So how are you doing with the newsletter subscriptions I recommended last week? Well, this week it’s all about subscribing to YouTube channels for English ‘learners’. As you can imagine there are a gazillion (Zig Millionen) “English learning” channels and the vast majority focus on the obvious – grammar. Yuk (Igitt!), but “beggars can’t be choosers” (In der Not schmeckt jedes Brot) so the saying goes and if you want to get better you have to work on the grammar, too. For this I’ve got you covered too – see the bonus at the bottom.
So here are my top 3 to subscribe to in reverse order! (in umgekehrter Reihenfolge) – and my channel isn’t included.
Steve Kaufmann aka Lingosteve is the founder of the online language learning company Ling Q and publishes ‘deeper content’ videos about language learning in general, the theory as well as practical advice from many years as an experienced ‘polyglot’. He has learnt 20 languages, WOW! He learnt at least 7 of these in the last 10 years, even more, WOW because it often feels more difficult to learn the older you get – speaking from experience. Why not kick off with this quite counterintuitive-(nicht eingängig) sounding video (title) “To improve comprehension DON’T try to understand”.
Next up we have Anna. When I first came across her channel ‘English Fluency Journey’, I thought she was American based on her accent. I wondered why would a native American be talking about learning English. After a bit of digging (in the about page – so not too much digging really) I found out that she’s from Ukraine. Why’s her channel great? Her videos are a lot more practical. One video was sponsored by an AI tool called ELSA Speak, which can help you perfect your (American) English pronunciation English. That explains how magnificent the US accent. Check out this video “How to SPEAK English fluently” in which Anna introduces ELSA (from 3.49 mins).
And drum roll, my number 1 channel – Oxford Online! Brilliant, terrific, superb content, mainly focusing on expanding your vocabulary. The videos are so well structured and scripted, but at first, may seem ‘too easy’ for some more advanced learners. It’s true they start easy and provide more challenging vocabulary, templates/scripts as the videos go on. Take this video “How to talk about your job” for instance. It takes you through the basics (job sector, title, responsibility, tasks, likes and dislikes) provides you with examples, and encourages (ermutigen) you to use the template for yourself. I use this video with my clients as a pre-session assignment, and in session, with added input from me, you create your own extended job description.
Hope these 3 channels will be an inspiration and pivotal for you in your language journey in 2023!
Finally, as promised, the bonus bit!
Check out this free downloadable PDF “Grammar Explanation Videos on YouTube”. I put together a list of popular grammar aspects and added links to great explanation videos. This way you also get to know some ‘grammar guys & gals channels’ on YouTube.
And there’s more! Check out my next newsletter for a bonus YouTube channel.
Have you signed up for the newsletter yet? Do it now and get part 2 of my ELAN book – the cheat sheet and mini-dictionary section (Word document – better for copy & paste) sent to your email inbox.