English is the main language used for international communication in business and academia. Fundamental to this is core proficiency in English. The Center for Language Education offers English courses as part of the University Common Core, where students develop academic literacy while also improving their overall level of proficiency, as needed. School-specific English courses are also provided for all undergraduates, where the emphasis is on learning and using discipline-related English. If you have questions about our courses you need to take, you can find detailed information at http://cle.hkust.edu.hk/courses. If you can't find the answer to your question on our website, you can send us your question by email, lcstdadvice@ust.hk. We look forward to hearing from you!

Research postgraduate students are required to take English courses that focus on developing academic writing and speaking skills to support their research studies. In addition, the Center offers workshops for RPG students on aspects of thesis writing, presenting conference papers and creating effective research posters.

With growing cultural and economic ties with the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and other Chinese communities, Chinese has become increasingly important for both studies and work. The Center’s Chinese courses will equip you with skills for communicating in Putonghua and enhance specific skills for communicating in contexts such as for public speaking and communicating in the digital age. The Center also offers courses in Cantonese to non-local students who wish to acquire communicative competence for use within Hong Kong.

Our team of Language Activity Instructional Assistants and Teaching Associates from our iLANG (Informal Curriculum for Language Learning) program strives to offer students a range of engaging activities related to language, communication, and culture. These activities provide exciting insights into building essential 21st-century skills in and out of the classroom. 

Events and activities include new student orientation programs, student-led community social events, film discussion groups, guest speaker events, 1:1 advising sessions, skills-based workshops, English, Chinese, and third language short courses, and more. Wherever you are in your language learning journey, iLANG is here to assist you. iLANG also invites all students to utilize our Language Commons facilities at any time - to study, collaborate, learn, and socialize.  Please check out the iLANG website for details of the current activities.