LRC Consultation Desk

WHEN AND WHERE?
The Consultation Desk is a service provided by the Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES) to help you with your English studies. A consultant will be available during term time at the Consultation Desk in the LRC. Check out the Activities Timetable for an overview of consultation hours.

HOW?
You can make an appointment online at http://ec.hku.hk/vec/timetable/. Since consultation hours are limited, please book only as much time as you need (one consultation per week should be more than enough) and make sure that you attend punctually. If you don't show up, you will have deprived a fellow student of a chance to seek advice from us. If you fail to turn up for two appointments, you will be unable to book further appointments for the rest of the semester. You can book an appointment up to 13 days in advance. You can cancel a booked appointment up to the day before your appointment.

WHAT?
The consultants can provide advice about the resources in the LRC and VEC, can help you diagnose the English skills you need to improve, can help you identify successful strategies for learning English, and can help you plan a programme of study to meet your goals. They can also help you improve your written English, for example, job applications or essays, by going through a page or two of text and helping you diagnose problem areas that you need to improve. THEY ARE NOT PROOF-READERS,  though they can put you in touch with experts who will do editing work for a fee. If you need to practise spoken English they can advise you about opportunities in the LRC, on campus and in Hong Kong for interacting in English.

WHY?

Studying in a university where English is the medium of instruction when your mother tongue is not English can be stressful. Courses that are designed to help you improve your English language skills are limited, and most students take these CAES course in their first year. So you need to be very self-directed if you want to continue improving your English language skills. We know that expert support and advice can help students to become more self-directed in their learning of English. So we are here in the LRC to provide this support throughout your time at HKU. Keep working at improving your English and you will become more confident about your ability to cope with the demands of English academic study, to do well in IELTS or other tests of English proficiency, and to get ahead in your future career.