Hey. Not sure if you already had your question answered but I'm gonna reply anyway.
I'm currently in my final year of a combined international studies degree - I don't want to reveal too much about where I went and stuff but you can pm me if you want to know more about this.
Anyway, in 2nd and 3rd year you'll be doing a mix of international studies subjects and professional degree subjects. You're required to do 2 international studies subjects (Foundations of International Studies & another that's specific to the country you go to) + 4 language classes. While I don't believe that you can get far with a foreign language by studying it at university in Australia, they give you a good grasp of the basics before you leave.
What you have to study on your year abroad depends on the country you go to and what your language level is. No matter which country you go to, everyone has to complete 3 research assignments each semester related to some sort of cultural aspect of the country. They're written in english and marked by UTS staff, but usually will require research conducted in the foreign language (eg. interviews, surveys). Tbh, I thought these assignments were pretty useless as they're so time consuming and yet I wasn't getting anything out of them, but I know lots of other people did find them worthwhile. Depends on whether that kind of research is your thing or not.
In ADDITION to these assignments, you'll be required to study full time or part time (depends on the country) at the university. The types of classes also depends on the country - some may just be intensive language classes designed for foreign students, some may make you take classes with local students in the local language. The location I was at unfortunately required me to take regular university subjects - which considering I only studied this language at UTS for 2 years, was really difficult. Of course I failed these subjects (but UTS is quite understanding of this and will pass you if you can demonstrate that you tried your best) and because I had such a lousy experience with these classes in my first semester, I chose to enrol in intensive language classes in second semester (and had to pay a lot of money to do so!) and got so much more out of doing that.
Whether the international studies degree is suitable for you depends on your level of motivation to learn a foreign language. Unless you're REALLY motivated to learn, then I don't think it's worth it. Just do a regular semester exchange instead (it will save you 2 extra years at uni!) and take language classes as electives or outside of uni. I kinda wish I knew all of this before I signed up, because if I had to decide all over again I would have dropped the international studies part.
I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have any other questions!
