Learning a foreign language in an international classroom: Why does it work better?

If you had a chance to study a language at an international school, you may have felt that the experience was very different from signing up for classes back home. What’s the word to describe it? Probably, it was more exciting. In fact, there is a whole industry built on the idea of excitement of being in that multicultural classroom. So, what’s the real difference?

1. You can see why you are learning

Malcolm Knowles, an American adult educator and theorist, put forward the main principles of adult learning. One of them says: adults need to know why they are learning. There is a lot of value in learning a foreign language in a monolingual classroom, but the context of speaking English to someone who speaks the same first language as you do is artificial. It all feels like a simulation of real-life communication; therefore, it is difficult to keep the motivation up. In a multicultural classroom, you live the goal of language learning: to communicate your ideas to those who can’t understand your first language. Having you eyes on the prize at all times helps to stay committed.

2. You are learning the real language

We often hear from our English students that they only want to practice with native speakers. They feel that there is no learning in speaking to other non-natives. Nothing can be further from the truth. Sure, you may be the lucky one who is going to speak English exclusively to the Queen or to the American president (or both? 😉 ). But for the rest of us, in today’s global world we use foreign languages a lot to communicate to other non-native speakers. This is precisely when practicing your English (or any other language) with a Saudi, a Russian or a Chinese may become an invaluable experience. Being well-versed with different accents, vocabulary choices, sentence structures and language etiquette habits may be something that brings you your next job.

3. It’s not only about the language

“Tell me about the most popular national holiday.” “What do you usually do at the weekend?” “Tell me about a typical workday.” How many times have you heard these prompts in a language class? And most likely the answers you have heard were not too varied, either. People coming from the same cultural and socio-economic backgrounds have more or less the same answers to all the questions commonly used in language teaching. Being in an international classroom is a game changer: you are practicing the language not only to learn how to speak, but to learn the answers to your questions and share things about your culture. What do Russians eat for New Year? What do Saudis cook for holidays? What music do Venezuelans listen to for Christmas? What about Brazilian holiday traditions? Every lesson in a multicultural classroom is an opportunity to explore.

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