***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Hello, Flomariani:
I am replying because I had a certain relationship with an American ESL school for adults for six years. So I think that I might be able to share a few ideas with you.
It seems that you are actually a tutor to one student (rather than a teacher to 40 students in a class). I observed only large classes, but perhaps some of my observations will be helpful.
1. Congratulations on teaching adults. The adults whom I knew really wanted to learn English. They did not receive any academic credit. Some would come to school at 6 a.m. to study English and then leave at 7 a.m. for their jobs. Now that's dedication!
2. Assuming that your student speaks a European language (and thus knows the alphabet), I suggest the following steps:
a. Be enthusiastic. If s/he senses that you are madly in love with English (and teaching), s/he will be enthusiastic, too. It's contagious!
b. Get a book with pictures and dialogues.
i. "Mona" (I'm tired of writing "s/he"!) and you will "play" the various characters of the dialogue. Reading ALOUD will be very important for Mona's speaking and listening abilities.
ii. Get hold of a black-, whiteboard so that you can dictate sentences for Mona to write. You will then correct her mistakes and discuss them.
iii. Use lots of pictures (from magazines, printed out from Google images, etc.) in order to stimulate discussions and to explain vocabulary.
iv. If Mona is interested only in speaking, put the emphasis on speaking. Otherwise, emphasize reading and writing, too.
v. You must ABSOLUTELY begin with the verb "to be" and refuse to move on until she understands this special verb backwards and forward. Make sure that Mona can make questions using "be." (Some confused students want to use a form of "do" to start a question with the verb "be." They do this because they do not understand that "be" questions are different from questions that use other verbs. The same goes for negative sentences.)
vi. There are many pronunciation books on the market. Find one that pleases you. They show students exactly where to place the tongue in the mouth in order to pronounce the various letters of the alphabet. If you help Mona to speak English without too heavy an accent, she will be eternally grateful to you.
Please let us know how things go with "Mona."