What do you like doing? That was the question we asked members of the Simple English Videos family this year.
We’ve always suspected that we have the world’s most interesting English learners and now we know for sure!
This year’s SEVY awards winners are amazing!
So if you want to meet a photographer, a botanist, a singer, a dancer, athletes, artists, linguists, and so many more creative and talented people, you’re in the right place.

Welcome to the 2020 SEVY Awards
The awards for students who rise to the challenge of speaking English.
Speaking English to the world!
We’re thrilled to present members of the Simple English Videos family.
People from all over the world who’ve risen to our communication challenge.
People of great courage!
And amazing creativity.
At a time when we’re on lock down from the corona virus.
And many of you are too.
Let’s share and connect.
Hey, this is exciting.
Yeah. For the last two weeks we’ve been waking up and finding amazing videos in our mailbox.
Congratulations to everyone who took part. You’ve all won a SEVY.
That stands for Simple English Videos – Yay, you did it!
This year’s challenge was to answer the question ‘What do you like doing?”
And boy did we get some great answers.
Let’s see the first one.
Hi. My name is Jakub. I’m from Poland. What I love doing is wild life photography. I’ve been photographing wildlife since I was eight. I have recently taken up micro photography and underwater photography. Would you like to see some of my photographs?
Yes.
Here you go!
Wow. Oh my goodness. That’s beautiful.
I know.
I also make videos. and I use English for the descriptions so your channel is very helpful. Your channel is great. Bye!
Jakub, your photos were amazing.
And you win the SEVY for the best wildlife photography.
If people want to see more of your photographs, I’m going to put the link to your channel below. Go check it out. OK, what’s next?
Hello, my name is Derya. Here’s Onur. He’s three years old. He’s my baby boy and I’m a full-time mother. I know I’m speaking so fast but I know I have a little short time. So I love spending time with my sweetie. Right now we are painting and I’m teaching him English as I can, now Onur is going to say you the colours. Onur, which colour is it?
Blue.
Good job!
Which colour is it?
Red.
Yes. And this is me. I hope you like the video. Bye-bye.
Oh wow. Derya, we loved the video. And Onur wins the prize for being the youngest, cutest English speaker.
And you win the SEVY for being the best parent in a video.
And the best English teacher too.
Right. OK, let’s see what’s next.
Hello Jay and Vicki and hello to those viewers who might watch in the future. And greetings from China. I’m Novem from China. I’m a college student majoring in building automation and I’m a senior this year. I would like to join this speaking challenge but it’s my first time to record such a video so I’m a little nervous, but I do like to answer that question. First I would say I absolutely like the channel of Simple English Videos because they really help me a lot with my English. And also I like playing basketball, swimming, mountain climbing and horse riding. But because of the corona virus these days in China, I can only stay at home, which is really boring. But as you can see behind me, the sky is really blue and the weather is really nice so I get a chance to take a walk in the park and record this video. I really appreciate this chance to join this competition, and thank you again Jay and Vicki, I just can’t thank you enough. OK. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. You are very welcome.
And thank you for recording the video. Novem that was really interesting. Thank you for sending that. You said you were nervous but you came across… you hid your nerves and came across very confidently.
And you win the SEVY for a great British accent and excellent pronunciation.
Yeah. Next one.
Hey, Vicki and Jay. Great to meet you again, although we meet quite often thanks to your videos. They’re just masterpieces. My name is Bozhena, not Bohdan, because in a previous video you called me Bohdan, but in Ukrainian it’s a male name. But I’m a girl! I’m thirteen years old and I take elective classes in English. Except English, my hobby is drawing. I like to draw sketches. Why do I like to do it?
Wow!
Because they are understandable and simple positive, like your videos. Our teacher said that we should learn to see simplicity as genius, and I try to achieve, at least, a small success.
Bozhena, did I say that right? Is that correct? Bozhena? I have to tell you that you win the SEVY for drawing. That was spectacular.
