete part 2 on time. Duc believes that studying in groups will help students discuss, share work, and complete assignments more quickly and effectively. Meanwhile, studying alone will be suitable for independent people who like silence. Regarding the limitations, according to Duc, studying in groups can easily be distracted by talking to others or using the phone, while studying alone can cause students to have psychological problems, or difficulty in verifying information. As a result, the male student achieved 7.0.
Minh Duc is an MC who specializes in hosting extracurricular programs at Le Quy Don Secondary School, Lao Cai. Photo: Provided by the family
Ms. Tuyet Mai said that Duc took the IELTS test at the same time as the mid-term exam but he tried very hard and got good grades in all subjects. In addition to studying, she commented that the student was an exemplary class leader and actively participated in the school's collective activities.
Currently, Duc maintains many habits that help him practice English outside of school hours, such as watching the Youtube channel TED Ed with many academic videos on a variety of topics. He is also an audience member of beauty pageants, because he considers the contestants' English speeches a source of learning.
The male student is also focusing on reviewing for the provincial English proficiency exam in the next few weeks.
"If I win first prize, I will be admitted directly to Lao Cai High School for the Gifted. From sixth grade until now, I have only been second place," Duc said.
Huy Quan
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