How can the CDIO syllabus for Communications in Foreign Languages be translated into progressive and achievable goals that engineering students can aim for?  How can teachers of additional languages, often with no technical background, best prepare these students before they leave for exchange semesters abroad and the world of work? This paper responds to these issues by presenting the work of the Global Engineers Language Skills (GELS) project. The aim of the project is to investigate which communication skills are most used by engineers in industry and, ultimately, to prepare a teaching guide for language departments that work with engineering students. This paper presents the results of the investigation and the resultant adaptation of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for the specific needs of engineers. By combining this framework with CDIO’s syllabus for Communications and Communications in Foreign Languages, we argue that a more ambitious and effective integration of additional languages, communication, and engineering at our universities could not only be within our reach, but should rather be a priority to ensure that our students can engineer both at home and abroad.