I'm a CFII who teaches primarily foreign students (mostly Chinese, some Japanese) and couldn't find much advice on this site about teaching foreign students, so I figured I would share some of the lessons I've learned from teaching several foreign students.
Everyone else, feel free to add your own experiences, advice and tips for overcoming language and culture barriers, as well as anything else you think would help any other CFIs reading this thread become better instructors when dealing with international students.
I just broke 100 hours dual given, so my experience is very limited, however, here's what I've either experienced, heard, or noticed, and how I adjusted.
-Just because an FBO is listed to be open at a certain time doesn't mean it will be, so teach your students how to use a self-serve fuel farm. I had one student get stuck at an airport where the FBO was supposed to be open when he arrived, but for some reason was closed. Even though I taught him how to use a self-serve fuel farm he either forgot or never learned. If the course doesn't allow me to do a cross-country flight before having to sign them off on a solo cross-country, I bring my foreign student to the gas station and teach them how to swipe a credit card, follow on-screen instructions, etc. It's not exactly the same as using a self-serve fuel farm, but it's better than nothing.
-The Chinese students are very book smart. All my students knew their flows better than I did when I was at that point in my training. However, their judgment is lacking. I had one advanced foreign student insist on flying VFR to an airport in the practice area to do landings while covered in a snow squall with very poor visibility as a result. I don't really know how to correct this, besides providing factual evidence of why it's a bad decision during the debrief.
-The language barrier is tough to overcome. I figured out early on that they will say 'Yes' or 'Ok' to almost any question you ask them. Instead when I tell them something to work on during a debrief for example, I have them repeat it to me so I know they understood what I just said. Also, in the plane, I try to talk as little as possible, and when I do speak, I try very hard to dumb down the English as much as possible. Thankfully a 172 doesn't have a CVR that could get pulled so people could hear how stupid it must sound
.
These are just some things I've found work for me. I'm interested to hear what advice everyone else has.