1
Start with the alphabet and numbers. One of the first things you should start with is to teach the alphabet and numbers. By teaching the alphabet and numbers, you’ll create a great foundation for everything else that your students will learn.

• Have your students learn the alphabet to a certain point. You can start at "a" and go to "m," if you want. Have your students finish the alphabet at a pace you are both comfortable with. The point is to push your students but to not push them too hard.
• Ask your students to work on numbers. As with letters, start them and stop them depending on their capabilities. Consider creating a worksheet on which students can practice writing letters and/or numbers.
• Use flashcards with a word that begins with each letter of the alphabet to reinforce your lesson.
• Learning the alphabet might be easier to speakers whose native language uses the Latin or English alphabet.

2
Teach pronunciation, especially for difficult sounds. Teaching pronunciation is extremely important when teaching English as a second language. Consider focusing on sounds that are particularly hard for English as a second language students like:

• The "TH." The "TH" (like in "theater" or "thing") does not exist in a number of languages. As a result, it's relatively hard for some ESL students (such as those from Romance or Slavic language backgrounds) to pronounce.
• The "R." The "R" sound is also difficult for many ESL learners for a variety of reason including the fact that it is pronounced differently depending on regional dialects.
• The "L." The "L" sound is another difficult one for ESL learners, especially those from east Asia. Spend extra time on the "L."

3
Teach your students nouns. After teaching the alphabet and numbers, move on to nouns. Teaching nouns will be one of the easiest things for your students to learn. This is because your students will be able to look at everything around them as potential things to learn.

• Start with common objects in your classroom.
• Move on to common objects in your city or town. Good examples are: car, house, tree, road, and more.
• Continue on to objects your students will encounter in their daily lives, such as food, electronics, and more.

4
Instruct your students on verbs and adjectives. The next step after you teach your students nouns, is to move on to verbs and adjectives. Teaching verbs and adjectives will be a huge step in the process in which your students will put together full sentences (written or spoken).

• Adjectives change or describe other words. Examples of adjectives you can teach are: wild, silly, troubled, and agreeable.
• Verbs describe an action. Examples of verbs you can teach are: to speak, to talk, and to pronounce.
• You’ll need to make sure your students understand the difference between verbs and adjectives. Without knowing how they work, your students will be unable to speak or build sentences.
• Spend extra time on irregular verbs. The word "go" is a great example of a difficult English irregular verb. The past tense of "go" is "went." The past participle of "go" becomes "gone."

5
Explain tenses and articles. After you’ve covered nouns, verbs, and adjectives, you need to move on to teaching tenses and articles to your students. Without understanding how to use the proper tense and where to use articles, your students will not be able to put whole sentences together.

• Tenses explain when something has happened or occurred. Make sure to explain past tense, current tense, and future tense.
• Articles are adjectives that provide extra information about a noun. Articles include: a, an, and the.
• Make sure your students master tenses and articles, as they are paramount in their ability to construct sentences and to speak properly.

6
Practice common phrases. One great way to teach English is to encourage your students to practice and use common phrases. This is important, as your students won’t understand the meaning of many common phrases just based off of the literal meaning of the words.

• You should tell your students to repeat those phrases (and use them) until they feel comfortable using them in conversation.
• Begin with a few common phrases like “never mind,” “no doubt,” or “make believe.”
• Provide your students with a list of common phrases to work with and think about.

7
Teach basic sentence construction. After you've taught the alphabet, verbs, and more, you should begin to teach your students basic sentence construction. This is important, as it will provide a foundation to their writing ability. It will also aid them in reading. Teach the main five patterns that sentences in English are constructed around:

• Subject-Verb sentences. These sentences have the subject followed by a verb. For instance, "The Dog runs."
• Subject-Verb-Object. These sentences have the subject first, followed by a verb, which is then followed by an object. For instance, "John eats pizza."
• Subject-Verb-Adjective sentences. These sentences have the subject first, a verb, and then an adjective. For instance, "The puppy is cute."
• Subject-Verb-Adverb sentences. These sentences have the subject, a verb, and then an adverb. For instance, "The lion is there."
• Subject-Verb-Noun sentences. These sentences have a subject, a verb, and end with a noun. For instance, "Emmanuel is a philosopher."