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While some international students already possess an excellent command of the local language upon arrival, some find their language ability, considered excellent domestically, inadequate for the purpose of conveying oneself fluently in rapid conversations. Because of this linguistic barrier, they are sometimes or frequently ridiculed or even harassed.
Many countries force international students to pay higher tuition than citizens of the country. This discrimination is usually justified by the argument that the students' parents do not pay the taxes of the country. The fact that a large number of international students decide to settle in the country in which they are studying and become productive citizens is, however, ignored in such cases.
Much of the elite of the developing world are educated at western universities. These include individuals as diverse as Ho Chi Minh and Abdullah II of Jordan.
Numerous international students from China were sent to the United States during the late 19th century and 20th century by the government in an attempt to understand the culture and technology of the West so that it would be incorporated into Chinese culture. Some of those international students (who may have gone unofficially) became well-known scientists, such as Chen Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao Lee, and Chien-Shiung Wu.
The destination for Chinese international students has varied over the decades. Before World War II, Japan and FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. were the preferred destinations. International students from TaiwanFor the political entity commonly known as "Taiwan," see Republic of China. The island of Taiwan ( Traditional: , Simplified: , Pinyin: Taiwn, Wade-Giles: T'ai-wan, Taiwanese: Tai-oan) is located off the coast of China in the Pacific Ocean. It is also kno have preferred the United States as a destination since the 1950s. Students from People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China PRC comprises most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. Since its founding in 1949, it has been led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). It is the world's most populous country, with a population tended to go to the Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1 in the 1950s. In the 1960s, universities were disrupted by the Cultural RevolutionThe Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution ( Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: wu chn jie ji wen hua da ge ming, literally "Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution"; often abbreviated to wen hua da ge ming, literally "Great Cultural Revolu, and starting in 1977, students from the PRC have tended to go to the United States.
Some of these international students became citizens of their host countries. (See overseas ChineseOverseas Chinese ( in pinyin: huaqiao, or huabo, or qiaobo) are ethnic Chinese who live outside of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. There are approximately 60 million overseas Chinese mostly living in southeast Asia where they make up a majori, for example) In addition, given the prestige of an overseas degree, many international students go on to become government officials. Examples include Lee Tenghui, James SoongJames Chu-yu Soong ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'u-yu; pinyin: Song Chyu; born March 16, 1942) is a politician in the Republic of China on Taiwan. He founded and chairs the People First Party, which favors Chinese reunification. Early life and education Soong was, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin.
Universities with large populations of certain ethnic groups often have societies for these groups. These groups often become important parts of the university community. They also provide an important social network for students who may have no friends or relatives in the country, and difficulty interacting with peers who have a differing mother tongue.