Although it may be difficult to teach conversational English to beginners, there is an easy method that will work for students of every level. Compose straightforward conversations that the student is likely to use in everyday life. Repeat them over and over until they are familiar with the construction. Start with asking simple questions like, "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" and "What are you studying?" Have students practice with each other in class, and then have them try having simple conversations outside of class.
Many English textbooks include real-life scenarios such as going to the post office or the bank, ordering a taxi over the phone or making an order food in a restaurant. All these situations will occur in the student's life and therefore the vocabulary is pertinent. Each topic will have a unique set of vocabulary words to learn, which will help your student in his everyday life situations. First, get the student to memorize the vocabulary, after which you can play out the situation with the student, until he becomes familiar with using this vocabulary. Then have the student practice in real-life settings.
Memorizing large volumes of vocabulary can be tedious and confusing for students studying English, so anything you can do to make this more interesting will increase its effectiveness. The use of flash cards for a vocabulary quiz is great for a classroom situation, where the students compete against each other to create a sentence using the words on the flash cards. You can hold up the cards and let the students raise their hands if they know the word and can create a simple sentence using that word. Children often love flash card games and adults can use them alone or by reviewing cards with a partner.
Give your students regular exposure to English-speaking TV, feature films and song lyrics. The students will establish familiarity and will absorb content within a context. With each exposure they will comprehend more of the language. Encourage students to also watch and listen to English media at home.
One option for learning through films is to watch a DVD in English while having subtitles in the person's native language, or watch a film in the native language with English subtitles. This will help in understanding how language translate. Have students make lists of new words or phrases, or expressions they don't understand. Songs are excellent memorization material for students; the tune can trigger memory recall.