International Students

In this country there are many students that came from all over the world to attend
colleges and universities where it not only offers more majors, but also to drive a higher quality
of academic achievements with strong desires to excel in the areas of education. An international
student is defined as an individual who is studying in colleges and universities in another
countries to have better opportunities and life qualities, but some of them trip over many
obstacles that prevent them to develop their studies, and thats why for some international
students it is difficult to assimilate themselves successfully when it is in their academic
education. These obstacles include high tuition and language proficiency.
Language is one of the main problems international students faced through this transition
of being in another country because Most of the international students are from the countries
where English is not the prevalent language. Although most of these countries Sometimes it
takes years to be fluent enough in English to be capable of completing these exams. Countries
teach English in their classrooms, learning English does not take place only in a few months.
Every credible school requires international students to take one of the most
challengeable requirements of admission, language proficiency. They can proof this by fulfilling
one of the world widely standardized tests of English language proficiency for non-native
English language speakers such as, TOEFL, IELTS, iTEP, and STEP-Eiken.

These tests

measure the students ability to communicate, speak, understand, read and write in English.
More than 9000 colleges, universities and agencies in more than 130 countries recognize these
tests. Although just one of these tests, TOEFL, is administrating 30 to 40 times a year in many

countries around the world, fulfilling these criteria is not easy. As a fact, being able to read and
write does not mean that a person can speak fluently or understand completely.
Therefore, even if they could pass the exam it does not mean that they have learned
English properly because they learn English with bilingual method (Dr. R. Kannan.2), the
method in which they are taught in their native language as well as in English, in their own
country. Their English capacity is different from the real situation where everything taught in
English. For example, when many international students come to the academic environment, it
may be difficult for them to maintain the same pace and understand the professor or other
students fluent speech. These students have to put forth more effort than other students in order
to complete the course.
Being a foreign student in order to study in another country can change peoples life like
being far away from home and not being able to live with your parents can be very difficult,
especially the commodities that a student is used to it, students in their countries have
everything, they have their own house with their own room, they have everything they could ask
for; probably many of the students has their own car with a drivers license and they can go
anywhere without asking for help, also they have someone who cooks for them.
Coming from another country to the United States to study can be very hard. Living far
away from your native country can bring many consequences in the international students life.
Going to another country where international students dont know anyone and dont know the
country not knowing the culture the food there will be no one who serve the food, the student is
going to miss its house, their family etc.

Another challenge they faced when they come to the United States to get a higher
education in college or at the university is that International Students have to pay more for
classes that the residents or the ones who were born in the United States; international students
are concerned about the high level of academic tuition and fees which could annually total to
$20,000 which includes tuition and medical insurance, and living expenses. These students
usually pay more than resident students; In-state students tuition and fees are usually subsidized
by the state that they live in making it cheaper for them to attend in state schools. An example of
difference in costs for international students versus in-state students is in university of San
Francisco, in addition to the tuition fees, non-California residents and international students must
pay non-resident additional tuition fees of $372 per unit. Also, students tuition fees may
increase when public funding is inadequate.
In another example, in a Texas university an international student tuition fee is
approximately $6,000 as compared with a resident student fee which is approximately $3,200
(Sukumar).
These additional fees and per unit costs are only costs of schooling. In addition to these
costs the housing costs need to be considered for an international student. These costs include
housing, food, transportation, as well as books and class materials.
International students would also need to proof a strong financial support in order to
apply for schooling in United States. The financial proof is not just for the tuition but for other
living costs such as food, housing, book, transportation, and personal expenses as well. In other
words, they have to proof that they can afford to not only attend school, but that they can afford
to live in United States while going completing their schooling.

An example of this is Albina an ESL international student from Chita, Russia at Pasadena
City College, Albina pay explained how classes are very expensive for her, for example residents
students pay approximately sixty-four dollars per unit and international students have to pay
approximately two-hundred dollars per unit, there is a lot of money international students have to
pay for school, not to mention that when students apply to either college or university in the
United States they have to have in their bank account the sum of twenty-thousand dollars in
order to be accepted and do the exchange from its country to the united states. Albinas
experience shows how hard and difficult it is for international students to live in another country
that is not their native country, but also International Students even though they dont speak
English they work harder than others and have good grades.
Albinas experience also makes think about this essay what drives success? By Amy
Chua and Jed Rubenfeled explains how a truthful fact in America how for some groups in
America try harder than other groups, and how certain ethnic, religious gropus and nationalorigin groups are doing better than Americans (paragraph 1).
How different ethnic groups from all over the world in America are doing better than
Americans (people), which show the positive mindset they came with; because to come to
America international students faced through many difficulties to grow in a different country to
become somebody and leave poverty behind.
Also, in the essay ("Arrival from the book the Writers reference). In College, English
meant humiliation to me. When I was assigned to major in the language in 1977 at Heilongjiang
University, I knew only dozens of English words and was put in the lowest class, where I stayed
four years. Here where he explains how hard the language was for him and when he was

