The common language for the program is English.  All correspondence among teachers and administrators, including applications and other forms will be in English. 

A language barrier is likely to arise between students.  While this struggle across language is meant to be part of the cultural exchange, our goal is to create a medium for communication.  Students in the program will be given a number corresponding to their foreign language proficiency.  The number ranges from 0-5.  A zero means the student has had no prior exposure to their E-Pal’s mother tongue.  A three means the student is able to freely express him/herself in a contextualized setting and sustain conversation on a verity of topics (see Intermediate Proficiency Level under the U.S. National ESL TESOL Standards).  A five indicates advanced proficiency.  Each student pair will have at least one person who has level-3 foreign language proficiency.

Judging language proficiency is the responsibility of the school or teacher involved in coordinating the program.  If students experience a difficulty in communication so as to render them incapable of completing assignments or otherwise communicate then the students will be paired with different E-Pals.