And also I want to give you a SEVY for improvement in… not confidence because your were confident last time we saw you, but your fluency was just amazing. Really, really good. Lovely to see you again and thank you for sharing those drawings. We loved them. Manga-style!
OK, let’s see another one.
Now, before you watch this one, it needs some explanation. Marina shot this at an International Women’s Day event in Russia, where she was invited to perform. And there’s some background music, and I’m hoping that the tool YouTube uses to spot music won’t wipe the music out so you can still hear her. But in case you can’t., I’ve put captions up.
Hello Vicki and Jay. I’m an English teacher but besides that, I like dancing belly dancing. Bye.
Oh she’s really good. Marina, you looked amazing. It was wonderful.
You know which SEVY she wins.
What’s that?
The SEVY for belly dancing!
Of course! We loved it. Thank you so much for sending it.
Let’s see the next one.
Hello everyone. I’m Vicki and I’m British.
I’m Jay and I’m American.
So I’ve heard that Jay finds some troubles believing that my accent is the best.
True!
Unfortunately I can’t argue with his because my accent prevents me from being hostile. It’s well known for its quietness and easiness actually. Yeah, it’s well understandable and slowly spoken as well, but…
Wait, wait. Who said that? British accent isn’t at all (like that) but my accent is. And you can witness that by seeing programs and movies. You know, they prefer speaking in an American accent to Vicki’s accent. So I think my accent wins.
No, no. You won’t win. You know we are not in a war of accents. Don’t be nervous, Jay.
Oh, I’m not nervous. I’m just relaxing right now.
You must admit that you love the way I speak…
[An argument breaks out] [French voice]
Before the video ends, I’d like to thank you so much Jay and Vicki for your interesting videos and it doesn’t matter actually what accent you speak, as long as the listener understands. This is the idea of the video. Good luck English learners and bye.
Oh Abdo, that was absolutely amazing! He’s… he’s so funny. He has to win… He has to win the SEVY for the best parody.
Oh, I would agree, but I thought his imitation of you was right on!
And actually you made a really important point about accents. We both agree with you on that one. We loved it. Thank you for being so creative. Next one.
Hi Vicki and Jay. My name is Quyhn. I’m fourteen years old. I’m from Viet Nam. What I love doing in my free time is watching English videos on YouTube. My favourite channels are Simple English Videos and English with Lucy. That’s all. Thanks for watching. Good-bye.
She’s adorable.
It was so mice to see you again, Quyhn.
And we want to give you a pronunciation SEVY, because your pronunciation was so clear. Spectacular job!
And you were so confident. Thank you very much for the video.
Oh hello. Hello Mrs Vicki and Mr Jay. My name is Leven … and I am from Sakartvelo, also known as Georgia. My favourite thing to do is botany. And here am I in my greenhouse now. So I like to take care of my plants. So I’m going to show you something here – a mint family thing – that’s called lemon balm I’m growing here.
Wow!
So it is here and it looks pretty healthy, huh?
Yes!
Leven, that’s terrific. Those plants are much better than the ones Vicki grows on the deck.
Hey!
Leven, you win the SEVY for green fingers. If you have green fingers you can grow things very well.
In America we don’t say green fingers. We say green thumb.
Oh all right then. Green fingers. Green thumb. That’s your SEVY. WE loved seeing your plants. Thanks so much for sharing that.
OK.
Hello my name is Alice and I’m French. I love running, reading, writing, learning a lot of things, and greatest above all, watching simple English videos.
Alice, that was so mice. It’s lovely to meet you. Thank you.
Alice, you win the prize for bravery. It can take a lot of courage to make a video in another language and I know you were worried that you might sound ridiculous. You didn’t. You sounded great. It was very clear and easy to understand and thank you for doing that. Bravo!
Hello Vicki, Hello Jay. I’m Christophe from Berlin Germany. I’m 19 years old and I love drinking tea.
He’s got good taste.
Oh I think he should try coffee.
It’s so delicious. Of course I like watching your videos too. They are amazing. Have a nice day!
Thank you Christophe. That tea did look good even though I prefer coffee.
