A selection of English ESL song printables with pre-intermediate (a2)

Primary school children will have to match the pictures with words as a pre-task activity, put the sentences in order and complete the gap with words from exercise 1 

Present simple with song She's a rainbow by the rolling stones

Listen to the song, read the lyrics if needed, answer the ABCD questions, pick the correct summary for the song, match the target words to their definitions, then read a dialogue about the topic and answer the ABCD questions. 

Practice A2-B1 CEFR vocabulary with the song Helping a Friend/

Go over the ABCD questions, play the song, answer the questions, then pick the right summary of the song. Then match the target words to their definitions. If necessary go over the lyrics of the song. 

Practice A2 CEFR vocabulary with the song Always Do Your Best

Practice vocabulary, spoken reception, and written reception. Go over the lyrics, listen to the song, answer the ABCD questions, choose the correct summary of the song, and match the right definition to its word. 

A2 CEFR Vocabulary practice with the song Kindness is a Gift

If you use songs in the classroom (or are thinking of using songs) then this list can save you a lot of time! I have categorized songs under various headings such as grammar, discussion topics and vocabulary. The grammar group has been divided according to suggested use e.g articles; present simple etc. The vocabulary group has been divided according to focus e.g. colours; weather etc. This list is by no means comprehensive. It has been compiled mostly from my own experience and from ideas from various websites including  www.musicalenglishlessons.org.  



List of songs by Category such as Vocabulary; Grammar; Discussion Topics etc.

here is a nice activity in which students will have to complete the missing words as tehy listen to teh song, with imperatives, vocabulary of jobs and family, link to the video provided on the ws

Don't give me orders! song video session: imperatives , jobs and family voc

A beautiful song from two popular singers nowadays. There a 12 different exercises and two post-listening activities (to revise contractions and some tenses), so the students won´t be bored with this worksheet! (I have to be creative with my students, with the classic gap-fill they don´t even try, but I noticed that they are much more interested when the tasks are different). After listening, the activity focused on contractions is about writing the long form, and the other one is about recognizing tenses in the lyrics. I hope you like it!

Song: Like I´m gonna lose you - Meghan Trainor feat. John Legend

Louis Armstrong was a trumpeter, singer, film star and comedian. His charismatic stage presence impressed not only the jazz world but all of popular music. Students can listen to the song (link included) and fill the gaps. This Ws can be used together with the other one named: L.Armstrong-Short Biography (4 pages, 2quizes included).

Louis Armstrong -What a Wonderful World (fill the gaps + short song facts)

The aim of the exercise is to practice Second Conditional. 

Task - fill in the blanks in the lyrics of the song. 

Tip - use the song after introducing and practicing the second conditional as a form of revision / fun practice. 

You can also talk about typical American / Canadian things mentioned in the song, eg. K-car (cars popular in the 1980s), Kraft dinner (macaroni and cheese).

If you can - watch the video on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHacDYj8KZM&ab_channel=metallicaxxx420)

Second Conditional - song - If I Had a Million Dollars by Barenaked Ladies

Fill in the gaps activity. Students  guess the name of the images and then, complete the lyrics . Also, they have to circle the right names in bold. It can be used with elementary and pre-intermediate students. 

Your house ( Alanis Morissette)- song about parts of the house and furniture

VOCABULARY BUILDER- listening to the song from one of the biggest pop stars GEORGE MICHAEL: "PRAYING FOR TIME" fill in the gaps task and then reading a short text about Michael and the song following the True/False questions about the text. Fully editable!

Please, check out my other Worksheets about George Michael and other topics:



https://en.islcollective.com/mypage/my-creations?search_key=&type=printables&option=published&id=416269&grammar=&vocabulary=&materials=&levels=&studentTypes=&skills=&languageExams=&dialect=&functions=&page=1&sorting_type=most_newest&filter_type=filter_all&view_type=list&view_length=48

and also my PPTs (PowerPoint presentations)!

Song +reading short text / GEORGE MICHAEL: PRAYING FOR TIME + Key (2 pages)

Complete the song with the words below, then listen to the song and check. The song can be downloaded from YouTube. It can be used as a reading comprehension task or listening task.

The song You're the cream in my coffee by Nat King Cole

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

3,276 Song, Pre-intermediate (A2) English ESL worksheets pdf & doc