Jokes in English for ESL/EFL teachers and students

Drilling grammar tenses and learning new words by heart people forget about the main idea of the language. It is a way to communicate, read, watch something in original and finally understand. There is no more natural way to understand another culture rather than jokes. What's the point to speak English fluently if you don't understand what people mean? Apparently, laugh is a necessary part of studying and living. Humor helps us to get to know people and make a stressful situation more positive. Most people feel nervous in English class, so that is how you can make the atmosphere more friendly and welcoming. It also helps to overcome a fear of speaking in a foreign language. Learners can try to build rapport with each other in your classes. 

Moreover, jokes and funny stories may be extra activities having something to do with the main vocabulary topic or grammar. Use them to demonstrate phrasal verbs, idioms, and new English tenses. When students know that such knowledge relates to the real world, they will easily deal with difficulties. There is no doubt, it takes practice and patience to understand English jokes. However, they aren't supposed to be funny for everyone. What is more important that students get familiar with ways of making jokes in a foreign language. So, we have sorted some good jokes depending on the age of students. They aren't complicated to understand, so they come in handy according to the topic rather than level of class. 

ESL jokes for kids

There are many things you can do with jokes in English. When it comes to teaching young learners, keep in mind that they need something bright, funny, and even ridiculous. It's better to use flashcards to make a joke real. Ask children to draw what happened before the joke if they know Past Simple. Assign them to predict what might happen after to continue a joke. If you have some time left, tell a joke without words using emotions, gestures, and facial expressions. Students need to guess what you mean. Without any further ado, there are some funny jokes for kids from 3-10 years old.

• Why is six afraid of seven?… Because 7 ATE 9
• Why do elephants have no computers?… They are afraid of the mouse!
• What vegetable sounds like a parrot? ... Carrot.
• Teacher, "Winnie, what do we have today that we didn’t have ten years ago?" Winnie, "Me".
• What starts with P, ends with E, and has millions of letters? The Post Office!
• I have 12 legs, 12 arms and 8 heads. What am I? ... A liar!
• Which bus could cross the ocean? Columbus.
• Which month has 28 days? All of them!

Such simple ESL teacher jokes make kids think that English is amusing. It is a good though taking into account that it won't be always like that. Pictures, dances, and even noise let your students get jokes ignoring unfamiliar vocabulary.

Jokes for teenagers

Students of secondary school are ready to think situations over before jumping to conclusions. So, in this case jokes look like rebuses rather than anecdotes. It helps to make learners think outside the box. Conduct an intellectual competition where a winner is a person, who answers funnier. Also, you can make it a good tradition, to finish lessons with small intriguing jokes. Drawing teenagers' attention to new phrases helps them to make their own examples. Let your group know some polite rules of making jokes and explain that there are some things that may offend people.

• Where can you find an ocean without water?….on a map!
• Why did the computer go to the doctors?… It had a virus.
• How can you tell the sea is friendly?… It waves!
• What key isn't supposed to open a lock? … a mon – KEY!
• What letters are not in the alphabet?… The ones in the mail.
• Why is the letter "T" like an island? Because it's in the middle of "water".

Teacher: “Jim, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?”
Jim: “You told me to do it without using tables.”

Teacher: “This essay on your dog is the same as your brother’s.”
Student: Yes, sir, we have the same dog.”

Teacher: “Why are you late, Terry?”
Terry: “Because of a sign down the road.”
Teacher: “What does a sign have to do with you being late?”
Terry: “The sign said, School Ahead, Go Slow!”

A little girl came home from school and said to her mother, “Mommy, today in school I was punished for something that I didn’t do.”
The mother exclaimed, “But that’s terrible! I’m going to have a talk with your teacher about this … by the way, what was it that you didn’t do?”
The little girl replied, “My homework.”

ESL jokes for adults

Making good jokes might be tricky even in a native language. That's why, don't expect that everybody will get a joke. We have different sense of humor, and some people have some topics they aren't ready to laugh at. Anyway, it is an English class not a stand-up show. Be careful and attentive avoiding some controversial issues. There is a subtle boundary how to have people in stitches and make them cry. As your students are adults, ask them to think of some jokes they heard abroad. If you have a class with different nationalities, ask learners to prepare the funniest jokes, which are popular in their motherlands, and translate them in English. 

• A horse walks into a bar and the bartender says, "So what's with the long face?"
• A girl wanted to impress her English teacher one day. She had to walk past the teacher while she was talking to someone. She said, "Excuse me, can I pass away?"
• A student, who is studying English as a foreign language, was confused when he saw the words "open here" on a box of laundry soap, so he asked, "Can I open it at home?"
• This Kitchen will be closed today because of illness. I'm sick of cooking.
• What is the longest word in the English language? Smiles. Because there is a mile between its first and last letters!
• I used to be a werewoolf... But I'm much better noooooooooooow !

A: "I have the perfect son."
B: "Does he smoke?"
A: "No, he doesn't."
B: "Does he drink alcohol?"
A: "No, he doesn't."
B: "Does he ever come home late?"
A: "No, he doesn't."
B: "I guess you really do have the perfect son. How old is he?"
A: "He will be six months old next Wednesday."

Patient: "Doctor, I have a pain in my eye whenever I drink tea."
Doctor: "Take the spoon out of the mug before you drink."

Mother: "Did you enjoy your first day at school?"
Girl: "First day? Do you mean I have to go back tomorrow?

A: "Hey, man! Please call me a taxi."
B: "Yes, sir. You are a taxi."

Frank: "Teacher, can I go to the bathroom?"
Teacher: "Frank, may I go to the bathroom?"
Frank: "But I asked first!"

Customer: "Excuse me, but I saw your thumb in my soup when you were carrying it."
Waitress: "Oh, don't worry. The soup isn't hot."

A: "I was born in California."
B: "Which part?"
A: "All of me."

Two friends meet and one of them says, "I've taught my dog how to speak English! That's impossible", says the other man. "Dogs can't speak!" "It's true! I'll show you." He turns to his dog, "How's the situation in England?" The dog answers, "Rough, rough."

Conclusion

Understanding English jokes is an essential part of the language acquisition. Sometimes foreign humor might be too tricky to get, especially when it relates to a certain part of the city or other native-speakers' staff. Needless to say that satisfaction and pleasure from watching movies in original takes getting jokes. Such a skill will help to break the ice and become more confident during speaking. It is the most effective way to feel the language rather than scrutinize its rules.

Don't worry if students can't get the meaning immediately. Give them some time helping with visual handouts or body language. The more relevant and appropriate information students get, the faster they start understanding. Pick some comical scenes from a famous TV-series and show students. Ask them what phrases or grammar a character used. Situations from movies may help to deliver the meaning of jokes, even if students don't know most of the words.

There are some taboo topics you shouldn't laugh at:

• religion;
• relationship;
• parents;
• childhood;
• character and appearance.

Teaching adults allows you to discuss a huge variety of topics, but there are some boundaries as well. Lessons with jokes and funny stories might be so involving and amusing that participants can lose control and forget about the goal of such an event. Anyway, you are a teacher, so check the time of each stage of the lesson and guide your group.

If you hesitate how to combine fun and meaningful lessons, enroll in online TEFL/TESOL course. You will be given information about teaching receptive and productive skills according to lesson objectives you planned. It will make your classes more engaging and effective in terms of activities and result. Also, a native-speaker trainer will give an honest feedback on your lesson structure. Now, you can drastically improve your professional skills at a 50% discount.

We hope you found this article amusing and instructive. Leave your relevant questions about how to work with jokes for ESL students in the comments section below. We are always glad to help.