Adult Arab learners of Finnish as second language (FSL) often encounter communication difficulty when dealing with official documents. They also cannot help their children in their school homework. FSL proficiency is an essential requirement to get an employment and to obtain the Finnish citizenship. The aim of this paper is to explore the use of the language learning strategies by a number of adult Arabs learning FSL in Finland. In addition to issues and difficulties related to the learning process encountered by this category of learners. Oxford's Strategy Inventory for language learning was used for the purpose of data collection and SPSS programme was employed to analyse data collected from the questionnaire, however, interview data were analysed manually. 30 (20 male and 10 female) adult Arab FSL learners taking beginning level course in Finnish at Helsinki School for Adult Learners participated in the current study. The results showed that adult Arab learners of Finnish used the language learning strategies at medium level with the average of (m=3.25). The results also showed a number of challenges that impede their second language learning process like the low literacy level of the learners, lack of communication with the Finnish society, and difficulties in reading and writing in Finnish.

The number of international students is increasing in higher institutions in Malaysia as the country is moving towards becoming the hub of education in the Asian Region. In the hype of welcoming and getting them enrolled in the institutions, are the host institutions ready for them? There are many aspects that can ensure the smoothness of the education journey of the international students here. A study on the elements that assist and hinder the learning experiences of the international students in a public university was embarked on. However, this paper delineates only one part of the study -the human touch. It deliberates on the people who have played a role in assisting and also hindering the international students' learning experiences. A google form consisting of 5 open-ended questions was emailed to 600 international students who were considered active in 2016 but only 40 students responded. The data were analysed qualitatively where themes on who and how the people in the host institutions were involved in assisting and also hindering the international students in moving towards completing their studies. The data revealed that the international students admitted that they found the people, namely the supervisors in the host institution to be really instrumental in their learning experiences. They named the administrative staff to be leaving quite a bad impact in their journey as international students here.