You win the SEVY for excellent English and taste.
And for the best tea cup.
Lovely to meet you. Thank you for sending that.
Good morning Vicki. Good morning Jay. Thanks for this opportunity. I’m Vinicio Fuertes. I’m from Ecuador. I really like watching videos on YouTube – a lot of kinds of videos. For example games, music and songs. But these days I am practicing jogging, and I really like it. However, the most enjoyable thing for me is going for a walk with my dog, because when we are in the park we can play and we can have fun. So that’s it. Thank you so much. Bye.
Goodbye Vinicio. You know what? I always liked walking with my dog too. I understand that.
Vinicio, you win the SEVY for fluency. You just went for it and you were so fluent, it was really impressive. And we think you’re going to go far. Well done!
Thanks for the video.
Hello Vicki and Jay. I’m Pipino from Tblisi, Georgia. I am a dog, as you see. I am also the most beloved in my family and the most kind-hearted. Today I want to tell you what I love doing in my leisure time. I major in eating and devouring a lot of food. I love running and playing, especially with a ball or toys. My favourite hobby is stealing things such as books of jewellry from mommy. Sometimes I get punished, but by licking them, I get forgiven so easily. I love singing, but in dogs language. You can see here. Thank you. Simple English Videos Yay!
Nina, that was amazing. Erm Pipino is adorable….
A star!
And able to speak English, beautifully! I want to see that singing again. Hang on.
Incredible. Nina, you should win a SEVY for creativity. Thank you very much. What a great laugh!
Love it! OK.
Hello. My name is Saad-Ali Khan and I am from Pakistan. I love to make drawing videos and I love Simple English Video’s channel.
Saad-Ali. Nice to meet you and thank you for sending us the video. So he make drawing videos?
Yes, they’re videos about maps and how to draw maps.
Wow! Then he wins the map drawing SEVY.
Yeah! I found them on his channel. I’ll put the link below. Thank you for sending us that video, Saad-Ali.
Hi. I’m Roxana. I’m from Romania. You know, the country from where the Dracula phenomenon spread all over the world. Well today I’m going to share with you two things about me. The first thing is that I’m into arts and crafts. Like these adorable hearts that go so well for Mother’s Day. You can stick it to your T shirt. The second thing is that despite coming from Romania, the home of vampires, ghosts, zombies, you name it, we are nothing else but friendly adorable people, so don’t be afraid of us! Have a lovely day. Bye!
Roxana, you have a wonderful sense of hu mor. Thank you for that.
I want to meet Roxana. Roxana, we’re going to give you the SEVY for being entertaining. We loved it. And you’re not scary at all.
Hello Vicki, hello Jay. My name is Dicky and I’m from Indonesia. So this is my second time joining the SEVY. I love learning languages, including Japanese and English. I learn English a lot from your videos. Thank you for your videos. They’re all very useful for me. Thank you. Bye!
Dicky, thank you so much. It’s good to see you again. Thanks for submitting another video.
And we think your English is getting even better so we want to give you the SEVY award for improvement this year. Well done.
Hello. Speaking of my hobbies. I actually love learning languages, especially Chinese and English. And I fall in love… I’ve been falling in love with language learning for many years. And I always turn my bedroom into a learning library – a language learning library. You can take a look at my learning library, that supports who I am today.
Now that’s Bank. Where’s Bank from?
Bank’s from Thailand but he’s learning Chinese and English.
You know Bank, that’s a really impressive set of books you’ve got in that library.
I loved looking at them and I recognised some of the publishers. That was fun to see. Bank you earn the SEVY for the best independent language learner. Congratulations!
Hi. I’m Wiktor and I am from Poland. I live in Lodz in the middle of the country. I like recoding and watching films on YouTube, especially Simple English Videos. I like scuba diving. I;m very good at this sport. And for the end, I play in a volley kicks team. I really love playing with my friends from school. Bye!
OK, so Wiktor, I understand what scuba diving is, but what’s volley kicks?
