Tips ôn thi HSG tỉnh môn tiếng Anh "giai đoạn cuối"

Main ideas / lessons

• There’s little time left (under 2 weeks), so the goal is not to “learn new everything.” Instead, reorganize and synthesize what you already know, and focus on:

  • effective practice
  • targeted review

• Use a structured system:

  • schedule your available time
  • split study by skills (Reading / Writing / Listening / V-CAP and related components)
  • filter materials into the most relevant ones
  • practice with timers

• Prioritize vocabulary heavily because unfamiliar new words are a major factor in performance across multiple tasks (especially reading, writing, and listening).

• For each practice test:

  1. Do it once.
  2. Then focus marking on mistakes only.
  3. Document why you missed them, and prevent repeating the same “old way of thinking.”

• Skill-specific strategies

  • Reading: time it, answer-first approach, carefully analyze wrong answers.
  • Listening: highlight keywords; replay/transcribe only where mistakes occur; avoid endless low-quality repetition.
  • Writing: don’t mix question types; remember the approach for each type; draft ideas, select the best points, and improve vocabulary + structure.

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Methodology / step-by-step instructions (detailed)

1) Video structure / overall plan (as presented)

• Disclaimer about what to know before studying
• Allocate study time + categorize materials
• Vocabulary learning tips
• Reading practice tips
• Listening practice tips
• Writing practice tips

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2) How to study in the final days (core principles)

• Base the process on a ~20-day study method, but adapt it for a less-than-2-weeks situation.
• Avoid “cramming new knowledge” at the end.
• Treat the final period as:
  • review / summarization
  • practice test phase
• New knowledge learned earlier should be reorganized into a system so it’s usable during the exam.

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3) Allocate time slots (schedule method)

• Count the number of days left until the exam.
• List every time slot you can study from today to exam day, as detailed as possible.
• Examples given:
  • If 14 days left: be free from 5:00 AM daily
  • If you wake up earlier (e.g., 4:00 AM): subtract ~30 minutes after waking to calm down and become alert
• After school:
  • include small free blocks (example mentioned: 4:30–6:00 PM)
• Account for real obligations:
  • subtract time for extra classes (e.g., Mondays/Wednesdays)
  • subtract time for school review / other subjects (~30 minutes to 1 hour)
• What remains becomes dedicated exam prep.
• Emphasis: don’t rush—create a clear system so you don’t get sidetracked.

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4) Decide which skills to focus on (skill allocation checklist)

• Skills to consider:

  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Listening
  • V-CAP (as referenced)

• For each day’s total time, distribute practice based on your weakest areas. Example logic:

  • If comprehensive tests fail due to many new words → focus vocabulary
  • If listening is weak → focus more on listening
  • If writing is weak → focus more on writing

• In the last days:

  • teachers often give a test each day
  • still do daily comprehensive tests to locate weak points and decide what to fill

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5) Filter study materials (so review is easier)

• Use materials you’ve already worked with (teacher-provided files, organized folders).
• Reason: new materials later overwhelm you; reviewed materials reinforce memory.

Filtering approach by folder/topic

• Vocabulary folder (example: “VAP” / “Vocabulary, Grammar…” as mentioned)
  • choose questions with difficult new words
  • include:
    • words that appear frequently in new-word-heavy questions
    • words that appear occasionally in exams
• Comprehensive vocabulary questions
  • during comprehensive practice, you may forget
  • so collect the vocabulary-focused tests you want to master in one place
• Writing folder
  • collect essay practice sets that match the most characteristic essay types you already understand
• Skills folder
  • separate listening folder
  • include difficult listening exercises with:
    • answers
    • original materials
    • audio files
  • upload so you can still access them even if subscriptions expire (example: Google Drive)

For reading

• choose long/hard exercises that match exam question types
• keep corrected versions (pen + corrected answers)

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6) Do comprehensive practice tests correctly (timer + mistake-only marking)

During the test

• Do it “as usual,” but:
  • set a timer
  • example: if test is 120 minutes, use stopwatch/countdown
  • subtract listening time if taken during a break window

After the test (checking method)

• Open the answer key.

• Mark only wrong answers:

  • write the test title (e.g., “Test 1”)
  • on the test page: circle incorrect options in red and highlight the mistaken phrase (don’t highlight correct answers)

• In a notebook:

  • write the test title
  • record by task type (listening/grammar/etc.)
  • for each incorrect question, write:
    • the incorrect answer
    • the correct answer
    • what you thought / why you chose that
    • why the answer is wrong

Avoid repeating “old thinking”

• Don’t erase and re-decide lazily—if you erase/correct incorrectly, you lose the chance to analyze mistakes.
• The goal is preventing repeated patterns (e.g., choosing the “familiar-looking” option and assuming it’s correct).