admitted to study in a college in America knowing that everything over here was completely
different like the language, the culture, or the environment.
He knew that he could survive being her, but he wasnt sure how would be by being in a
foreign country; practically talking about his career, or about his future profession to get to his
goal. The difference with him is that little by little he started feeling motivated, so he worked
hard to reach his goals.
There is another side from all this, which is mentioned in the essay The Problem with the
Triple Package: Why Immigrant Parents Arent Superior? by Olga Khazan that Immigrants are
indeed an ambitious bunch. Immigrants and their children are more likely to get college degrees
than are all Americans, theyre more likely to believe that hard work will help them get ahead,
and they are more than twice as likely to start businesses as natives. (Paragraph 8)
I think that it is when someone saw the struggle their parents has, and the hard work they
have done by trying to maintain the family together for a better future by doing it with effort,
going to school, getting a job, and becoming a professional.
On the other hand, kids start to study English when they are three years old. When they
finish school, they are able to read and write in English, but they cant speak it and they dont
understand English when they listen to somebody. (Paragraph 2)
Isnt easy to be an international student, but they can still reach their main goals if they really
want it. A good advice for an international student on an ESL student is to never giving up.

However there are many difficulties international students faced when they come to this
country to find success, they find many problems which is the language, housing they also have a
lot of paper work to do when they come to the united states, they have to have selected

requirements international students work very hard to achieve their goals No

matter

how

difficult things could be for international students , knowing that they are foreign students they
go to another country to have a better job in their native countries and have a good future having
in mind that some of them not knowing the language they do still try to study, to work until they
become a successful person in their countries and life, it is not easy to go to a place where people
dont know anything about it, people who are in a country where they dont know the language
and the culture but still international students try to do their best, leaving behind families, and
trying to get a better education and learning another language could be a good opportunity for
them in their native countries ,and become a successful person in the future where maybe in
other countries there arent the same opportunities that people who come to study in America.
Seeing an international student is a great inspiration of life, because knowing that some
of them are having a really tough life, or experience with identity they still achieve their goals.
There is a saying that goes: Gradually arrive before, which has to do with International
Students, which means hard work will show up later even if it is sometimes difficult for them to
assimilate themselves in an academic environment in the United States or maybe because of
some majors concerns including language proficiency, high tuition, and paper work request.
There are a lot of concerns and problems with assimilation of international students to the
academic environment in United States they should try to overcome these barriers that harden the
assimilation and achieve their ultimate goal of schooling in United States.
Some Solutions about why for some international students it is difficult to assimilate
them self successfully when it is in their academic education? is that High Schools should have
a special program for those students who doesnt speak English, but the program should include

phonics, since we think that the pronunciation of words are what make students correct their
vocabulary pronunciation, and also grammar which helps them with their writing, and a
chronological order telling them how to accommodate the words into appropriate sentences.
Some schools have those kind of program (the ELS), but with our personal experience some
schools arent prepare enough to receive international students, because some teachers dont
have patience to teach students who doesnt speak the same language as they do, and that may
cause discrimination in a class.
The government should provide extra money or free English classes to those entire
international students who dont speak the language that could be a big solution for those who
came to the country, and doesnt have the necessary resources to study Language.
We all know that School, or college isnt easy for those who doesnt know the primary
language that is taught at school, maybe because of the fear of being ridiculed, or not fitted in.
Discrimination is the biggest thing an international person passed through, especially if they
dont know the language they supposed to know to defend themselves. Unfortunately
xenophobia and racism have no solution, that's because of the ignorance of people, and that
wouldnt let anyone to feel welcome in a place where nobody likes us. That is what makes the
environment so tense for foreigners. The low self-esteem in foreign students is because they do
not identify themselves in a place where they think they do not belong to, and I think that a
solution would be to make schools only for international students where its put into practice the
English language.
We all have the right to learn what we really want to know. Education is something that
no one can take away from you.