Doing an internship in New York immersed this Business major in an English speaking environment. She appreciates the diversity of the genres and phrases in the articles used to prepare for the DSE reading paper.

A student learns English through news websites.

The DSE drama elective sparked this student’s interest in English. She likes the Last Song by Nicholas Sparks and says students should be encouraged to read in English or Chinese.

Secondary school NET classes were different to exam-oriented ones because this Law major read books like Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She likes Les Misérables because it tells a story from a different perspective.

Travelling to England exposed this Computer Science major to various types of accents. Online academic materials taught him jargon and boosted his vocabulary.

Given topics to brainstorm rather than using textbooks during class helped her develop more ideas and build up vocabulary. This proved to be useful for the public exam. This Applied Maths major read Frankenstein for the SBA.

A learning programme at a friend’s church involved chatting with foreigners. This Social Work major read storybooks including Romeo and Juliet in class.

As an English ambassador in secondary school, this student was involved in more activities. He read Matilda and thought it was funny.

An American university tutor taught this Chemistry major English memory skills. He enjoys reading Shakespeare’s plays including King Lear and Hamlet.

Learning from NETs and watching TV series helped improve this Business Administration major’s language skills. All her course materials are in English.

Reading both the Chinese and English versions of a book simultaneously taught this Psychology major grammar and vocabulary. He prefers the Harry Potter books to the movies because of the descriptive writing.

Kindergarten English classes included interactive word games that taught this Business major new phrases. She is able to imagine some of the scenes when reading Harry Potter.

Conducting a survey at Stanley Market gave this Geography major a chance to speak with foreigners. Due to the complexity of the terminology, reading an anthropology paper without knowing a single word was shocking.

English teachers showed movies to this Engineering major and his classmates in high school. He sometimes reads Japanese comics with an English translation because they are available earlier than Chinese versions.

A secondary school English teacher asked this Language major to write and perform a role-play. In secondary school, she improved her grammar and vocabulary by reading journals.

Presenting in English on a video for a university language course made this Urban Studies major nervous. She enjoyed the Lord of the Rings book and the movie because she could compare the text with the visuals.

A secondary school teacher advised this Electronic Engineering major to watch movies without subtitles and read books without using a dictionary. He read The Five Orange Pips for his SBA.

Chatting with the instructor and classmates in university English lessons was a positive difference noted by this Information Systems major. He finds university course material interesting.

A summer programme in New Zealand gave this Construction Management major an opportunity to stay with host family and meet people from different countries. She mostly reads journals for her studies. Her favourite novel is Harry Potter.

Writing and acting in a secondary school drama was hard for this China Studies major. She has started many books but not finished them and did book reports by skimming. She finds it difficult to grasp analects and Confucius when taught in English.

A word game in a university English class boosted this Communication major’s creativity and language use. After watching the film One Day, she read the original book and finds that the movie and the book are different.

A teacher provided support when this student had to self-introduce at his new EMI school and ignited his interest in English. He read Angela’s Ashes, Lord of the Flies, Julius Caesar, and Steve Jobs which changed his perspective on business and marketing.

Learning the first word starting with an “A” in kindergarten was memorable for this Linguistics major. She studied Cambridge English in primary school. Literature in secondary school was difficult.

Memorising vocabulary has been difficult for this Electrical Engineering major. She has not read much but would buy some books based on movies she’s seen.

A teacher who pronounced a word incorrectly made this Journalism major realise the importance of learning phonetic symbols. Tales from Shakespeare was a required text in secondary school. He felt that the lines in Romeo and Juliet were strange.

Tutors provided reading, writing and speaking support for this student and her classmates during English Week activities in secondary school. She read Harry Potter after watching the movie.

An exchange to Australia gave this Business major the opportunity to speak more English. She read The Hunger Games for the SBA.

Learning phonetic symbols has helped this student to enunciate. He prefers to watch films and read in Chinese because he is a slow reader and looking up words in a dictionary is time-consuming but he is proud to have completed a long book in secondary school.

This Accounting and Marketing major is given business case studies during university English courses, which benefits language learning and future career. He doesn’t read much since entering university.

Performing Romeo and Juliet in primary school drama lessons exposed this Science major to Shakespearean English. He didn’t have much time to read during secondary school but remembers completing Matilda.

In secondary school, this Engineering major had a tutor who gave feedback on grammar and writing. The tutor also required him to read news in order to learn formal vocabulary and collocations.

A UK study tour involved drama, group discussions and sightseeing for this Environmental Studies major. He reads articles from news websites such as BBC.

As a salesperson, this Social Science major enjoyed learning English by interacting with tourists. She wrote a monthly book report in primary school.

Watching Friends helped this Marketing major learn intonation and speaking. She reads fashion magazines like Vogue and Cosmopolitan. She also reads books about research and psychology, such as The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker.

Despite practising speaking with a private tutor, this Chinese Literature major recorded a poor result in IELTS. She read a book before sleep every night last year.

A summer course in the British Council provided this Music major with an interactive learning experience. She says Before I Go to Sleep has an exciting plot.

The crazy English training improved this Management major’s pronunciation. An IELTS course improved his reading and listening skills. He read journals and books for his first assignment.

Years after first reading Animal Farm and the poem, Solitude, this Accounting major is able to see how the authors’ use of metaphor applies to life. She hopes to resume reading fiction after she graduates.

A study tour to Canada enabled this Business major to communicate with native speakers and learn about the culture. Reading BBC news and the SCMP every day enhanced her reading skills.

Reading taught this Biochemistry major writing skills while watching movies helped with conversational English. He reads for academic purposes and prefers to read fiction that has been made into a movie.