New students arriving from different countries present a challenge to school systems as language barriers prevent them from being placed in regular classes immediately. In Germany, these students are often enrolled in "international classes" before being placed with their fellow classmates. The project "Biology for Everyone" teaches science to secondary students entering the German school system using action oriented learning, which helps to increase content-knowledge and develop language ability. The concomitant research examines this process in international classes using 17 interviews, which focus on the students' transition using Mayring's qualitative content analysis. Results show that students value the help of content-learning material as it encourages them to participate. Moreover, action-oriented tasks help them understand science before learning the specific vocabulary that is needed to talk about science. Additionally, the importance of providing a safe environment with a good support structure is crucial as students often describe language-use anxiety and negative experiences in their regular class.