I've taught at least 7 people to drive a stick. Wife, 3 daughters, co-workers, friends. I've never had a problem explaining shifting back and forth between higher gears, the issue is always starting out in first gear. I liked the idea a few mentioned here of forcing the person to get the car moving in first without the gas pedal. I never thought to try that. Seems like a great way to teach the friction point and balancing at that point. Start in a parking lot. Expect a LOT of stalls. Some people pick it up after 20 stalls, some I swear must have stalled a 100 times! Kids I thought would get it easy ended up being the worst. The car makes a big difference. I think the Miata was the easiest to teach on. The VW beetle was the toughest. MAKE SURE to take him to a hill to practice take offs while on an uphill angle once he gets comfortable taking off on level ground.