Top 10 YouTube Channels for Learning English in 2023 (2023)

It's almost as if YouTube was designed for English learners. There are more hours of expert advice than a student could watch in a lifetime. Even better, almost any video can be watched with subtitles, slow down, pause, and repeat until you understand every word.

There are easily enough great YouTube English teachers to fill the top 100, but we've narrowed them down to just ten.

10 Best YouTube Channels for Learning English in 2023

Here's our rundown of the best channels for learning English, in no particular order.

1.Prepare

Preply's YouTube channel offers a wide range of English learning resources, no matter what area of ​​English you want to learn or what level you are at. You can watch videos on everything from grammar to business English for free.

Preply tutors use YouTube to share their English skills with you, and if you find a specific tutor interesting or helpful, you can book a private lesson with them in the description.

At the time of writing, Preply has nearly 2 million views and counting. So join the community and watch some English videos on the channel today.

2.Bob the Canadian

If you're learning English in 2021, you probably already know Bob the Canadian! He is a high school teacher from Toronto, Canada who lives on a flower farm with his wife and five children. A few years ago he decided to create YouTube videos for English learners for fun and they became a huge hit.

Bob's videos are mainly about everyday situations. Bob describes everyday places, scenes and conversations in simple English while explaining difficult words. He's taken his viewers to a great mix of places, from hardware stores to hotels to hospitals. Bob's accent is very clear and he subtitles his videos so advanced speakers will easily understand most of them. He's also the nicest guy in the world, which makes his videos very watchable - many regular viewers are starting to think of him as a friend!

3.Learn English with Mr. Duncan

Mr. Duncan has been running a successful English language YouTube channel for over ten years, so you know he has both experience and expertise! He lives in a pretty town in the UK called Much Wenlock and has an upper class British accent to match.

Mr. Duncan's huge video catalog covers almost every topic in the world of British English, from idioms to grammar and technical vocabulary. In recent months he has stopped creating short video lessons and has instead started offering free live stream lessons three times a week. They're really useful: tune in to askQuestionsfor free in real time! If that's not your thing, then all of his old videos about more specific parts of the English language are still available.

Unlike Bob the Canadian, Mr. Duncan plays a character in his videos. He often overplays words, almost like Mr. Bean. His videos are pretty silly - most viewers find them funny and memorable, but other learners might prefer a more serious channel.

4.Learn BBC English

BBC Learn English is definitely the most professional English teaching channel on this list. It's a UK Government service - each video was produced by a team of experts, not one passionate person.

This channel is very well organized and has something for everyone. There is a playlist for learning English with breaking news, another for perfecting your accent and another for preparing for English tests. The videos are remarkably polished and all fairly short - it's an excellent resource. If you are one of those serious souls who find Mr Duncan's channel too childish, then BBC Learn English is definitely a great choice for you!

Want to be sure about the differences between British English and American English? Take a look

5.Marine language

Can English learners ever achieve an almost native language level? Some days you need to be reminded that it's actually possible! If you're having one of those days, LinguaMarina is the perfect inspiration.

Marina was born and raised in Russia but decided to move to the United States in 2015. She taught herself to speak English like an American and now runs two businesses from her adopted home of San Francisco, California. Her YouTube channel is perfect for anyone dreaming of a similar path.

The channel has a great study playlist for the TOEFL and another on how to apply to colleges in the US, but it also covers more universal topics like pronunciation and common expressions. Not all of Marina's videos are about learning English; Some of them share entrepreneurial expertise and general life advice - but most people learning English for business purposes will also find this useful. If you're learning English to move to the US, be sure to spend some time with Marina!

6.EnglishClass101

This is a channel developed to sell an online interactive English course available at EnglishClass101.com. However, if you don't mind a sales pitch, the videos themselves are a great learning resource. They are all completely free - regardless of whether you buy the course or not.

This channel is particularly good for explaining grammatical rules and common expressions. If you're ever so bored understanding the use cases for a tense that you completely switch off, there's almost certainly an EnglishClass101 video that can help!

7.JenniferESL

JenniferESL offers such well-structured and rich lessons that you'll feel like you've paid for a professional language course! She's been making YouTube videos teaching US English with her family since 2007, so there's a huge collection to explore. Viewers can either follow their own pre-planned course or select from a range of playlists, each addressing a specific aspect of English learners are struggling with. At the moment these include one on English prepositions and one on onphrasal verbs.

As with Bob the Canadian, one of the nice things about Jennifer's videos is that you get a glimpse of a person's life in an English speaking country. This is a channel that really feels like community and the followers feel like Jennifer supports her success. She also uses her channel to promote other teachers' videos that she finds useful.

8.Learn English with TV series

Everyone knows someone who taught themselves English by watching all ten seasons ofFriends, To the right? Or at least it's a common myth! If you always wanted itLearn English by watching TVThis could be your perfect channel. The moderators show excerpts from famous English-language television series and explain idioms, slang and specialist vocabulary. Videos are between twenty minutes and half an hour long - enough time to really immerse yourself in the language. There are videos for a range of TV shows and movies, from Spongebob to Star Wars. There is also a playlist of famous songs and their lyrics. If you're trying to find a TV series to learn English with, this is a great place to start your search!

