This study explored how Chinese and Scottish student-teachers from two case-study universities perceived their experiences in foreign language learning in both formal and informal contexts within their home countries, and how the status of a foreign language learner shaped their empathy for culturally and linguistically diverse pupils through a qualitative questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Drawing on transformative learning theory and its relation to empathy, this study provides a nuanced understanding of how the experience of a language other allows student-teachers to engage with otherness, experience affective sharing, adopt alternative perspectives, and demonstrate empathetic concerns in practices where cultural diversity is apparent. Therefore, we advocate moving student-teachers beyond language acquisition, encouraging them to embrace challenges associated with assuming the position of a language other. This lends insights into the promotion of foreign language learning as a viable internationalisation strategy that benefits all student-teachers by fostering their empathy towards diverse students.