<p>I've met a few international students who can barely speak English. Not only do they unintentionally annoy me when I make the mistake of trying to talk to them, but they make me wonder how they can pass their classes. How do they do it?</p>
<p>maybe their reading comprehension/writing ability is better than their speaking ability. In my Spanish class, I always get 10/10 or equal grade on writing assignments, but only 8/10 or lesser grades on speaking…for some people writing/reading is just easier…</p>
<p>why do American students go abroad to countries where they learn maybe 2 words of the language and spend all semester taking advantage of the lax drinking age and getting plastered nightly?</p>
<p>…because we can. :p</p>
<p>my college has a large asian/indian international population and being a science major, my classes have a lot of these students. math/sci are more universal than liberal arts (imagine writing long papers if you can’t speak English) and these kids don’t need english to figure out problem sets. Most of them are at least trying to learn to speak English though, it’s an important skill and they realize that. I bet they can read English better than they can speak it; i can read Spanish and Italian well but can’t really speak it.</p>
<p>OP: Why do you care? Unless they are trying to pick a fight with you, leave them alone. They’re not here to have a discussion about Molecular Orbital Theory with you.</p>
<p>Who cares? Ignore them if it bugs you. Like Alix said, there’s tons of American students who go study abroad and don’t bother to learn any of the language at all.</p>
<p>My roommate is from Korea and she came here for school because she HAS to learn english for her career and all she really knows is the basic stuff you learn taking language for a year and going on youtube like times, restaurant stuff, food, some slang, cursing, etc. Her writing is REALLY good compared to her speaking. I know because I proofread them for her. </p>
<p>But living with her makes me really appreciate someone completely immersing themselves in a new country with a new language and actually going to school there. I’m majoring in a language so I guess I can understand better how hard it is. And reading and writing is way easier to pick up than speaking, in my opinion.</p>
<p>You need to cut them some slack. It’s not like you’d do any better sent to a country for college to learn a new language.</p>
<p>wow op stop being a d*ck and leave the intls alone</p>
<p>To op: That’s messed up.</p>
<p>People want to travel to different countries for the experience. You only live life once.</p>
<p>I do know international students from korea who are actually pretty smart on paper. So maybe their verbal skills aren’t superb, who cares?</p>
<p>The threadstarter is a ■■■■■, it would be best to ignore him/her/it</p>
<p>Even if he is a ■■■■■, America in general is strangely and ironically very xenophobic.</p>
<p>No one should be allowed to study in a Coon.</p>
<p>die in a fire</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is not only a generalization, but also an overstreched assumption. As an international student from Europe who has lived both in US and in a third European country, I’ve found that once you can communicate and adopt the American social lifestyle, it is far easier to blend in there than in some other European countries.</p>
<p>However, America has a great advatange when in comes to International students: because it is expensive to study there, average international student in America is probably more interested in the language and the country than is the average American, Australian or English international student coming to continental Europe. I’ve met some nice and amazing Americans in Europe, but for some of them exchange in Europe is usually an opportunity to get booze, weed and other stuff without major law concerns. Add to the fact that English if faaaar well known by Europeans than are French, Italian, Dutch, German etc. to Americans, then you have a receipt for disaster: willing-to-get-drunk teenagers who make success with local girls and who can basically communicate in English and… no interest in learning and taking courses.</p>
<p>I love America and want to live there later on my life, but this specific behaviour of sophomores or juniors spending their whole summer drinking like there were never to get older than 21 is extremelly anoying. Australians follow this pattern and usually add weed to the equation even in countries where it is not allowed.</p>
<p>Albert Einstein was bad speaker.
60% of PHDs in US,were born abroad.</p>
<p>because your mom invited them</p>
<p>But seriously because they are smarter than you and if they study here it will be easier for them to get your job</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s a good thing you go to a university. These are hotspots for diversity and progress. Try going into other, more conservative areas and you might see what I mean…perhaps starting with the fact that the first thing they blame for everything is “the illegals.”</p>
<p>But I am glad you’ve been so welcome here. It’s nice to hear something good for a change and cynics like me don’t help :P</p>