There are so many YouTube channels out there. But which ones are the best YouTube channels to learn English?
Here are my recommendations. From humour, to short documentaries, to channels for beginner learners and everything in between, you're sure to find the perfect YouTube channel to learn English.
You can use the table below to skip to the YouTube channel that interests you most. Or keep scrolling to discover each channel.
Table of Contents
1. Canguro English
Canguro English is a YouTube channel for intermediate and advanced learners of English hosted by Christian Saunders, an English teacher from Australia.
Christian likes to say that he’s on a mission to change how the world learns English. He’s also a skilled video maker.
He’s got some great clips that look like professionally made short movies about language learning. I’m sure will keep you glued to the screen.
On Canguro English you’ll also find lots of mindset and fluency tips as well as interviews with well-known figures in the English language teaching industry like linguists, language researchers, teacher trainers, and polyglots.
You can check out Canguro English here.
2. EngVid
EngVid is a YouTube channel where you’ll find 1000+ free video lessons about English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, accent, slang, phrasal verbs, idioms, culture, English language exams like IELTS and TOEFL, business English, and more.
What makes EngVid particularly great is the teachers who present the lessons. They’re all professional educators who can transform the most complex language points into simple concepts you can easily grasp.
Each teacher also has a dedicated YouTube channel so you can subscribe to your favourite one or all eleven of them.
This YouTube channel is a mine gold for you if you’re learning English.
3.BBC Learning English
This is the official BBC channel for learners of English. They publish new videos, podcasts, tutorials and lessons every week to help you learn and improve your English speaking, listening, vocabulary and pronunciation.
There’s more to watch than you have time for on this channel. What I particularly like is their “English In A Minute” series, where a teacher shows you the difference between commonly confused expressions or explains a tricky language point in 60 seconds.
Check out the BBC LearningEnglish channel here.
4.Learn English With TV Series
The description of this channel says:
“On this channel, we will practice and improve our listening comprehension, using your favourite TV shows, movies, and talk shows, to learn to understand native English without getting lost, without missing the jokes, and without subtitles. We will teach you how native speakers really speak, with dynamic English lessons, full of humor, jokes, and real life examples of English pronunciation, vocabulary, cultural tips, and grammar.”
Are you into TV series, movies in English, music, and shows? Then you can’t miss this one.
Check out Learn English With TV Series here.
5.TED Talks
If you’re a learner of English, you might have heard of TED Talks.
TED is an organization that posts international talks online for free. Their slogan is “ideas worth spreading” and their inspiring and informative talks are given by experts in various fields.
I’ve watched many TED talks. And when I say many I mean at least a hundred! I always learn something new from them.
Watching these clips can help you improve your English, especially your listening skills because most of the time you only need to focus on one single speaker and you can activate subtitles too.
Check out the TED channel here.
6.TED-Ed
TED-Ed is an extension of TED Talks. You’ll find thousands of educational clips on many different topics that will feed your curious mind.
The best thing about TED-Ed is that each video is animated and narrated. This can help you understand the content of the video.
The animations are great, the content is great, the narration is great. Everything is great about this channel! Except for one thing: TED-Ed can be addictive!
Check out TED-Ed and see for yourself.
7.60 Second Docs
What do you think of when you think of documentaries? Long movies? Me too. But this is not the type of documentary you’ll see on “60 Second Docs”.
“60 Second Docs” is a YouTube channel where you’ll find 60-second documentaries about many different topics.
They can be about interesting people, unique places, different kinds of animals, or special events from around the world.
Now you have no more excuses not to watch documentaries!
8. Daily English Conversation
Daily English Conversation is a channel for you if you’re a beginner learner of English. As you might have guessed, you can use this channel to improve your conversational skills.
You’ll find lots of dialogues that are easy to understand because they’re animated and include subtitles too.
You will also find many vocabulary and grammar videos that will help you improve your English in general.
You can check out the Daily English Conversation channel here.
9. National Geographic
I’m sure you know what National Geographic is. But maybe you didn’t know that National Geographic is also on YouTube.
On its channel, you’ll find high-quality videos about geography, archaeology, natural science, culture and history. They even have mega episodes that last over 4 hours! Hit play in the video below to watch one of them.
The channel has several million subscribers. You may want to be one of them too if you’re into culture – and learning English, of course.
