ESLSongs

Practice animals and animal sounds in your ESL class with this really fun song, What does the fox say? by Ylvis.

These song lyrics include the following 12 animals’ names and the sounds they make: dog, cat, bird, mouse, cow, frog, elephant, duck, fish, seal, fox & horse. Other nature-related vocabulary words in the song are: sound, eyes, nose, chasing mice, digging holes, paws, hill, fur & woods.

There is a suggestion on how to use this song in your ESL classes below, but for more ideas, click here.

Lyrics

Dog goes woof, cat goes meow,
Bird goes tweet, and mouse goes squeek
Cow goes moo, frog goes croak and the elephant goes toot
Ducks say quack, and fish go blub, and the seal goes ow ow ow
But there’s one sound that no one knows
What does the fox say?

Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! What the fox say?
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! What the fox say?
Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho! What the fox say?
Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff! What the fox say?

Big blue eyes, pointy nose, chasing mice and digging holes
Tiny paws, up the hill. Suddenly you’re standing still
Your fur is red, so beautiful, like an angel in disguise
But if you meet a friendly horse, will you communicate by mo-o-o-o-orse?
How will you speak to that ho-o-o-o-orse?
What does the fox say?

Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow! What the fox say?
Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow! What the fox say?
A-hee-ahee ha-hee! What the fox say?
A-oo-oo-oo-ooo! Woo-oo-oo-ooo! What does the fox say?

The secret of the fox, ancient mystery
Somewhere deep in the woods I know you’re hiding
What is your sound? Will we ever know?
Will it always be a mystery? What do you say?

You’re my guardian angel, hiding in the woods
What is your sound?

Wa-wa-way-do, wub-wid-bid-dum-way-do, wa-wa-way-do
Will we ever know?
Bay-budabud-dum-bam
I want to know!
Abay-ba-da bum-bum bay-do

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Download this exercise (PDF)

Match noise do these animals make? bird, cat, cow, dog, ducks, elephant, fish, fox, frog, horse, mouse & seal.

Put an animal in each space depending on the noise in bold next to it.
Then listen to the song to check your answers.
Do you know what noise a fox makes? Which of the fox sounds in the song do you prefer?

_____________ goes woof, _____________ goes meow,
_____________ goes tweet, and _____________ goes squeek
_____________ goes moo, _____________ goes croak and the _____________ goes toot
_____________ say quack, and _____________ go blub, and the _____________ goes ow ow ow
But there’s one sound that no one knows
What does the fox say?

Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! What the fox say?
Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! What the fox say?
Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho! What the fox say?
Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff! What the fox say?

Big blue eyes, pointy nose, chasing mice and digging holes
Tiny paws, up the hill. Suddenly you’re standing still
Your fur is red, so beautiful, like an angel in disguise
But if you meet a friendly horse, will you communicate by mo-o-o-o-orse?
How will you speak to that ho-o-o-o-orse?
What does the fox say?

Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow! What the fox say?
Fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow! What the fox say?
A-hee-ahee ha-hee! What the fox say?
A-oo-oo-oo-ooo! Woo-oo-oo-ooo! What does the fox say?

The secret of the fox, ancient mystery
Somewhere deep in the woods I know you’re hiding
What is your sound? Will we ever know?
Will it always be a mystery? What do you say?

You’re my guardian angel, hiding in the woods
What is your sound?

Wa-wa-way-do, wub-wid-bid-dum-way-do, wa-wa-way-do
Will we ever know?
Bay-budabud-dum-bam
I want to know!
Abay-ba-da bum-bum bay-do

Ylvis

Ylvis are a Norwegian comedy duo consisting of brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker. They debuted as professional variety artists in 2000 and have since appeared in several countries in variety shows, comedy concerts, television shows, radio shows and music videos. They hosted the Norwegian talk show I kveld med Ylvis (2011–2016). Their song and music video “The Fox “, written and filmed for the talk show, went viral on YouTube in September 2013. The video has over 1.1 billion views as of July 2024. They released an album called Ylvis: Volume I, a compilation of ten older singles. In 2018, the brothers released a series titled Stories from Norway, in which they collected headlining stories from Norway and presented them as short musical documentaries to address satire, fun and comedy.