I’ll never forget “Pablo” telling me, completely deadpan, that he felt “very boring” during our class discussion about emotions.
He meant bored. But honestly? His version was more accurate, even if it hurt.
Most ESL classes skip emotion vocabulary entirely, or worse, they turn it into one of those soul-crushing vocabulary lists where students robotically memorize “happy, sad, angry, scared” and then… nothing. No context or real practice. Just another list to forget by next Tuesday.
But our students need this stuff. Not in a touchy-feely, let’s-all-share-our-feelings kind of way (though that has its place). They need it because you can’t build relationships, connect with coworkers, or even complain effectively without being able to say more than “I feel bad.”
Why Finding the Right Words for Feelings Changes Everything
Think about your students for a second. They’re trying to participate in group projects, handle conflicts with roommates, explain to their boss why they need a day off, or tell their kids’ teachers what’s going on at home. And they’re doing all of this with maybe six emotion words in their arsenal.
That’s not just limiting. That’s isolating.
If “Mariam” could finally explain that she felt “overwhelmed” instead of just “tired,” she could actually ask for help. After “Wei” learns the word “frustrated,” he’ll stop appearing angry all the time because we’ll realize that as it turns out, he wasn’t angry, just stuck on the homework.
Being able to name what you’re feeling changes everything. It helps students:
- Recognize when they’re anxious about speaking up (so they can do something about it)
- Understand when their classmates are struggling (instead of thinking everyone else has it figured out)
- Explain their needs without sounding rude or confusing
- Manage stress instead of just drowning in it
What Emotion Words Should They Know?
Start simple. I mean really simple:
At first: happy, sad, angry, scared, excited, surprised
But don’t stop there. Once they’ve got those down, move to the words they really need:
Next introduce: frustrated, anxious, content, jealous, embarrassed, overwhelmed
These are the ones that come up in real life. Your students aren’t walking around feeling “melancholy” or “ecstatic” every day. They’re frustrated with their landlord, anxious about their presentation, and overwhelmed by their schedule. And if your students are beginners, they still feel those feelings and need those words, but you’ll definitely “overwhelm” them if you throw all these harder words at them at the same time. Introduce them slowly.
When they’re ready for more advanced words: Sure, throw in melancholy, dejected, elated, and indignant when they’re ready. But make sure they can truly use them, not just recognize them on a vocabulary quiz.
How People Show Emotions
Now, if you just teach the words without teaching how emotions work, you’re setting students up for some spectacular misunderstandings.
The verbal part: Someone who’s angry might say “I’m frustrated” (if they’re polite) or “I’m mad” (if they’re not). They might speak louder, faster, and more forcefully. But here’s where it gets interesting.
The nonverbal part: That same angry person might have crossed arms, a tight jaw, and narrowed eyes. Or they might be completely still with a blank face because that’s how anger looks in their culture.
The written part: In texts and emails, we’ve got tone to worry about. Plus emojis (which, let’s be honest, half your students are using wrong). Someone excited might use a million exclamation points!!! While someone disappointed writes in lowercase with sad face emojis.
Your students need to recognize all of this. Otherwise, they’re going to think their smiling Japanese classmate is being rude when she’s actually embarrassed. Or they’ll miss that their coworker’s short emails mean they’re upset, not just busy.
The Culture Piece You Can’t Skip
Right, so different cultures handle emotions completely differently, and we need to talk about it.
Emotional expressiveness: In some Latin American cultures, big emotions get expressed loudly and physically. In many Asian cultures, keeping emotions controlled is valued. This means your students are walking into class with completely different expectations about what’s “normal.”
I had a student from Korea who thought her Brazilian classmate was angry all the time because of how animated she was. The Brazilian student thought the Korean student didn’t care about anything because she was so reserved. Neither was right, but without understanding these differences, they were headed for problems.
Facial expressions: A smile doesn’t always mean happy. Sometimes it means embarrassed, uncomfortable, or “I have no idea what you just said, but I’m trying to be polite.”
