They manage, so there must be a way. (I assume a mix between some first year courses being in English and some intensive support.)
This. There needs to be a will to learn. Yes, it’s difficult, but not impossible and a foreign language shouldn’t be considered a barrier for studying abroad.
No one would access the curriculum with a gcse in German. Where you study is very dependent on language acquisition.
I moved to England for uni right after finishing high school in my country. My English level would’ve been similar to a UK student’s French if they had studied it during secondary. I had some basic knowledge but nowhere near enough for starting a full time degree in English.
I received my offer in January, and the university told me I had until the summer to take an English language test, and achieve a minimum of B2 competence. So I started doing one hour of English a day, watching TV only in English, and took my exam in May. A third of the student body at this university was made up of international students. Most of us didn’t have a B2 in English when we applied, we all had it (on paper) when we started the course. No one ever mentioned it being an issue, it’s just what you do. Thousands of students go through this to study in the UK, and it’s neither unreasonable nor realistic to expect 18 year olds to learn a language in 6 months. They can do it - they’ll learn the basics and fill in the gaps and become fluent once they move to the new country.
Somehow in the UK we have got to believe that learning a language is a big deal, possibly because GCSE is so deathly dull and the pace of learning is so slow.
I must say, I was so impressed when I saw the amount of help and resources the UK offers non-native speakers. We had access to an intensive booster English course, essay writing sessions, introduction to British culture... it was amazing. Kids in UK schools are supported in learning English, if it’s not their first language.
If the UK can support its non-native students in achieving good competence of the language, and does so wonderfully, why does it make such a big deal out of their own children learning a foreign language? Why isn’t the UK normalising the fact that learning French/German/Spanish isn’t hard, but useful and beneficial to all? This attitude shocked me - few people see languages as useful. I’ve lived in a few different countries and I have to say, it’s always shocking to meet British people who move abroad and still expect others to communicate with them in English because it’s the ‘international language’.
Apologies for the long post, I just wanted to reiterate my first point. Learning a foreign language shouldn’t be seen as a barrier for accessing a university course abroad. It’s a perfectly normal thing to do in other countries and we should be encouraging our children to open their minds more and have a look at what’s outside their own country’s borders too.