How to find the Lyrics to song
The best way to find the words to your favourite songs is to use a search engine like Google or Bing. Type the word 'lyrics', followed by the name of the singer, group or name of the song. A list of web sites which have the words to your song should appear. When you have found the lyrics, select them with the curser, press 'edit' and 'copy', then open up your word processor and 'paste' them onto a blank page. You can now blank out words or re-order the lines of the song to create your own activities.
Viv's songs
Viv's songs are divided into three levels according to their level of difficulty.
Level 1 songs (Beginner, Elementary & Pre-intermediate)
Level 2 songs (Intermediate)
Level 3 songs (Upper-intermediate & Advanced)
If you are not sure about the level of your students, check the page 'How long?' under 'conditions of courses' on this site.
Avoid using songs at an inappropriate level as it may lead to students either becoming demotivated or a potentially useful listening activity being wasted.
Before using the song worksheet in class, check carefully that the version of the song you have is the same as that used for the worksheet. Different versions of the same song often have different lyrics or even a different number of verses.
The time invested in creating exercises based on songs is more than compensated by the interest and motivation it generates. Furthermore, if the song you have chosen is popular at the time, there's a good chance that your students may hear it outside the classroom. This will mean automatic revision of vocabulary and grammar.
When Viv did his RSA Preparatory Certificate for TEFL (which became the CELTA) at International House in Hastings, UK, he wrote the following essay as part of his course work: An evaluation of the place of music and song in TEFL today. This essay was originally written by hand, so there may be some typing errors which have escaped while transferring it to digital form. ;-)
If you use any of my song worksheets either in class or at home, please send me a message using the guestbook.
All levels