Check out the National Geographic channel here.
10. Luke’s English Podcast
Luke Thompson is one of the most popular English teacher podcasters.
He’s also a YouTuber with thousands of subscribers. On his channel, you’ll find funny interviews with his language teacher colleagues, friends, and other content creators.
Luke is hilarious as he’s also a standup comedian. He loves telling funny stories about his life and British culture so this is a YouTuber you must check out if you’d like to improve your English through humour.
Check out Luke's channel here.
11. Vogue
The Vogue YouTube channel is for you if you’re a learner of English who’s interested in fashion.
You’ll find videos about fashion choices and trends, beauty routines, and lifestyle.
And if you’re one of those people who love learning abouy the life of celebrities, I’m sure you’ll also love “73 Questions”, a popular series where a Vogue interviewer asks famous people 73 quick-fire questions during a tour of their homes.
You can check out the 73 questions episodes here.
12. Fabio Cerpelloni
Fabio was a learner of English from Italy who’s become an English language teacher and writer.
He’s the author of “Any Language You Want”, a little book where he tells personal stories about his language learning journey.
Fabio has a small YouTube channel where he likes to share opinions, tips and stories about writing in English. He also uploads video interviews with interesting guests he has on his podcast.
You can check out Fabio's channel here.
13. Steve Kaufmann – Lingosteve
Would you accept language learning tips from someone who speaks 20 languages and has been a language learener for 55 years? Of course you would.
I’m talking about Steve Kaufmann, a polyglot from Canada.
On his YouTube channel, you’ll find lots of clips where Steve gives you advice on how to learn a language on your own. I was also a guest on his channel. Press play on the video above to check out our interview.
14. The Infographics Show
The Infographics Show is a channel where facts are presented in engaging and well-edited animated videos, similar to Ted-Ed.
Each video is narrated and uses colourful visuals that will help you understand the ideas that are presented in the clip.
You’ll find videos about a wide range of topics: science, history, psychology, current events, and many more.
Check out The Infographics show here.
15. Ozzy Man Reviews
This is one of my favourite YouTube channels. I could spend hours on it.
Ozzy Man Reviews is the creation of Ethan Marrell, a YouTuber from Perth, Australia. He creates the most hilarious comedy commentary videos. He gets clips from around the Web and records funny voiceovers that will crack you up (= make you laugh a lot).
Ozzy Man has a thick Australian accent and uses a lot of Australian slang and swear words, so it may not be the best channel for you if think swearing is a bad thing.
Check out one of Ozzy's most popular clips here.
16. Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
“We’re a team of illustrators, animators, number crunchers and one dog who aim to spark curiosity about science and the world we live in. To us nothing is boring if you tell a good story.”
This is how the creators of this YouTube channel describe what they do through their videos. Like in Ted-Ed and The Infographic Shows, all the clips are narrated and animated, and cover a wide range of topics.
This is another gem for you if you’re a curious learner.
17. The Ellen Show
The Ellen Show has been around for many years and it’s still one of the most popular talk shows in the US. But you don’t need to fly to America to watch it. The show is on YouTube too.
You’ll mainly see celebrity interviews and musical performances but you’ll get an excellent opportunity to listen to conversational American English. It’s perfect if you’re into pop culture too.
Check out The Ellen Show here.
18. StoryLearning
This is our YouTube channel!
I can help you learn a new language quickly through the power of story, so you can become fluent faster and live your best life.
On my channel, I talk about the ways to become fluent in a foreign language, language learning books, courses and how you can learn to understand native speakers and improve your accent.
If you want to learn a foreign language but don't know how, then my YouTube channel is the right place for you.
Check the StoryLearning channel here.
19. SciShow
Last but not least, SciShow.
SciShow is a YouTube channel for you if you’re into scientific subjects and would like to improve your English while exploring the unexpected.
The creators of this channel say that “if you're passionate about quenching your curiosity about… everything, you're in the right place.”
Check out SciShow's amazing videos here.
The Best YouTube Channels To Learn English: Hit Play!
That’s it! That’s my list of the best YouTube channels to learn English.
I hope you’ll find a channel that will help you learn. With everything from traditional language learning channels, to tiny documentaries, to animation and more, I'm sure you will!
Have fun learning English on YouTube!
Olly Richards
Creator of the StoryLearning® Method
Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.
Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.
When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.
