Earning a degree overseas may hold broad appeal for prospective college students looking to explore a different culture and gain new experiences. As students explore global universities, experts say it’s crucial that they consider the language of instruction as well as their own language skills.
“With regards to the language of instruction, having oral fluency is not sufficient,” Joseph Vijay Ingam, the head coach at Interview SOS, a California-based college admissions consulting company, said via email.
[Learn about the four types of students who should consider international universities.]
Experts advise prospective international students to assess their foreign language skills to determine which programs could be the best fit. They also caution against choosing to study at a global institution where you lack the confidence to speak and write the primary language of instruction.
Peter Kerrigan, deputy director of the New York office of the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, says studying in a language outside your native tongue is a formidable — but potentially rewarding — challenge.
“Even if a student thinks he or she is fluent, it’s one thing to read a book or two in the foreign language,” he says. “It’s another thing to do an entire academic degree.”
Here are three considerations for English speakers applying to undergraduate programs in countries with a different national language.
1. You should expect to take a proficiency exam to study in another language. To study in a country’s native language, some global universities require international students to prove fluency , while other institutions may only require competency.
Experts say proficiency exams typically involve reading, writing and speaking the language that is being tested.
Steve Sonntag, a semiretired language teacher and tutor with expertise in Spanish, German and Latin, says students who are eager to sharpen their language skills before a proficiency exam can refer to books, websites and mobile phone applications that focus on the language in question. However, he says it’s difficult to pass a proficiency exam if you haven’t thoroughly studied a language.
Jean-Baptiste Andreani, managing director of the International Fashion Academy Paris, says language courses, social clubs and communication workshops could boost your fluency in a second language. He says at least for French, individuals need to hear and speak it to master the language.
[Explore the 2018 Best Global Universities rankings.]
2. If you aren’t fluent in a country’s national language, consider an English-taught undergraduate program. Thousands of bachelor’s degree programs are taught in English even though the schools are based in countries with a different national language, experts say. And those programs are the best option for students who are curious about non-English-speaking cultures but lack strong skills in the country’s primary language.
Jennifer Viemont, founder of admissions consulting company Beyond the States , says she rarely advises clients who primarily speak and write English to enroll in a college where the language of instruction is something else, even if they speak another language at home or have taken a foreign language Advanced Placement course.
She says conversational fluency in a foreign language doesn’t necessarily coincide with knowledge of that language’s technical terms, which often come up in college courses. Not understanding these terms could interfere with your learning, Viemont says.
For instance, the term “numerator” is rarely used in everyday conversation but is frequently used in math classes — not knowing this term in the native language could impede your academic abilities.
[Read about mistakes students make when choosing a university abroad.]
Given the vast array of English-taught undergraduate programs in non-English-speaking countries, Viemont notes that prospective students don’t need to risk poor academic performance by studying in a language they don’t fully understand.
“You really don’t have to put yourself through that, and you can still get an awesome cultural experience,” she says.
Guy Arthur Canino, a linguist who lectures at various German universities, recommends that English speakers who want to study in Germany enroll in an English-taught German undergraduate program.
“If you are planning on doing your entire bachelors in Europe and you are not proficient in the language, you really should do the program in English and maybe take one class per semester in the host language as college is hard enough without worrying about the language,” he said via email.
3. Ensure English-taught programs offer courses in the country’s native language. While it may be beneficial to choose an English-taught program, experts say you’ll also miss out on one of the biggest benefits of studying overseas if you don’t learn the native language. Experts say most global universities that teach primarily in English also offer courses in the national language.
Richard Coward, CEO and founder of China Admissions, a consulting company that helps students apply to universities in China, says students should learn the native language even if their undergraduate courses are primarily taught in English.
“Chinese is such a rich, amazing language and if you are in China it’s such a shame not to learn it,” Coward said via email.
See the complete rankings of the Best Global Universities.
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Consider Language When Picking an International University originally appeared on usnews.com
