A student recalls a class trip to Central to interview native speakers; she remembers sharing books with her family.

A student remembers how his teacher and mother used videos to help him learn English. He believes that immersion in an English speaking country is the best way to learn.

A student fondly recalls English Week in his secondary school as an opportunity to practise speaking outside the classroom. He enjoys reading autobiographies.

A student says she gained confidence in speaking English by communicating with a classmate from Germany. She also enjoys reading related to her major, Music.

A student had two overseas English language speaking experiences. The first time in Canada she couldn’t make friends but later in Wales she gained confidence when her new friends were more understanding.

Choral speaking sparked this student’s interest in literature. Roald Dahl and children’s book are easier to understand because of the simpler language and illustrations.

Watching Titanic in primary school on the Mainland created an interest in the lyrics of the song, “My Heart Will Go On.” The student also watched Harry Potter and Twilight. She briefly looked at the Harry Potter book.

A performing arts competition helped this student in the speaking part of the DSE exam. She also took part in the daily reading scheme during secondary school. She prefers printed books but also uses an e-dictionary.

Taking part in a drama helped this student polish his speaking skills. He read Typhoon Club Magazine and English Newspapers. Now a Liberal Studies major, he says English is important for writing essays.

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.

Though he started learning English in kindergarten, this student’s best experience was talking to foreigners while fundraising in Tsim Sha Tsui. He has improved communication through analysing his mistakes.

Interviewing foreigners gave this student a chance to practise her English. She read Howl’s Moving Castle after watching the movie. She bought the book because she likes the author.

Debating in university gave this student an opportunity to prepare speeches and arguments. She has read Jane Eyre and Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. She finds the latter exciting.

Doing a solo performance and being part of a choir meant this student had to work on pronunciation and fluency. She mostly reads academic books.

In primary school classes organised by the ESF this student experienced different teaching methods including games, and arts and crafts. He likes to practise his pronunciation by reading English newspapers aloud.

During primary school, this student realised one could learn English by communicating with others. The student also benefitted from a trip to Sweden when she was 15.

This student developed a system to remember the spelling of a word through pronunciation. She watched variety shows to increase her vocabulary and sense of the language.

Despite learning English for many years, this student does not feel her language skills are very good. She feels that because she lives in Hong Kong, there are few chances to speak English outside of school.

English is more than learning vocabulary and doing tests for this student. You need to interact with others to have “practical experience.” Her English improved after working in a tutorial centre.

A year of immersion in England exposed this English teacher to different accents and varieties of the language. She advises her students to consume English media like watching movies and TV, listening to radio, and installing language learning mobile apps.

Communicating with volunteers who visited his secondary school increased this Accountant’s use of English. She read a bit of Harry Potter after watching the entire film series.

A school teacher remembers using English with a German businessman during a dinner hosted by her parents. She read Lord of the Flies for a secondary school literature class.

A one-month English camp in Shanghai during junior high put this systems engineer in touch with foreign teachers. She read Harry Potter in English because she couldn’t wait for the Chinese version.

Meeting with people who are bilingual during an exchange programme in Singapore encouraged this social worker to speak more. he wants to read the Bible in English.

Prompted to practise more during university, this English major held balcony conversations with her best friend from the hall. She read Lady Chatterley’s Lover after a friend suggested the novel to her in secondary school.

As a teenager, this teacher had to join the activities and make friends during a summer camp facilitated by Canadians. He read Phantom of the Opera for a book report in secondary school.

A Hong Kong student used English to communicate during a senior secondary trip to China because she did not speak very good Putonghua. She took part in her school’s reading programme but doesn’t read much now.

A trip to Korea involved communicating with friends who were from the US and UK. English speaking opportunities were limited in school because students used Chinese.

A Chinese teaching graduate had more English speaking opportunities during an exchange trip to Singapore. These days he uses English in China to communicate with potential overseas students. He studied Shakespeare in secondary school.

An English speaking day in secondary school allowed this student a chance to chat with senior and teachers. She enjoyed reading Harry Potter more after seeing the movie.

A tour where English was the lingua franca helped this student improve her speaking and writing skills. She has used English for academic purposes. She has read Once and Harry Potter. Watching the movies also helped.

The activities in a summer holiday English camp were interesting for this student. She also took part in choral speaking in secondary school. She was encouraged by Nick Vujicic’s Life without Limits and also read Tuesdays with Morrie.

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.

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.

English speaking days in primary and secondary school became more interesting for this student as they also included drama lessons with NETs. Reading is hard for her but she did a book report for the SBA.

English speaking ambassadors in this student’s secondary school took part in themed activities like Halloween. She read articles posted on the back of the toilet door.

Activities using songs, films, and stories interested this Liberal Studies teaching major. It improved her pronunciation. She likes the magic of Harry Potter and mystery of Sherlock Holmes.

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.

Communicating with people from other English speaking countries during an overseas exchange programme provided an authentic language learning environment for this student. She has read Harry Potter.