A social worker recalls how a university professor inspired her to use English. She seldom reads English books but started the Twilight series after watching the movie.

Unhappy with her secondary school’s approach to teaching English, this Economics major learned on her own by reading South Morning China Post and BBC news and listening to the radio. She read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas for a school presentation.

A Geography major in the US had to use English to survive. She knew she mastered the language when she started dreaming in English. She reads the Seattle Times newspaper and course material.

Movies were shown to this English graduate in Secondary 3. She feels they exposed her to everyday English. She learnt lots of idioms while reading with classmates in junior form.

This Maths major thinks she had a typical learning experience in school. She took courses outside school. She usually reads news online.

This English Teaching major feels her university’s overseas immersion programme is the most useful experience. She read newspapers to prepare for exams.

Minoring in English allowed this Early Childhood Education major to study western culture, linguistics and poetry. She is an American sit-com lover and watched The Big Bang Theory, Desperate Housewives and Modern Family.

Talking to friends in an exchange to Thailand enhanced this Translation major’s fluency. Understanding Jane Austen’s works from the perspective of colonialism was shocking and interesting. She likes Pantomime by Derek Walcott.

Interacting with native speakers in Hong Kong exposed this English major to other cultures and also improved his language skills. Reading for undergraduate studies gave him a lot of insights. He likes Franz Kafka who can dissect difficult human experience.

As a Nursing major, this student is exposed to English in class and through reading course material.

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.

Doing comprehension and vocabulary-building exercises with past papers in Form 5 was useful but boring for this Religious Studies and Philosophy major. He loves reading books especially in English.

Using English in secondary school was a change for this Nursing major. English reading skills are important because she has to read a lot of journal articles.

English songs played in class taught this Arts major pronunciation. She is reading Harry Potter in English and thinks it is better than the translated version.

Watching movies with her family allows this Business major to learn English and strengthen relationships. Reading English books is troublesome as she has to check the dictionary frequently.

A Year 2 English course in university improved this Accounting major’s writing and discussion skills. She seldom does English reading now.

English was the lingua franca for this Marketing major during an exchange programme in the US. Most reading centres on textbooks to prepare for exams.

Tutorial classes were different to regular school classes because this student could learn exam skills. He checks the dictionary while reading newspapers and academic material.

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.

A debate competition in secondary school taught this Accounting major some speaking skills. He used to read the South China Morning Post every week and found the language used in the paper too difficult for a secondary school student.

A foreign teacher was fun but this student finds the games and drama did not help. She valued extra-curricular tutorials that focused on exam skills. She has read TIME magazine.

Attending an English camp prior to senior secondary school exposed this Engineering major to all aspects of the language. He would like to become fluent in English for academic and career purposes.

Watching a movie provided an English learning opportunity for this student. She read Matilda and watched the movie version. She does not use English much at university but expects to in the future.

Working in a university English language centre gives this Chinese major lots of practice by interacting with colleagues. She likes to watch movies and then read the book to see if there are any differences.

The speaking test in TOEFL was difficult for this Journalism major. Reading material in a course was difficult, which makes him think he should practise more.

Reading, analysing and performing the drama script An Inspector Calls were different to sitting through conventional English classes for this Psychotherapy major. She used her creativity to finish a detective story in a writing competition.

A Chinese Language Teaching major enjoyed drama in junior secondary school. She read Tuesdays with Morrie because it was compulsory. She says her secondary school English teacher helped her get a good result in the DSE.

Notes prepared by an English teacher included materials from the South Morning China Post and TIME. He read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because of the movie.

English learning started in Grade 3 for this Swedish exchange student. She wrote essays and had presentations in secondary school. As an English major, she is immersed in the language.

Reciting and analysing Shakespeare’s sonnets for a presentation in senior secondary was a refreshing break from the demands of SBA for this Law major. Difficult books in Primary 5 discouraged him from reading.

A university class on interviewing skills made this Finance major more conscious about her own speaking ability. She reads news from Bloomberg as it is required for her major.

A school report in Grade 7 confirmed this Business major’s realisation that she had become more fluent in English. Reading Animal Farm and 1984 challenged her original ways of thinking.

This Marketing major enjoyed reading A to Z Mysteries and Harry Potter in elementary school. She also read children’s magazines.

Remembering names of NETs was a big challenge for this Korean student who transitioned to an EMI school. A friend’s mum and a private tutor helped to improve her English. She picked up Harry Potter because of her sister. She is now into non-fiction such as How Google Works and What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School.

Having been a part-time tutor improved this social worker’s English grammar skills. She read a lot of course material to finish her university assignments.

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.

Primary school classes with a NET were memorable for this Business major because he studied love song lyrics. His school reading involved clipping news articles.

This student had to listen carefully in class when he first moved to Canada in Form Five. He read novels and Shakespeare in high school. He enjoyed reading about Economics in university because he was interested in the subject. He also reads TIME and The Economist.

Writing letters to students from other countries during secondary school was interesting for this Science major. Reading books chosen by himself rather than teachers was more relaxing.

Getting familiar with the vocabulary in the textbooks increased this Computer Science major’s reading speed.