But with sheer hard work, the secondary four student from Yio Chu Kang Secondary School now speaks English fluently and got a Grade 1 in this year's N-level exams.

Chengkai, 18, was named the top Normal (Academic) student this year with an aggregate score 6 points for English and five best subjects.

Besides aceing English, the 18-year-old picked up Grade 1s in Chinese, Combined Humanities, Additional Mathematics, Science and an A1 for O-level Elementary Mathematics.

A total of 17,848 students sat for the N-level exams this year.

99.2 per cent or 11,721 out of 11,820 NA students passed. 97.2 per cent or 5,859 out of 6,028 NT students passed.

This year (2008), 73.2 per cent or 8,653 NA students have also qualified for secondary five NA course. These students got an aggregate score of not more than 10 points for their best three subjects and a Grade 5 or better in English.

3,704 NA students sat for one or two O-level subjects this year. These students can also advance to the secondary five NA course if their aggregate score did not exceed 10 points in their best three subjects and a Grade 5 or better in English. Their performance is measured by their school's O-level preliminary exams and N-level exams results.

About 1,300 NA students have also progressed to the secondary five NA course without taking the N-levels. They were selected based on their performance in school.

Chengkai will be advancing to the secondary five NA course and will sit for the O-levels exams next year (2009).

He said the secret to his success lied in his drive to master English. He knew that a good command of the language will allow him to do well in other subjects like humanities too.

He said:'There were times when I could start a sentence but somehow could not finish it and sometimes my friends laughed when I used the wrong words. But I knew I should not be shy. I should continue practicing if I wanted to speak English well.'

He read books like Harry Potter and checked the meaning of words which stumped him with an electronic dictionary. He would also note difficult words down in a notebook.

Chengkai found the more he practiced English more with his teachers and classmates the better he got.

'I've read the entire series of Harry Potter books. When I got to the last book in the series this year (2008), I found that I did not have to refer to the dictionary as much as I was familiar with many of the words.'

Chengkai said he owes his rapid improvement in English to encouraging teachers who often called on him to speak up in classes and friends who spoke to him in English so he could practice.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.

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