Twice a "level up" student, Hai Nam (class 6G0, Newton 5 Primary - Secondary School) is the only 6th grader selected by Thanh Oai district ( Hanoi ) to be on the team participating in the city-level English competition for excellent students in the 2024-2025 school year. In the district-level team selection round, Hai Nam scored 16.1/20 points, ranking 6th out of 10 district representatives. The male student shared that he was "quite shocked" by this result and did not think he could make it onto the team with his 9th grade seniors.

6th grade student Pham Hai Nam was selected into the team for the city-level competition for excellent students, which was originally for 9th graders.

Talking about the district-level team selection exam (also designed for 9th graders), the male student commented that it was "a bit difficult for 6th graders" but he still did it. The exam consisted of 100 questions, to be completed in 150 minutes. According to some teachers, 6th graders often have less experience than their 9th graders, not to mention the amount of knowledge of Vietnamese and literature they receive is less, so they are also "at a disadvantage" when writing paragraphs. Therefore, according to teachers, when doing the test, Hai Nam had a very good English foundation to be able to "compete" like that. Hai Nam said that he entered the exam with the determination to win a prize because he wanted to win a scholarship from the school. This was not the first time he participated in a high-level excellent student exam. In 5th grade, he was selected for the district-level excellent student exam, which was originally for 7th graders. Nam shared that he was exposed to English early. According to his mother, when she was pregnant, she often played songs and programs in English. “Somehow, English just comes to my mind. I feel more comfortable and easier when I express myself in this language,” Nam said. In addition to studying, he often watches shows and reads books in English on many topics and genres, from science to fiction. Nam has a habit of going into a quiet closet, reading books and recording his voice and listening to it. If he feels uncomfortable, Nam will go on YouTube to listen to native speakers pronounce and learn from them. He also often monologues after reading a book or watching a movie. To reinforce his grammar, he does a lot of exercises and exam questions from previous years. Nam also goes on social networking sites, makes friends with foreigners to chat, and often takes the initiative to talk to foreigners on the street.

Hai Nam with Principal Le Thi Thanh Nhan (right cover) and teachers of Newton 5 Primary and Secondary School.

Sharing with VietNamNet , Ms. Le Thi Thanh Nhan, Principal of Newton 5 Primary and Secondary School, said that Hai Nam is a student in the Math class but is also good at English and has won many awards and medals in competitions for these two subjects. "With Hai Nam's results, we are very happy but not too surprised. Nam is very good, confident, and even speaks English more fluently than Vietnamese. In particular, he does not go to training centers but mainly studies by himself and at school," Ms. Nhan said. With his constant efforts, Hai Nam has an impressive list of achievements such as: First prize in the district-level IOE competition, Gold prize in the national round of IOE (school year 2023-2024); Second prize in the city-level English Olympic competition (2023); Silver medal in the AMO Math competition (2023); Second prize in the city-level Vietnamese Champion competition (2024); Third prize in the district-level English competition for excellent students (2024); 3 Silver medals at the International English Olympiad (ASMO), International Mathematics Olympiad (TIMO) and Singapore & Asia Mathematics Olympiad (SASMO),... Ms. Nhan said that Hai Nam is the first student of the school to be included in the English excellent student competition team, which is for grade 9. This year, in addition to Hai Nam, Newton 5 Primary - Secondary School also has 9 grade 7 students who are also taking the "advance grade" exam. "Hai Nam is a 6th grade student, so the school does not set too high expectations so that he does not feel pressured. Just winning a prize is already a wonderful thing. We still hope that he will take the exam and achieve good results," said Ms. Nhan. Not only excelling in his studies, Nam also shows his comprehensive talent when participating in extracurricular activities such as being the MC of the school newsletter, school vlog or giving English presentations. Nam shared that he did not feel overwhelmed when taking the exam with his 9th grade classmates because he had read all this knowledge in books or online. To prepare for the city-level exam on January 18, he will need to practice many questions every day. The male student aims to win third prize or higher.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nam-sinh-lop-6-ha-noi-duoc-chon-thi-hoc-sinh-gioi-cua-lop-9-2356227.html