Ho Chi Minh City students enthusiastically participated in the English challenge with foreigners at the festival - Photo: CT
The 9th time the festival was held, the theme was "The World within You(th)" and shared many encouraging signs as Ho Chi Minh City students are increasingly interested and proactive in practicing and equipping themselves with foreign language skills before entering the labor market.
I consider the festival an opportunity to challenge my English speaking ability because through the activities I see that I need to practice and improve a lot. Being fluent in at least one common foreign language will open up greater career opportunities, especially for jobs that require high foreign language proficiency.
PHAM TRUONG GIANG (2nd year student, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology)
The luggage and passport of generation Z
Crowded, bustling and filled with laughter are the most noticeable things when coming to the festival space, even before it officially opens.
The "Corroboration English skill" game space is vibrant with challenges and interactions entirely in English.
The "National Cultures" area with more than a dozen booths introducing national cultures and cultural experiences creates excitement, stimulates curiosity and exploration among students.
Some English centers also contributed to making the festival atmosphere more exciting. Many interesting gifts after each game, as well as preferential scholarships for foreign language study, were given to students by the centers.
More importantly, you can interact and chat with native teachers, and at the same time hear more about effective foreign language learning methods.
Nguyen Thi Yen Nhi (Ho Chi Minh City University of Physical Education and Sports) performed exceptionally well in the English interactive challenges, but admitted that her English knowledge was still very weak. Nhi said that she lacked discipline, so it was difficult for her to concentrate on learning a foreign language.
"I'm very happy because this is the first time I've stepped out of my comfort zone to express myself, to socialize with everyone, and to boldly use my foreign language skills to interact because I'm an introvert" - Yen Nhi shared.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Viet Thanh (Ho Chi Minh City University of Education) was very excited about the series of interactive games at the festival. Along with the feeling of joy when overcoming many challenges, Thanh was also a bit regretful when he lost a few simple challenges.
He shared that he had achieved IELTS 7.0 two years ago and the festival was an opportunity to "test" his current ability.
"For students and young people today, knowing a foreign language is not only necessary, but must be considered mandatory if they want to go far and explore the wider world" - Thanh laughed.
Foreign language journey
Nguyen Tat Toan, Permanent Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Student Association, shared that the festival aims to create an environment for exchange, a place to share knowledge and effective foreign language learning skills for students in the city. The presence of many foreign language centers at the festival is a valuable opportunity, contributing to greatly supporting the foreign language learning process of students.
Introducing cultures and languages of many countries in the world at the festival is intended to help students understand and see foreign languages as a means, tool, and luggage to help them connect. Thereby, they can practice themselves every day, achieving the criteria of becoming a "5 Good Student".
Starting from this year's festival, the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnamese Student Association hopes that each year the festival will come to a different school in Ho Chi Minh City. Through this maintenance and connection, a new space will be created that brings the feeling of "a foreign language learning journey".
In addition, the exhibition of volunteer activities of Ho Chi Minh City youth at this year's festival is also very meaningful. This is both related to the theme "Year of Youth Volunteers" and creates an opportunity for students to test their vocabulary because all languages used at the exhibition are English.
"With the design of the festival's continuous activities, we want to create more challenging spaces and skill playgrounds to help students learn from each other and practice foreign language skills together in an intuitive, close and lively way" - Mr. Toan hopes.
Lots of interactions and suggestions for the festival
The "Youth Unbound" workshop with the participation of three speakers who are typical students and alumni shared with students the inspiring stories of Ho Chi Minh City students on the world map. All three of them have achieved many achievements in international integration activities, having set foot in many countries and territories around the world.
The festival also has many online contents and activities at http://englishcamp.sac.vn and the fanpage of the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnamese Student Association, the website and fanpage of the Ho Chi Minh City Student Support Center from before.
After nearly a month of implementation, there were more than 50,000 accesses, over 10,000 interactions and sharing of the festival's activities. In addition, there were nearly 120 messages and suggestions sent by members and students to the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Student Association through this festival.
English Speaking Contest
This year, within the framework of the festival, there was an English speaking contest "Speak Up for Sustainability" discussing the role of youth in sustainable development. The contest had taken place earlier and the final round at the festival featured the participation of the 10 best contestants competing in a speech competition simulating a conference between young ASEAN leaders.
From talking about climate change and sustainable development, candidates presented their views, provided solutions, debated opinions and conveyed their messages.
After many hours of competition, Luong Thi Thu Ngan (Ho Chi Minh City University of Education) won first prize. Second and third prizes went to Dong Minh Khoi (Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry) and Huynh Kieu Anh Huy (Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics).
Awarding first prize in the English speaking contest to student Luong Thi Thu Ngan (Ho Chi Minh City University of Education) - Photo: CT
The organizers also awarded seven consolation prizes to the remaining finalists. "Hopefully, this new point will help you practice your English skills and integration skills because these are necessary conditions for the current generation of students, along with practicing the title of 5 Good Students," said Mr. Tat Toan.
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