Two close friends from a district school in Nghe An achieved 8.5 IELTS on their first try.

Two best friends progress together

In recent days, students who love English in Do Luong district were very proud to hear that Bui Thi Thuc Anh and Le Thi Anh Tho - students of class 11D1 at Do Luong 1 High School both achieved an IELTS score of 8.5. This result was beyond expectations because previously, Anh Tho only set a target of 8.0, while Thuc Anh aimed for 7.5.

Thuc Anh's family house is located on a hillside in Nam Son commune, Do Luong district, about 8 km from her house to Do Luong 1 High School. Born into a family with parents who are ordinary civil servants, her father works at the District Culture - Sports and Communication Center, her mother is a primary school teacher in Nam Son commune, but her parents always pay attention to her and her sister's studies. Thuc Anh has loved English since childhood. For her, English is a subject with a strange attraction. Thuc Anh said: "I myself did not think I could achieve an IELTS score of 8.5, because my seniors only achieved about 7.5".

Anh Tho's house is also on the outskirts of the village in Hamlet 4, Da Son Commune. Anh Tho has a pretty face, a fluent and cute way of speaking. She shared: "I started to intend to study IELTS to prepare for the University entrance exam at the beginning of this year. When I knew that Thuc Anh also had the same intention, I told her that we should work together to achieve our goal. Since February 2023, we have started to interact with each other in studying."

Right after deciding to study together, the two immediately made a clear schedule, specifically which days of the week they would study, how many hours, and what content they would focus on.

At first, Thuc Anh and Anh Tho mainly practiced speaking together every day to improve their speaking skills. The practice often took place during free time such as recess or during physical education class, or when students were free to do activities outside of class.

“We just walked around the school yard, talking about things happening around us or about our friends in English. Once we got used to speaking, we started discussing topics that appeared in the IELTS Speaking section” - Anh Tho shared.

Learned a lot from each other

Because their houses are quite far apart, nearly 10 km, Anh Tho and Thuc Anh often plan to practice speaking together 2-3 evenings a week via Google Meet. Before the exam, which is also during the summer break, they will practice their skills together for about 2-3 hours a day.

For Thuc Anh, the most difficult part of the IELTS test is Writing. “I often have difficulty finding ideas for my writing, and ideas are very important. I have to practice the habit of reading newspapers and learning more knowledge.”

In return for Thuc Anh, Anh Tho has the advantage of writing ideas. With a rich vocabulary and social knowledge base, Anh Tho often supports you when practicing writing, suggesting good ideas... Thuc Anh has the advantage of pronunciation, so she often helps Anh Tho correct pronunciation mistakes when practicing speaking.

“We learned a lot from each other even though at the beginning, my ability was only about 6.0, while Anh Tho was at 7.0. I think that having a companion when studying IELTS is very necessary. When I feel discouraged, you always encourage, urge and motivate me. In addition, having someone respond and detect my mistakes during the review process also makes studying more interesting” - Thuc Anh said with a smile.

During her studies, with the two skills of Listening and Reading, Thuc Anh often practiced the Cambridge books, from book 10 to book 18. Every time she finished, Thuc Anh and her friends carefully marked and corrected the questions, and noted down the mistakes to read again in her free time. In addition to practicing the questions, Thuc Anh also listened to TED Talks, watched detective series in English, read foreign newspapers... to make studying more interesting.

With Writing skills, according to Thuc Anh, the criterion of “task achievement” is the most important factor, so you must always try to meet the requirements such as: dividing paragraphs meaningfully, using language carefully, avoiding over-generalization, analyzing the topic in depth and thoroughly each idea. In addition, when writing, Thuc Anh always tries to use the correct conjunctions to connect ideas together, thereby increasing the score for coherence.

Regarding speaking skills, according to Thuc Anh, having a partner is very important so that both can learn from each other and be motivated. For this skill, fluency and pronunciation are also the two most important factors.

For Anh Tho, the most important thing when learning a language is vocabulary. “However, many people often make the mistake of learning vocabulary passively, always trying to memorize. Instead, I often try to give examples and write short paragraphs containing new vocabulary to remember it longer. In addition, listening to the radio, podcasts or reading newspapers helps me understand the way native people think and use language and enrich my social and specialized knowledge,” Anh Tho added.

Commenting on Anh Tho and Thuc Anh, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai Ly - English teacher, homeroom teacher of class 11D1 at Do Luong 1 High School and also the teacher who is directly training the school's excellent English students said: "From the beginning of grade 10 when entering Do Luong 1 High School, both of them only had a fair level of education and started to set big goals of being good at English, taking the IELTS test and striving to be in the Provincial Excellent Student team in English for grade 12. This is a process of continuous effort and meticulousness right from the first basic lessons in class, each test during the learning process. After the test results, the two of them have been enthusiastically supporting their classmates to review and take the IELTS test in the coming time. In the near future, the two of them will participate in the Provincial Excellent Student English exam. Hopefully, both of them will continue to try their best and make further breakthroughs to get the best results."