English Cartoons you can watch with YL

Cartoons are an integral part of teaching English to kids. They improve listening, enrich vocabulary, and help young learners get used to dealing with authentic materials. Moreover, they are so fun to watch! 

However, there are important things an ESL teacher has to consider while picking up the right cartoon and what are options to start with.

In this article, we are going to look at the cartoons you may watch with young learners who only start their ESL journey.

Martha Speaks is a fascinating story of a dog that ate an “alphabet soup” and is now ready to discover the language in all its aspects and peculiarities.

All of the stories are very heartwarming, thoughtful, and engaging. What is more, the charming-speaking dog becomes the kids’ favorite and they happily learn new words with this cartoon. 

Here you can see an example of what a typical episode of this cartoon looks like.

Created in the 80s, it helped more than one generation of kids to start their English, German and Spanish journeys as this cartoon was adapted to learning multiple languages.

It is true that the cartoon might be too easy at some point and if your students have some background in watching English cartoons, this one might seem a bit old. However, it doesn’t make it less nice.

Here, you can look at Muzzy's episodes.

An ordinary fifth-grader named Becky Botsford becomes WordGirl when duty calls. When there's trouble in The City, WordGirl rushes to solve it straight away. She fights even the most dangerous criminals with the help of her superpower, the power of new words.

Here is an example of a typical episode of this inspiring animated series.

Curious George is a cartoon that your young learners are going to love.

Yes, by being curious, you might get into trouble, but at the same time, you will also want to find out why.

Here is one of the episodes of this outstanding cartoon:

While in other cartoons characters were dealing with certain issues in a very “childish” manner, critics say, it was never Arthur’s case.

The characters in Arthur stumbled upon actual dilemmas, some of which were truly complex and mature.

Therefore, any ESL teacher can use this cartoon not only to teach English and present some very good words and phrases but also to cover some important topics that didn’t get any less actual throughout the time.

And this is what Arthur looks like:

Grade University professionals were happy to share some of our ideas on English cartoons for kids. What about you? Do you like implementing cartoons into your ESL lesson?