Both older and younger students study English for general learning, for college qualifying examinations and for career requirements. While there are many different approaches to teaching ESL, using grammar fundamentals as an underlying structure for your lessons is a quick and easy way to structure continuous ESL exercises. Combine lesson examples from textbooks and online sources with your own creative exercises -- as the basis of learning material -- and incorporate new and varied teaching techniques in order to give lessons a sense of vitality.

Determine both the age level and English level of the group you'll be teaching. Whether students are studying English in order to enter college or for their specific careers, knowing the students' lifestyles and goals helps you prepare lessons with relevant themes that engage their interest. Keep the age and English levels of your students in mind as you present each lesson, so you can effectively engage them.

Choose appropriate English language textbooks or online material as a basis for your grammatical subject matter. The textbooks should be fairly current, not using examples that are outdated, and school textbooks overtly designed for children should not be used for adults. Review the lessons thoroughly and mark pages ahead of time so you don't have to stare down at your textbook or search for material as you are presenting your lessons.

Use textbooks in order to create your own examples and exercises based on the grammar structures. Use a chalkboard to create new questions and engage students by asking them to come up with sample questions and answers in class. This is more engaging than simply using existing textbook questions.

Follow textbook grammar structures chapter by chapter, because textbooks build in complexity chapter by chapter. As you are presenting lessons, continuously review material that you have already studied. This will motivate the students to be prepared for lessons and help them to be ready for the next level of learning.

Use experiences from your own life as material to make one-page lessons about idioms and lessons focusing on special vocabulary for places like airports and restaurants. As you present lessons with some personal details, this will help the students offer more personal feedback about their own lives which will make the lessons more interesting.

Try and break lessons into at least two parts. One part for reading and answering questions and another period for discussion based on themes from the lesson. For a younger class have an additional time for games and learning exercises. An occasional film with English subtitles is also a bonus, if this is possible.