I looked… I googled it and it’s like football where you don’t let the ball touch the ground.
You mean like soccer but you don’t let the ball touch the ground.
You have to be very athletic to play it, ’cause you can’t just kick the ball along the ground. Wiktor, we’re going to have to give you the athletic SEVY because you’re clearly really athletic. Well done, we loved your video.
Thanks a lot.
Hello Miss Vicki and Mr Jay. Thanks for this nice challenge. This is Marcello from Chile and what I love doing is playing basketball. It’s an excellent exercise. I’m used to playing basketball alone, both for relaxing and for exercising a little bit. And finally I’m going to score a basket, for you guys. And before, I want to say that exercise bouncing the ball is really useful. It has… It has low impact. Perhaps if you suffer from stress of your knee or things like that, this exercise of bouncing a ball and scoring a basket is great. Let’s try. I’m going to jump. Wow! I enjoy it so much. OK, thank you very much guys.
That’s some of the best dribbling I’ve ever seen. When you bounce the ball it’s called dribbling in basketball.
Yeah, all right. Marcello, it was lovely to see you again, and thanks so much for that, and for the tip as well.
Now Marcello, you get the SEVY for the best two pointer.
What’s a two pointer?
Well, when you score a basket, when you get the basketball through the net close to the basket, it’s worth two points.
The best two-pointer. Thank you, Marcello.
Hello. I’m Gala from Russia. I’m a typical woman and I like doing simple things such as knitting or cooking while listening to the radio. One day there was a quiz on the radio about Abba. The Abba.
The group.
And I happened to win a prize – a trip to Sweden.
Yay!
I hadn’t got a visa and I had to fly to Moscow to provide my biometric data.
Ah yeah.
And then I was waiting for a visa at home, and then they called me and said I need a code. And so I should go back to Moscow to provide my biometry again.
Oh no!
I should, but anyway, it would be too late to be on time for the trip.
Ah!
Unlucky me.
Yes!
A few days ago, I received a totally unexpected package with a T-shirt, a bag …
Oh yeah.
And a few other things.
Oh terrific.
And some other things with symbols of Abba.
Yay!
And that’s fine.
Go Gala!
Fine.
I do like the group and I also like dancing to their music and singing along to their songs… along with their songs.
Oh Gala! That was such a sad story. Our daughter-in-law is Russian too, and she has trouble getting visas as well so I really sympathize with that story. I’m so sorry you couldn’t go to Sweden.
So what is the SEVY that we can give to Gala?
Well, Gala it has to be the SEVY for the best story. We did enjoy it and it had a sort of happy ending.
I did love all the gear you got.
Thanks for sending us that.
Welcome. This is Javier. Thank you for watching my presentation. Maps and geography are my passion. Like a geographer, I’m focusing now on helping people to discover the world walking through the geography. I’m an enthusiastic person when it comes to hiking. And that’s it. I love geography and see you soon. If you want to know more about my work, that is my hobby, you can visit my website walkexperience.org. Bye-bye.
You know that was actually really very interesting. Thank you, Javier. What place did he mention?
He mentioned a place in the Pyrenees, so between France and Spain. And he arranges walking experiences for people designed specially for them.
I would enjoy that very much. Now what SEVY should we give Javier?
It’s enthusiasm, isn’t it? It’s got to be enthusiasm. It shone right through Javier. Thanks for talking to us about that.
Good evening Jay and Vicki.
Good evening.
My name is Michael. I’m speaking from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. So as requested by you, I’m recording this video from my work. I work in a hotel as a receptionist. I work in a small city whose name is Itacuruca. It’s a beautiful city located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. I love o study English. I love to speak in English. I love, too, watching some English movies. I’ve been learning English since I was twelve years old. I’m now 45 years old. I’m still learning English, and I’m learning from your videos. I’m learning from you and I can see the difference between British English and American English from your videos. Thanks for this opportunity you are giving me to record this video for your channel. So I’m sharing your channel with my friends who are learning English here in Brazil. And I love to listen to music, and I love watching movies, and I love to learn English. God bless you, Vicki. God bless you Jay. Thanks for teaching me the difference between British English and American English. God bless you. Thanks for this opportunity. This is my by little. God bless you. Thanks for this opportunity. Your friend from Brazil, Michael Alexandre.
