12-year-old girl achieves 8.0 IELTS

Phuong Linh, class 7A3, Foreign Language Secondary School, Hanoi National University, achieved 8.0 IELTS on the first try with a perfect Reading score.

Bui Phuong Linh achieved this score after the computer-based test on September 1. In addition to the Reading score, Linh's Speaking and Writing scores were both 7.0, and her Listening score was 8.0.

"I thought the result was okay but I didn't expect 8.0," Linh said.

Linh’s mother, Nguyen Phuong Thao, was also surprised when her daughter got a high score. As an English teacher, she understands her daughter’s ability, but knows that IELTS is a difficult exam, and the computer-based test requires a lot of precise operations. Therefore, at first, the mother and daughter only planned to take the test to test their abilities.

On its website, IDP - one of three organizations that own the IELTS test in the world , said that less than 3% of candidates achieved a score of 8.0. According to 2022 statistics on the IELTS homepage, only 4% of people in Vietnam achieved this score. The test has no age limit, but IDP encourages candidates to register when they are 16 years old or older.

Bui Phuong Linh, class 7A3, Foreign Language Secondary School, Hanoi National University. Photo: Family provided

According to Linh, the IELTS test that day was more difficult than the ones she practiced at home. Of the four skills, the Reading score surprised Linh the most. Linh often got confused with True, False, Not Given questions, but on the real test, she was sure of these questions. The Reading test had a part that required filling in words. Because she encountered some new words, Linh had to use the process of elimination. For questions she was unsure about, she reread the passage many times, using her knowledge and relying on information from previous sections to find the answer.

"9.0 means you don't get any questions wrong or only get one question wrong," Linh said.

The female student said she was not good at writing so she had attended a course of more than ten sessions. A week before the exam, she practiced writing and looked at sample essays online. While most candidates found Part 1, which required explaining data through charts, easy, Linh was confident with Part 2. This type of question requires candidates to have critical thinking and give their own opinions.

Listening is the skill that female students regret the most because of mistakes in the first few exercises - which are considered the points-saving part of the exam. According to Linh, because she was nervous, she got distracted in this part. However, Linh still got an 8.0.

Linh expected the highest score in Speaking because this is her strength. However, the score of 7 made her a bit disappointed. After the first part asking for general information, Linh was asked to describe a successful person who studied with her. Linh told about her close friend, who was introverted but had succeeded in building relationships and becoming sociable.

"It took me more than a minute to think about her and my preparation wasn't really good so I was a bit hesitant," Linh said. The first exam result wasn't really satisfactory but Linh said through it, she realized what she needed to improve.

For Linh, English is a means to read books and learn about the vast world outside. There are many books that Linh reads in both languages, but only when accessing the original English version, she understands the content of the book better.

Linh believes that this is because she was lucky to have built a solid foundation in English from an early age. At the age of four, when she was already fluent in Vietnamese, Linh was introduced to English by her mother, starting with phonetics, spelling, and learning with reading software such as Razkids, Oxford Phonics World, Let's go, Family and Friends...

According to Thao, Linh loves English and has a good memory, can read and retell stories in English. When she was a little older, she wrote the story in her notebook. Every night, Thao also reads books with her and watches her favorite programs such as Ellen Show, TED Talks or BBC.

"Linh watched the host Ellen's videos over and over again until she knew them by heart. When she could listen well, she set a timer on her iPad to listen to BBC Learning English or TED Talks," Thao shared.

Ms. Thao said Linh was shy, but thanks to her English advantage, she became more confident. To check her child's progress, Ms. Thao let her take Cambridge standardized exams every year. At the age of 5, Linh started with Starters, then in the following years she moved up to Movers, Flyers, PET and KET. In each exam, she achieved excellent results. From grade 5 to grade 7, Linh also won first prize at the National English Champion Festival, and was in the top 10 excellent speaking contestants.

"I learn English in a very comfortable way, I can express my thoughts and opinions in English, not in a cram school way. Thanks to that, English comes into my life naturally," Linh shared.

Not only good at English, Linh is also good at natural sciences and loves debating. After passing the entrance exam to grade 6 at Foreign Language Secondary School, Linh wakes up at 5:30 every day to prepare breakfast and take the bus from her home in Dan Phuong to Cau Giay to study. Linh's grade point average (GPA) in grade 6 is 9.7.

The female student plans to take the Cambridge C1 certificate exam next year and retake the IELTS exam in grade 9 with the goal of achieving 8.5-9.0.

Dawn

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