Home schooling a non-English speaking student is a daunting task. If the instructor is bilingual, that solves half of the problem; but for those who speak languages which are very unfamiliar, finding an instructor which can speak the language, in addition to English, can be difficult indeed. Whether the student is entirely clueless with English or is familiar with the few basics, there’s nothing that repetition and intensity won’t remedy. It’s one of the sure-fire combinations for learning. Teachers would have an added edge if in addition to the home school subject which they are instructing, they take a courses which leads to a certificate in English instruction, also known as TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).

Those who complete a TESL or TEFL course are given a certificate of eligibility for English instruction, either for use locally or abroad. This is especially advantageous in breaking the language barriers in home schooling; even if the instructor is not entirely familiar with the language of the student, he or she has enough tools up the sleeve to mitigate any constraints of such a dilemma. The course description for TESL and TEFL involve subjects in linguistics, cross-cultural communication, language pedagogy and methodology, curriculum or syllabus design, source material development, and student progress assessment evaluation. Although knowing a second language is ideal, in accordance with familiar knowledge of the culture it belongs to, it is not necessary.

Parents who want to employ the services of a TESL/TEFL certified instructor would find it to the student’s advantage if the former maintains constant interaction with the latter; language is learned, and not born into, and they will find that the constant exposure of the student to English will bring positive benefits in due time. The instructor may check upon the student on a regular basis, or may have to board near the residence of the student for the duration of the course. This arrangement will also afford the instructor ample time to familiarize his or herself with the student’s mother tongue, adjusting the lesson difficulty and pace as needed.

The instruction will be aided significantly with the use of educational materials which initially introduces the basic rudiments of English in concepts related to the subject matter, which gradually progress in difficulty as the student becomes more accustomed to the sound and appearance of the word on screen or on paper. Initial courses involve basic phonetics and sentence construction, followed by practical use of the lessons in the form of oral conversation or written examinations are the usual instruction methods. Once the student is able to construct entire paragraphs in good English, he or she will be able to relate such words to the concepts in the language which is native to the home country, and the process cycles and repeats to increasing development levels, until the student is entirely capable of learning English concepts without language aids. Learning is a give-and-take process; this is especially true for people with different cultural backgrounds, and once the language barrier is overcome, the perks of such a success are that much more appreciated by the learner.