I used "The New Cambridge English Course" - Cambridge University Press.
The method consists of an English- English course-book and a practise book.
They both contain plenty of exercises to practice speaking, reading, listening and writing.
The first lesson of the first book starts with greeting, and ends with People �s past.
All exercises are written from an adult point of view. Even the pictures and drawings are of adults. Last but not least, the price is very reasonable. My students could afford to buy the two books (cd �s included, brilliant for listening). This all might sound a bit like a commercial, but I really liked working with this method/ these books (ISBN 0521 37637).