A postgraduate English Teaching major really enjoyed English literature while studying for his public exams in the UK. He likes Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway. He also likes material by Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre. He has started reading books on a Kindle.

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.

Preparing for the A-level exam for this student involved being pushed by a teacher to do mock examinations and many exercises. She finds reading English books difficult and was unable to finish Harry Potter.

A homestay experience in Australia that involved attending (secondary) school there helped this student improve her fluency. She read Narnia during secondary school and also watched the movie version.

A NET made English fun for this student. He feels NETs are more open-minded. He reads material about the environment and says English is used for formal communication.

A lot of exercises, including speech practice helped this student overcome her fears and pass the DSE. She bought the book Warm Bodies after seeing the film version. She prefers to use a printed dictionary.

A school trip to Italy was better than boring worksheets for this student. During a junior form reading programme she picked random books from the library which led her to buying a series.

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.

Debating in high school exposed this student to persuasive language. Although she does not like English books, she needs to read course material at university.

English was the only language allowed in a camp attended by this student while in secondary school. She says that because she attended a CMI school, she did not read many English books.

Being a member of the English Society this student played games like Scrabble with other club members. She says English books like Harry Potter are too difficult to read.

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.

Chatting with exchange students during Secondary 5 let this student practise his communication skills. He read The New York Times while preparing for the DSE. He feels his English competency is in decline in university.

University provides this student with more English training opportunities because the language is used by most professors. Most of the course material is in English and he checks new vocabulary with a dictionary.

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.

Classes with a private tutor resulted in improved grammar for this student who was preparing for the DSE. A secondary school teacher suggested she read the South China Morning Post to improve her English.

In senior secondary, this student formed a group with classmates and employed a foreign tutor to have lessons using Skype. He thinks reading is boring and prefers to learn English through movies.

An English language camp on Lamma Island during secondary school allowed this student to make friends with visitors from Mexico and the Mainland. He has read TIME magazine and Narnia.

Playing games with a foreigner during English Week in secondary school was fun and interesting for this student. He prefers group learning. He bought the book Dracula at a book festival and used it for a book report in the DSE.

Learning English from TV dramas is more interesting than reading for this student because the language can be used in everyday life. She has read The Five People you meet in Heaven and enjoys mysteries like Sherlock.

Classes that seldom use Cantonese was one of the reasons why this student signed up for private tutorials with foreigners. She will only read an English book if there’s no Chinese version.

Movies and games during British Council tutorials made learning English fun for this student. She especially liked watching Mr Bean. She also likes listening to songs. She has read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Watching movies and TV is a convenient way for this student to learn English. He thinks it is more efficient than reading. He uses English in university where he studies mechanical engineering.

Reading a novel given to this student by his secondary school English teacher was challenging. He has been too busy to read books while in university. He suggests students should prepare for the DSE by reading.

After doing an online quiz, this student signed up for private tutorials which were more fun than secondary school classes. Due to a poor English result in Form Three, she decided to read Dracula to improve.

Acting in Romeo and Juliet was different to sitting in the classroom for this student. He seldom reads English books but uses the language in university engineering classes.

Preparing for the public exams with tutorials developed this student’s writing abilities. He read A Christmas Carol for a secondary school book report.

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.

English language enhancement courses helped this graduate who is now working as a chemistry researcher. He says the classes helped him with speaking. He uses English in his work and has read the South China Morning Post, TIME, and Wikipedia.

Playing puzzles in secondary school helped this student improve his English. He doesn’t read much in English.

Reading newspapers during recess time in secondary school helped this student’s spoken English. She doesn’t like reading and prefers watching movies and American TV dramas. She uses English in her design studies.

University English enhancement classes gave this student more confidence to speak with passion. She likes Philosophy and read Free Will. She has used E-books but prefers printed ones.

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.

A primary school programme let this student become friends with a Canadian child through letter writing. She has read CNN news and course material for engineering.

A student has fun memories of a drama workshop in Form Two. She doesn’t read much English but would be interested in something funny. She uses English to read course material about nursing.

An SBA book report required this student to make a class presentation. He can’t remember the name of the books he’s read but took part in other school reading workshops and sharing sessions.

Motivated to get a good result in the DSE, this student enrolled in private tutorial classes. He has read a book about travelling to Japan and also a magazine called Guitar World because he is interested in playing the instrument.

TV shows such as Heroes enabled this student to learn English. She has also read The Hunger Games and Divergent. As a Nursing major, she is able to notice a difference between reality and fiction when she compares the books to subjects such as biology and physics.

Writing her first academic essay in English in university was very different from do exams and exercise in school for this student. She will only read English text if she has to.