Hey there! Welcome back to IELTS Face-Off.
And in this episode we are going to be meeting somebody who is the youngest guest ever on the show.
And we are going to talk about the term called “Young Guns”.
Now do you know what does that mean?
“Young Guns” is literally the term used to describe somebody who is super ambitious,
who is very talent and has a lot of potential to conquer the world at a very young age.
I am reading this.
And I am thinking when I was 18, what was I doing?
I was discovering the world and I was travelling to every place I can travel to.
In order to discover myself. I was helping people in Myanmar. I was singing in Germany.
And those are some of the best time in my life.
So I am super excited to meet our guest today and and really learn what her dream and what her inspiration are.
And what she is doing to change the world at 18.
And I have a feeling the “Young Guns” term applied to her really well.
Let’s go to meet her right now.
Hey guy!
Welcome back to the IELTS studio - Face-Off studio.
And today we have a very special girl with us.
Her name is Nguyen Lam Thao Tam.
And you have probably seen her already.
Because she is all over in the Internet with her speaking video that so many of us love.
And today we actually for the first time have a chance to hear her story.
So welcome Nguyen Lam Thao Tam to the studio!
Hi!
Now you are in the Internet sensation.
How does that feel?
To be afraid I was kind of overwhelming at first.
But I was thankful to all of the attention that people have given me.
I am hoping to create positive influences on people with the excitement of being known.
I was thankful for all that happened to me.
You seem to be a very confident girl.
Where do you get that confidence from?
I think your most important material is yourself.
You need to know and accept yourself.
And also be the best version of yourself.
I have a little story to tell. Would you like to hear?
Absolutely!
I went through a bit of crisis period in the middle school. In that period of time, I didn’t like myself.
I didn’t feel like I look good, I didn’t feel like I sound good.
My hobby was imcompatible with my friends.
I didn’t like what they were watching and they didn’t like what I was watching.
And for that period really stumped My confidence.
As I grew up, it felt like hey I didn’t need to conform anything.
If that makes me uncomfortable and unconfident.
So I started to be really myself and release all the strength that was in me.
And I understood who I was and I started to be confident.
Be knowing who you are and be that person and be the best version of that person.
It is confidence.
That’s great.
You are a very pretty girl and you have ability to speak and you have everybody looking at.
Do you ever feel insecure?
Yeah I do.
I know that a lot of eyes on me, I was really thankful for attention but sometimes it’s overwhelming.
I feel people expect a lot of on me . And I always try for that excellence that people are looking for in me.
After realising that, all I need to do is being myself.
I kinda settle down and I am ok now.
That’s great. I’m really glad.
I think when you are in the public eye, there’re always a lot of expectations as you said.
It’s difficult sometimes when you try to mold yourself to people’s expectation.
I think true peace is when you actually become very comfortable as who you are.
Do you ever want to go into showbiz?
My rise to popularity was when I finished EF Challenge so I was known.
I had some influence.
The concept of being known and the concept of having influence is pretty different to me.
I could use that influence to positively impact people. Then it would be really great.
But that being said I’m also in my top year. It’s been heck of half of my semester.
It has been crazy. And I think all the seniors in the country will agree with me that:
“Yeah you are doing great and we are gonna congratulate you guy”.
But I think currently my prime concern is to finish top grade. And that would be what I’m aiming for.
I haven’t really considered to go to the showbiz.
I love art but probably not right now.
Now we’re going to talk about how does Nguyen Lam Thao Tam study English?
And some you guys are extremely excited and curious at how you get the 8.5 in the IELTS
How did you do that?
I actually planned on taking IELTS courses this summer.
Because I want to prepare for the IELTS test and I probably planned to join the IELTS and take the test.
But then in March 2017, this year, I applied to a short little session in University of Chicago.
They have like a summer session.
And their requirement for the summer session was that I had my IELTS.
One month away from the deadline for the IELTS
And I needed two weeks to prepare and then two weeks for them to return my result.
And I was like “Girl you gotta do what you gotta do” and I just did it.
I just jumped at it.
I started reheasing for 2 weeks.
The first week I focus on learning the format.
I was making sure that nothing was going to surprise me in the test room.
Because that would defintely hit hard and it really stopped me from being confident and doing my best.
Secondly, I moved on to writing and I started writing the task 1 and task 2.
