Hướng dẫn chuẩn bị chủ đề tham gia Chung kết cuộc thi Festival Trạng Nguyên Tiếng Anh năm 2023

• The exam will start pretty early. It will last for a few hours in the afternoon of the first day. The test will include a reading test and an essay. There will normally be a true or false question, a matching exercise, and many more. For students from grade 2 – 5, there will be a coloring exercise. I recommend taking a break if you can. You should also practice writing essays of about 50 words (for grade 2 and 3), 100 words (for grade 4 and 5), 120 words (for grade 6 – 7), and there is no word limit for students in grade 8 and 9. And don’t forget to practice storytelling, letter writing, diary writing, opinion essays as well. You should also practice time management as the written test only lasts 30 minutes.
• After the written test, you will do the speaking exam. Students in grade 2 – 5 will have a presentation on a random topic. Students in grade 6 – 9 will do a 1v1 debate on a random topic. You will be called based on your assigned number and choose a topic from a piece of paper. You won’t know what the topic is until you unfold it. The organizer has already sent all the topics in advance to prepare. However, you won’t be allowed to bring any external paper along. I recommend preparing a script for every topic and printing it out to bring to the contest to review. You should also make a slide for every main point of your speech to support it. For secondary school students, you should practice explaining your reasons and think about the pros and cons for each topic. Also, during the exam, you should ask for a piece of paper to write down your lines and your opponent’s. When you both finish your speech, you can ask your opponent, or the judges will. You can take a look at the sections for the debate below.

• A lot of people panic when they realize there’s debate. Honestly, it isn’t very hard. But, to give you a better image of how to do it. 
• First of all, you should have a good opening. A good intro can create a good first impression on the judges. A good way to start is stating the problem that we are tackling. For example, the topic is “Should students choose what school subjects to learn”. A suggested opening for supporters is: “Many students study subjects like philosophy, P.E (Physical Education), and social studies. But are they really useful, and do students really need them? I believe that students should get to choose the subjects they study.”. For those who disagree, you can try the following opening: “Every subject has a purpose. Students just don’t see these purposes. For instance, Physical Education helps students keep fit better. But for students, this subject is just a waste of time. I believe that we should let schools, not students, decide which subjects they will learn at school.”. You should not add the reasons and explanation in the opening because you will explain them in the body, so remember to save them for later. You can also add the best solution in your opinion but still be on your side.

• The next part will be your reasoning. This is the hardest thing about debate that most people fear. But don’t worry. It isn’t as hard as you think. The first thing you should do is to come up with a reason, which is called an argument in debate. It doesn’t matter if it sounds weird. As long as you can explain it well, it will be hard for the judges or opponent to find flaws in them. Here’s an example of an argument I made as a person who disagree with the statement:

My first reason/argument is that students won’t know what is best for them. Students are very young. They aren’t very good at realizing what’s best for them in the long run. They only care about short term benefits, like enjoying the lessons or that it’s an easy subject. They don’t know whether they will need it in the future or not. This would lead to less opportunities for college and for a job in the future. This is because most jobs or college require some certain subjects. If they don’t receive these opportunities, they could get less money than others who study more subjects. This would eventually lead to poverty. All because they didn’t study the so-called “useless” subjects in the past.

• What I did was that I explained why my argument happened and the result of it. Arguments are like writing ‘cause and effect’ essays. Try to answer potential questions about your argument as much as possible. You could also add examples to make your argument stronger and more realistic. Try to have more than two arguments. This will help strengthen your speech.
• The last part in your speech is the conclusion. Here, you could give a summary of all your points or you could point out what you did well (like strong reasonings, clear explanations, or realistic examples). Don’t try to bluff about this, though. You’re trying to convince the judges that you should win. You could skip this and say something like: “That is the end of my speech.” and “Thank you for listening.”, or you could give the judges a good last impression by saying: “For those reasons, I believe I will win this debate.”.

• During your opponent’s speech, you should take notes and try to spot flaws in their speech. I recommend practicing note-taking for this reason. You don’t have to note everything down. Just the key points that you could target.

