Entering the Hong Kong educational system in Primary 5 and learning English was a big surprise for this Surveying major. She had to do a lot of book reports in secondary school and recalls reading The Giver.

Revisiting the book If Life Is a Game, These Are the Rules has strengthened this Accounting major’s spirit when encountering difficulties. She is appreciative of her secondary subject teacher spending half of the classes sharing with them some meaningful movies.

Linking English to Western festive cultures including food and songs gave this Engineering major fun times in junior forms. He read passages relating to lifestyle, travel and science extracted from textbooks.

Academic labelling in schools triggered frustration in this Fashion Design major who needed help with spelling and writing. She believes she could have performed better if the subjects were taught in Chinese.

Discussions after in-class movies were this Chemical Technology major’s favourite in secondary school. Having followed the American Advanced Placement Curriculum, she is used to studying in English and applying the technical terms of the subjects.

No one made fun of this Language major’s mistakes during the class taught by a NET. This gave her the confidence to use English. She read Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.

Activities, PowerPoint, movies, and computers were used instead of textbooks in secondary school English classes. This Engineering major prefers Chinese books rather than English ones.

A complaint by her supervisor motivated this Textiles major to take English writing and speaking classes. She picked up reading and started to like the language because of an encouraging secondary teacher. She enjoyed reading P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern.

Interactive teaching methods made learning the language an enjoyable process for this Fashion and Textile major. She read Tuesdays with Morrie, Matilda and a book on Martin Luther King Jr on her teacher’s recommendation.

English classes should focus more on practical skills such as speaking and listening rather than examinations. This Engineering major read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Meeting a good tutorial teacher gave this Design student a chance to learn a lot about English. She read Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard.

A friendly English teacher helped this Accounting and Finance major by answering his questions and giving him exercises after-school. He enjoys dystopian fiction such as 1984 and The Giver.

Fundamental language classes given by her teachers improved this Chinese Language major’s English when she first came to Hong Kong. She does not read in English often but would like to do so in the future.

An American primary school teacher developed this Electronic Engineering major’s interest in learning with audio and visual tools. It made him realise that English is for communication rather than academic purposes. He was impressed by the beauty of the language after reading the Harry Potter series.

Literature which this Tourism and Hospitality major found difficult at first, became fascinating as she developed an understanding. She valued studying the differences between the play and the movie of The History Boys because students don’t normally have the chance to do this.

A fun and passionate English teacher in secondary school helped this Arts in Education major improve through unconventional methods. The illustrations in Alice in Wonderland made reading fun.

A secondary school English teacher helped this Geomatics major to catch up by providing additional classes focusing on reading and comprehension. Her classmate also assisted in translating what the teacher was asking. She enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet with her friends.

A primary school English teacher first exposed this Nursing major to the language through storytelling. She read Harry Potter but opted for the movie version when it was released.

Primary and secondary English classes should be more interactive and less drilling. This Product Design major turned to YouTube and dramas to prepare for the DSE but was still unhappy with the result.

Getting a good grade on the DSE is about knowing the right formula according to this Product Design major. Apart from learning the formula from her teacher, she prepared by watching YouTube videos and listening to music at home.

English has become a second language for this Japanese major from Mainland. She uses the language every day in Hong Kong. She prefers to read Chinese novels.

Hong Kong schools do not have enough time to include diverse learning activities according to this Engineering major. She played Scrabble in extra-curricular course. Reading novels by Sophie Kinsella are relaxing because they are not academic.

Starting with A, B, C, and D, this Hotel Management major began learning English in primary school when she first came to Hong Kong. She found Tuesdays with Morrie easy to read and meaningful.

Secondary school English classes made this Biology major wonder if the language is for communication or exams. He found classes boring and useless as they were exam-orientated.

Attending tutorials with a foreign teacher as a toddler made this Computing major nervous. He was able to overcome his fear at a later stage when he studied in an EMI school with more chances to speak English. He reads lecture notes and books about business and investment.

Interactive classes with a NET helped this Computing major’s communication skills but English subject teachers provided the knowledge to pass public exams. She plans to read 1984 as she wants to know more about politics.

A university English instructor taught this Psychology major about grammar. Her secondary school teachers only focused on exams skills. She reads books about psychology.

Studying English in university was better than secondary school for this Psychology major. Due to her interest in psychology, she enjoys reading her textbooks and course material.

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.

Starting at an international school in Form 5 meant this Fashion Design major used English in all classes. She had to read books like Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and The Handmaid’s Tale during secondary school and found the content to be too explicit for her age.

Switching from a local school to an international one allowed this Hotel Management major to be fully immersed in an English speaking environment. Being interested in social issues and human rights, her favourite books are A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner.

Starting off in an international school, this Fashion Marketing major faced problems when switching back to the local system as teachers preferred using Cantonese. She read works of Shakespeare for her literature class, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Attending an EMI school was a very good environment for this Counseling major to learn English. She primarily reads books related to her major.

Primary and secondary school education was the longest period of time that this Biology major studied English. He feels university education only allows him to learn about his major. He mainly read books regarding biology.

English classes at school did not impress this Biology major because she did not get the opportunity to speak. She rarely reads English books but learns the language through YouTube and songs.

A NET improved this Chinese major’s spoken English while also learning about the culture associated with the language. She is interested in 19th century English culture and read books such as Pride and Prejudice.

Given topics to brainstorm rather than using textbooks during class helped her develop more ideas and build up vocabulary. This proved to be useful for the public exam. This Applied Maths major read Frankenstein for the SBA.

A new principal proactively organised English learning activities such as debates and discussions in secondary school. This Nursing major has read The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

English teaching in Hong Kong is assessment-oriented with the focus on textbooks and exam skills rather than activities according to this Social Work major. She read The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Oliver Twist for the SBA.

English teaching in secondary school was only for helping this Social Work major handle examinations. She lost interest in the language because teachers gave exercises with this short-term goal in mind.