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FREE ESL Songs For Teaching English

Music can be a great way to connect with your students. even students who aren’t fluent in english often know the words of popular songs phonetically, which makes these songs ideal resources for teaching your students certain forms of grammar , as well as vocabulary . many students are happy to work with the unusual phrasing of song lyrics, because they’re learning new meanings for a piece of music that already has meaning in their lives. you might never have noticed it before, but many songs’ lyrics involve just one single tense - which means that as soon as you find a song that contains the tense you want to teach, you’ve got the makings of an exercise that your students will love. they’ll get to brag to their non-english-speaking friends that they know exactly what the song’s lyrics say, so they’ll be extra-motivated to stick with you throughout the activity to make sure they learn those meanings correctly. but where should you start your search for the right song right here on busyteacher.org, of course our 1,788 song worksheets provide you with a wealth of resources for teaching tenses , sentence structure , vocabulary, and all kinds of other aspects of english - all with songs that your students already know and love. we’ve even taken the time to organize our library of song worksheets by verb tense, or by the type of activity that each worksheet helps you organize. while some of our 1,788 worksheets simply focus on a certain feature of grammar that’s used a lot in a given song, others encourage more advanced students to really listen for the song’s meaning, and speak or write about their own interpretations of its lyrics. some of our worksheets focus on idioms used in certain songs, or on the phonetics and pronunciation different singers use. whether you want to teach the past simple tense with “call me maybe” or practice vocabulary with coldplay, busyteacher.org’s library has a worksheet for you. not only are these worksheets built around internationally popular songs that’ll be familiar to your students - they’re also designed by real esl teachers around the world, who’ve had success using them in their classrooms. this means that whenever you download a worksheet from busyteacher.org, you can be sure that it’s already been tested and proven useful by a teacher just like you. in fact, our whole community depends on worksheet contributions from teachers like you - so if you’ve got a worksheet that you think others would like, click the “submit a worksheet” button at the bottom of this page, and send it our way. it might show up in an esl classroom halfway around the world all of our 1,788 song worksheets are completely free to download, print, use, and share - so grab any that look like they might be handy. our helpful “quick view” feature lets you get a glimpse of each worksheet as a small thumbnail, so you can save time by only clicking those that look like what you need. so take a look at the worksheets on this page, print off any that catch your eye, and see how they play in your classroom. each one ought to be a hit read more... ...less.

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45 Free ESL Songs for Teaching English (+ Activities!)

• February 28, 2021
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What a wonderful teacher music is!   If you’re one of the gifted and talented teachers that can hold a tune and strum the guitar, your gifts will shine through in a classroom.   However, if you’re like the rest of us who dare only sing in private or at karaoke night, fret not – you can still incorporate ESL listening activities into just about any lesson plan.

With each concept, grammar rule, vocab list or societal custom you chose to teach, you should always leave a little room for something light and creative.   Keeping your students happy keeps them interested, engaged, and will result in them actually learning to speak and understand English. 

In this article, we will provide you with links to ESL song lyrics, videos, and activities you can use with students of any age.   And the best part is—you don’t have to be a great and talented singer to do this.   You just need a bit of creativity and a passion for fun!

Looking for more ESL resources?  Check out our list of free ESL Lesson plans and ESL Worksheets ! 

General ESL Songs

Playing songs in the classroom is a sneaky way to get your students to do ESL worksheets and practice their reading and writing skills.   You can get as creative with the activities as you like.

You can start with simple activities such as gap-fill worksheets, where students must listen to the song and on their worksheet, fill in the missing lyrics.

Another fun activity you can do is have students create their own bingo cards using words from the song.   You can use songs like the popular hit by U2, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” for this activity, link below, as an example.   Students will be allowed to create their own bingo boards from the set of given words to choose from on the worksheet.

Songs are an excellent way to introduce new vocabulary.   If you play a song for your class that either contains vocab words you’ve been teaching or want to teach, you can create more activities for your students after playing the song.   You can create crossword puzzles or word searches .   After the students have familiarized themselves with the vocab words, you can always play a vocabulary themed classroom game such as these !

