Could I work as a Professor in Europe if I only speak English?

Question

My wife is finishing her doctorate in a few years in a very specific field: Assessment (or Language Testing) of learners' English as a Foreign Language. She will probably apply for research professorships (including advising doctoral graduate students) when she graduates and I have suggested that she try to broaden her horizons and look for positions in Europe as well as in North America. She is nervous in part because she only speaks English (and Mandarin Chinese, which I imagine wouldn't be too helpful).

Are there professors in Europe who don't speak the local native language? Are there areas or universities in particular where people working in academia can get by while only speaking English? Any personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You can certainly do with just English in most countries. This is true even for countries like Spain or Italy where English is not that widespread. Personally, I've worked on a few Spanish universities and some of my colleagues didn't know any Spanish at all when they first arrived.

Answer 2

I wil assume that your wife is not interested in a postdoc position, since you explicitly mention a professorship. In the countries (Netherlands and Germany) and discipline I am that would typically mean a lecturer type position (UD in the Netherlands and W1 in Germany). Getting a full professorship immediately after a PhD is pretty much impossible in the Netherlands and extremely unlikely in Germany. Teaching will be part of the job, and it will be the part where the language is most problematic. If they are interested in hiring internationaly then a typical entry level contract would allow her to teach in English in the first year and offer intensive language courses, in the next year the students should be allowed to ask questions in the local language, but she can answer in English. In the third year she would have to teach in the local language. The speed of progress is typically open for negotiation, e.g. dependent on how closely related the applicant's language is to the local language. The progress is monitored and difficulties and possible solutions are discussed in an annual progress report. The contract specifies the pay raises and promotions that follow automatically when the goals are met.

Answer 3

Besides what the other answers point,I'd like to add there are a few countries in Europe where English is the official and the primary spoken language (UK and Ireland) and some more countries where it is one of the official languages (Cyprus, Malta).

In the first two, there is no problem at all.

And in the other two, I'd expect knowing only English would be less of a problem than in say France or Hungary, although it might be expected to learn some Greek or Maltese at some point.