A secondary school English teacher set a high standard for this Music major when he was preparing for the A-levels. One of the exercises was reading the newspaper every day. He now reads course material.

Playing games such as Monopoly was part of the casual learning this Business major undertook in her quest to communicate with English-speaking relatives from Australia. She read the Hunger Games to get a sense of the story before watching the movie.

Getting his English pronunciation right earned this Finance major candy. He enjoys reading Sherlock Holmes even though he needs to refer to a dictionary for some unknown vocabulary.

Studying in the UK and making friends there was a fun experience for this Engineering major. He attended workshops and visited museums while he was there. He read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Maze Runner and Hunger Games.

English is one of the most important languages in this Food and Nutritional Science major’s life. She was the chair of the book club in secondary school and read Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice. She asked teachers and friends when she needed help with her studies.

Studying and performing the works of Shakespeare are the highlights of this English Literature major’s language learning. She likes Much Ado About Nothing for its humour; she acted in King Lear. She also read Fahrenheit 451 and Dubliners.

A harsh learning experience involved learning pages of phrasal verbs because this Medical student’s English was not up to standard in Form 1. Even though the Hunger Games was a required reading in secondary school he completed it out of pure interest.

Teaching English to primary student students was unpleasant for this Physics major because it was hard to express himself. The readings in a compulsory university English course contain a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary.

Interacting with foreign students in university required this Physics major to use English differently to the way that he was taught in secondary school. When speaking in English you need to organise your thoughts quickly and remember the grammar is different to Cantonese.

Joining the debating team taught this Medical student not to slur his words. He read Harry Potter, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Robinson Crusoe, The Hardy Boys, and his favourite is the Redwall Series. He likes dystopian stories and recommends Agatha Christie to those who want to improve English through reading.

English is the lingua franca for this Religious Studies major when playing football with international students at university. It was compulsory to subscribe to a newspaper and clip stories during secondary school.

Secondary school NET teachers from the US used poems, songs and dramas to create an interesting learning environment. This Cultural Studies major learnt a lot through the lyrics of Leona Lewis. She read Twilight and The Hunger Games.

Even though learning English may not be interesting, this Cultural Studies major appreciates the focus on preparing for exams as it provides a foundation for future learning. She likes reading Sophia Kinsella and TV dramas such as The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl.

Growing up in UK meant involved learning English and the culture for this Law student. She was required read a variety of books and analyse them for secondary school English class assignments. She read Shakespeare, The Great Gatsby, The Glass Menagerie, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Despite being shy, this English major used the language to communicate during a homestay in New Zealand in primary school. She likes Sophie’s World because it explores ideas that people might think but never discuss. She also read Oedipus the King and analyses poetry in university literature class.

Video games with storylines and instructions in English helped this Engineering major’s language learning. He browses English websites and enjoys reading Japanese comics.

Feeling inadequate in an EMI secondary school, this Biomedical Engineering major joined societies and activities to improve his English. He expands his vocabulary by reading about psychology and philosophy.

After a bad experience in kindergarten, this Accounting major’s mum placed her in a neighbourhood learning group led by an American tutor. She learnt through field trips and everyday activities. She read a lot of Mitch Albom books and also magazines such as TIME and Vogue.

English tutorial classes taught this Chinese Medicine major communications skills. She valued the lessons because she mostly used Cantonese. She has read TIME magazine and thinks the articles are informative.

Chatting with international students at university has helped this Information Engineering major develop English conversation skills. He uses a dictionary when reading the newspaper. He warns that Google Translate is limited.

It’s more comfortable using English with foreigners than locals because there is too much focus on accuracy in Hong Kong. This Electronic Engineering majors exchanged stories with other tourists in Berlin. She likes comics and science fiction novels.

Tutors who treated students like friends made English more interesting by using games and movies. Eat, Pray, Love was the first English novel this Education major read. She watched the movie instead after chapter one because it was too difficult. She uses a Kindle to read academic papers.

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.

Grammar used to be an obstacle for this student but she and her classmates took extra lessons to improve. Her reading skills progressed as she progressed through a detective novel and became more familiar with the vocabulary.

Attending a summer school in the UK during secondary school immersed this Nursing major in an English speaking environment. She read TIME magazine while preparing for the DSE because it broadened her knowledge of international issues.

Learning words before the alphabet in primary school made this Architecture major feel she was behind the rest of the class. All her course materials have been in English since secondary school.

Practising with teachers helped this Computer Science major change her speaking habits, especially pronunciation. She likes the humour in O. Henry’s short stories and essays.

Attending a Christian camp with other young people from the US and UK allowed this Biomedical Engineering major to share her ideas on religion and culture. She reads blogs on Wordpress and Pinterest to learn more about health, medicine, and design.

Interacting with the family’s maid helped this Chinese Studies major learn English. She took part in a reading scheme in secondary school and had to write a brief report for each book.

Preparing to teach children English made this Business major more aware of her own learning. She likes books by Cecilia Ahern including P.S. I Love You.

A drama competition in secondary school was a welcome break from exams and textbooks for this English major. He was the scriptwriter and used a dictionary to complete the job. The local content in the SCMP is appealing.

Writing research papers and proposals in university has been the most challenging for this Medical and Automation Engineering major. Reading Harry Potter is easier than the SCMP because a book provides more background information than a news article.

Preparing for the GRE, this Chemistry major read books and online materials. She needs to write more papers and read more journals in order to improve her skills. She read The China Daily, The New York Times and one chapter of Harry Potter.

Moving to Hong Kong changed this graduate student’s focus on reading from textbooks to the poetry of Pablo Neruda. He was embarrassed when he couldn’t ask a question using English during a forum.

A homestay in the US allowed this Maths major to spend an extensive period of time communicating with people from other countries. She bought a book from the Poison Apple series during the trip but didn’t finish it. She prefers the Chinese versions of popular books like Twilight.

Watching movies like Whiplash and listening to songs by Alanis Morissette helped this Nutritional Science major to build her vocabulary in secondary school. She finds English easy to learn but difficult to master. She uses Wikipedia and the dictionary.

Watching movies has exposed this Nursing major to different cultures and new vocabulary. Fight Club is one of his favourite movies. The book, Into the Wild, is a story about adventure and survival.

Despite having what he felt was a poor standard of English entering senior secondary, this Business major improved his exam scores by working with vocabulary books. He browses websites such as Amazon and Google, and uses Tudou and Google Translate.

Tutorials with a NET arranged by this Finance major’s mother provided plenty of opportunity to speak in a relaxed environment. Her mum also acquired SAT, GEPT and other multidiscipline study guides as teaching materials. She likes the character Katniss in The Hunger Games trilogy.

Terminator 2, James Bond and other movies have taught this Computer Engineering major catch phrases, slang, usage, and culture. Harry Potter books were an integral part of his childhood. The best way to encourage learning is to explain the importance of English as a global language.