11th grade male student achieved 9.0 IELTS on the first try

Tran Minh Duc, an 11th grade English 1 student at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, has just received a 9.0 IELTS score, with all three skills of listening, reading, and speaking scoring 9.0; writing scoring 8.0. This is also Duc's first time taking this exam.

The male student said that before that, he did not practice IELTS too much because he already had a foundation in grammar and vocabulary. However, he still registered to study at a center to improve his skills and get familiar with the test structure.

"I'm very happy, I didn't think I would achieve such results," Duc said.

Ms. Vu Thu Trang, Minh Duc's mother, said that since he was a child, Duc loved and often imitated saying some English vocabulary. At that time, she often showed him some videos on channels like "Baby Einstein" so that he could see the pictures and listen to the correct pronunciation.

In addition, she also regularly buys books and stories in English for her son to read. Thanks to that, Trang discovered that Duc has the ability to read very quickly. Because of his love for reading, at just over 3.5 years old, the boy can read both English and Vietnamese books.

In primary school, Duc began to enjoy watching videos, researching and referring to foreign documents related to plants and trees. “These topics are not too complicated, usually introducing where this type of tree lives in the world, what are its characteristics, functions and effects...,” Duc said. Thanks to watching his favorite topics, Duc's English vocabulary was naturally improved.

However, the male student admitted that English was not the field he wanted to pursue at first. Having always had a love for plants and trees, when he was in secondary school in the dual-degree class of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, Duc decided to try his hand at joining the Biology team. However, because he had not prepared himself with basic knowledge, the male student could not keep up with his friends.

This dream had to be put on hold, Duc switched to studying with the England team. In grade 9, Minh Duc participated in the competition and won first prize in the city's excellent student competition in English. After that, he was admitted to grade 10 specializing in English at Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted with the highest score in the specialized subject.

When he entered 10th grade, Duc still had the intention of studying biology. Therefore, he searched for documents and supplemented the knowledge that was lacking compared to his classmates in the specialized class. This summer, Duc asked his teachers to let him study with the students in the school's biology team.

However, according to the regulations for the gifted student exam, students can only choose subjects from the subjects they have studied in the general education program. Since the English specialized class does not offer this elective subject, Duc had to continue to miss the appointment and return to English.

Passing the selection round at school, Duc entered the city's team to participate in the national excellent student exam on December 25.

Regarding IELTS, the male student said that this is the certificate that most English major students want to conquer. The secret to helping Duc achieve 9.0 IELTS is "reading and watching everything in English to expand his vocabulary, sentence structures and learn how to apply them fluently".

In terms of listening skills, the male student assessed that this part is not too complicated and is the easiest to get points. Therefore, before starting the listening test, Duc often underlines the keywords in the test to grasp the overall picture and what needs to be paid attention to so as not to miss any content during the test.

“Sometimes, people will use synonyms to replace words in the question, so you need to pay attention or you won't notice that the word appears,” Duc said.

In reading skills, the male student believes that candidates must have a firm grasp of vocabulary and grammar, because if one of the two is missing, they will not be able to fully understand the reading. When doing the test, Duc often underlines evidence to choose the appropriate answer.

In speaking skills, the topic Duc received was to talk about a time he learned something from an online video. The male student talked about the video about the origins of spices and fruits in the world. Thanks to "touching" the right field of passion, Duc talked about the reason for watching the video, how interesting the content of the video was and why he loved the video.

“What you say is quite simple, but focus on diversifying sentence structure and vocabulary to impress the judges. In addition, the expression also needs to be clear, coherent, and uninterrupted.”

To speak and write well, Duc believes that it is necessary to “consume” a lot of English documents. “There are many ways to consume English. If I am busy, I can turn on a podcast to listen to the content. If I have more time, I will watch videos or my favorite movies. Through this method, the use of words and writing style will be more fluent and natural,” Duc said.

After achieving 9.0 IELTS, Duc said he will focus on preparing well for the upcoming national excellent student exam. With plans to apply to study in the US, the male student plans to take the SAT. The field Minh Duc wants to pursue at university level is related to biology.