Learning the alphabet is essential for students with no exposure to the English language. A student must memorize the characters in the alphabet, pronounce the sounds of the alphabet correctly, and learn what shape different sounds take when combined or put in strings of letters. An effective exercise for learning to read the alphabet, once the student has memorized the alphabet in order, is to pair the sounds of the alphabet with their corresponding letters. Have the student point to the letter, say the letter name, then say what sound or sounds the letter makes. Start with small groups of letters rather than taking on the whole alphabet at once. This exercise works best within a larger curriculum that incorporates different combinations of letters and sounds.
Learning how to read street signs, fill out job applications, read and follow directions and read correspondence are important everyday activities that nonnative English speakers need to be proficient at in order to survive. The best way to teach these skills is to practice reading actual documents or interpret photographs. For example, bring actual job applications or photographs of street signs in to your tutoring sessions or classroom and help your students comprehend them.
Another great exercise for beginners is learning how to use modals. Modals are a part of speech that express mood, possibility and actuality. Give your students a chore within the class room. "Joe, you 'have to' clean your desk." Compare this assignment to "Joe, 'will you be able to' clean your desk?" Ask your students the difference between the two requests and explore different contexts in which students might read both.
Just as important as understanding what a word means, the ability to understand the meaning of an entire text will help build up a student's knowledge. Here, news articles are paramount. Often concise and to the point, news articles offer a quick reading experience with the potential for a prolonged discussion on content. Have your students read the article, then ask a few students about what they think the article means. Based on those answers, teach the students what words or sentences do or don't support their ideas.