An exchange allowed this Social Work major to talk with native speakers directly. She gained knowledge of English literature after reading Matilda and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Taking a speech class taught by an American teacher encouraged this Economics major to express opinions with confidence. He started reading more English by checking his friends’ updates on Facebook.

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.

Filling in missing song lyrics and watching movies were activities this Nursing graduate did in Secondary 2. She read The Prince and The Old Man and the Sea and turned them into dramas.

Taking an English class during an exchange to Australia enabled this Architecture major to learn how the locals use the language. She expanded her vocabulary in high school by reading the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong education needs to shift from being teacher-centred and exam-oriented to interactive according to this Science graduate. In primary school, he liked Roald Dahl’s stories and read Matilda and The Witches.

Primary school English classes involved improvisation and role-playing for this Arts major. There is so much new vocabulary in university readings that she spends the whole day looking up words in the dictionary.

Despite the negative view on spoon feeding, this Spanish major felt she learnt a lot in secondary school. She read Animal Farm because she has an interest in politics.

Taking a course about English literature exposed this Engineering major to different styles of writing. He read Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein and The Joy Luck Club in that course.

This Accounting major now sees the funny side of mispronouncing a word. She was a slow reader at first because she had to check new vocabulary, but she persevered and likes autobiographies.

Despite studying English for ten years and getting a good academic results, this Politics major had trouble using the language when travelling. She reads English articles for her major.

The teaching style and activities in extra-curricular tutorials were different to regular classes for this Civil Engineering major. He read The Witches for the SBA in secondary school.

Watching the Harry Potter and Star Wars movies with Chinese subtitles facilitated English learning for this Information Technology major. He read newspapers and the dictionary when he was younger but now prefers watching YouTube and movies.

An exchange to Cambridge enabled this Nursing major to learn spoken English through daily communication and dramas. She reads TIME magazine occasionally.

Learning the origin of words in an English language school was appealing for this Logistics major. The Little Prince was the first book she read in English and she felt more confident about learning English afterwards.

This Economics major found repetitive exercises and memorization for the Gaokao useless for her future. Philosophical readings such as On Liberty were difficult to comprehend.

Reciting New Concept English helped this Science major’s reading and writing but not speaking. His speaking improved because of frequent contact with foreigners in Hong Kong. After reading a large number of papers, his reading speed increased.

Choosing interesting materials for self-learning was more memorable than learning at school. This Linguistics major was impressed by the content of the book Giovanni’s Room.

Memorising words for IELTS was tough but useful for writing and reading. Reading academic articles was difficult for this Urban Design major.

Interacting with native English speakers in a summer school in Vancouver was useful for this Business major. He studied Shakespeare, Murakami and Greek plays such as Oedipus for IB.

When this Linguistics major first learnt English from a native-speaking tutor, he was unable to comprehend what the teacher said. Reading blogs that he was interested in increased his motivation to learn.

A speech week and related activities were held at this Nursing graduate’s secondary school before HKCEE to create an English speaking environment. She read many ghost stories in junior form.

Having studied in the US immersed this Psychology graduate in an English speaking environment as she interacted with locals. As a research assistant, she needed to read a lot of papers that she was not interested in.

Jotting down useful expressions while watching TV dramas is this English major’s learning practice. She watched Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries. Reading post-modern literature allowed her to think from different perspectives.

Watching the movie The Dark Knight Rises expanded this Nursing graduate’s vocabulary. He recalled the first time he had read a journal article and observed how the information was presented differently from newspapers, magazines or textbooks.

This Nursing major attended secondary school classes where an English teacher played his guitar and sang his own songs. He was surprised when he received a book about animals from the teacher.

Being a volunteer teacher in Bali enabled this Business major to speak English more while helping others. She read books in the library once but she did not enjoy it.

Apart from formal schooling, this Economics major has received education from foreign teachers. She reads journals, newspapers and magazines related to her major.

This Sociology major learnt a lot about the feminist movement by watching the movie Suffragette. She usually reads materials related to her major.

Listening to music and watching movies enabled this Education major to improve her pronunciation. The book Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds has inspired her to be a good speaker.

Having studied in Australia and Malaysia enabled this Accounting major to make friends from different backgrounds. Her IB school experience deepened her understanding of different literature works such as The Outsider, The Doll’s House and those by Shakespeare.

Movies has kept this Medicine graduate interested in English. His favourite book is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. He understood it more when he read it again.

A university language course with a smaller class size gave this Business major more chances to speak. Reading different types of texts such as poems for literature class broadened her horizons.

Studying in the UK immersed this Psychology major into an English speaking environment. She learnt slang and everyday English in conversation. Reading something that she likes other than textbooks can improve her reading skills.

This Philosophy major played the Joker in a high school drama based on the movie The Dark Knight. He says Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is elegant and dignified.

The English course in university was more practical than that in secondary school. This Accounting major became more familiar with the language in business after reading The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Two months of English classes with foreign teachers in junior high school involved conversations and games according to this Arts major. She now needs to read more material in English.

Preparing for the Gaokao was both dull and time-consuming for this Finance graduate. Readings for postgraduate studies were not easy. She read BBC at that time.

Attending tutorial classes and memorising new vocabulary and phrases during high school were useful. This Psychology major read Twilight in Form Two after watching the movie.

Participating in an English camp provided an opportunity for this Finance graduate to practise speaking. Reading reference books is helpful for exams but not for speaking.