Learning vocabulary is the first step in learning English. Place a large colored picture or poster on the wall or chalkboard at the front of the room. Ask students to come up to the front and describe the activity on the poster to the rest of the class. Have them start using nouns and the add the concept of adjectives and verbs using sentences utilizing the same poster.
Correct pronunciation is vital to proper verbal communication in English. Give each student a small hand mirror. Determine what sounds give the students the most difficulty. Does P sound like B? Does V sound like W? Read words with the difficult sounds from the dictionary. One by one have the students repeat the words. If a student is not making the sound of the word correctly, make the sound while the student watches you form the sound with your mouth, then ask the student to repeat the sound while watching themselves in the mirror. Repetition is the key to successful pronunciation. Gradually, the student will learn to model the sound that you are making and be able to say the words in the same way you do.
Reading comprehension teaches students to be successful listeners and hear the essential ideas of written communication. Read a story out loud and afterward ask the students questions about the story they have heard. This can be done verbally or as a written quiz or test. Go over the answers with the students by having them discuss the story and qualify their answer. This exercise helps students practice speaking, reading and listening, while also promoting group discussion.
The written word is particularly essential in advanced education. Ask your students to write a daily journal. The journal should capture the most significant events of the student's day and needs to only be about a page long. Have the students bring the journal to you each day for marking and suggestions. Journals are an effective way for the student to practice their writing skills while they describe meaningful experiences. Make grammar and vocabulary corrections to their work and add positive "encouragers."
Create jigsaw sentences by using one long sentence cut into pieces. If there are twenty students, for example, divide the students into two teams and give each team ten mixed up pieces of the same sentence. When you say "Go," ask each team to quickly put the sentence together in the correct order. The first team to do it correctly and in the least amount of time wins.
Create a paragraph that contains a specific number of errors and ask the students to identify each one. An example paragraph would be one that contains five errors. For example, "Susan has a doll house. He loved to play with it everyday. One day she give the doll to her mother. His mother made the dolls a new dress. The doll liked very beautiful." Have students correct the errors to render the paragraph in proper grammatical form.