Tran Tien Doan, a student in class 11D1, Foreign Language Specialized High School (Photo: Provided by the interviewee).
Last January, Tran Tien Doan, a student in class 11D1 at the High School for Foreign Languages (affiliated with Hanoi National University), excellently achieved the N1 Japanese language certificate with a perfect score of 180/180.
This is the highest level of the JLPT N1 Japanese Language Proficiency Test – and also a rare achievement – for a high school student.
According to the leaders of the Foreign Language Specialized High School, JLPT N1 is the most difficult level of the Japanese language proficiency test, with a very low annual pass rate.
Achieving this level requires language proficiency equivalent to a native speaker, the ability to read and understand in-depth materials, and the capacity to comprehend complex spoken language. This is the highest standard of Japanese proficiency, often required in professional work and research.
Tran Tien Doan excellently achieved the N1 Japanese language certificate (Photo: Provided by the interviewee).
Therefore, achieving a perfect score like Tien Doan's is considered an exceptionally outstanding achievement, even for many candidates who have studied and worked in Japanese for many years.
Furthermore, in the national Japanese language proficiency competitions for two consecutive years in grades 10 and 11 (2024 and 2025), she won second prize.
In the 2025-2026 academic year, Tien Doan continued to win second prize in the National University-level Japanese Language Olympiad.
Last January, my teammates and I won the gold medal at the national Japanese short play competition.
Speaking to a reporter from Dan Tri newspaper, Tien Doan said that he has a knack for the Japanese language because he lived in Japan with his family from the age of 3 to 6.
When he returned to Vietnam in second grade, he attended a regular elementary and middle school, not a specialized one, so there was no Japanese language instruction. He only maintained his daily use of the language through conversations with his older sister.
In 9th grade, with the goal of getting into the Specialized High School for Foreign Languages, the male student spent the last three months of the second semester practicing Japanese at a language center.
Having been admitted to the 10th grade specialized Japanese class at the Foreign Language Specialized High School, Doan completely stopped attending extra classes, focusing only on grammar with teachers and practicing listening and speaking skills through news programs, movies, books, newspapers, and music … From there, the language gradually seeped in.
Tien Doan likes Japanese because he loves the language and culture of this country (Photo: Provided by the interviewee).
Around October 2023, Doan registered to take the JLPT N2 Japanese Language Proficiency Test but unfortunately failed. In July 2024, he retook the test and passed the N2 certificate.
In December 2024, the male student took the N1 certification exam for the first time and scored 173 points.
In July 2025, the boy decided to retake the N1 certification exam and scored 178 points. "My family and I were quite disappointed that we were just 2 points short of making 'history'," the student recalled.
Last December, the male student took the JLPT N1 Japanese Language Proficiency Test again and achieved a perfect score of 180/180.
"After the exam, I didn't put too much pressure on myself regarding the results, so I felt relaxed and not very stressed. When I found out I got the maximum score, I was a little surprised," Doan said.
Regarding his passion for the Japanese language, the male student said that he likes the language and Japanese culture. He wants to use his language skills to choose a career path he loves.
It is known that the male student hopes to study abroad in Japan in the near future. However, during the approximately one year he has free time while waiting for scholarship results, he still wants to participate in the high school graduation exam to choose his preferred major, instead of choosing based on the direct admission results.
Tiến Đoàn's favorite school in Vietnam is either the Foreign Trade University or the Diplomatic Academy.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/nam-sinh-dat-chung-chi-tieng-nhat-cuc-hiem-20260204232514310.htm
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