• Man in the Mirror
• You Belong with Me
• Constellations
• The Scientist
• We Used to Wait
• Stand by Me
• I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
• We Are the Champions

ESL Songs for Adults

While ESL sing-a-long songs are fun for the younger learners, they may not be met with the same enthusiasm by teens or adults.   Fortunately, music can still be incorporated into your lesson plans with just as much enthusiasm for a much-needed break from lectures, reading or worksheets.

With just about any grammar subject or lesson, you can find a song out there that uses that same grammar rule in the lyrics.   Verb tenses are an easy place to start using songs, as it isn’t too difficult to find a song that takes place in the past tense, present tense, or future tense.   For example, if you are teaching past tense, play “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals.   If you are teaching future tense, play “I Mua” by Nahko and Medicine for the People (a bonus here is that a beautiful and peaceful music video accompanies the song, found on YouTube, and this opens up plenty of discussion about Hawaii, travel or vacation).   For teaching possessives, play “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight and the Pips: Her world is his , his and hers alone, as well as “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. 

“I Am a Rock” by Simon and Garfunkel is a great way to introduce your students to the concept of metaphors.   The songs by Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Adele provide insight into common idioms used in the English language.

Before playing any song for your class, make sure you carefully evaluate the fluency level of your students and discuss any words that your students might not understand the meaning of.   It might be a good idea to give your students the print-outs and lyrics before playing the song and allow them to read it through and give them the opportunity to ask about any words they don’t understand.

• The House of the Rising Sun
• I Am a Rock
• Midnight Train to Georgia
• If I Were a Boy
• Young at Heart
• I’m Yours
• You Can’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
• Water Under the Bridge

ESL Christmas Songs (and Other Holidays!)

When you think of ESL songs for the holidays, most people will immediately think of Christmas carols.   And while those are a popular component of the English language, there are plenty of other times throughout the year you can bust out a good song to liven up the lesson plan.

Teaching the classic “happy birthday song” is an obvious one to use whenever someone has a birthday.   You can sing this one for any age class, not just the youngsters.   Halloween time also provides an opportunity to listen to some spooky tunes and accompanying worksheets and activities.   As with all the other categories of songs, songs around the holidays will inevitably open the door for more discussion about holiday customs and personal stories. 

• O Christmas Tree
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Frosty the Snowman
• 12 Days of Christmas
• Jingle Bells
• Jingle Bell Rock
• Happy Birthday
• Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
• This is Halloween

ESL Songs for Beginners & Kids

Initially, this article may have led you to believe that if you don’t have a beautiful singing voice that you never have to sing in the classroom.   The exception to that rule is with kids.   But, the wonderful thing about kids is that they really don’t care if you’re wildly off key and tone deaf.   So, if you’re looking for some entertaining activities to do with your younger group of learners, teaching them simple little songs can actually be a very useful and powerful teaching tool.  

For example, let’s say you have a very energetic group of youngsters that can sometimes be a bit difficult to calm down and get them to listen once they’re all riled up.   Teaching them a simple song that you sing when you’re trying to get the class to focus can be very helpful.   Take the Dinosaur song for example.   It introduces new vocab words that rhyme (jaws, claws, etc.) and simple commands, “Sit back down!”   It’s a short and simple song so it won’t be too hard or require too much time to get the students to memorize it.   So now when the class starts to get out of hand, start singing!

Singing as a group forces the students to participate in the same activity, and it redirects their attention to something positive and productive.

ESL songs that have a physical action such as the Hokey Pokey will help students follow directions in a fun and simple way.   It also elicits responses, and even though it may seem very rudimentary, it can have a profound impact on their comprehension levels.

Just as with using songs in the adult ESL classroom, ESL songs for children can increase vocabulary and provide an excellent segue into discussions about related topics.

• I’m a Little Teapot
• Dinosaur Dinosaur
• A Color Chorus
• What Color Are You Wearing?
• Hokey Pokey
• You’re Welcome
• Everything at Once
• We All Stand Together
• One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Want more?  Here are some of the best online resources we found for ESL Songs:

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The 15 Best ESL Songs for Kids

Music is a great learning tool that can be especially useful in a children’s ESL classroom.

