Difficulty speaking English even though IELTS 7-8.0

Truong Ky Tong, 17 years old, is currently a student at Kaplan Academy, Singapore, after graduating from Grand Prairie Collegiate, Texas, USA, in 2021. The former gifted high school student in Ho Chi Minh City has a good background in English, with IELTS 7.5. However, he was still “clumsy” in his early days in America.

During the first lesson, Tong wanted to ask to go to the bathroom, so he said May I go to the toilet?. As soon as he finished speaking, the whole class burst into laughter. After the teacher explained the word “toilet”, Tong realized that he had used it wrong.

The male student said that in English – British, the word “toilet” means toilet, but English – American uses “bathroom” or “restroom”. “Toilet here is the toilet, so the sentence May I go to the toilet sounds a bit odd,” explained Tong.

Listening to lectures in class is also a challenge for Tong when his accent in Texas is heavier than elsewhere. During the first few months, Tong was engulfed in a feeling of low self-esteem and was afraid to communicate because it was difficult to interact with classmates. Tong can’t keep up with the “trendy” way of talking, omitting grammar, shortening sentences of friends.

“I only heard the first part, I didn’t understand at the climax. I often had to ask my friends to explain it again,” said Tong.

The language barrier not only inconveniences Tong at school but also in daily life. The experience at the barbershop made Tong then dare not take the risk, accepting to grow long hair for two years to return to Vietnam to cut it again.

At that time, Tong was not satisfied with any of the models in the shop, but there was no wifi to download sample photos. The hairdresser didn’t understand even though he patiently explained in both words and body language. When the trimmer blade made a path to split the hair on the head, Tong understood that he couldn’t do anything else.

“That day, I left with a shaved head,” recalled Tong.

Tong believes that a high IELTS score does not guarantee that international students can immediately integrate into the new environment. At school, Tong not only interacts with local friends but also many other international students. The dialect English of these classmates also confused Tong many times.

Near where Tong lives, there is a Fiesta market. In English there is a word with the same pronunciation as . siesta but has a different meaning. Siesta only the unique napping culture of the Spaniards. That time, the Nigerian boy discussed with Tong about the time and lunch break, but he heard “Fiesta”.

“I went to the market, I didn’t see you. Turns out I heard wrong, you took a nap in the afternoon to study at night, I heard that I went to the market,” Tong said.

According to Tong, some skills in IELTS are quite supportive for classroom learning such as Reading, Writing or Listening. Speaking skill depends a lot on cultural understanding, regions, customs and adaptability of each international student, especially in countries with many cultures.

Like Tong, Le Tu Nguyen Hao, a student at Anderson Serangoon Junior School, used to be very confident before studying in Singapore. Graduating from Tran Dai Nghia High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City, Hao scored 8.0 in IELTS and won an Astar scholarship. But when I went to Singapore, I felt like I was “dumped with cold water” because of language shock.

Hao said that English in Singapore is mixed with Chinese, Indian and Malaysian to form a typical language called “Singlish”. When people speak English, they often add their own intonation.

In class, Hao did not have too much difficulty listening to the lecture because the teacher used standard English. But every time he went out, he always had to strain his ears in front of the opposite person. In the opposite direction, the listener also did not understand what Hao was saying.

“Before going abroad, international students must find out in advance where they are going, listen to videos of native youtubers or vloggers to get used to their voices. You should also talk a lot with international friends, instead of just playing with groups. Vietnamese friends”, Hao advises.

Watching movies and listening to vlogs is considered an effective way to learn English and get acquainted with the language, according to Master Tu Pham, head of the IPP IELTS center. In this way, you can choose to hear the accent of the region you are going to, and understand more about the life and habits of the local people.

Tu shared, international students need to be open-minded if they encounter situations where they need to use the language. When you’re ready to learn, you won’t be surprised and can learn faster.

According to him, it is understandable for international students to use English when communicating with native speakers. IELTS is an academic test, not close to the communication style in daily life. He used to have IELTS 8.0 (Speaking 9.0) when he studied for a master’s degree in the UK in 2012, but Mr. Tu still cannot avoid awkward situations when people use a lot of slang, dialects and regional accents.

Master Tu said that most international students take about 1-2 years to master the language at the level of natural integration with native speakers.

Tong also took a year to adapt to the environment in the US. Recently retested IELTS, he got 8.0. But even with the dream score, he still faced many difficulties while studying online at university in Singapore.

For Hao, for the past two years, he has had no local friends. Hao is actively practicing watching movies and enhancing conversations with friends to better integrate.

Dawn