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Address of CILL:
Centre for Independent Language Learning
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hung Hom
Kowloon
Hong Kong

Phone: (852) 2766 7526
Fax: (852) 27745172
E-mail (Please include your HKPU student number in the e-mail heading).

N.B. To get to CILL on foot, go to 'A' core (by the fountain steps), 3^rd floor. After that, follow the signs.

• ELC Home
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• Reading
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• Writing
• Academic Style Guidelines
• Academic Report Writing
• Listening
• Note-taking
• Lectures
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• Discussions
• Spoken Opinions (Early-intermediate and Intermediate) - list of CILL materials
• Spoken Opinions (Intermediate and Upper-intermediate) - list of CILL materials
• Grammar
• Adjective order
• Apologise / apologises / apologies
• Articles and Geography
• Articles - List of useful CILL Materials
• Because or Due to the fact that
• Common Confusions
• Common Error Detector
• Complain / complaint / complained
• Concern
• Concordancer
• Conditional Clauses
• Confusing words
• Contrast Clauses
• Contrast clauses
• Contrast sentences
• Correction Code
• Describing Numbers
• Diagnostic Grammar Test if you have a PolyU student ID, or else click here
• Functions Correction Exercise
• If - Explanation of 'if ' sentences
• Important or Importance?
• Infinitive and -ing
• It is because and this is because
• 'Lack' or 'Lack of '?
• Modals and tentativity
• Nouns- countable, uncountable and special cases
• Passive Voice
• Problem areas: prepositions
• Prepositional phrases
• Prepositions in Job Applications
• Prepositions and Geography
• Purpose, reason and result clauses
• Reflexive pronouns
• Relative clauses
• Relative clauses
• Satisfaction
• Sentence structure
• Sentence Types - dependent and independent clauses
• Staff or Staffs?
• Subject-verb agreement
• Subjunctive
• That clauses
• Tenses
• Transitive and intransitive verbs
• Trends
• Vocabulary
  • Academic Vocabulary
  • Academic Vocabulary Crossword
  • Academic Word List hangman game
  • Beliefs, opinions and attitudes
  • Beliefs, opinions and attitudes crossword
  • Change and continuity:
    • Nouns & verbs
    • Gap fill
    • Multiple choice
  • Collocation
    • Set Phrases
    • Verbs & Nouns 1
    • Verbs & Nouns 2
  • Formal verbs
  • Genetic Engineering Vocabulary
  • General Service List Vocabulary
  • General Service List Vocabulary hangman
  • Replacing 'get'
  • Idioms:
    • Replacing idioms with formal verbs
    • Explanation and Examples
  • Important or Importance?
  • Importance and Unimportance
  • Investment Phrases
  • ITC Vocabulary Hangman
    • Design Styles
    • Kinds of Clothing
    • Kinds of Textile
    • Surprise Me
  • Key Words in University Study
    • Nouns - Crossword
    • Whole and Parts
  • Mortgage Phrases
  • Mortgage vocabulary
  • Names - Informal English names
  • Names - List of other names
  • Phrase comparison
  • Precise Words
  • Prefix Meanings
  • Prefixes Crossword
  • Satisfaction
  • Staff or Staffs?
  • Suffixes
  • Suffixes for Meaning and Word Class
  • Suffixes for New Words
  • Synonyms for nouns
  • Synonyms for verbs
  • Trends
  • Verbs of Academic Communication - Crossword
  • Vocabulary: Common Confusions
  • Vocabulary to express similarity and difference
    • Fill in the blanks
    • Common mistakes
  • Word Roots - gap fill
  • Word Roots - matching
  • The 2000 commonest words in English.
  • Hangman for the 2000 most common words in English
  • The commonest words in English - word 2001 to word 5000
  • Hangman for the 2000-5000^th most common words in English
• Pronunciation
  • The Sounds of British English in the IPA (International Phonemic Alphabet) chart
  • IPA Typewriter
  • Exercise on I/, /i:/, /e/ and /æ/.
  • Exercise on Final consonant sounds
  • Exercise on /l/, /w/ and /r/
  • Exercise on /f/, /v/, 'th' and /s/
  • Sounding out i, e and æ sounds
  • Vowel game
  • Vowel Battleships
  • Diphthong game
  • Diphthong Battleships
  • Vowel and Diphthong Battleships
  • Make-a-word game
• Dictionaries
  • Dictionaries
  • Dictionary Skills Program
  • Dictionary Usage
• ELEP
• E-mail Pen-pals
• Films
• Games
• Index of lists of useful materials in CILL

