This student explains that learning tenses in English is different to Cantonese and Putonghua. She also believes watching a film adaptation helped her to appreciate A Tale of Two Cities.

A teacher used Cantonese soap operas to teach grammar to this student. She read the Young Post and the South China Morning Post in secondary school because they were free.

A Christmas-time drama allowed this student to learn without focusing on difficult grammar rules. She read more books exchanging with others after she finished them.

An American visitor corrected this student’s table manners and grammar during a family meal. She also describes the book Annie John as creepy. She feels songs and videos will help children learn English.

Playing an auction-themed word game in primary school raised this student’s awareness of grammar. He likes Harry Potter and the author Roald Dahl. Watching the news in English is an effective way to learn.

A ‘cute’ university tutor enabled this student to remember grammar rules about clauses. She learnt a lot of new vocabulary while reading The Lord of the Rings. Her favourite author is Nicholas Sparks.

A study abroad scheme in the UK gave this student a chance to communicate more, learn the culture, and improve her grammar. She read the South China Morning Post in secondary school.

Books with grammar exercises were bought for this student by her mother to help her build a good foundation when she was in primary school. She also attended a phonics course. She likes Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Syllabaries in kindergarten marked the beginning of this student’s English learning. In primary, he used pictures to remember vocabulary and did “tons” of grammar exercises.

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.

A good primary school teacher motivated this student who did well in dictation. She realised the advantages of being proficient in English and read books to increase her knowledge and ability with the language.

A teacher in kindergarten used pictures to illustrate stories for this student. Grammar exercises were dull and exam-oriented secondary education allowed limited room to explore English.

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.

Copying a grammar book by hand taught this Social Work major important grammar items and sentence structure. Her English teacher motivated her to read English books by showing excerpts from movies.

A student compliments a strict secondary school teacher who polished her grammar and speaking skills. She reads English course material for her major but she feels speaking is more important.

Liberal Studies classes were an interesting way to learn more than grammar and vocabulary for this English Teaching major. She has read What If and says newspapers can broaden students’ thinking.

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.

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.

Rewriting English newspaper articles helped this student improve her grammar and vocabulary in secondary school. She read a few pages of Harry Potter but found she spent a lot of time checking new words in the dictionary.

Reciting irregular verbs in Form Two has stuck in the mind of this student. He is hesitant about what he reads in English. He uses English for about 70% of his higher diploma course and sees English as a lingua franca in the workplace.

Secondary school grammar lessons were memorable for this student because the teacher used a lot of jokes. He prefers to watch YouTube in English rather than read. English is used widely in his university Management studies.

Writing and performing dramas in secondary school English classes were more interesting than learning grammar for this Business major. She learnt more about the USSR by reading Animal Farm.

A fresh grad, who works as a flight attendant, enrolled in an English course to improve her grammar skills. Research for her final year project involved reading academic papers with complex vocabulary.

A hard working secondary school teacher helped this Film major improve her English grammar for the college entrance exam. Reading The Lord of the Rings also improved her writing.

Group discussion as an alternative to learning strictly about grammar made senior secondary school English classes more interesting for this student. She read Tuesdays with Morrie in Form Three and considers it a good book.

Learning grammar and important vocabulary in tutorial classes were useful for this student’s DSE experience. He feels comfortable with his reading ability when using English textbooks at university.

Smaller classes and a systematic approach to teaching grammar make English learning in university better than that in secondary school for this student. She reads course 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 Visual Arts major thinks her high school spent too much time on grammar and vocabulary exercises. She doesn’t read English books because of her lack of vocabulary. She uses a Kindle to read learning materials.

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

A university instructor taught this Business Administration major a lot of grammar. She read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in secondary school.

University English classes are a little difficult for this History major but she improved her grammar and academic writing skills. Some courses require her to read material in English.

Questions asked by this chemistry major’s cram class teacher helped him remember grammar and vocabulary immediately. He reads online articles, magazines and research papers.

This Arts major spent a lot of time learning grammar at a young age. University course material was a little difficult to understand at first but now she enjoys reading.

Learning grammar from an English teacher during primary school enabled this Arts major to build fundamentals of the language. His mother read The Enormous Crocodile with him when he was small.

A tutor taught grammar to this Social Science major in an interesting way. She finds the IELTS easier than the DSE. She likes to read children’s novels as they are short and easier to understand.

Having to memorise grammar rules was difficult for this Cultural Studies major when he was in high school. She had to read some course texts a few times to understand them better.