I've gone the other way in my life (native English speaker learning several other languages. I speak one fluently, and two others at a basic level. I live in continental Europe and the country I'm in has 3 official and 4 national languages).
One of my language teachers said babies learn listening first, then speaking, then reading and finally writing, whereas adults it is the other way around: adults find it easiest to deal with writing because they control the context and it is in their own time, then reading because although there might be unexpected constructions, it is again in their own time. Then speaking for the same reason as writing, except timing is more real time, and finally listening is the hardest challenge, because it requires real time understanding of the context.
So I agree that I would expect written communication to be easier to deal with for many non natives of any language.
One of my language teachers said babies learn listening first, then speaking, then reading and finally writing, whereas adults it is the other way around: adults find it easiest to deal with writing because they control the context and it is in their own time, then reading because although there might be unexpected constructions, it is again in their own time. Then speaking for the same reason as writing, except timing is more real time, and finally listening is the hardest challenge, because it requires real time understanding of the context.
So I agree that I would expect written communication to be easier to deal with for many non natives of any language.