The amazing amount of video material now available online makes resources like YouTube an excellent way to learn more English. If you want to pick up extra tips, practice your listening (and in many cases reading!) skills, or even find full lessons, there are hundreds of channels to choose from – covering all areas of English. You could, for example, choose to focus on only British or American examples of English videos. You could try to learn from movies and TV show clips, or from advice channels. You can even find older, archived videos to suit different fashions of learning. To get you started on some of the channels that are available, here are four that I think give a good mix – and even from just these four channels you can see the massive amount of detail on offer, and the different styles available!
1. British Council LearnEnglish
2. Speak English with Mister Duncan
A delightful chap giving you lots of free lessons in English – Mister Duncan has been around on YouTube for a long time, so not only has he grown to be one of the most popular English teachers on the site, he’s built up a large library of material. His enthusiasm is infectious!
3. JenniferESL
Another hugely popular YouTube English teacher, Jennifer’s ESL channel mostly offers lessons in a simple, talking-to-the-camera style. She is very articulate, making it easy to understand and learn from her.
4. Anglo-Link
Another large range of videos from a UK teacher, Minoo’s channel Anglo-Link has some detailed looks at areas like phrasal verbs, and covers topics like exam preparation, so there’s plenty of material to build your English skills.
5. ESL and Popular Culture
This channel is something a bit different, as it presents pop culture concepts with reading and visual material, rather than focusing on taught lessons. Often this uses older footage, giving a nice sense of culture history! A good resource to develop a more rounded understanding of English in use.
Hi Phil,
I was discussing with a friend the other day about English as a Second Language (ESL) when my friend claimed that the English Language (i.e. that is the entire language including its parts of speech, syntax, grammar etc) is different from the mainstream English as taught in countries (such as UK and US) where English is the native language. This runs contrary to my understanding hence I thought of seeking your advice – is it true that English under ESL is different (in terms of parts of speech, syntax, grammar etc) from the English Language as taught in UK (british english) and US (american english)? If so, wouldn’t this then make ESL English a distinct language or even a dialect as compared to UK English and US English?
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka, that’s a good question that doesn’t have a really simple answer. The goal of ESL is to help foreign learners speak English as English-speakers use it, though a lot of the time the more basic courses will focus on survival English rather than a solid understanding or fluent use. This may lead to ‘rules’ that are offered as shortcuts, so sometimes ESL students are taught certain rigid ways of speaking that purposefully avoid more natural linguist use (which can become more complicated to resolve; I’ve had teachers complain that some of the more flexible lessons on this site have led to confusion in their classrooms for this reason). However, though these inconsistencies may occur, the aim is still to teach British or US English, not some other form.
There are two key things that go beyond this though: firstly, English as taught to foreign learners is very different to English as taught to English-speakers, not because the language is different but because the need is different. After a certain level, English-speakers are taught more about literature and analysis, rather than about parts of speech and grammar etc., because language use comes more naturally to English speakers. The knowledge of how it works is given a low priority – you may find English speakers with degrees in English, for example, who couldn’t tell you what a subordinate clause is. This does not mean they don’t follow the same rules as ESL, however, it’s just that they are instinctual rather than taught for English-speakers; so often ESL students will come away with a different education, though the aim is to talk the same.
The second difference, however, is that a huge population of ESL teachers and speakers are not native speakers and may never have much to do with native speakers. This is true in many areas of the world where English is used as a lingua franca, and in these cases it does adapt to fit the communities that use it. In these cases, where native speakers aren’t involved, different rules may indeed emerge, without ever being corrected. These shouldn’t necessarily be accepted, but it’s possible no one will notice that it’s not native English speech, so different rules and patterns may indeed emerge. Still, however, the aim would be to produce English close to native usage.
I hope this answers your question?
Phil
Hi Phil,
Ah I see. In other words, while the English as taught in ESL is indeed the same language (in all aspects of the language whether it be grammar, syntax etc) as British/American English which is taught in the UK/US respectively, its more of the way of teaching the language which may differ between English taught under ESL and English as taught in mainstream schools in UK/US, but again, the key thing is that it is still the same English Language with no difference (in terms of critical aspects of the English Language such as grammar, syntax, sentence structure etc), correct?
Thanks!
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka,
Yes, that’s essentially it, but to go a little further, sometimes communities, schools and teachers that aren’t directly exposed to native English will develop errors into their own language systems that get taught and passed on. This isn’t a case of ESL being purposefully different, but a result of breaks in communication (i.e. if such schools/teachers have no opportunity to learn the more correct forms). If such a community is isolated from other English speakers and everyone learns the same errors, it might not really matter to them that they are technically not speaking native English, and so the incorrect form spreads almost as its own language (as creoles and pidgin languages would develop; eventually it is no longer incorrect English, but a particular community’s own way of communicating).