129 young adults in Viet Nam were awarded prizes by ILA on September 9. This was the first step in the language centre’s long-term efforts to churn out a generation of talented youngsters with an emphasis on ILA Elite Grants at VND500 million per person.

Dream to step out

After a long journey from Long Dien in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province to HCM City, Nguyen Thi Bich Hang's fatigue turned into joy on seeing her son's confidence as well as the elegant atmosphere at Times Square Tower where the ILA ceremony was held.

A smile soon soon rose her face on seeing her son, Nguyen Hoang Thai, confidently conversing with foreign instructors at ILA HCM City. His assured manner boosted her own confidence.

At the age of eight Thai was registered to study at ILA Vung Tau. Recently he had scored 158 in the PET competition, the reason he was at the ceremony.

Thai said: “The environment at ILA is very friendly and run by enthusiastic teachers. What has been taught has bolstered my confidence significantly, especially helpful to my plan to study overseas.”

Nurturing a dream to become a global citizen, Thai gravitated towards international commerce and is now seeking a scholarship to study in Australia, the US or the UK. “Five Elite Grants in ILA are a major boost for students to try even harder,” Hang said.

Besides Thai, over 128 other students from every ILA centre around Viet Nam have been invited to the ceremony.

This is the first initiative to mark the “back to school” milestone by ILA. The winners of the awards are high achievers in FC, PET, KET and FLYERS.

More than just linguistic achievements, the young talents have demonstrated excellent academic results and most importantly confidence in life. Each student won a laurel wreath and a prize of VND5 million.

Mother’s life changing strategy for son

On seeing her son, Nguyen Trung Hieu, a student of Linh Trung Secondary High school in Thu Duc District, on stage, Nguyen Ngoc Thao Hien could not contain her emotions.

An air traffic controller who works in a multinational environment, she earnestly acknowledges the importance of English.

When ILA Thu Duc opened, Hien registered her son. What distinguish ILA from other English teaching centres are its remarkable pedagogical methods and modern facilities.

Hien said: “Before registering him, I studied the teaching approach used at ILA and was fully convinced. A teaching staff comprising foreigners is not enough, and a modern, relevant teaching method is also essential in transferring knowledge and sparking love for English in youngsters.”

Thanks to such an environment, Hieu is now well-versed linguistically and has become his mother’s guide during every overseas family trip.

More importantly, being able to access materials written in foreign languages, Hieu had expressed his determination to pursue a future career at the young age of 11.

“My idol is Albert Einstein, and my biggest dream is to become a scientist or a computer expert,” the young man said.

This future scientist does not hide his desire to maintain the happiness felt now in his family.

For him, his father and mother provide the warmest shelter.

At ILA’s 2017 ceremony, students attended a forum titled Path to Success, where they received helpful tips and insights from high achievers in important positions: such as Nguyen Huong Quynh, managing director of Nielsen Vietnam – Cambodia; Huynh Thi Xuan Lien, deputy marketing director at Suntory Pepsico Vietnam; economist Tran Si Chuong of TransInvest; and Tran Xuan Dzu, head of ILA Vietnam. With their great affection for the younger generations, they shared stories of success from the beginning and spoke about how to be successful in the 21st century.