Although studying in another European country under Erasmus will involve foreign languages in some way, it may surprise you to learn that you do not necessarily have to speak another language. You may be able to find a course taught in English, especially in the Netherlands, Finland, Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Turkey, Scandinavia and Greece. Speak to the Erasmus co-ordinator at your university to find out more about your options for being taught in English.

However, learning the language will be will be another skill to add to your CV and very important in understanding the cultural, social and political attitudes of your host country, not to mention very useful for socialising and doing your shopping of course! If you do want to learn a language or improve your language skills, Erasmus may be able to help. If you are travelling as an Erasmus student to a country with a language other than French, German or Spanish, the European Commission offers support in the form of Erasmus Intensive Language Courses (EILCs). EILCs are specialised courses in the less widely used and less taught European Union languages and the languages of other countries participating in Erasmus. EILCs are open to students who have been accepted on an Erasmus period, to enable you to improve or learn the language in the country. EILCs give Erasmus students the opportunity to study the language of the host country for 3-8 weeks, in the host country, before starting your Erasmus period. There are no tuition fees and it's an excellent opportunity to meet fellow Erasmus students.

You may also be entitled, if you are not studying a language as your main degree subject, for further support to assist in learning a language. Please contact your Erasmus co-ordinator at your home institution to find out more, and to see what options there are at your home university to brush up on your language skills before you go.

There are deadlines for Erasmus Intensive Language Courses in place so please check on the European Commission's EILC website; here you’ll also find further details such as course information and application forms.

CILT, the National Centre for Languages, has a range of services available to all, such as advice on language learning and training, and the Languages Works website offers further inspiration and advice for languages in your work and career.

The Benefits of Learning another language

A Report for the Routes into Languages Initiative states:

"Findings from several decades of research into plurilingualism (i.e. competence in several languages, rather than just one) show that there are considerable benefits both for the individual and the society which promotes plurilingualism among its members. For the individual, plurilingualism is known to produce cognitive advantage (Bialystok, 2001), to improve performance on a range of tasks related to educational attainment (Ricciardelli, 1992), including acquisition of literacy (Kenner, 2004), to facilitate the learning of additional languages (Cenoz & Valencia, 1994) and to delay the effects of ageing on the brain (Bialystok et al., 2006). There are economic advantages for societies in which adults can use more than one language in commercial contexts (CILT/ InterAct International, 2007) and social gains to be derived from ensuring that public services are linguistically accessible to all (Corsellis, 2001). People who grow up speaking more than one language in their daily lives therefore have the potential to gain personally but also to constitute a valuable resource for wider society."

To read more, please download the full report