A secondary school teacher impressed this Business major with the way he explained a poem. He read Lord of the Flies but felt the story is weird. He also read The Kite Runner and The Catcher in the Rye for school and other books during his free time.

Participating in a drama in secondary school helped this student learn English efficiently. He has to read essays on many different topics for his major. Film adaptations motivate him to read the book version.

This postgraduate student improved her English during her first degree by attending an English Corner in her university. Her favourite book is The Little Prince.

Working as a volunteer in Mainland required this student to use English as the common language to communicate with colleagues. She had a different emotional experience when she read Harry Potter in English.

Primary school teachers held discussions to encourage this Law student to speak in English. Reading newspapers in primary school every day helped develop her reading habit.

Doing a project for a university course taught this BBA major some business English and creative ideas for his presentation. A humanities course required him to read the Bible and the Torah in English.

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 student says she enjoys studying English drama at university. She enjoyed the English reading scheme in secondary school but seldom reads now.

A primary school drama performance gave this Fashion major a chance to speak English in front of an audience. She read Oliver Twist in primary school and reads Fashion magazines.

English is one of many languages used by this Bilingual Studies major. She likes reading Stephen King because his stories are exciting. She also enjoys 1984 and The Storyteller.

Watching movies such as Mr Bean in a language school helped this Nursing major develop an interest in reading. Reading the phrases and the spells in the Harry Potter book series reminded her of the movie.

The ELC classes in university provided this Construction major with many opportunities to speak English. The lecture notes were challenging for him because he rarely reads in English.

A drama competition in secondary school helped improve this Engineering major’s language skills. She seldom reads English books. However she would read more for further study and communication with foreigners.

Participating in a secondary school musical helped improve this PR major’s English. She has to do a lot of readings in English including the newspaper for her major.

An English major likes to draw pictures while reading to help remember the meaning of a phrase. She says her primary school teacher encouraged her to draw. She says parents encourage children to learn English because it’s an international language.

University English classes taught this Social Science major grammar and tenses. Another class taught him how to write a thesis statement for academic essays.

Preparing for the DSE exams by working with poems and doing the SBA was memorable for this student. Chinese books are easier to read because she is familiar with the vocabulary.

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.

Playing games in class helped build vocabulary for this Chinese major. He read the Young Post for a news clipping assignment.

This Actuarial Science major had to listen to songs and write down the lyrics in secondary school. He attended a bridging course to help make the transition from a CMI primary to an EMI secondary school.

Reading is part of this Business major’s daily routine. It is the best thing she can do with her time. She is an opportunistic reader and will open a book on public transport or before bed.

American TV series taught this Accounting major intonation, pronunciation, vocabulary and culture. Reading World War Z with the dictionary expanded his knowledge of biological terms.

A NET inspires with drama and musicals. Craft books are interesting and beautiful.

A tutorial required this Teaching major to speak in front of the class and share her views on a video. In junior secondary, she had to take a guess at the story of The Monkey’s Paw from the title before reading it.

The language in law is special according to this Accounting major. She uses the dictionary.

Having discussions in class allowed this Computing major to develop critical thinking skills. He read Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow because of his interest in the topic.

Reading textbooks facilitated this Electrical Engineering major’s learning in university English classes. He normally reads newspapers and magazines such as TIME.

A primary school NET’s personality attracted this International Business major to English. She learnt from the dialogue in Twilight, the New Moon. She also watched the movie.

A course in university taught this English major how to appreciate and analyse literature. Her brother recommended she read The Hunger Games but she was apprehensive when she saw it was a trilogy.

A teacher used movies to raise this Science major’s awareness in improving his pronunciation. He was required to read the works of Shakespeare for a school assignment.

Tenses was the learning foci throughout this Engineering major’s primary and secondary education. He was required to do academic writing in university. He also learnt through everyday communication.

Learning English in secondary school was boring for this Science major because she did a lot of worksheets. She prefers to learn everyday English by watching movies such as In Time and Friends with Benefits. She reads textbooks related to her major.

An “effective” teacher used movies, music and magazines in this Accounting major’s DSE English class. Although she was forced to read books or newspapers during high school, she found it useful.

Using English as a lingua franca during an exchange in Korea allowed this student to communicate with classmates from other countries. She did some reading to prepare for IELTS.

Due to the lack of interaction between students and teachers in class, this Business major felt she couldn’t learn much. She reads English novels only after reading their Chinese translation to ensure she understands the context of the book.

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.

Reflecting on his English learning, this student describes it as the same model over the years – grammar, presentation, and some good sharing. He’s a football fan and has read FourFourTwo magazine and checks results on a website called Who Scored.

A study tour to Orlando gave this Global Economics major a chance to talk with native speakers. Her favourite book is Cloud Atlas which she read after watching the movie.

Being in drama during secondary school exposed this Social Science major to new vocabulary and sentence structures. Performing also gave him confidence to speak in front of others. He prefers movies to books.

A fun fair in primary school enabled this student to have more interaction in English through games. She prefers to read newspapers such as the SCMP as it allows her to learn new vocabulary.