Hai Nam from 6G0 class at the Newton 5 Secondary School has become the only sixth grader in Thanh Oai district in Hanoi chosen to join a team of students at the competition for excellent students in English at the city level in the 2024-2025.

Prior to that, at the district level’s competition, Nam got 16.1 out if 20 scores, ranked sixth among top 10 excellent students of the district.

Nam admitted that he was shocked when hearing the results as he could not think he could join the team of selected 9th graders to compete at the city’s completion.

Asked about the exam questions at the district’s competition, designed for 9th graders, Nam said they were ‘a bit difficult for sixth graders’ but he still ‘could do these’. There were 100 questions which must be answered within 150 minutes.

According to teachers of English, sixth graders have less experience and knowledge, which makes it more difficult for them to write essays. Nam must also have a very good English foundation to compete with ninth graders.

Asked about the reasons that prompted Nam to attend the exam for senior students, Nam said he wanted to win a prize and obtain a scholarship from the school.

This was not the first time Nam attended the advance placement exam. When he was in fifth grade, he was selected for the district’s team of competitors to attend the competition designed for seventh graders.

Nam told VietNamNet that he was exposed to English very early. His mother said that during her pregnancy, she listened to songs and programs in English.

"In some way, English always comes naturally in my mind. I feel more comfortable and find it easier to express my thoughts in this language," Nam said.

Nam also frequently watches programs and reads books in English with various topics, from scientific research to fictional subjects.

He has a habit of hiding himself in a quiet closet to read and record himself speaking, then listening to playback. If Nam feels dissatisfied about his work, he opens YouTube to hear native pronunciation and learns by imitation.

Nam also practices monologues after finishing a book or watching a film.

To learn grammar rules, he regularly practices with exercises and tries to solve previous years’ exam questions.

Nam engages with social media to chat with foreigners and often initiates conversations with foreign nationals he encounters on streets.

School achievements and future goals

Le Thi Thanh Nhan, Principal of Newton 5 Primary & Secondary School, said Nam is a student in the mathematics majoring class, but he is also good at English and has won a lot of prizes at Maths and English competitions.

"We are pleased yet unsurprised by Nam's accomplishments. He is talented, confident, and is even more fluent in English than Vietnamese. He never goes to extra classes that prepare for English exams," Nhan remarked.

With his constant efforts, Nam has gained impressive achievements, including the first prize at the district-level IOE (Internet Olympiad English) competition, gold medal at the national IOE (2023-2024), second prize at the city-level English Olympics (2023), silver at the AMO (Asia Mathematics Olympiad) (2023), second at the city-level Trang Nguyen Tieng Viet competition (2024), third in the district-level English competition (2024), and three silver medals at international competitions (ASMO - Asian Science and Mathematics Olympiad, TIMO, and SASMO (Singapore anh Asia Schools Math Olympiads).

According to Nhan, Nam is the first student in the school to make it into the selected team to attend the English competition for ninth graders. Besides Nam, Newton 5 Secondary School has other students, seventh graders, who will attend the advance placement exam.

"Nam is a sixth grader, so we don't expect too much from him and keep him free from pressure. It would be wonderful if Nam just can win any prize. We hope he can perform well," Nhan said.

Nam also showcases his talents by attending extracurricular activities like hosting school news programs and vlogs, and delivering presentations in English.

Nam affirmed that he doesn't feel pressure when competing with older students, as he has already leaned knowledge by reading books and online documents.

Thanh Hung