• Trust me when I say that there will be a lot of activities there. From group activities to group presentations to rehearsals for the final day, the Trạng Nguyên Tiếng Anh will leave you busy. On the first night, you might play entertaining games with your assigned. It will be really fun. I recommend just enjoying the event and having fun. If you’re “lucky”, you will have to do a presentation on a topic. I recommend using your creativity and artistic skills as much as possible. There’s also a 40% chance you will have to do karate. As for the performances for the final day of the award ceremony, I recommend polishing up your skills at home. Also, be careful if you have to sing a song. Don’t choose adult-ish songs. Choose songs that are related to family or meaningful, for example Proud of You by Fiona Fung, Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay, and Try Everything by Shakira. 
• Please note that these activities might not happen because the Organizing Comittee change them every year. Only the award ceremony stays the same all the time.

• In case you haven’t known, you will be staying at a school for three days and two nights without going outside. This means you will sleep there. This can be pretty stressful for some people to stay away from home. I recommend bringing something (such as your stuffed animals) that can help. You should also get used to sleeping on a mat and not a mattress. You should also get used to cleaning up your room every day because you will be cleaning up a lot during your time here. You should practice patience too. Waiting is common, especially when taking baths. You should also get used to sharing because I bet a lot of people will ask to borrow your stuff and vice versa.

• You will be eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the school. You won’t know what you will eat until you see it. The food quality will vary at different schools, so I can’t say too much about it. I believe it will be like a normal school lunch that you would usually have. Not too hard, right?
• According to my friend, who has joined many times before, the cafeteria is a bit childish but the food is delicious. It’s also great because you can sit next to anyone you want.

• Even though this competition only lasts for a few days, it can get pretty lonely if you don’t have any friends.You will be participating in many teamwork – related activities. The purpose of this competition isn’t just showcasing your English skills, but it’s also about connecting people together. Why else would they force you to stay for three days? I recommend contacting someone also going to the finale before going. But you can also make friends there too. Find someone with the same personality or hobbies. You should also make social media accounts to connect your friends after the Trạng Nguyên Tiếng Anh has ended. Zalo is pretty common, so you should memorize your number to exchange them with your new – found friends. Having friends can help you feel more comfortable.

• There’s a lot of precautions you should take to ensure a happy experience. If you have nice experience, you will definitely want to join next year.

Should do:

• You should bring your own water bottle. There’s no guarantee that there will be cups and you would have to share the cup with everyone. It’s best to bring your own water bottle to drink from.
• A device can be pretty useful, especially when getting your friends’ contacts. Despite what they say, phones are allowed at the competition.They can help you contact your family, get your friends’ social media accounts, and entertain you when you’re bored
• Any card or board game is pretty useful when making friends or just having fun. I recommend getting UNO or Werewolf as they are cheap, easy, and fun.
• A book or two can help you kill time when you’re bored. I recommend something long and entertaining that you won’t get bored from and reread again and again. Some suggestions for long English books are: any books from the Harry Potter series (I recommend the Deathly Hallows, book seven), any books by Rick Riordan (I recommend reading the Last Olympian, book five of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series), the Wings of Fire series, and the Land of Stories series.
• Bring a spare cup to brush your teeth. There won’t be anything for you to rinse your teeth when you’re brushing them. I don’t recommend using your water bottle for this. A paper cup will work best.

Shouldn’t do:

• Don’t bring anything valuable or any money. There will be second graders that could potentially break them or you could lose your money. My alpaca lost an eye after I let a second grade student borrow it. You have no reason to bring your money along, so don’t.
• Don’t bring anything fragile, especially glass. Not only is it dangerous, it’s pretty easy to break. You could use safer alternatives like metal, plastic or wood.
•  Don’t panic, no matter what happens. If you panic, especially during the speaking test, you could lose points. I notice most secondary students participating in the finale panic after finding out they have to do debate. The debate in the Trạng Nguyên Tiếng Anh is similar to a normal presentation.
• Don’t get depressed if you receive a low rank (third place). I believe that the ranking in the Trạng Nguyên Tiếng Anh is not anything important. It’s unknown how to get a higher rank in this competition, especially the second ranks. The name of the ranks suggest nothing. I think you shouldn’t focus too much on what you get.