They also prefer to speak in Cantonese at gatherings even when foreigners are present, they said. The university this year admitted 30 overseas students.

Norwegian Kjetil Thorden Haug, who speaks fluent Cantonese and is studying business administration and accounting, said: "Hong Kong people prefer not to use English. Maybe their English is not good enough. This is hard on foreigners who do not know Cantonese and consequently may find it difficult to get used to Hong Kong."

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Egyptian Hany Galal A Bassiouny, a business administration student, said locals tend to speak only Cantonese at gatherings.

"They love to use Cantonese, but sometimes they will translate what they are saying for foreigners," he said.

Indian Tisha Gopalarrishnan, who studies sociology and economics, said she is getting used to communicating with local people.

Despite the difficulties, the foreign students said Hong Kong is more competitive than other Asian countries in the region, including Singapore. Gopalarrishnan said university education in the territory encouraged whole-person development through a variety of extra- curricular activities, while campus life in India mainly focused on academic achievement.

She had considered studying in Singapore but decided on Hong Kong because of the range of subjects available.

Bassiouny, who plans to learn Putonghua in Beijing upon graduation in December, said studying in Hong Kong had broadened his vision and had enabled him to learn more about Asian culture. He hopes to find a job in marketing or investment banking in Hong Kong.

Haug, who attended a seven-month exchange program at a Hong Kong secondary school in 2002, said students in the territory are hard working.

Firew Kebede Tiba, an Ethiopian studying for a doctorate in law, said he chose to study in the SAR even though he had an offer from the National University of Singapore.

He said Hong Kong people enjoyed a higher degree of freedom and the university's HK$12,500 a month scholarship was much more attractive than the Lion City's S$1,500 (HK$6,936) offer.