With a little preparation and the right tools, you don’t need to be fluent in a foreign language to teach it effectively. Here are some simple tips to help you get started:

Head to your local library to find foreign language picture books with pronunciations. Better yet, ask the audio-visual desk if they have books on tape so that your child can hear a native speaker. Check out videos and movies with a bilingual approach... or, for more advanced students, subtitles. Look in the newspaper for local events related to holidays around the world. Attending a Cinco de Mayo event for instance, is a great way to learn Mexican songs and activities. Watch sports such as soccer on a foreign language television station and try to follow the commentary. Plan an activity with a family from another part of the world. Ask that child and his/her parent to speak in their native language for the afternoon. If you can’t afford to travel to another country anytime soon, visit the “Chinatown” or “Little Italy” in a nearby American city. Use the endless resources on the World Wide Web. For French instruction, visit http://www.parlez-vous.org. For Spanish, try http://www.espanole.org. And there’s a variety at http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslsp.html. Consider inviting a foreign exchange student to live in your home for a summer, six months, or a whole year.

Finally, remember that children will be most excited by language instruction if they can see it in action and put it to use. If you can provide your child with a relaxed environment in which to practice the words and phrases that he/she has learned, your child will gain the confidence necessary to pursue that language to fluency.

Turn to a homestudy language program that’s proven effective. Keystone National High School recently teamed up with Power-Glide to provide courses in French 1, Spanish 1, and German 1. An adventure story within the coursework keeps students motivated to learn more and a Keystone instructor answers all your child’s pronunciation and grammar questions – so you don’t have to!

The professional educators and service team staff at Keystone understand the needs of homeschooling families like yours: the flexibility of a self-paced distance learning education, the choice between correspondence or online classes, and the peace of mind that comes from an accredited, licensed program. While some students turn to Keystone for individual subjects, most homeschoolers take a full schedule of core and elective courses, earning Keystone National High School’s widely recognized diploma.

Log on to http://www.keystonehighschool.com to request information or call today for a FREE consultation - 1-800-255-4937.