Working part-time in IT while at university meant this Maths major had to read some technical documents in English. He says although English is not that important for his present studies, he’ll need it for his future career.

A drama competition in secondary school was a fun competition for this student. She read the Harry Potter series when she was “very small”.

Studying drama in secondary school was quite inspiring for this Nursing major. She doesn’t read that much but says English is important for her future career.

Motivated to learn more English, this student downloaded material from the Internet to improve his pronunciation during the second year of university. His reading focuses on textbooks.

The Internet is a self-study resource for this Engineering major. He also reads books related to his major such as Core Java and publications by Isaac Newton and da Vinci.

Interacting with foreigners and native speakers gave this student a chance to practise her speaking skills in secondary school. She believes writing will be important for her future career as a social worker.

Writing sentences with new vocabulary from reading a newspaper improved this student’s English. Although he doesn’t read much in English, he feels the language will be useful for workplace communication after he graduates.

Watching TV and seeking help from university teachers have helped this student’s spoken English. He uses websites to search for information and entertainment.

An interest in bands led this student to develop an interest in inversion. While reading 1984, she felt like she became part of the story. She also likes Cloud Atlas.

A secondary school teacher helped this student win a public speaking competition. She read Harry Potter within three weeks in Form 3. That was the first time she had been reading day and night.

Being on an exchange in Germany meant this student had to rely on English. She said the trip helped improve her speaking skills. She values English for her future career as an accountant.

English was the lingua franca for this student’s university exchange to Moldova. She read about a swimmer in the 2004 Olympics because she liked him.

Using English with peers from other countries in university allows this student to learn about other cultures. She felt her English improved by reading Harry Potter.

Getting good marks in a course offered by the university language centre motivated this student to improve her presentation skills. Studying in Hong Kong is different from Mainland as all her course books are in English.

A foreign teacher helped this student to improve his speaking skills in secondary school. He also watches programming on BBC and CNN. He read a lot while preparing for IELTS, and also during a university language course.

This student learnt the hard way that English may not be useful in all parts of Germany. She read The Architecture of Happiness because it was mentioned in the movie, 500 Days of Summer. She prefers to read in Chinese.

An English documentary about WWII sparked this student’s interest in history. He is impressed by the journeys described in James Fergusson’s book about the Taliban. He views English as an international language and a focus for employers.

Songs and lyrics boosted this student’s motivation to learn in secondary school. She read One Thousand and One Nights.

This student enjoyed the healthy competition between his classmates and the sweets awarded in A-level tutorials. He remembers the first long article that he read for university.

This Nutrition major works in a company where she interacts with overseas colleagues. She learns their accents, vocabulary and pronunciation. She read Harry Potter and other books before, but now she focuses on academic material.

Reading grammar books was one of the methods used by this China Studies major who had to retake his A-levels. He also used to read the website BBC Learning English.

This Education major participated in a choral speaking competition, and enjoyed learning poems and working with her classmates. She likes reading newspapers more than books.

This Communications major remembers his English teacher inviting a friend to the class. His favourite story is The Hunger Games. Movie adaptations make him read the original books.

Motivated by his ex-girlfriend, this Physics graduate worked hard to prepare for the English exam in order to get into university. He understood 20-30% of the words in the GRE.

Participating in a contest, this Translation major and three other students practised speaking together. After watching Harry Potter movies, she read the books and sought the meaning of new words.

To prepare for DSE, this Engineering major forced himself to learn English on his own for the first time. He read an article about learning vocabulary in the university language centre.

The job as a programme assistant provided the environment for this Computer Science major to speak more and learn more English. He recalls a teacher who encouraged him to read as much as possible.

During secondary school, this Engineering major used memory strategies to build her vocabulary. In secondary school, she read the materials provided by her teacher. In college, she usually reads research papers.

Living with a South African girl in the hostel let this Chemistry major use English in daily life. She studied The Chronicles of Narnia for the SBA, which helped her enjoy the process of reading. Her favourite author is Roald Dahl.

This Chemistry major speaks English at home because they have a domestic helper. He reads journals and reference books to find information about chemistry.

University English classes were not useful for this Engineering major because they focused on reading and writing instead of speaking and listening. Reading for the SBA was very difficult for him.

To prepare for the public examination, this Management major learnt vocabulary and did grammar exercises in summer. He reads books on psychology.

This Engineering major thinks that he didn’t have enough time to speak English in secondary school. He finds language in scientific papers hard to understand.

Communicating with non-local students makes this Global China Studies major feel that she is using English for communication. She now realises newspaper cutting improved her vocabulary.

Travelling to English-speaking countries is a more interesting way for this Business major to learn the language. Knowing the plot from movies provides her greater motivation to read the original books. Her favourite book is Who Moved My Cheese?

English was a brand new language for this Science major in primary school. She has read The Little Prince. Much of her course material is in English.

Starting from Form 5, this Medicine major tried to speak more, meet people from different countries and listen to the TV news. She likes reading biographies. She identifies with the author in Chinese Cinderella.

This Marketing major formulated her way of thinking and reading with the assistance of a domestic helper that read textbooks and talked with her. Her favourite book is Lord of the Flies.

Working with English-speaking clients has helped this Management major’s language skills. He uses English in contracts and reference documents.

The need to pass IELTS motivated this Computer Science major to read books and news from the Internet. She reads online news such as BBC.