Middle School Student got a perfect TOEFL score

I heard this news today and I must say that I'm quite surprised and impressed by this 13-year old who got a perfect score in the TOEFL exam.

She is not the first one to do so, but she is definitely the first middle school student who did it. Her name is Kim Hyeon-su. Unlike many Korean students, she aced the exam without having to attend any academy or English institute.

What is her secret? I must say that it's her mother's support that did it.

Her mother minored in English when she was in college. She also learned other languages like Hebrew and Greek to be a missionary. Being a missionary, she also taught English. She thought that she also wanted to share her knowledge to her daughter. Mrs. Lee was the one who supported her daughter's English studies.

Many parents wanted their children to be intelligent and they over do so by sending them to numerous academies together with regular classes, home tutors and phone english classes (all at the same time). The effect is mental and physical exhaustion on the part of the children. The result: All knowledge that could have been properly digested have been thrown up to waste. I call it mental bulimia.

Kim Hyeon-su did what other ESL students should: Learn the langauge and most importantly, use it. Speak it. Write it. Listen to it. She bonded with her mom with the language. She played while learning English. She enjoyed Disney shows, comic books and stories. Her lifestyle was adjusted to using the English language in her daily life.

Kim Hyeon-su spoke the English language at home with her mom. She got ample practice. She may have been a prodigy, but she did it with hard work and practice. It only shows that geniuses could be born but they need to be developed and honed to excellence.