Võ Anh Thư (right) with a classmate. — VNA/VNS Photo Phan Sáu

KHÁNH HOÀ — Gifted with the ability to learn language, Võ Anh Thư, a 12th-grade student at Lê Quý Đôn Specialised School in Khánh Hoà, has taught English and completed many translations over the internet.

"I am the smallest delegate of the Khánh Hoà delegation coming to the 12th National Congress of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union," said Anh Thư. "I felt proud and want to contribute my efforts to the Youth Union, motivating the young generations to develop."

During the pandemic, through learning and being introduced by previous classmates, Anh Thư participated in English sharing groups online. In 2021, Anh Thư participated in "The Engnoisseurs", a non-profit online English teaching project set up by high school students across the country.

Anh Thư's main job is to work with a group of friends to prepare lectures, exam questions, and how to do them and teach students remotely.

In a teaching group of five to six people, each person is responsible for a part of the lectures. 70 per cent of students taught by Anh Thu and the volunteer group have been accepted into specialised high schools.

"For me, by teaching, you will learn. Learning through knowledge sharing is very effective and I wished that I had learned of this sooner," said Anh Thư.

In addition to teaching remotely, Anh Thư also participates in translating English learning materials into Vietnamese on the internet for high school students, and is a translation collaborator of two psychological projects, The Psychonauts and The SoPsyEty Project, and co-authoring the book series "Pathway to Excellence", released by the English On Your Wishlist project in 2022. These are all non-profit projects, providing knowledge for middle and high school students.

Anh Thư also participates in English competitions on the internet and at universities, and has achieved many impressive results.

With all of these achievements, Thư always wants more time to do more things. Thư is also a young leader who founded and maintains the Academic Debate Club of the school.

According to Thư, a young person needs to study to gain knowledge, know what strengths you have, and help the community. For Thư, learning is a priority, but it is also necessary to balance social experiences.

Anh Thư wants to, through the activities she does, inspire students of the same age as herself to be better, to communicate confidently, to criticise problems in society, and to have suggestions to develop the youth movement in the province as well as improve learning results.

Currently, Anh Thư is focusing on studying for the Khánh Hoà National Examination for Excellent Students in 2023 and the first-semester exam in the 2022-2023 school year.

According to Thư, she has been exposed to and learned English since she was very young. For English to become her passion, she joined the provincial competition for excellent students in her junior high school years. Thư can study English for four to five hours without getting tired.

Sharing the secret to learning English effectively, Anh Thư suggested dividing it into listening-speaking - reading - writing modules. For the listening and speaking part, it is recommended to listen to speeches and articles in English on free platforms on the internet and through school tapes.

As for the reading part, it takes a lot of time and investment. A learner must carefully read the keywords in the lesson, new words and check the meaning, learn the meaning of new words with many sentences and examples, and not simply read the explanation and choose the answer.

According to Anh Thư, thanks to this method of studying, she has a richer English vocabulary, allowing her to write essays in English and translate. Good writing needs to have a foundation of grammar and to learn grammar, it is necessary to carefully study and remember sentence structures.

According to Hà Cao Thị Thu Hồng, Thư's teacher at Lê Quý Đôn High School, Thư has great potential in the future.

"Thư showed excellent qualities of linguistic thinking, learning methods and self-study ability. With a dynamic, sociable, inquisitive, creative and emotional personality, Anh Thu is always highly focused and interacts well with teachers and friends," said Hồng, "When participating in extracurricular activities, Anh Thư shows that she is a student with good soft skills, flexibility and leadership ability. Thanks to that, Thư has achieved a lot of success not only in studying but also outside classes, and she is trusted and loved by teachers and friends."

With her efforts and dedication in learning and extra-curricular activities, over the years Võ Anh Thư has received certificates of merit from Youth Unions and the Khánh Hoà Department of Education and Training. In addition, Anh Thư has been honoured with national awards and is among elite members of the Khánh Hoà Youth Union chosen as candidates to become Communist Party members. — VNS