In this article, you’ll find out about 15 catchy ESL songs for kids, plus some tips and suggested activities to incorporate them into your lessons. 

1. “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”

2. “do you like bananas”, 3. “princess pat”, 4. “old mcdonald had a farm”, 5. “six little ducks”, 6. “the alphabet song”, 7. “if you’re happy and you know it”, 8. “five little monkeys jumping on the bed”, 9. “baby shark”, 10. “the wheels on the bus”, 11. “bingo”, 12. “the days of the week”, 13. “counting 1-10 song”, 14.  “the hokey pokey”, 15. “how’s the weather”, how to teach esl songs to kids.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

“Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” is a great way to teach body parts to kids , and this version has a fun exercise twist your students will love to move along with. 

Start by singing with them, then just do the actions while they sing. Afterward, you can have the class work together to write the lyrics by spelling out the body part words. Then pass out outlines of bodies and ask them to color and label them.

Follow-up activity:  Introduce Simon Says as a follow-up game to this song. You can slowly introduce even more body parts using this game.

This is a popular song for teaching food vocabulary in English . It introduces terms for several foods (mainly fruits and vegetables) and the fun words “yum” and “yuck.”

It also teaches the useful phrase “Do you like…?” and how to answer in the affirmative and negative. Once students have the words down, you can use the same format to present new food vocabulary simply by changing the words of the song or creating new stanzas.

Follow-up activity:  Have a taste test in class (check for allergies with parents first!) and allow kids to taste, identify and state their preferences for a variety of different foods.

“Princess Pat” is a common Girl Scouts song that has accompanying hand gestures which can be a fun way for kids to get up and moving in class.

Once you’ve sung it with them a few times, you can just do the hand gestures and have the kids fill in the blanks, allowing them to acquire the words themselves instead of merely following along.

Follow-up activity: In the song, Princess Pat has a “rig-a-bamboo.” It’s a made-up tool that isn’t described in much detail, aside from giving us hints that it’s red, gold and purple. Have kids draw their own rig-a-bamboo and present it to the class.

Of the many songs for introducing animal vocabulary to kids, this one is a favorite among ESL teachers. The song allows the teacher (and eventually, the student!) to decide what animals Old McDonald has on his farm.

In this way, you can present additional animal vocabulary . Of course, there are some animals that you won’t be able to come up with sounds for, like a rabbit. Instead, you can use a movement for these animals.

Follow-up activity:  Have kids draw and label their own “Old McDonald” farms with animal names.

This is one of the more complicated songs for young English learners, but it’s fun to use with kids that have a slightly more advanced English level .

It includes a couple of numbers , some verbs and vocabulary (including the adjectives “proud,” “happy,” silly”) and fun words like “wibble” and “wobble.” Plus, of course, a lot of “quacks”! 

Follow-up activity: Have kids create their own version of the song by replacing ducks with another animal. They’ll love standing at the front of the class and teaching their song to the class. 

This may seem like an obvious song for the ESL classroom, but there are many ways you can go beyond just singing it. Have students point to each letter on flashcards or a wall chart as they sing.

Or, have them create their own alphabet chart with a picture for each letter that they can use to point at. You can also give each student a card with a different letter and have them put themselves in alphabetical order, then sing the song while holding up the corresponding card.

Follow-up activity: Play a game where your students have to find objects in the classroom that start with each letter.

This classic children’s song is a fun way to teach your students how to voice their feelings . It introduces useful vocabulary including different emotions and actions.

Have students sing along and perform the corresponding actions , such as clapping their hands or stomping their feet. This interactive approach engages young learners while enhancing their vocabulary and pronunciation skills.

Follow-up activity: To extend learning, you can encourage students to create their own verses based on different feelings. Then they can draw how they feel. 

This beloved children’s song teaches counting, sequencing and storytelling . This song’s catchy tune and repetitive structure make it a versatile tool for ESL instruction, helping young learners develop language skills while having fun.

Students can act out the song using puppets or drawings , enhancing vocabulary and physical coordination. Afterward, you can encourage them to retell the story in their words.

