Read widely

It's almost common sense -- hardly a tip. But it's surprising how few people actually do it.

You should be reading many different things to strengthen your general reading skills and enrich your vocabulary. Every day.

Get into habits.

Set your web browser's home page to the English Yahoo, instead of the Chinese version. Then every morning when you check your e-mails you can scan the headlines and perhaps choose a story to read that catches your eye. You probably don't have a lot of time, so no need to analyse it with a dictionary: simply scan over it -- this is not part of your regular study routine.

Read a page or two of Harry Potter or The Da Vinci Code every night before you close your eyes and fall asleep. It's called recreational reading which means you read for fun. It is very very important. Research has shown that recreational readers always perform better in exams. The novel shouldn't be too demanding; choose an easy one.

Every Sunday morning, buy the China Post or The Taipei Times and read it over brunch. Enjoy the cartoons.

You love hip-hop or you are interested in global warming, so find an interesting blog and visit it every day.