Students: Hong Kong lacks an English-learning environment

Vincent Hui, right, says his teachers in Australia,
like Catherine, left, activate students’ learning
interest. (Courtesy of Vincent Hui)

By Eunice Ho

Vincent Hui and Man Tang, two Hong Kong students now study-ing in Australia, say that Hong Kong lacks an English-speaking environment outside of school.

Vincent, 22, currently studying at The University of New South Wales, left Hong Kong after he finished Form 7 in SKH Tang Shiu Kin Secondary School.

Man Tang, 25, is a graduate of The University of Adelaide. He went to Australia after he finished Form 3 in Yuen Long Chiu Lut Sau Memorial Secondary School. He is now doing his postgraduate studies in marketing in Australia.

Question: How do you find education in Hong Kong?

Man Tang: I find it too exam-oriented. It would be better if it focused more on enlightening students’ creativity and developing their interests.

Vincent: In Hong Kong, everybody is studying for the sake of exams without knowing the actual meaning of learning.
The system trains us to be a crammer and after examinations we forget everything. We do not have the interest to seek knowledge.
I agree examinations have their use. They ensure that we obtain basic knowledge, but that should not be the end of the road.
The most important thing should be that students realize the benefits of having learnt something.

Q: How did you learn English in Hong Kong?

M: I practised English in school only. We had to speak English in our English class; otherwise we would be given a warning. If we received three or more warnings, we had to do a performance, say, singing an English song or giving a speech in English in front of the class.

V: We were not even forced to speak English during lessons.

Q: Do you think that the language learning environment outside the classroom is good in Hong Kong?

V: Absolutely not! Most Hong Kong students do not speak English during their spare time and even during lessons.

M: I don’t think it’s good, either. Usually we just hang around with Cantonese-speaking people.

Q: Do you have difficulties communicating with Australians?

V: I do not think I communicate well with them.
Sometimes I feel isolated because I do not know what they are talking about. Even when I can understand what they are talking about, I just get stuck searching for the right word. Eventually I end up with only “yes” or “okay”.

M: So far so good. People understand me all right if they can see my facial expressions and gestures.
But when I am on the phone, it is harder for them to understand what I am talking about.
Ordering food is also a challenge, since I didn’t pay much attention to the names of the food.
Also, it is difficult to understand the various slang people use every day.

Q: After studying abroad, has there been any improvement in your English? Why?

V: Sure. I improved mostly in listening and speaking. Most of the people around me communicate in English, so I have had to get used to daily communications and the slang.
Besides, teachers in Australia activate our interests and critical-thinking power. We also have more activities and excursions than in Hong Kong.

M: Yes. Both my speaking and writing skills have improved.
I spent more time with English-speakers so I could observe how others speak, and I tried to understand why people said certain things in certain ways.

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