Follow-up activity: Use this song to talk about safety and consequences. Have your students come up with other potentially dangerous activities and how to be safe (use a helmet when riding a bike, etc.). 

While this song might start to drive you crazy after the 20th time playing it, it’s a favorite among kids and is great for learning English including family vocabulary . 

Your students will love learning the dance and will probably beg for this song when they enter the classroom. The accompanying movements encourage participation as well as vocabulary acquisition and coordination .

Follow-up activity: Guide students in creating their own “family tree” drawings, labeling family members in English. Students can then present their family trees to the class, practicing speaking and listening skills. 

This is another classic children’s song that isn’t new to the ESL classroom. It introduces transportation vocabulary and encourages movement with a catchy tune and lots of repetition.

To make it extra fun, have your students arrange their chairs into rows to pretend they’re on a bus . You can sit at the front and act as the driver. Young learners will get a thrill from this and be even more engaged as they sing and act out the movements. 

Follow-up activity: Have students design and decorate their own paper buses, labeling different parts in English. 

This song is a great way to practice saying letters and includes a fun component that requires active listening . As the song goes on, the letters are gradually replaced with different movements like clapping and jumping. 

You can sing it through a couple of times, doing the corresponding movements with your students. Then let them try on their own and see if they can listen and understand the commands .

Follow-up activity: Work with the class to come up with a new version of the song with a different animal, name and movements. Try to use a name that includes all or mostly different letters than those in “Bingo” so they practice saying more letters out loud. 

This is a fun song for teaching a key set of vocabulary that can be challenging for young learners. First, students will listen to the days. Then, they’ll listen and repeat . Next, they’ll sing it in different ways (quietly, loudly, fast). 

This repetition helps them practice the pronunciation of these words without overcomplicating it with other lyrics. The different manners of singing keep it interesting so your students won’t tire of singing the same thing multiple times. 

Follow-up activity: Using construction paper and crayons or markers, have students create their own calendars to reinforce the days of the week. If they can’t write yet, print out calendar templates and have them draw what they do each day. 

For young ESL students learning to count, a fun song is a great way to make it interesting. After they’ve learned 1-10, advance on to 10-20 and then eventually to big numbers . The Singing Walrus Youtube channel also has songs for counting in 2’s ,  counting by 5’s and more.

These resources allow you to stay consistent with the music theme as your students get better at counting. You can use them as a warm-up to your ESL lesson and keep repeating the same one each class until they’ve got it down. 

Follow-up activity: Engage students in a hands-on counting exercise using a collection of small objects like buttons, beads or colorful counters. They can work in pairs or individually to count and arrange the objects to match the numbers from the song. 

While they may not use the words “hokey pokey” in their daily lives, the rest of the vocabulary in this interactive song may be useful for your students.

Like many of the songs on this list, “The Hokey Pokey” promotes movement and has a catchy tune that’s easy to follow along with. And the theme of body parts and action words allows for many additional activities you can incorporate into an ESL lesson.

Follow-up activity: Have each student or pair of students create a different body part to put together into a giant “Hokey Pokey” person. For younger students, provide body part templates they can color and cut out. 

This engaging song teaches weather vocabulary and questions in a fun and interactive way. Students can sing along and respond to the question “How’s the weather today?” with appropriate vocabulary like “sunny,” “rainy” or “cloudy.”

It’s simple enough for very young students and the catchy tune will stick the vocabulary in their memory. You can precede or follow the song with weather-themed flashcards to further drill the words. 

Follow-up activity: Have students create visual representations of different weather conditions, practicing vocabulary while expressing their creativity. This could be a simple drawing or something more involved like a weather forecast poster.

