When I'm face-to-face with a total beginner here in California, I use picture books and flashcards. We do a lot of "listen and repeat" kinds of things. So far, I haven't had any total beginners on Italki. That would be a challenge since I only use audio and instant messaging on SKYPE. Sometimes I supplement my lessons with what's on the Internet and on my website. I do have some PowerPoint slide presentations on YouTube, but they're made for intermediate ESL learners: http://www.youtube.com/bckatvideos (They're mixed in with my ghost stories.) Maybe I should make some PowerPoint "flashcards" for beginners. Thank you, Mimi, for the inspiration!

Actually,if the person I'm trying to teach does not know any English at all and I do not know his or her language it would be quite difficult. If you are teaching a person over about 14 another language, you must know at least some of his or her language to start. On this forum, I could send pictures of concrete objects - apple, car, etc. Abstract concepts such as 'think', 'agree' might be much more difficult. I assume that people I meet in this forum have some sort of basic knowledge of English, especially me teacher(s) and language partners, since my Chinese is so poor. Interestingly enough, if you take a group of young children and introduce a child that doesn't know their language into the group, the new child will pick up the new language at astonishing speed, even the abstract terms. As people get older, though, it is more difficult (but not impossible!). It just takes more work

I love your answer to this question.