Watching Downton Abbey and working as a part-time English teacher helped this Media and Communication major prepare for IELTS. She also read Eat, Pray, Love and watched the movie.

Mini games in university English classes are different for this student who attended a CMI secondary school. She reads a lot of reference books on topics such as contract law for her surveying studies.

As a child, this Computer Science major played word games with his mother. He started reading an English newspaper in Secondary 1 to prepare story summaries.

Despite having little interest in English, this Science major listened to her teachers and did her homework to get through the DSE. She finds it difficult to read English.

Immersed in a competitive environment, this Biotechnology major tried harder. She read literary works for school such as Bridge to Terabithia, Lord of the Flies and Taming of the Shrew. And her favourite fiction is Harry Potter.

There were more opportunities to chat with native English speakers in secondary school than in university for this Fashion major. She read Alice in Wonderland after seeing the movie.

The Hunger Games and Harry Potter are good books but they are too thick to read in English for this Graphic Designer. She attended the Book Fair with her friend and was looking mainly for design books.

An exchange to Singapore provided this Science major with a chance to communicate with others using English. She likes reading the Newton magazine because she is interested in science.

The way a foreign teacher taught English surprised this Science major in primary school. She learnt the difference between the lives of city and country folks during a reading exercise.

Learning the first word starting with an “A” in kindergarten was memorable for this Linguistics major. She studied Cambridge English in primary school. Literature in secondary school was difficult.

Reading short stories and learning idioms in junior secondary was interesting, whereas past paper practices in senior form was boring for this Chinese major. She has expanded her vocabulary in university.

A student enjoyed writing poems and playing games in a workshop on Thanksgiving day at university organised by an international tutor. The workshop was different to secondary school because it was interactive. Although reading English books is hard, she was able to finish Matilda. [4CJ093]

English has been important for this Engineering major since an early age as it was the language for communicating with her family’s domestic helper. She likes books by Mitch Albom.

Preparing for the Gaokao was both dull and time-consuming for this Finance graduate. Readings for postgraduate studies were not easy. She read BBC at that time.

Songs and TV shows used by an early career teacher in P3 seemed like a novel experience for this English Language Education major. Basic reading skills allowed her to enjoy Garfield in English.

An exchange to Turkey gave this History major a chance to speak English with her foreign friends. Doing a huge number of readings for a university History course was horrible.

Taking university language courses improved this Chemistry major’s English proficiency. He likes to read young adult fiction such as Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. He also read and watched The Lord of the Rings.

Speaking with foreigners made this Nursing major realise that they usually use simple words instead of the ones he learnt in class. A Tale of Two Cities was given to him as a gift and he finds the read challenging.

Due to the lack of interaction between students and teachers in class, this Business major felt she couldn’t learn much. She reads English novels only after reading their Chinese translation to ensure she understands the context of the book.

Watching movies such as Southpaw, Inception and Fight Club boosted this Accounting major’s interest in English. He read the Young Post and South China Morning Post in secondary school to develop his reading habit.

This Business major experienced an all English learning environment in primary school in Beijing when a foreign teacher led the class. She read a book of horror stories given to her by her mother.

This student has been working with foreign tutors in the language centre in university. He is comfortable with the required readings but would like to improve his speaking and listening skills.

Communicating with people of different nationalities and tertiary educational background has kept this student’s focus on English. She is comfortable reading journal articles related to her major.

Remembering names of NETs was a big challenge for this Korean student who transitioned to an EMI school. A friend’s mum and a private tutor helped to improve her English. She picked up Harry Potter because of her sister. She is now into non-fiction such as How Google Works and What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School.

The comic version of Animal Farm encouraged this science and web technology major to read more English books during Form Three. Nowadays he can only recall reading some Harry Potter and prefers to watch the English news on TVB Pearl.

Being a part-time interpreter for an Australian principal trained this Translation major’s interpreting skills. She prefers novels to magazines. She enjoyed reading Shopaholic and Harry Potter.

Watching American TV shows formed part of this Social Science major’s English learning. He has some friends from the UK and also worked with British students for two years.

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.

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.

Learning phonics in tutorial classes during primary school was useful for this student. The interest in English decreased in secondary school as the student was forced to learn for public exams.

English classes were boring for this Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering major as he was not interested in the subject. His teacher always gave him a lot of articles to read.

The speaking test in TOEFL was difficult for this Journalism major. Reading material in a course was difficult, which makes him think he should practise more.

This postgraduate student has been learning and practising English since primary school. She has been on an exchange to London and enjoys self-reading.

Reading Wikipedia with a dictionary allows this Science major to learn new words and expressions. He also reads The China Daily and the websites of sport teams.

Going on an exchange to the UK required this Human Resources major to use English and gestures to communicate. She read Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl when she was seven.

Classes in secondary school prepared this Design major for the DSE yet her knowledge of everyday English is limited. She prefers Chinese and reads only English references and online sources if needed.

A university course taught this undergraduate how to write essays and how to present in English whereas secondary school classes focused on grammar. She read Life of Pi for her SBA in secondary school.

Having every single piece of work graded in a university English course gave this Accounting and Finance major a lot of pressure. Harry Potter is the only English novel he would consider reading.

An impressive professor used songs and drama in an English class. Reading includes The Hunger Games, Reader’s Digest, and course material.

Tenses were taught in this trainee doctor’s primary school. Secondary education included grammar and sentence structure. She learnt academic writing in university.