Solving a 'strange' detail

Portrait of Sunnie Nguyen, the female student who is currently mysteriously missing in Australia

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Sunnie Nguyen (17 years old, real name Nguyen Hoan Ngoc Anh) is the fifth Vietnamese exchange student at Hamilton High School (Adelaide City) to mysteriously disappear in Australia recently. On January 11, authorities announced that one person had been found, but there was still no news about the remaining four cases, including the student who had been missing for more than four weeks. Police also said that the five disappearances were not related and that they may have gone to another state.

Responding to the Daily Mail , Mary, Sunnie's host family, said that everyone was extremely worried about the student's safety. Because she was said to be very shy and had difficulty communicating. "She couldn't speak English when she first arrived in Australia. Now she has opened up more to us and her housemates, but when she goes out, Sunnie still has to rely on someone else to translate for her," Mary confided.

This detail has many people wondering about how Australia reviews and grants visas to Vietnamese students. Because, if choosing to study in an English-speaking country, international students often have to meet a certain level of foreign language standards, demonstrated through scores on English proficiency tests such as IELTS. "But why can't you communicate well in English?", many people ask.

Answering this question, Mr. Vu Thai An, Director of GLINT Study Abroad Company (HCMC), said that Australia is a country that welcomes international students. Particularly in the visa application review process, this country ranks other countries into 3 assessment levels, called Assessment Level. With level 1 being the highest, students do not need to prove their finances, nor are they required to have an English certificate such as IELTS when submitting their application.

"Vietnam was ranked in Group 1 by Australia in May 2023, and this may be the reason why international students do not need to take an English certificate test before coming to Australia. Not to mention, for students under 18 years old studying abroad at the high school level, Australian schools will not 'tighten' IELTS requirements like undergraduates.

Normally, the school will interview or give international students a test while they are still in Vietnam to assess their English proficiency. If their foreign language proficiency is still weak, the school may still accept them, but only require them to study English at school for 6-10 weeks or longer before entering the official program. Thus, Vietnamese international students can completely go to Australia and then start studying English," Mr. An explained.

This regulation is different from another popular study abroad country, the United States, where international students are required to demonstrate English proficiency before being able to study, the director added.

Hamilton High School (Adelaide City), where 5 Vietnamese international students have mysteriously disappeared at different times over the past month.

HAMILTON SECONDARY COLLEGE

Sharing the same view, Dr. Nguyen Vinh Quang, Director of Mr.Q International Vocational Education Organization (HCMC), and also a member of two professional associations in Australia (CDAA and CICA), said that for the high school study abroad program, Australian schools require international students to achieve IELTS 5.0 (for grade 10) and 5.5 (for grades 11 and 12) or other equivalent certificates, such as PTE.

"Most likely, the Vietnamese student went to Australia before the country tightened its visa policies. At that time, Australia was still 'open' to Vietnam, so they only needed to take an English entrance test, then come to Australia to study English for up to 20 weeks to officially enter the program," said Mr. Quang, adding that international students could also "skip their studies" to enter the main program earlier.

Another reason why Vietnamese students cannot speak English fluently when they come to Australia is because some regions in Australia speak with a local accent, "a bit difficult for first-time listeners". "Sometimes Vietnamese students' reading and writing skills are very good, but their listening and speaking skills cannot keep up with Australians. This is normal and in general, it is impossible to come to Australia without knowing English because people under 18 years old are strictly controlled by the government", Mr. Quang commented.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/vu-5-du-hoc-sinh-viet-mat-tich-tai-uc-giai-dap-mot-chi-tiet-la-185240114123638935.htm