English is important for a science and web technology major who enjoys playing the piano. Her secondary school English teacher used songs for writing exercises. She thinks Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is funny.

A working holiday in a relatives’ Chinese restaurant in Nottingham exposed this student to regional accents in the UK. She also learns unique vocabulary while playing rugby. She likes to watch a movie before reading a book.

Debating skills helped an English Teaching major with the spoken component of the DSE. She prefers news media such as the South China Morning Post and TIME magazine to fiction. She feels writing is more important than reading.

Songs from artists such as the Beatles and Bee Gees help this student with his listening skills. He uses a dictionary to find the meaning of new words. He sometimes uses English when he teaches the violin.

Watching films sometimes raises this student’s interest in books. She also likes reading about travel. As a piano student, she uses English to communicate with the examiners.

Playing online video games helped this Maths Teaching major make English speaking friends in the US. It has helped him understand different accents. He liked a picture storybook in kindergarten.

In Form Two, this student and her classmates went to Stanley to interview foreigners in English. She likes cooking and reads some books with English recipes as well as watching some TV shows.

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.

Interviewing tourists helped this Social Science major improve his conversation skills. He reads about football on the Internet and uses a dictionary when he comes across new words.

One-on-one speaking drills with a school teacher helped this Nursing major to prepare for the DSE. Divergent is the first English book she read. She teaches herself to play the Ukulele with online sources and most of them happen to be in English.

There are more English speakers on campus so this Engineering major can practise using the language. He reads about fishing in English and would need to know the terms if he were to travel overseas.

Playing clarinet is a way for this Applied Maths major to learn English. To better understand music, she would check the meaning of lyrics and search for the background of composers. She read The Hunger Games but didn’t find it useful.

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.

Winning a primary school English writing competition ignited this Medical student’s love for reading and writing. She posts her own fan fiction online and hopes to write a novel. Those who wish to pursue writing should read widely.

Overcoming a fear to speak with others is this Computer Engineering major’s biggest obstacle with English. He didn’t use the language a lot in secondary school so he watched YouTube videos about sports. He read materials on engineering.

Primary school English classes included songs which made remembering words easier. This Fine Arts major’s teachers said she could practise English when ordering in restaurants. She likes books about ceramics.

Learning tennis with foreign coaches improved this Business Administration major’s English speaking and listening. She became addicted to reading A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Playing Scrabble with her father was a good way for this Sports Management major to learn vocabulary. After watching the movie, If I Stay, she read the book.

Learning in primary school was stressful for this International Studies major. Secondary education was more enjoyable. Family, travelling and playing different kinds of sports were sources of learning.

Communicating with foreign teammates in English on the football pitch boosted this student’s vocabulary. He read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory after watching the movie. He subscribes to The Economist.

TV dramas and games taught this China Studies major vocabulary and grammar. He reads notes given by tutors.

It’s difficult for this Accounting major to learn English because it’s not his mother tongue. Watching TV shows and playing video games helped improve his English.

English was used by this student to communicate with teammates and coaches in the Manchester United football camp in the UK. The book Love, Rosie was underwhelming because it was written informally.

Interacting with foreign friends who he met online, in class, and on sports teams is an alternative for this Computer Science major to learn the language. It also made him realise he shouldn’t be intimidated when being approached by foreigners. He read Everything’s Eventual by Stephen King.