Through working as a teaching assistant in local primary schools, I met many students and parents from Hong Kong, and I am spotting a trend: academic success doesn't always correlate with the development of qualities like kindness and resilience. In fact, when parents get too obsessed with the pursuit of good grades, they might overlook their children’s character development, leaving the children ill-prepared for the challenges of adulthood. But moving to the UK brings about room for change for both the children and their parents. How to seize this chance for change? Let’s have a look now!

Once we arrived in the UK, it did not matter whether we had been star students of the best schools in Hong Kong, or well-established professionals. That is right: this is a brand new game, and we all have to find new ways to play - starting from a change of our hearts.

Last time we shared about how to immediately improve our writing by reducing the number of mistakes we might make. But we may not want to stop at writing correctly - we may also want to write in a lively and expressive way; to use new vocabulary, new expressions - and to truly speak our minds in English. In this issue, we will introduce some helpful habits to strengthen our writing skills, as well as the scope of vocabulary and topics at our disposal.

Among different English language skills, writing may be the one skill that takes the longest time to perfect. After all, it is easier to miss pronunciation and grammar errors in conversations, but spelling or grammar mistakes tend to really stand out when people spot them in emails and documents.

This leaves some of us a dilemma: we may feel that our writings are error-ridden, but we also cannot afford to wait till our writing is perfect before applying for jobs or making inquiries in writing. So in this issue we have decided to share some tips on how to immediately improve our writing.

In the UK, accommodation is an important part of Governmental support for people seeking asylum. This means that the Government can - and does - move asylum seekers across the country. A person seeking asylum can be moved to other accommodation, sometimes in a different city, while waiting for their claims to be processed.

Reading is like the cornerstone of our English language skills. If your reading skill gets better, it is likely that your writing skills will improve, and your vocabulary and conversation topics in your spoken English will also expand. But one can only improve one’s reading skills by reading a lot. So, what are the fun (and free) ways for us to read more? Let’s have a look at them now!

Friendships are essential for new migrants to feel emotionally welcomed and supported, and for them to adapt and adjust to the new cultural environment in the UK.

In this article, let’s continue with the sharing, and talk about how to practise our listening skills, some strategies, and what free resources are available, for the more advanced English learners among us! Let’s go!

Finding a place to live in the UK is hard for many new arrivals, and many of us know this only too well. But what if we were only allowed 28 days to find our home, and with few savings and no references?

Any language student will tell you that, in order to learn to listen well, you have to listen a lot first. In this sense, practising one’s English listening skills in the UK is very easy, as one can hear English being spoken everywhere.

In May, the British government announced the migration data for 2022, in which it was pointed out that the net migrant numbers in 2022 exceeded 600,000. Are these people all new "immigrants" to the UK?

Here we will introduce some interesting resources and ways to practise speaking in English. The goal of this series? That no one will feel like they are performing an additional chore when practising English. Better still, hopefully no one will quite remember that they are practising English when they are doing these activities!

English is a very essential skill for people living in the UK. But for foreign speakers, it is also a skill that will take some time to acquire and to hone. Fortunately, for the eager English learners, there are many free or cheap resources easily accessible!

No matter how good your English is, communicating in the UK can still be a daunting prospect. After all, no amount of grammar exercises and oral practices can prepare us for variations in the regional accents and the English colloquial. But, even though it was not covered at school, we can still prepare ourselves in other fun and free ways.

Gardening is a popular hobby for many Brits. On a sunny weekend, you may see your neighbours busy gardening, weeding, pruning and so on. Are you already one of these busy bees, or are you still a bit of a novice when it comes to taking care of your garden or lawn? In this blog, we will share some gardening tips, so that anyone interested can also take part in this very British activity!

Whatever your opinion of the monarchy, there's no denying that the upcoming Coronation of King Charles III will be a historic, once-in-a-lifetime moment for many of us. In this ceremony, there are many symbolic objects reflect British people's understanding of monarchical power, as well as the expectations for and the responsibilities of the monarch.

The British people may be famous for their love of football, gardening and taking holidays. But there is one main aspect - a culture, even - that a lot of Brits take part in. One that may not be immediately obvious, but is actually instrumental in shaping British life since the Middle Ages: volunteering.

An iconic feature of Easter celebrations, these colourful eggs have enlivened the season for centuries. But do you know how these delightful Easter eggs originated?

When talking about spring, you might think of hanami (“blossom viewing") in Japan. However, have you thought about going to a hanami in the UK?

Are you feeling a bit confused when faced with all the different Mother’s Day celebrations and advertisements in the UK during March? Isn’t it a bit too early? Turns out that in the UK, Mother’s Day is on a different day than that in Hong Kong!