Does the Erasmus exchange program really help students learn their target language?

I am a German and Journalism student from London, England, and am currently doing my exchange year in Munich. For a lot of students like me, the goal of our year abroad is to study in German and make use of the opportunity to acquire as much of the target language as possible. The idea sounds great on paper, however, after 10 months, I am really struggling to put it into practice. Each day I am further gravitating towards the “Erasmus bubble”, a term used to describe the cohort of students from Europe who are on exchange abroad, where English is the domineering language spoken. This poses the question, does the Erasmus exchange program really help students acquire their target language, or is it a victim of its own system?

It is not the first time this issue has been addressed, as according to Cherry James, author of “Citizenship, Nation-building, and Identity in the EU: The Contribution of Erasmus Student Mobility”, “virtually everybody used [Erasmus] as an opportunity to improve their English”. This, despite not going against the EU’s aim of “wanting every citizen to be able to learn at least two foreign languages”, goes against the idea that students go to a country to learn that specific language. Many more students are playing the system by going to countries with cheaper cost of living just to improve on their English, according to a Times Higher Education article.

To get some insight into the situation, I interviewed my fellow Erasmus students on their experiences of studying in Munich. In the case of Joaquin, a student from Valencia, Spain, he thinks it is easier to communicate in English as he finds it hard meeting Germans since “they are not the most open people”. Despite being a B2 German speaker, he struggles to communicate in German since “you need to be really focused on speaking and it is hard trying to understand most things”.

Emily, an English student on exchange from Exeter also agrees with Joaquin. She thinks that what one’s degree also plays a part in whether they try harder to learn the language. “Since my grades count towards my final year and I don’t do German as a degree, I don’t want to do courses in German in order not to risk having bad grades”.

In their defense, Daniel, a German student from Bavaria who speaks excellent English understands how difficult it is for others to learn his mother tongue. Traveling is his passion and therefore he always surrounds himself with international friends, but at the end of the day, he says it is hard to speak German with them even if they wish to practice with him. “The conversation goes so much faster when we switch to English since this common ground language helps us both be understood much more quickly”.

The Guardian (UK) also acknowledges that “the prominence of the English language locally is the biggest problem”. It is perfectly normal for people to presume a non-native person does not speak the local language and thus making it more likely for them to switch to English, a universally known language to try to make conversation or to simply show politeness. Yet this means that language learners often feel awkward trying to pursue the conversation in the target language, thus making it harder for them to practice.

On the other side of the spectrum, what happens if you are already good at the target language and wish to continue practicing. People who speak the language well do not necessarily escape the same fate as people who do not. George, a Scottish mechanical engineering student who speaks German excellently still prefers to surround himself with his British counterparts. According to him, speaking their language does not guarantee easy access into their community. Based on culture alone, George prefers to hang out with English speaking people since they share common interests such as small talk, hence making it a generally more enjoyable social experience.

From what I’ve gathered, Erasmus students don’t necessarily pick up on the target language. The question is: why is the scheme still going strong, especially since the existence of the Erasmus grant gives millions to exchange students yearly. Although debatable, I think it somewhat serves its purpose, since besides the language acquisition, the aim of the mobility is for European citizens to immerse themselves in another culture’s diversity and thus learn from each other, creating the sense of a united European identity. The Erasmus program, therefore, is not solely a language acquisition opportunity, and should not be treated as such. Granting this, students should not be abusing the program as a way to have a year off work but should strive to practice their skills as much as possible.