Struggling with MBIS group work — does ANU actually verify English proficiency? HOW DO CHINESE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS STUDY AT ANU WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING A SINGLE WORD OF ENGLISH.
I’m in my second semester of the MBIS program at ANU, and I’m genuinely finding it harder and harder to complete group work and collaborative tasks. In almost every course, around 99% of my classmates are Chinese international students from non‑English speaking backgrounds, and many of them seem to struggle with basic communication during group activities.
A lot of the time, people in my group are using translator apps or ChatGPT just to understand questions or contribute a sentence. It makes real‑time collaboration pretty difficult — especially when we’re expected to discuss ideas, divide tasks, or work through problems together. I end up doing most of the organising because spoken communication is almost impossible.
I’m honestly wondering how ANU verifies English proficiency for Chinese students. Do students actually have to take IELTS/PTE/TOEFL before enrolling? Or are there alternative pathways that let students skip the test? Because from what I’m experiencing, the minimum English requirement doesn’t seem to translate into functional academic communication, especially in group settings.
I know learning in a second language is incredibly hard. But when group work is a major part of the program, and most of the group can’t communicate without translation tools, it becomes a real challenge for everyone involved.
Has anyone else in MBIS (or similar programs) dealt with this? How do you manage group work when there’s such a big language gap?
Like how do you apply to study in a University in an English-speaking country, where the courses are taught in English and you can't understand a single word of English.