Homeschooling and Learning a Foreign Language

Helping a student learn a foreign language can be beneficial for both personal growth and for future admission into higher education. A student who speaks a foreign language is usually looked at differently in the eyes of most colleges and universities. Taking the time to learn a second or even a third language makes a student well-rounded and more appealing to admissions boards.

Learning a foreign language can present some difficulties in the world of the homeschooled child, especially if the parent or homeschool teacher is not trained or educated in the particular language that the student is being taught. However, today’s homeschooler does not have to be an expert in a foreign language in order to teach it. With some old-fashioned hard work and a little resourcefulness, any homeschooler can develop an effective and successful foreign language curriculum.

Resources for developing a curriculum are rather abundant. Online courses, websites, software programs, even the library are all excellent sources of information and services. Entrepreneurs have even gone as far as to develop foreign language instruction software specifically targeting the homeschooling industry. Power-Glide, for example, represents one of the current popular programs being used to teach foreign languages, especially in homeschool settings.

Parents of homeschooled children do not necessarily have to resort to software programs or online courses in order to effectively introduce and teach their child a foreign language at home. Besides using a traditional textbook approach for the introductory aspect of teaching a foreign language, there are a variety of other techniques and approaches that homeschoolers can use in order to supplement and facilitate their child’s learning as it applies to a foreign language.

For starters, the local library has always been an excellent source of academic and instructional material. Besides additional books and texts written in the language of choice, libraries are also good places to find audio-visual sources like books on tape and foreign language movies (either bilingual or with subtitles) that can be used as part of a foreign language curriculum.

Local are newspapers and magazines can also be a great source of material that can be used to supplement a foreign language lesson, unit, or curriculum. Searching through local newspapers can help a homeschooler find cultural and ethnic events that can be used as part of a foreign language curriculum. Learning a foreign language is one thing, but experiencing the culture and traditions (such as the music, food, or traditions) associated with another country can go a long way toward helping a child learn a new language.

Using a child’s personal interests and connecting them to similar events that take place in a foreign country can also provide students with an alternative way of understanding a new language. Some parents for example, incorporate and use foreign language television programs or even sporting events as a method of supplementing foreign language instruction. Students can watch a favorite music channel or sporting event transmitted in a foreign language in order to experience for themselves how the language is used, but in a setting that they find comfortable or familiar.

For parents who have greater financial resources, there is no substitute for actual immersion in the language they are learning. Among the options for achieving this immersion are: the possibility of traveling to another country, hosting a foreign exchange student or family, or even taking a simple weekend trip to places like “Little Italy”, “Chinatown”, or “Little Tokyo” in nearby metropolitan areas.