Photo from Lesley University
AUM international students share main difficulties about language barriers
By Sofia Cerebuch and Tre Redden
International students have been an integral part of U.S. campuses for years, according to Open Doors, which counts for approximately 1.2 million international students, as reported in 2025.
Being a foreign student is not always easy, and looking around, one realizes just how many challenges and nuances lie behind it all. Eric Möller, a freshman on the man’s tennis team, recounts one such incident. “When one guy was picking his classes, he was overwhelmed because he couldn’t really understand what the advisors were saying to him,” Möller said. In that particular case, the issue was only resolved when another French-speaking student stepped in to help translate.
International students enrich campuses with different cultures, languages and customs. But while the diversity can be very appealing, it can also create barriers, especially when it comes to language.
Auburn University at Montgomery is no exception, as 10% of the student population is U.S. non-resident, according to the college’s spring 2026 enrollment summary.
Every international student must demonstrate language proficiency through various tests in order to gain admission to higher education programs, such as bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. While these tests confirm an individual student’s ability to pursue a degree in a non-native language, practical difficulties remain. According to a study by Maureen Snow Andrade published in the Journal of Research in International Education, the main challenges for a college student are not merely dealing with a second language on a daily basis, but also include different accents, unfamiliar idioms, and the hesitation students may feel in an environment significantly different from their own.
In support of this thesis, an AUM senior in business, Ariana Rivas recounts her experience. “The different accents here in the United States was probably the hardest part,” Rivas said. “When we were watching the videos and reading the book, there were just some words that I didn’t know and they were hard to catch.” For Rivas, classes such as history, with their various specialized terms and scholarly language, often prove to be a major obstacle even for those with a good command of the language.
Eric Möller shared more details and outlined the general dynamics of his team. “Most of the team is French and some of their English is iffy, so for them it’s tough to communicate sometimes,” Möller said.
These experiences suggest that students who study English as a second language are facing unique issues both at the national level and here at AUM. On campus, the Office of Global Initiatives is the organization responsible for helping international students with these types of issues.
Dr. Tathagata Dutta, the International Student Access and Retention Coordinator said, “I work with international students who are here and ensure that they’re doing well in terms of transition and have access to other resources on campus.” He explained that the main way he assists international students is by helping them adapt to the cultural differences between the U.S. and their home countries.
Although the Office of Global Initiatives provides the support, international students’ experiences indicate that language-related challenges can still arise in their daily academic lives. The language barrier is a wall that can impact the learning outcome of even the brightest students. As shared by data, the experiences shared by AUM students highlight the importance for professors and peers to be mindful and consider the challenges faced by these students. After all, without proper support when these students find themselves struggling with language, it might not just be lessons that are lost in translation, but future leaders.
