A student and her classmates had discussions and wrote reflections after reading novels and watching their corresponding movies in secondary school. She read The Happiness Project.

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.

Despite the coaching from a good teacher, this student did not get the DSE result she wanted. She reads mostly for academic purposes. She has a part-time job where she uses English to communicate with visitors.

A student took IELTS five times after failing A-level English. She sought help from tutors for the public exams because she felt her teachers could not spark her interest. She has read the Kite Runner.

A Chinese teaching major feels there is too much homework to allow time to enjoy language learning through games and conversation. She read National Geographic magazine.

A postgraduate Chinese language teaching student worked hard to pass the IELTS exam. She reads children’s books because she feels her English is poor.

Grammar was challenging for this student because English is different to her mother tongue. She felt there wasn’t enough time for the SBA component of the DSE. She uses English journal articles for homework.

A teacher helped this student improve her speech and aural skills by encouraging her to take part in a speaking festival. The same teacher also suggested she read movie subtitles to develop better pronunciation. She also read newspapers.

A student is motivated to practise more with native speakers and tutors because she feels she needs to catch up with other undergraduates. She read Alice in Wonderland.

Producing a film involved scriptwriting and acting for this ECE major. She says books from England and Hong Kong are different. She also reads some of the books in the tutorial centre where she works part-time.

English was used in an NGO programme in this student’s secondary school. She also joined a pair-reading scheme. She says her mobile phone prevents her from reading.

An English Teaching major worked in a group as part of a competition to transform a poem into a video in secondary school. She also read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

An Australian NET encouraged this Mainland student to speak more during secondary school. She read The Hunger Games after watching the movie. She says students should be proactive and not expect help.

A Korean student attended two tutorial classes, one with a native speaker and the other with a Korean who taught grammar. She read book passages for academic purposes.

A compulsory immersion in Wollongong, Australia was part of this English Teaching major’s university course. She read Tuesdays with Morrie and attended performance related to the book. Students need more speaking practice.

Practising to be an emcee was a challenge for this student because Cantonese was not allowed. He read Harry Potter in Secondary 3. Students should learn English from primary school.

A foreign teacher in Beijing helped this student communicate confidently. She pursued English to pass the Gaokao and IELTS. She reads Chinese language books.

Learning languages in order to teach in other countries is this student’s motivation. She will go to a park and practise with foreigners. She reads to improve her vocabulary.

Learning English became more difficult as this cross-border student got older. She uses an e-dictionary to check new vocabulary. She prefers printed books.

A secondary school English teacher built-up this Health Education major’s vocabulary. He reads for research purposes. He uses English to learn more about sports such as basketball and football.

Studying a higher diploma allowed this CMI graduate to focus on English to earn a university place. He reads books about Christianity and uses English when attending international events.

It took a lot of studying for this student to pass IELTS. She seldom reads material in English except for the university lecture notes.

Watching a professional drama organised by her secondary school English teacher interested this student. She worked hard to pass IELTS. She felt there was too much drilling during her school years. She likes films and songs in English.

A trip to Singapore involved two weeks of classes for this medical student. He read the South China Morning Post every night with his father when he was in Form One. He needs to use English and Cantonese for his studies and work.

Performing a drama according to a script required this student to focus on correctness. She reads the newspaper. She uses English as part-time police officer.

After struggling with the HKCEE and failing A-level English, this student overcame his difficulties in his associate degree. He is planning to study overseas, but needs to improve his IELTS result.

A British Council course with NETs led to a rapid improvement in this student’s level of English. He also uses English while playing rugby. He likes to understand the lyrics to songs by Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz, and Maroon 5.

Group reading of the South China Morning Post and Young Post along with subsequent teacher-led discussions in secondary school contributed to this Nurse’s vocabulary and grammar. These days she reads online news and uses English in the workplace.

Watching make-up videos on YouTube is an interesting way for this student to learn English. She has read National Geographic magazine and will buy a book if the movie version is interesting.

Songs and computer games were used by this Maths Teaching major’s English teacher. She is confused about the MOI for maths as she learnt the subject in English and is now learning to be a teacher in Chinese. She finds reading difficult.

A mother told this student interesting English stories during her childhood. She remembers the pictures and the clothes. In university she socialises with students from Germany and Finland in English.

Foreign friends provided a better learning experience than school on the Mainland for this student. As a postgraduate student in Hong Kong, she is strengthening her English by watching movies. She practised for IELTS by reading.

A weekly group meeting with friends and an American educated Korean tutor helped this student improve her spoken English during undergraduate studies. She read some articles to prepare for IELTS so she could study a postgraduate degree in Hong Kong.

Talking about daily life events with friends in an English Corner was a memorable experience for this student. His reading centres on textbooks.

Having to talk to a native speaker was embarrassing for this student. She read a lot of books for an academic assignment. She thinks she will use English for work in the future.

Drama classes in this student’s secondary school involved improvisation. He says it helped improve communication for daily life. He will read something related to his hobbies.

English language opportunities in university are not the same as drama in school. She says she might read more in English if she sees a movie and wants to find out more in the book version.

This student describes his English learning experience as “pretty simple”. His English reading mostly centres on textbooks. He says he has learnt English from playing computer games.

A Burmese student had to pass TOEFL to enter a Hong Kong university. She started learning English in kindergarten but her transition to tertiary education required her to read more academic material.

Adapting to university classes in English was very difficult for this student. Her secondary school English classes on the Mainland included small groups led by foreign teachers. Using Google Scholar, she found essays to help with academic writing.