In multilingual Malaysia, the place of English has been debated at various times since independence in 1957. An initiative to address concerns about levels of English language proficiency in the country through teaching Science and Mathematics in English was launched in the early 21st century. For some teachers, a trans-national component was introduced in the language teacher education programme and this in part was an investment in raising the language proficiency of teachers. This article draws on interview data with two pre-service teachers who spent two years in New Zealand and identifies common themes regarding their views on English and on the contribution of the trans-national education experience to their English language learning while abroad. Although English was viewed positively, and proficiency and motivation did not present obvious barriers to developing social networks with target language speakers, the data indicates that personal language learning goals may not have been met; it is important to note that other goals were, however, achieved. As a result, this article suggests that more explicit attention to language learning in the language teacher education programme may have facilitated English language proficiency development.