And you thought an English teacher would never use the F-word

Learning English Beginning with the F-word: this is the name of a blog and a series of YouTube language instruction clips that have recently acquired a cult following among young people in Hong Kong. The highly creative and amusing examples and clips that former English teacher Siu Kai-wing has made will probably infuriate most conventional teachers and traditional parents. But I would bet they teach more people proper English pronunciation and grammar than most elite schools and private tutorials. The best thing is that he does it for free, and some of his web lessons do start with the F-word.

One clip offers a sample of British pronunciations with a skit featuring comedian Rowan Atkinson as a priest discoursing on the church's attitude towards fellatio. Another one features the classic first meeting in Sex and the City between Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mr Big in which he was asked: 'Have you ever been in love?' To this, with a smirk on his face, Mr Big replied: 'Abso-f******-lutely.' There is also a clip in which evolutionary biologist and atheist author Richard Dawkins said in a debate on the existence of God: 'Science is interesting but if you don't agree, you can f*** off.'

Apparently disappointed with the rigidity of classroom teaching in Hong Kong, Sir Siu went overseas to study philosophy. Whether out of boredom or habit, he started cataloguing his unique teaching method on YouTube. Sir Siu, also a University of Hong Kong law graduate, said in his blog: 'I truly believe there is no good or bad language. There are, however, absurd and rigid English-language lessons from our schools and private tutorials.'

Not all his clips contain the F-word. My favourites analyse the English speeches of local celebrities, such as Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (pictured), columnist Chip Tsao and actress Zhang Ziyi . Sir Siu analyses their pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Boy, was I embarrassed for them.

A sample collection can be seen at youtube.com/profile_videos?user=siu82 english.

I just hope Sir Siu doesn't start correcting my grammar in this column.