Teacher Discussion Forums

I am a Canadian teacher, by trade, and a friend of mine has asked me to teach English to her cousin who is here from Bosnia. He is 43 and speaks Croation and a small amount of English. I want to help, but I don't really know what to do. I told this to my friend, but she is encouraging me to look deep within and find my talent as an ESL teacher. I am looking for something that will tell me more objectively his ability level and then to find a program that will help him reach his goals.

Please help me so I can help my friend and her cousin!

It would be great if you could get him into a program with other learners. There are many programs in the larger cities. Then you can suppliment his learning from that program. Otherwise go with him to the library and check out the ESL section and see which books appeal to you and your student. There are books on tape for him to listen to and lots of workbooks that he can follow. It would be good if you can find out what field he is going to pursue if he wants to study further and give him a head start in that field once you have covered survival English details.