There are enough videos here to keep any English learner busy for a very long time. But if you work through them all, they also sell an additional English course with each episode ofFriendsSeasons 1 & 2!

9.toLiquidity

ToFluency is a channel for people interested in language learning strategies. The host is a Brit named Jack who believes the first step to mastering the English language is learning how to learn. Topics include 'how to determine your own level of English', 'how to overcome your fear of speaking' and 'common mistakes to avoid when learning English'.

If you don't like to delve into tactics, this channel might still be useful. There are interesting videos on a variety of topics, from phrasal verbs to automotive vocabulary. However, it is primarily one for ambitious learners who love "life hacks"!

Like several of the channels on this list, ToFluency is trying to sell viewers an English course, but there's still a treasure trove of information available for free.

10.VOA Learn English

If you study US culture, you may have heard of Voice of America. It is a company (partly) run and funded by the US government that distributes North American news in 47 languages ​​to audiences outside of North America. The VOA Learning English Channel is therefore a database of English instruction created with the help of the US government.

As you would expect, the videos are polished and extremely well planned - clearly the product of a team of experts. Best of all, the broadcaster offers a free 52-week course! Video lessons on YouTube match worksheets and quizzes on their website. If you don't want to invest a whole year in this course, there's also a brilliant selection of playlists, from English in a Minute, where you can learn common American phrases in quick chunks, to American Stories, short clips from famous stories in English with subtitles and explanations of difficult words. Those studying about American Accents and Culture should definitely not miss this.

Expert knowledge used to be a rare and expensive thing, but YouTube has changed that dramatically. With so many adorable mindless videos available as well, it's easy to underestimate the educational value of this platform!

That's why you should make the most of YouTube's English language resources.

Here are short videos that explain exactly the information you need!

YouTube is a very well sorted database. You can search for extreme niche and specific topics and expect to find a relevant video with the information you're looking for. YouTubers know that nobody watches videos longer than fifteen minutes, so they will also be short and to the point.

This is an incredible benefit for language learners! Before the YouTube age if you wanted tolearn Englishwith videos you would have to buy a DVD about learning English in general and flip through to find the parts that are relevant to you. Now we can search YouTube for the exact skills we need to develop: whether that's the English vocabulary needed to buy a plane ticket or irregular verbs in thesimple pastZeitform.

You can slow them down and use subtitles

Native English speakers speak fast…really fast. This can be a huge frustration when trying to improve your listening skills. Watch TV and movies at 75% speed instead of full speed and you'll be amazed at how much more you understand. The settings on YouTube make this possible for every single video!

Even better, YouTube also allows users to add subtitles to videos — which most voice channels do. Learners usually find it easier to understand written English than spoken English, so reading along with a YouTube lesson can be very helpful. If only you could slow down and subtitle English speakers in real life too!

They liven up your learning materials

Learning English can be so fulfilling. It can open your life to new experiences, opportunities and friends around the world. But it doesn't feel that way in every single study session. At some point you'll be working through a boring textbook and wishing you were doing something else. It is important not to get bored while learning English, otherwise you will be tempted to give up!

YouTube is a great tool when studying feels boring. If you don't understand a vocabulary or grammar rule at first, it can help to look at the information in a different way. Put down the textbook and find a video! YouTube adds valuable spice to your learning cocktail.

They are usually free

Aside from the endless cat videos, much of YouTube contains valuable expertise that would otherwise be expensive to access. Before YouTube, you had to pay someone to explain tricky parts of the English language! We're very fortunate that the only price we pay for a video lesson is watching a 30-second ad for something we don't want. This means you can save your English learning budget for even more useful tools - like B. practice with a real speaker on a website suchPrepare.

By subscribing, you are accountable to a community

There is a lot of talk about “online communities” these days. Sometimes it seems that every website with more than five visitors claims to be a "community"! However, in the case of YouTube, this term is pretty accurate.

If you watch the same English-language YouTube channel every week, you'll soon become part of a group of like-minded students who enjoy learning using methods similar to yours. You will likely see study tips in the comments section. You'll probably find that the people in your community have questions similar to yours and can judge your language skills better than anyone else! It's a great way to get support on your learning journey, especially if you don't have many other English students in your life.

In addition, if you click subscribe on your favorite English teaching channel, you will receive a notification every time a video is uploaded. This will keep you in a regular routine of learning new things! Even if you don't watch every new video, the prompt alone will remind you to stay on track.

Start learning with YouTube, sharpen your skills withPrepare

There is an incredible amount of expertise available for free on YouTube's ESL page. You can take an entire English course, attend live Q&A sessions, or simply get clear explanations of grammar rules - all without opening your wallet!

The only downside to learning English with YouTube is that the videos (usually) don't speak. Sooner or later you need someone to talk to to really get ahead! TakeIndividual lessons with a Preply tutor, and you can put into practice all the skills you have learned. Self-study lessons on YouTube and real-time feedback from an online tutor are a powerful combination. Try both and you will beto speak Englishwith confidence before you know it.

Looking for other fun and technical ways to learn English? Read our article about the12 Best Podcasts for Learning English in 2021