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.

In Form Two, this student and her classmates went to Stanley to interview foreigners in English. She likes cooking and reads some books with English recipes as well as watching some TV shows.

Performing a drama and communicating with other students during a trip to Singapore in Form 6 gave this student a unique opportunity. She read TIME and The Economist, and Harry Potter.

English is the lingua franca in university for this Social Work major as she needs to communicate with international students. She reads English journal articles.

A student describes the interaction with a buddy during an exchange trip to the US, also sampling food and writing Chinese New Year lucky scrolls. He reads course materials and the news. He finds the English version of Harry Potter more colourful.

Practising spoken English for the DSE with highly-proficient schoolmates improved this Business major’s language skills. He enjoyed reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven for a presentation in secondary school.

Joining the Big Mouth Corner at university provided a chance for this Investment Science major to speak English and meet foreign students. She finished reading Tuesdays with Morrie but prefers Chinese books which are less time-consuming.

Practice is the best teacher according to this Biomedical Engineering major. Presentations and talking to foreign classmates improves his fluency. He likes science fiction and wants to read novels by Isaac Asimov in the future.

Speaking with foreign students during university lectures is an opportunity to use English which was rarely found in schools. This Accounting and Finance major read The Hunger Games after watching its movie adaptation.

A secondary school English teacher helped this Geomatics major to catch up by providing additional classes focusing on reading and comprehension. Her classmate also assisted in translating what the teacher was asking. She enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet with her friends.

An English camp led by British students from Oxford and Cambridge inspired this Nursing major. She started tutorials for the first time in order to prepare for the DSE. She read with an exchange student in Form Four. Reading in English takes longer because she needs to check the vocabulary.

Social interaction with foreign students on the university campus is a great opportunity for this Nursing major to speak English as such chances were hard to come by during school years. He read Tuesdays with Morrie in English after finishing the Chinese version.

Socialising with overseas students at university has developed this Electronics major’s English speaking skills. He likes reading books about politics and keeps a record of new vocabulary. He read How China’s Leaders Think and Deception Point.

Classmates who use English as a first language helped this Civil Engineering major appreciate different accents and slang. He likes reading about drawing but most of the books are in Chinese.

Chatting with international students at university has helped this Information Engineering major develop English conversation skills. He uses a dictionary when reading the newspaper. He warns that Google Translate is limited.

Taking part in an English language competition during his bachelor studies motivated this student to practise a lot and seek help from mentors and peers. He finds inspiration in song lyrics such as Katy Perry’s Fireworks.

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.

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.

Secondary school students from Australia and the US took part in an English camp with this Chinese major. She uses the Oxford Dictionary to help her get through English books.

Meeting exchange students from other countries gave this English major more opportunities to use the language. She reads English materials from different periods in her course. She loves newspapers.

English pronunciation was difficult to remember for this Computer Science major. He hates English books because he was forced to read them in secondary school.

Classmates in a university English course helped this Engineering major improve speaking skills. He reads online news about technology.

An exchange in Vienna let this Psychology graduate share his learning experience with ESL learners from other countries. The Minds of Billy Milligan inspired him to think about human mind and personality.

Living with an exchange student in the same school hostel gave this Social Science major the chance to speak English. English textbooks in secondary school were boring. She sometimes read storybooks.

Chatting with native speakers and classmates from different places let this Social Science major learn the accents and slang. She prefers the book version of The Fault in Our Stars to the movie.

An exchange student from Germany spoke too fast for this Business major. She enjoyed reading TIME which was free in her secondary school. She likes reading articles about cooking.

An English camp let this Accounting and Finance major meet friends from different countries. Harry Potter is her first English book. She only reads textbooks now.

TV series like Parks and Recreation taught this Social Science major listening and speaking skills. His peers recommended 1984 to him and he read half of it.

Entertaining games in secondary school enabled this Visual Studies to learn English. She read and discussed books with classmates in a session after lunch. She likes books about science.

Living with room-mates from Scotland and America built up this Nursing major’s confidence in speaking English. Reading Harry Potter greatly improved her English skills. The Alchemist is her favourite book.

Movies made this Law major’s class engage in discussions. He discussed an article in TIME with his friends. His favourite book is 1984.

English books and TV shows had significantly helped this Medical student. He finished A Tale of Two Cities with the support of his teacher and classmates. He spends most of his time reading the Bible.

An English course attended by this Business graduate and other international students during an exchange in the UK was effective. She won a prize for reading the most number of books in school. She mostly read fiction books.

Talking to an exchange student in secondary school improved this Japanese Studies major’s English skills. She read Julie and Julia after watching the movie on TV. It was her first English book and encouraged her to read more.

Doing group projects with foreign students improved this English major’s language ability. He felt a sense of connection with the characters in Mrs Dalloway which he read for a university course.

International summer school in the UK allowed this Management major to interact with fellow students. She had to answer some questions after reading a short weekly article related to her daily life.

Primary school is where this Sociology major learnt basic grammar and daily conversation. He was an audience member of a debate competition and went on an exchange in senior secondary. Nowadays, he has gatherings with exchange students in his university.

In senior secondary, this Sociology major read newspapers and watched English programmes. She listened to songs and gained confidence in speaking with exchange students in university.

University classes have taught this Social Work major how to interpret writers’ underlying beliefs. Her formal writing skills were strengthened during that time.

New schoolmates encouraged this Chemical Engineering major when he transitioned to an all English international school. He believes dystopian books like 1984 and Lord of the Flies can help him in better understand the world.