Thank you Michael. Now we’ve been to Rio de Janeiro, but have you been to that town?
Yes.
Oh really?
Yeah, without you.
Without me. Very interesting. Michael thanks so much for that and we’re really glad we can help you learn English.
What SEVY should we give Michael?
Michael is a long term persistent learner who’s going up and studying regularly. So you get the award for being a long term learner Michael, because you’re keeping at it. A little bit every day. It works.
Thank you very much Michal for sending us that video.
Good work! For some people this speaking challenge is extra difficult because for religious or for personal reasons, they can’t appear on camera.
So some of our viewers have some up with amazing creative ways to send us a video. Let’s look.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’ve been watching your videos for a very long time and they’ve been helping me a lot. I would like to thank you for that. So to the question what I love doing. I love drawing and writing. Most of the time I come up with a story and then, after that, I start drawing the characters to it. Here are a few pictures.
Wow, look at that! Amazing. Another artist.
Well, my absolute favourite thing to do in my free time is learning new things about the English culture. I love England so much – everything about it really and I’m looking forward to going there for the very first time this year. I can’t wait. I’ve been learning about how much importance English people attach to politeness and the weather, not to mention. I’m just living for it. All the new types of tea I will get to learn about. All of the amazing people. So yeah, that was it I think. Thank you ever so much and have an amazing day.
Thank you Sarah. Once again, as we mentioned last year, you have an accent that is so beautifully English. I would never guess that you’re not a native speaker. That’s so impressive.
I think you’re going to have a wonderful time in England and we must say a special congratulations to Sarah because she passed her C1 exam this year. Yay! Go Sarah!
Now my the way, that artistic work was also spectacular. Thanks for sharing that with us.
Yes, you should have a SEVY for paintings as well.
Thanks again Sarah.
Hi Vicki. Hi Jay. I’m Farshid. I love doing my architecture projects. These are what I did last semester for my university. And this is what I do in my free time. And I also like drinking tea.
Another tea drinker.
And with Winnie the Poo on his cup!
You know what was amazing Farshid was the perspective that you’re able to get into your designs. That’s really terrific.
I thought your designs were really interesting. I did so enjoy those glimpses. And that’s what you must have the SEVY for this year, I think. Design.
Thanks a lot Farshid for sending us that video.
Hi! Dear Vicki and Jay, Super Agent, Steffi and everyone. I am Simone from Italy. C’est une chanson. Qui nous resemble. Italy, not France. Our lovely teachers honoured me by putting my presentation in last year’s video. É o pau, é a pedra, é o fim do caminho. There I didn’t film myself, because my face shows my frequent headaches. [Italian folk Song] OK, that’s an Italian folk song. Now Vicki and Jay asked what we like doing. Summertime, and the living is easy. Can you guess? Although my voice has lost its power I still can’t… not can’t sing. I wish you all a life full of music and joy and health, since 2020 will be remembered for the corona virus. Bye!
Simone. I have to say that your voice hasn’t lost anything. When you were singing Gershwin, you really got to me.
It was wonderful. And it reminded me of some of the images we’ve seen this week coming from Italy where everybody is on lock down, and of Italians on their balconies. Singing in solidarity as a community.
It’s really amazing.
And I have to say, Simone has been an important part of the Simple English Videos community for some years now and I personally want to thank you for all your efforts.
And to give you the singing SEVY. And congratulations to everyone who took part in this challenge.
We’ve been blown away by your videos.
It’s been very motivating for us to meet you and learn more about you.
Especially at this time when we’re on lock down and feeling very isolated.
If you’ve enjoyed this video, please share it with a friend.
And don’t forget to subscribe to our channel.
And now go call your grandma orgrandad and see how they’re doing.
See you soon everyone. Bye-bye.
Bye.