Eye contact: In many Western cultures, looking someone in the eye shows respect and attention. In many Asian cultures, avoiding eye contact with authority figures shows respect. Your students need to know this, or they’ll be judged for something that has nothing to do with their language skills.
Talk about this stuff openly. Let students share how emotions work in their cultures. You’ll learn something, they’ll learn something, and everyone will (hopefully) stop making assumptions.
5 Emotion Vocabulary Activities That Don’t Feel Like Torture
Put that list of vocabulary words and definitions to the side. Not out of reach…it’s still useful, but it’s not the focus.
1. Emotional Role Plays
Yeah, I know. Role plays can be painful. But they work for emotion vocabulary if you make them genuinely interesting.
Try these:
- A job interview↗ where the candidate is nervous but trying to seem confident
- A disagreement between roommates about dishes (always a crowd pleaser)
- Breaking terrible news to someone
- Apologizing↗ for something you’re not truly sorry about (this one gets real fast)
The key is making the scenarios relatable, not some weird textbook situation nobody will ever encounter.
2. Authentic Materials that Showcase Emotions
Show them movie clips, news segments, TikToks…whatever. Have them identify the emotions they see. But don’t just stop at “he looks sad.” Push them:
- How do you know he’s sad?
- What specific facial expressions or body language tells you that?
- Would this emotion be expressed the same way in your culture?
- What words would you use instead if he looked less sad? Sadder?
Music works great too. Play different genres and have students describe the emotions the music creates. You’ll be surprised what comes up.
3. Emotional Charades
Students act out emotions using only facial expressions, gestures, and body language. The class guesses.
For beginners, stick to basic emotions. For advanced students, give them specific scenarios: “Show us someone who’s trying to hide their disappointment” or “Act out being politely frustrated with bad customer service.”
This forces them to really think about how emotions look, not just what they’re called.
4. Journaling (if your students are into it)
Some students love this, but others hate it, so don’t force it.
For the ones who like it, give them prompts:
- What made you feel proud this week?
- Describe a time you felt embarrassed and how you handled it.
- Write about a situation that made you frustrated and what you wish you could have said.
Keep it private. This isn’t for sharing unless they want to. It’s for processing and practicing.
5. Discussion (For Advanced Students)
This only works if you’ve built trust in your classroom. Set clear ground rules first, such as: respect what others share, what’s said here stays here, share what you’re comfortable with, nothing more, and no judgment.
Then give them real topics like, times you felt misunderstood because of language barriers, emotions that are hard to express in English, and situations where you had to hide your emotions.
The conversations that come out of these can be powerful. But don’t push it if your class isn’t ready.
Making This Work Without Drowning in Prep
You don’t need fancy materials. You don’t need hours of planning.
Start with what you’re already teaching and layer emotion vocabulary in:
- Teaching past tense? Have them write about a time they felt surprised.
- Working on conditionals? “If I feel overwhelmed, I…”
- Doing reading comprehension? Ask about the characters’ emotions.
Keep a running list of emotion words on the board or make a word wall to keep your board available for other things. Add to it when they come up naturally. Reference it during other activities.
And here’s your permission…you don’t have to do all of these activities. Pick one or two that fit your teaching style and your students’ needs. That’s enough.
The Bottom Line
The goal isn’t to turn your ESL class into therapy. It’s to give your students the language they need to exist as full human beings in English.
When they can say “I’m anxious about this presentation” instead of just “I don’t want to do it,” things change. When they can recognize that their coworker is frustrated, not angry, they can respond appropriately. When they can express disappointment without sounding rude, they can handle conflicts better.
That’s what emotion vocabulary does. It doesn’t just expand their word banks. It expands their ability to connect, communicate, and be understood.
And yeah, it might keep them from telling you they feel “very boring“↗ when they mean something completely different.
That’s it from me. See you in the next post!
Want some resources for emotions?
These are available in my TpT store:
role plays . . . | | | . . . discussion topics
Keep reading more about teaching vocabulary in adult ESL!
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Clothing Vocabulary: Your Adult ESL Students Know “Shirt” and “Pants.” Now What?
Teaching Body Vocabulary: Why It’s Not as Basic as You Think
