Letters | Raising English standards among Hong Kong students worth the struggle
- Readers discuss why students in Hong Kong struggle with English, apps allowing parents to track children’s movements, the rationale behind Hong Kong prioritising reopening the border with the mainland, and the definition of normalcy
Other than the common formulaic expressions and pronunciation mistakes observed in the past, the report stated that similar problems were found in writing and listening related to consonant clusters, singular and plural nouns, etc.
Not only students but teachers have been struggling to teach English in a social context that upholds the importance of the use of English as a lingua franca but fails to provide an environment that facilitates both its acquisition and its application. The local context for learning English as a second language has been changing, but the means of engaging with an English environment in Hong Kong remains abundant at affordable costs.
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Seven students achieve perfect scores in Hong Kong's university entrance exams
Attending classes at a tutoring centre or hiring a private tutor could be costly. Learners could create their own English environment by listening to English radio channels, watching English films with English subtitles, or subscribing to free but quality online courses and YouTube channels teaching English.