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7) Vocabulary learning method (paper-based with active recall)

Materials

• Use small lined paper (not A4):
  • A4 has no ruled lines (harder to structure)
  • A4 is too large and becomes overwhelming

Layout

• Divide into two columns:
  • Column 1: new word number + new word
  • Column 2: meaning (preferably Vietnamese)
• Also write:
  • preparation date
  • topic name (from earlier organized notes)

Daily study routine

• Start each morning (example: 5:00 AM).
• For each topic/page:
  • usually 1–2 pages per topic

Step-by-step per page (active recall cycles)

1. Read the whole page normally (both columns).
2. Cover one side: test yourself by recalling the meaning.
3. Cover the meaning side: read random words and recall meanings.

After one page

• Move to the next page
  • target time ~15 minutes once efficient (first time may take longer)

Review strategy across days

• Next day:
  • study new vocabulary from different sheets
  • then do a quick review of yesterday’s sheets (cover + read once)
• Evening:
  • review the day’s material again
• Over time:
  • review time increases gradually
• If you can’t maintain consistency:
  • after ~2–3 days, go back to day-1 vocabulary and test yourself by random recall

Why Vietnamese meanings

• Helps writing practice:
  • prevents getting stuck asking, “What English word matches this meaning?”
• Also supports reading/listening because extracted vocabulary improves comprehension and recall.

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8) Reading section method (timed + deep wrong-answer analysis)

• Always time yourself so you can finish within the exam’s allotted time.
• Example strategy order:
  • after listening, do reading first
  • reason: avoid end-of-exam panic that causes rushed analysis

Approach

• Use papers you already wrote on (pencil) or new ones with answers available.
• Instead of skimming the passage first, follow this preference:
  • read questions first
  • then read the passage normally

Checking

• Circle incorrect answers in red (same mistake-analysis method).

Second attempt

• If you do it again, don’t just copy correct answers onto the same sheet.
• Write carefully in a notebook if needed.

For each incorrect reading question, record

• incorrect answer
• correct answer
• why you chose the incorrect one (thinking error)
• why the correct one is supported by evidence

Time warning

• Being too fast can cause false confidence.
• Mistakes become harder to notice later, so be careful from the first pass.

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9) Listening section method (keyword highlighting + targeted correction)

• During listening questions:
  • highlight keywords in the questions
  • highlight keywords in the answer choices

Similar process

• answer → erase (use pencil/eraser) → then check using sample/correct key

Dictation method (speaker’s view)

• Dictation is possible, but:
  • the speaker did it for ~1–2 months
  • it’s slow
• If you miss many words and can’t keep up:
  • pause and transcribe what you missed

Quality > quantity

• Repeating many tests without improvement is ineffective.

When you miss a question

• replay and transcribe only for that missed item
• analyze why:
  • misunderstanding?
  • didn’t listen properly?

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10) Writing section method (type-based practice + vocabulary + planning)

Core key

• Recall the approach for each writing question type
• Don’t mix types.
• Only about five types, so:
  • remember how to approach each type
  • practice writing until the pattern feels natural

Submission and feedback

• You can type answers to submit to a teacher.
• If the teacher can’t correct everything:
  • learn from already graded papers
  • focus on:
    • grammar errors
    • carelessness

If essays are still weak despite grammar/vocab accuracy

• likely issue:
  • vocabulary quality or overall improvement of expression/selection
• seek feedback from classmates whose writing teachers praise
• don’t rely only on online samples:
  • online essays often use only the “Type I” style (speaker’s term)
  • high-performing writing may be more elaborate/harder

Planning and drafting

• Before writing:
  • draft everything you can think of
  • write ideas down
• Filter:
  • keep best ideas
• Paragraph structure guidance (as stated):
  • each paragraph should contain two main ideas
  • include supporting ideas
  • group supporting ideas together
  • jot down good words you plan to use
• Use an organized vocabulary list extracted from exams during writing.

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Speakers / sources featured

• Duong (channel host/speaker; mentioned via “Welcome to Duong’s world” and personal method/experience statements)
• Teachers (providers of practice materials, graded writing, daily tests)
• Students/peers (general references; no specific names)