Teaching English songs to children can be an effective way to enhance language acquisition and engage young learners. Here’s how to maximize this tool:  

• Select songs with clear pronunciation, simple vocabulary and catchy tunes that align with the children’s age and language level.
• Repetition is key ; play the song several times, encouraging children to sing along, mimicking the rhythm and intonation. Avoid over-correcting during singing. If you do hear severe mispronunciation, feel free to provide some gentle corrections.
• As they become more familiar, introduce visual aids like lyric sheets or images that correspond to the song’s content, enhancing comprehension and vocabulary retention.
• Turn songs into interactive activities to further amplify learning. Incorporate movement, such as dancing or gestures, to stimulate kinesthetic learning and reinforce vocabulary.
• After singing, engage students in related exercises like fill-in-the-blank lyrics or drawing scenes from the song to deepen understanding while nurturing creativity. More advanced students can have discussions about the song’s meaning or themes, encouraging them to express their thoughts in English. 

By combining music, movement and thoughtful activities, you can nurture language skills and a love for learning in young learners.

For more media to engage your students, you can use an immersive language learning program like FluentU . FluentU has a large library of video clips from authentic English media such as movies and music videos.

Each video comes with interactive subtitles to teach new words, and you can assign homework and track the progress of your students. 

This is just a small sampling; there are many other songs you can add to your  ESL lesson plans .

Think about how you’ll isolate and reinforce the vocabulary in whatever song you use so that your students can benefit beyond just enjoying the sing-along. 

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A collection of song lyrics to teach English vocabulary and grammar in the ESL classroom

Alanis morissette – hand in my pocket.

Practise adjectives, specifically adjectives that describe people with this song, Hand in my pocket, by Alanis Morissette The lyrics of this song contain the following 28 adjectives that can describe people: broke, happy, poor, kind, short, healthy, high, grounded, sane, overwhelmed, lost, hopeful, drunk, sober, young, underpaid, tired, restless, free, focused, green, wise, hard, friendly,…

Lenka – Everything at once

Practise adjectives and animals/nature with this song full of similes, Everything at once, by Lenka The lyrics of this song contain the following 33 adjectives: sly, strong, fast, brave, quiet, big, mean, sharp, deep, dark, sweet, right, long, ugly, pretty, strong, bright, light, hard, grand, warm, silly, cool, scary, hot, cold, old, straight, royal, buzzed,…

Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World!

Practise colours & adjectives as well as the basic present simple tense in your ESL class with this classic song, What a Wonderful World! by Louis Armstrong. These song lyrics include the following 10 adjectives: green, red, wonderful, blue, white, bright, blessed, dark, sacred & pretty The song also uses the following verbs in the…

Alan Smith Robertson – Don’t try to change me

Practice adjectives of personality with this song, Don’t try to change me by Alan Smith Robertson. These song lyrics include 20 adjectives of personality: generous, hardworking, outgoing, strong, reliable, sensitive, perfect, unique, selfish, unsympathetic, lazy, unfriendly, unsociable, bad-tempered, moody, happy, sad, jealous, insecure & stubborn. This song comes with a worksheet and and is also…

Supertramp – The Logical Song

Practice adjectives in your ESL class with this song, The Logical Song by Supertramp. The 24 adjectives which appear in these song lyrics are: wonderful, beautiful, magical, sensible, logical, responsible, practical, dependable, clinical, intellectual, cynical, asleep, deep, simple, absurd, radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal, acceptable, respectable, presentable, digital & unbelievable. It also contains the adverbs: happily, joyfully, playfully & too. There…

Sofia Carson – Rotten to the core

Practice adjectives related to being bad in your ESL class with this song, Rotten to the core by Sofia Carson. The adjectives which appear in these song lyrics are: bad, evil, glad, dirty, callous, useless, misunderstood, wicked, rotten, unique, original & unusual. Note: although we are often told that the comparative and superlative of “bad”…

Petula Clark – My Love

Practice comparative and superlative adjectives in the ESL classroom with this song, My Love by Petula Clark. The comparative & superlative adjectives which appear in this song are: warmer, warmest, softer, deeper, deepest, wider, brighter & brightest. To see suggestions on how to use this song in class, click here. Lyrics My love is warmer…

Peter Gabriel – Big Time

Revise the present simple, the present continuous and the future “will” in your ESL class with this song, Big Time by Peter Gabriel. These song lyrics also include examples of the present perfect, the future continuous and “going to”, as well as adjectives and the comparative/superlative (big, small, snow-white, amazed, fat, bigger, larger, smarter, widest). The song is…