How can I teach English to a friend of mine?!

[Stefan Seidel]

Hi,

I didn't know where to ask that: I have a friend who wants to learn English. He's an absolute beginner and doesn't know a single English word. My English, on the other hand, is quite good and I know some native speakers he could talk to, too.

The only thing I don't know is where to start - is there some material I could use in order to programmatically teach my friend English from scratch?

Thanks for your answers,

Stefan

[Torsten]

Hi Stefan,

It is very good you want to help your friend learn English. Here are some ideas. Do some brainstorming with your friend. It's very likely that she does know some English words such as airbag, airport, movie, monitor, window, home, person, man, woman, etc. It's vital that you show your friend what she already knows rather than creating the image that has to learn from scratch.
After you have finished your vocabulary brainstorm you can go into some basic grammar. Have her write down the personal pronouns in her mother tongue. Make sure she writes them down in the correct order (I, you, he/she/it, we, they, you). When she has completed the list in her mother tongue, do the same in English together with her. For more ideas you might want to take a look at this sub-forum:
http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum9.html

Come back and let us know the outcome.
Regards
Torsten
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary