Two best friends won the national second prize, IELTS score 8.0

What's special is that although they studied block A, these two male students were able to easily pass the IELTS exam with an "impressive" result of 8.0.

Rise from failure

Nguyen Thanh Phi Long and Le Xuan Hoang both have parents working in the industry.pedagogySo the starting point of the two students had many advantages. However, during their junior high school days at Dang Thai Mai Junior High School, Long and Hoang were not the most outstanding students. Their achievements at that time were still modest with the Encouragement Prize in Mathematics at the Provincial Excellent Student Competition for Grade 9.

Nguyen Thanh Phi Long - a male student who won second prize in Biology for two consecutive years at the National Excellent Student Competition. Photo: MH

The result was not as expected, which was quite a shock for Nguyen Thanh Phi Long at that time and from a student who was studying quite emotionally, Long began to think seriously about his learning path. At this time, Long also started grade 10 and although he was studying in a specialized Math class, he decided to switch to focus on Biology with quite a careful calculation.

Sharing about this, Long said: In the past, there was a time when I wanted to become a teacher in the future, but then I interacted with many teachers and realized that I was not suitable for this job. Now, my dream is to become a good doctor and the first step to make that dream come true is to study Biology well.

Deciding to pursue Biology, Long seemed to have to start all over again. Of course, this was not simple and at the beginning of the second semester of grade 10, Long suffered his first failure when he once again only won the Encouragement prize at the school's excellent student competition.

This result, according to Long, was very “terrible”, forcing Long to not be subjective and he had to look back at his own learning methods. Immediately after that, for nearly 9 months, Long locked himself in the house and only “plowed” Biology. His perseverance paid off when he was admitted to the National Excellent Student Team Selection Exam of Vinh University High School for the Gifted, even though his score at that time was quite modest, the lowest in the team.

Sharing more about this first difficult journey, Long added: In fact, when I first got acquainted with Biology, I didn't like it very much because this subject has too much theory, the thinking and application to solve exercises are also different from Math, so I encountered many difficulties.

Later, when I joined the national team, I was guided by my teachers on how to study and I formed a general understanding of Biology. From then on, instead of reading books and understanding by myself but not really effectively, I found a more scientific and effective learning method.

Positive changes have also created a good foundation to help Long confidently step into the job.National Excellent Student Competitionin grade 11 and excellently won second prize. This result was also the motivation to go to grade 12, Long continued to pursue this exam once again with the desire to prove his ability. The second time winning second prize in the National Excellent Student, Long was quite satisfied because he still maintained his form. What he regrets most is that he was only 0.25 points short of being able to enter the second round of selecting the national team to participate in the Olympic Competitions and was a little bit unlucky to be able to change his ranking position.

Student Le Xuan Hoang - Second prize in Math at the National Excellent Student Competition. Photo: MH

Le Xuan Hoang entered the National Excellent Student Competition in grade 12 with the desire to prove himself after winning the Encouragement Prize in grade 11. On the journey to conquer this competition, Hoang also experienced many hardships and there were many times when he had to look at his failures to learn lessons for himself.

Talking about this process, Hoang said: My father is a math teacher and also a tutor for the team. When I was not successful, my father never put pressure on me. However, my father always wanted me to look at the results and find my limitations. Indeed, there were many times when I could not complete the set goals, I was very sad. But then, the failure was the motivation for me to try harder.

Le Xuan Hoang and Nguyen Thanh Phi Long are both studying in the Math specialized class at Vinh University High School for the Gifted. Photo: MH

As a student at a specialized school, Hoang admits that he studies quite seriously and early on sets a goal of winning the national championship. However, in the process of pursuing the subject, he believes that his learning method is not always effective. Giving the reason, Hoang said: When I first joined the team, I thought I had to study a lot, do a lot of exercises, and many types of math problems to be able to achieve good results, but this way of studying was ineffective and quite mechanical. After that, instead of solving many problems, I changed my way of thinking, absorbing more knowledge to be able to apply to many exercises and many types of problems. Studying is therefore more interesting and easier.

With a lot of effort, at the 12th grade Excellent Student Selection Exam, Hoang had a pretty good test and won the second prize - also the highest prize of Vinh University High School for the Gifted. The high total score also helped Hoang get a place in the second round to continue to be selected for the national team to participate in the Olympic exam.

Don't stress when learning English

Le Xuan Hoang and Nguyen Thanh Phi Long are both studying in grade 12 specializing in Mathematics and they have many things in common because they have known each other since childhood, live near each other, and studied in the same class and school from middle school to high school. They also have another hobby, which is studying.Englishto satisfy my hobby of reading stories and watching foreign movies.

Before that, since kindergarten, Long and Hoang were introduced to foreign languages ​​by their parents. However, Long only really made progress since the summer of 8th grade when there were many books he liked but had not been published in Vietnam yet. Therefore, instead of waiting, Long went online and searched for foreign reading sites and explored them by himself. Long's interests then influenced his friend quite a bit and whenever they had free time, the two would go to each other's houses to read books, watch YouTube, and watch foreign movies. That was also the time when both of them practiced their skills, listening, speaking, reading and accumulating their vocabulary.

Nguyen Thanh Phi Long and Le Xuan Hoang often learn English online. Photo: MH

Thanks to his good English skills, in grade 10, Hoang won a ticket to Australia to participate in the international English math competition and won a gold medal. That was also the only gold medal of the Vietnamese delegation at this competition.

With a good foundation in grammar and vocabulary, since grade 11, despite being busy preparing for the national team exam, Hoang and Long have set a goal of getting an international English certificate soon. In addition to self-study, both of them studied with two other teachers at school to review according to the IELTS program. At the end of grade 11, Hoang took the exam to get the certificate.IELTSand right in the first exam, Hoang conquered this exam quite easily and achieved a very high score of 8.0. Half a year later, Long also attended this exam and achieved the same result to the surprise of many friends and teachers.

Sharing the secret to success, Hoang and Long also said: Many people when learning English often create pressure for themselves. But we identify English as a means for us to connect with the world, so instead of learning in a rather mechanical and heavy way, we learn English completely naturally and use English every day like a second language.

Therefore, when you have a good vocabulary, can listen, speak and communicate normally, then when it comes time to take the IELTS test, you just need to focus and study according to the program that the teacher guides, then studying will be easier and more effective.

Students Nguyen Thanh Phi Long and Le Xuan Hoang. Photo: MH

The initial successes in the National Excellent Student Competition and having an international language certificate have also helped Hoang and Long get very close to university. However, with the desire to conquer knowledge, both of them determined that the road ahead still has many challenges as Long is still trying to study hard to be admitted to Hanoi Medical University. Meanwhile, Hoang also has to try very hard to conquer the second round of selecting the national team.

On this journey to the future, both are determined to try their best to not let down their family, teachers and school. Moreover, it is also a way for them to prove their abilities and strive to improve every day.