Reddit mentions of Stories from Mexico / Historias de México, Premium Third Edition

OP, I would recommend the following assuming he will have access to a computer and the Internet and is somewhat comfortable using those things:

1. Duolingo is a good starting point. It is free and easy to use and will provide some early confidence.
   
   
2. Have him write down the reasons he wants to learn English and what would be the common settings for its use. This is important for motivation purposes to remind him down the line but it also lets you adjust his training to vocabulary in those settings.
   
   
3. Have him buy a small journal which he can take with him where he can write down all his thoughts during the day. For example, what words and phrases he wants to know in English or a new word he learned that he wants to add to his vocabulary lists. This is also a place where he can put together common scripts for the scenarios he wants to be able to converse in. For example, checking in at a hotel, going to a restaurant, talking to a client about business, etc.
   
   
4. Early on, I suggest avoid focusing on grammar. He can always learn grammar later and it is IMO the most tedious form. You want to get him some early wins in his language learning so he will be motivated to keep going. If you must talk about grammar, just focus on the present tense and the very basics early on.
   
   
5. Instead, focus his attention on vocabulary building that will require flash cards and spaced repetition. There are a number of different ways you can do this. One way is to use a tool like memrise but another is to simply find a list of the most common words used and the ones he wants to learn and put those into an anki deck. If he is old school, and wants to physically write flash cards that is fine too but you will want to give him some information on how to use spaced repitition with physical flash cards. For making flash cards, I would look at books like Fluent Forever (https://www.amazon.com/Fluent-Forever-Learn-Language-Forget/dp/0385348118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517635406&sr=8-1&keywords=fluent+forever) for advice on how to make flash cards. But basically they should be created by adding in pronounciation, sound files, pictures and word phrases to trigger your memory.
   
   
6. He needs to start reading in English. I like dual language books where they have the English on one side of the page and Spanish on the other. These are great because you can take them with you to the barbershop, on the train, flights, etc. and doesn't require you to have to look anything up on a computer as all the words are translated for you. I like the Stories from... books. They are easy to read and have stories about folklore and history from various countries. I have seen ones from Spain, Puerto Rico, Latin America, and Mexico. Also, a few of these have audio files online where you can get access to listen to these stories with audio as well.
   Here, is a link to a couple of them:
   https://www.amazon.com/dp/1260011275/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvp_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3341940462&pd_rd_wg=QhY2X&pf_rd_r=SNZ6KJ9YGJ9B3SS71HE8&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-bottom-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=1260011275&pd_rd_w=UvgyL&pf_rd_i=null&pd_rd_r=db451c8e-32db-4684-9246-6602f8168da5&ie=UTF8&qid=1517635806&sr=1
   https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Mexico-Historias-M%C3%A9xico-Premium/dp/1260011046/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1260011046&pd_rd_r=QJRX7JC2P82FPT7PRKE3&pd_rd_w=we8to&pd_rd_wg=V7DKJ&psc=1&refRID=QJRX7JC2P82FPT7PRKE3&dpID=51aR236tnML&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail
   
   
7. Once he gets beyond these books, I would have him look at a service like LingQ. This is great for working on reading and listening skills. One challenge I find is it is hard to find content that has the language in audio and written form together and this is a great solution for this problem. I have started using this service a couple of weeks ago and really like it. It basically has written stories on various topics in the foreign language. These stories also have a recording of the story being read so you can listen to the story while reading it. Plus, you can click on any words in the story and it will bring up a defintion and then you can add that word to your vocabulary list. They have a feature where you can then be quizzed on these vocabulary words in close sentence form but I recommend taking the extra step of adding these words to your anki file or other vocabulary flash cards. The only downside is it costs about $10 USD a month for this service. But they do offer a free trial for a week or so and you can get a little cheaper rate by ordering for a year. When you consider the cost of buying a bunch of dual language books and the time spent trying to find them, this is a small cost.
   
   
8. He needs to start talking in English too with a teacher. Until he has an intermediate level, I would not recommend a language exchange partner. Instead, you will need to have sessions with him or get him a teacher on a service like Italki.com or something similar. There may also be some offline options in your area that others can recommend. He may prefer a group/classroom setting initially but as he progresses he should opt for 1 on 1 teaching instead.
   
   
9. After a couple of months, he can start doing some writing as well. One resource that I like for this is lang-8.com. It works where you write a submission in your target language and people will give corrections to you. In return, you correct their submissions. So it is free but costs you a little time.
   
   Whatever you do, you just want to make sure he is spending some time consistently on the big four: reading, talking, listening and writing. Obviously, a lot of time will also be spent on building his vocabulary as well.