I find the best way of learning is often through conversation, during the conversation I can pick up on certain pronunciations as well as the vocabulary or tenses we will have to work on.
When it comes to learning with little experience (for french) an understanding of tenses will be most important ! For that I have many different techniques to allow my student to remember them and understand in what context they should be used !
I often use videos such as old news reports or popular tv series to make sure the lessons are captivating ?