• Studying at University
  • Transition from school to university
• Discussions
• Seminar materials
• Essays
• Steps in Process Writing
• Data Collection Methods
• Journalistic Questioning
• Academic Essay Example
• Essay Writing Materials List (EI & I Level)
• Essay Writing Materials List (I & UI Level)
• Content
  • Explanation of functions in essay titles
  • Cause and Effect
  • Comparison and Contrast
  • Definitions
  • Describing Trends
  • Note-takinglist of CILL materials
  • Note-taking from Written Texts - CILL materials
• Organisation
  • Categorisation
  • The Order of an Essay
  • Coherence in a Text on Palmistry
  • Topic-maps
  • Organisation Tool
  • Pros and Cons Calculator
• Grammar
  • Change and continuity:
    • Nouns and verbs table
    • Nouns and verbs gap fill
    • Nouns and verbs multiple choice
  • Common Error Detector
• Vocabulary
  • Collocations
  • Collocations (meet)
  • Collocations (express)
  • Collocations (empirical)
  • Collocation: Set Phrases
  • Collocation: Verbs and Nouns 1
  • Collocation: Verbs and Nouns 2
  • Precise Words
  • Vocabulary to express similarity and difference:
    • Fill in the blanks
    • Common mistakes
  • Style and tone
    • Common Errors in Formality in Academic Writing
    • Formal and Informal Sentences
    • Formal verbs
    • Matching Phrasal and Formal Verbs
    • Replacing idioms with formal verbs
    • Expression and Style in Academic Writing
    • Degrees of certainty
  • Conventions
    • Introductory Paragraph Techniques
    • Hedging
    • Hedging in writing
    • Modals and tentativity
• Presentations
  • Confidence, energy & intonation
  • Presentation phrases
  • Presentation Planner
  • Presentations Assignment Checklist
  • List of CILL materials
• Final Year Projects
• IELTS
• Good Point!
• Independent Learning
  • How Can I Learn English on the Internet?
  • How Can I Plan My Work?
  • How Can I Test Myself?
  • How Do I Use This Site?
  • Learning Strategies
  • Learning Styles
  • Needs Analysis
  • Planning
  • Planning Form
  • Theoretical Background to this Site
  • Worksheets
• Referencing
  • Reference Machine:
  • APA style:
    • In-text citation
    • Book
    • Article in a journal
    • Chapter in an edited volume
    • Newspaper or magazine article
    • Internet reference
    • Online image
    • Music
    • AI Chatbot
  • Harvard style:
    • In-text citation
    • Book
    • article in a journal
    • Chapter in an edited volume
    • Newspaper or magazine article
    • Internet reference
  • Vancouver style:
    • Book
    • Article in a journal
    • Chapter in an edited volume
    • Newspaper or magazine article
    • Internet reference
    • AI Chatbot
  • IEEE style:
    • Book
    • Part or chapter in a book
    • Article in a journal
    • E-journal
  • Spot the errors exercises:
    • In-text references
    • Bibliographical references
  • Quotation, summary or paraphrase?
  • Secondary citation
  • Summarising
  • Summary - how to write and reference a summary
  • List of referencing-related books in CILL.
  • City of publication
• EAP
• Final Year Projects

• EIW
• EPP
• GSLPA
• Accessing the Workplace:
  • EIW Assignment 1 Preparation Checklist
  • The Job-seeking Process
  • On-line Job Application Letter Writer
  • Grammar Aliens game
  • Job application letter checklist
  • On-line C.V. / Resume Writer
  • Job Advert Writer
  • Job Interview Questions Quiz
  • Job interview simulation
  • Panel Discussion
  • Company Profile Form
  • Interview Panel Checklist
  • Reference Letter Writer
  • Job Application Knowledge Game
  • List of Materials in CILL for Job Applications
  • Prepositions in Job Applications
• Socialising
  • Socialising: Meeting a new colleague
  • Conversation
  • Introductions and Greetings
• Meetings
  • Meetings Scenario
  • Materials Lists of CILL Materials
  • Meetings - list of CILL materials
  • Meetings and Negotiations - list of CILL materials
• Business Letters,Memos and E-mails
  • Subject Headings
  • Memos
    • How to write memos
    • Memo Guidelines
    • Organisation of Memos
    • Formality in Memos
    • Memo Headings
    • Memo writing scenario and practice task
  • E-mail
    • How to write e-mail
    • Language to Show Status
  • Letters
    • Arranging a Meeting
    • Enquiry letters:
      • Enquiry letters
      • Enquiry letter replies
      • Reply to Enquiry Practice Task
    • Complaint letters:
      • How to write complaint letters
      • The grammar of complain / complaint
      • Letter of complaint practice task
      • Complaints - list of CILL materials
    • Adjustment letters:
      • How to write adjustment letters
      • Adjustment Letter Constructor
      • Letter of Adjustment
      • Positive Tone in Adjustment Letters
      • Adjustment letter practice task
      • Adjustment letter scenario and practice task
    • Sales Letters
• Instructions
• Legal Documents
• Manuals
• Negotiations
• Notices
• Project Proposals
• Promotional Material
• Reports
  • Content and Organisation
    • The Report Writing Process
    • Report writing template
    • Types of Report
    • Report Stages and Content
    • Stages and Language of a Report
    • Report Headings
    • Subject Headings
  • Introductions
    • Text reconstruction
  • Method / Methodology / Procedure
    • Text reconstruction
  • Findings and Discussion
    • Matching Nouns and Verbs for Reports
    • Formality
    • Describing Numbers
    • Trends
    • Describing trends in line graphs
    • Trends Headings
    • The Language of Approximation
    • Approximation Correction exercise
    • Approximating Dissatisfaction
    • Describing Satisfaction
    • Important or Importance?
    • Concern
  • Conclusion
    • Explanation, example and exercise
    • Text reconstruction exercise
  • Recommendations
    • Correction Exercise
    • Text reconstruction exercise
  • Practice Materials
    • Report Correction Exercise
    • List of common errors in report writing assignments
    • Common Errors in Report Writing
    • Report Writing Scenario Site
    • List of Materials in CILL for Business reports
  • Questionnaire design and administration - ordering the different stages
  • Common errors in questionnaires
• Requesting an interview about a company
• Written Business Communication
• Faculty-specific materials
  • Accountancy
  • Building and Real Estate
  • Business
  • Chinese and Bilingual Studies
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Hotel and Tourism Management
  • Institute of Textiles and Clothing
  • Useful Internet Links for ITC Students