Coincidentally, for that semeter we had a course on IELTS Writing task 1.
All i need to do is revising what i had
and then trying my best to Task2 because that was hard.
and then i went through that week.
and then i got into the test room.
2 weeks later i got the result.
i was actually really flabbergasted that i got 8.5.
Because i never in my wildest dreams could i think that i would get that such a score on the first try.
but i think it’s been a long process.
Today topic is Young Guns.
And Young Guns is basically used to describe young people who are extremely ambitious.
who are out there try to conquer the world.
What do you think would be your talent?
i am a person of many hobbies.
but i don’t know any of them could clasify as talents
because i do a little bit of everything.
But i think if i have to pick my top 2 favorite things to do, things that i am good at.
It would be singing and dancing.
Would you be to share a couple of songs that you love?
Today i would like to sing a little song from Ariel, from “The little mermaid”.
It’s called “Part of your world”.
I love that song.
It’s really cute.
I used to sing it all the time when i was in high school and middle school.
As well the song called “Under the sea”.
Would you be able to sing with me
If I try “Part of your world”.
We’ll see, you start first.
Look at this stuff
Isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who has everything?
Look at this trove
Treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here you think
Sure, she's got everything
I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
I've got whozits and whatzits galore
You want things of above?
I've got twenty!
But who cares?
No big deal
I want more
I wanna be where the people are
I wanna see, wanna see them dancing'
Walking around on those... what do you call 'em?
Oh - feet!
Exactly!
Flippin' your fins, you don't get too far. Legs are required for jumping, dancing.
Strolling along down a - what do you call them again?
Feet.
Street.
Up where they walk, up where they run
Up where they stay all day in the sun
Wanderin' free
wish I could be part of your world.
Thank you Phoebe.
Thank you, that’s a great song.
I think it’s very empowering song.
It’s really is. It’s telling you
Go out there and do it.
Thank you Thao Tam.
And we are off for the IELTS Challenge.
IELTS Challenge, coming up next.
Welcome back to IELTS Challenge.
Even though it’s not about the IELTS.
It’s going to utilize a lot of English vocabulary.
And acting skills.
So Tam is going to actually show me what these characters are.
Not by speaking but by acting.
I’m gonna guess them.
Let’s start Tam, you have 3 minutes.
3 minutes for all of them?
Let’s go.
Dancing?
Korean?
Dancing?
Psy?
Oh, diamonds are girl’s best friends.
Marilyn Monroe
Viet Nam.
Pham Huong?
No no, it’s not her, later.
Hoàng Thùy.
As long as you love me.
Bieber, Justin Bieber.
He’s really cute.
Say oh yeah
Vietnamese?
Soobin?
Issac?
Ta lạc trôi giữa đời
Oh, Son Tung.
Con dâu gì mà cãi chem chẻm, chem chẻm?
Do you know her?
Mother in law?
Lan Hương.
Monkey King.
Adele.
Last person
Dancer?
Qua đêm nay
OH, Toc Tien.
We’re done.
We’re very good.
high five.
Good teamwork.
we got these all.
Thanks a lot Tam.
Thank you for guessing them right.
If you want to share with our audience 3 vocabularies
and the tip to all the people that are following you and all the people that are watching the show
What would that be?
My first vocabulary would be Confidence.
I think confidence is key.
And then Understanding.
if you understand yourself and the world
then it would be easy to navigate through the world
And last but not least.
Ready. Be ready.
When the opportunity strikes
It’s not because you’re lucky. Everything is kinda building up to that moment in your life.
And everything contributes a bit to everything else.
If there’s an opportunity, and if you’re ready to grasp it, that’s chance is your.
If you aren’t ready yet, then you’ll miss it.
Always be ready for everything.
Love it. Understanding, Confidence and Ready.
I have 2 more to add. That is the wide generation and the millennials.
Which are the people who are growing up and maturing in the 2000s.
We’re all millennials here. And also another term that i love which is
The world is our/ mine/your oyster.
Which means the world is for us to conquer
And also living in the suitcase.
Thank so much Tam. It’s great to have you here.
It’s been great to be here. And thank you so much for this opportunity.
That’s is for this section with Thao Tam.
Coming up next is the IELTS section with our expert.
Stay tuned.