Is it common for universities to admit graduate students who speak the language of instruction but not the local language? For instance,the program might be taught in French, but everyone in the community speaks Arabic on a daily basis. This question is sort of the opposite of this post.
For context, I am a foreign researcher living in a house with some other foreign students including "Bob", a recent arrival who does not know a single word of the local language. Bob's program is taught in English, but almost no one (including most people at the university) speaks English here, and knowing the local language is essential to pretty much every interaction and task you could think of. Due to this language barrier, Bob is basically nonfunctional without the help of me or the other English speaking student at our house.
Our university requires proof of local language proficiency for international undergraduate students and graduate students whose programs are taught in the local language. However, they did not require any proof of proficiency in Bob's case or even suggest local language training.
So, is this sort of situation common? Do universities assume that a graduate student in Bob's situation would take the initiative and start learning the local language before arriving?