There’s an incredible variety of English learning videos out there. You can build your language skills while being totally entertained, no matter what your personal interests are.
I’ll show you my favorite websites to learn English with videos that cover a variety of topics so you’ll be sure to find something you love.
Coursera is an online course website with a huge selection of free and affordable internet classes. Most of the courses are taught using videos, making this one excellent resource for English learners.
You can take a course specific to English learning, or you can choose to take a course about anything that interests you, like history, science, math or writing. You’ll be learning about something you care about, all while strengthening your English.
Videos are combined with assignments (like homework), quizzes and sometimes even projects for a complete college-like experience.
2. Best for Immersive Video-Based Learning: FluentU
FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
It uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the English language and culture over time. You’ll learn English as it’s spoken in real life.
FluentU has a variety of engaging content from popular talk shows, nature documentaries and funny commercials, as you can see here:
FluentU makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.
For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you'll see this:
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It even reminds you when it’s time to review! Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.
The British Council is a fantastic resource if you’re learning British English (some resources are also available in American English). The videos on this website don’t just teach the language—they teach about British people and culture. Watch videos about British culture and locations and see real people speaking about their lives around England. Learn more about the language and country.
The British Council’s LearnEnglish website is a great place to learn in general. After you’ve browsed the English learning videos, check out the rest of the website for games, grammar and vocabulary lessons, business and work-related English and other useful information.
You can watch this video about positive female role models. You will also find instructions and preparation exercises to help you complete the tasks after the video.
CNN is a popular international news source. There are many places to get your news these days, but CNN remains a classic (that means it’s an old but good choice!). The homepage of the website displays featured videos of the day’s top news, so you’re getting information about current events while you learn English.
You can also watch CNN’s original videos on topics from sports to family life, and watch many videos of past news. Use the site to catch up on what’s going on in the world (with a heavy focus on America). Or use it to watch older news you already know about so you can better focus on the English used.
Check out this video and learn about the next extreme aerial sport while improving your English skills.
Want bite-sized parts of shows on the Discovery network? Catch them here in high-definition. The Discovery channel shows reality television that looks at everyday people doing interesting things. It also has documentaries and shows about our world and environment.
Discovery’s shows are all about ordinary people from unique settings or cultures, so you can get a view of the many things America has to offer with these short clips. The website also has a service that allows you to watch full episodes, and a number are available for free.
Watch this video where a marine biologist Luke takes his family to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center in Jekyll Island and practice your English listening skills
What makes something funny? The videos on Funny Or Die have many different kinds of humor. Some funny clips are parodies (funny versions of real events). Some use humor to comment on current events. Others are just plain silly!
The site has many exclusive videos and articles, and it collects some of the web’s funniest videos. To “get” some of the jokes, you’ll need to understand the cultural reference—and if you get that, you know your learning is going great!
You can watch a video about CatCon and meet famous cats on the Internet while improving your understanding of English humor!
Like Funny Or Die, CollegeHumor has many funny videos. Unlike Funny Or Die, this website focuses on the kind of humor that younger viewers (in their 20s) would find funny.
The CollegeHumor actors act out skits (short shows), turning everyday situations into absurd ones. Other videos make fun of things, often by being silly or crude (with “potty” or “bathroom” humor). These videos show how younger people speak, and pick apart the American culture in a fun way.
Watch this video explaining why new iPhones are like new girlfriends for your daily dose of American English!
The channel PBS is known for its fantastic educational programs and beautiful nature specials. And now you can watch many of their shows (and clips from them) on the PBS website. You can find shows about food, the arts, nature, history, dramas and much more. If you’re looking for a place to learn English in a fun way, this is the website to do it on.
Check out this video where NASA uses a brand new James Webb Space Telescope to look at the stars and learn English in a fun way.
10. Best for Learning Scientific English: Big Think
What makes someone a genius? How is our stomach like a second brain? The videos on Big Think answer these questions and so many more. This website posts videos about science, biology and life that will make you think.
The ideas in the videos are pretty big, but they’re explained in a way that many people can understand. This one is recommended for higher intermediate and advanced English learners, and it’s a great way to find interesting things to learn about—and talk about if you’re looking for conversation starters.
For example, you can watch a video of Dr. Michio Kaku, the co-founder of string field theory, explaining the God Equation while picking up words used in scientific English.
Like Big Think, TED has videos meant to get you thinking. TED is a series of talks by brilliant minds from many different industries, from tech and science, to literature and humanities, that focus on spreading new ideas.
TED videos all show a person (or people) speaking on a stage, and they run in length from 2 or 3 minutes to an hour. If you’re trying to improve your public speaking skills, or even just your conversational skills, you can learn a lot from watching the presenters on TED.
What makes a talk interesting to the audience? You can also learn many new ideas and find new ways of thinking about things. After you watch a video, do a little research about the presenter: You’ll learn about some new and important people this way.
Check out this video about lessons from the longest study on happiness while improving your English vocabulary and listening skills.
This website pulls together useful videos from around the internet which show how to do nearly anything. Whether you’re interested in cooking, art, technology or anything else that requires a how-to guide, you can probably find an article and a video about it here. Follow along with the videos to learn a new skill and test your understanding of English instructions.
If you want to join a video streaming service like Netflix or Hulu but don’t want to spend money every month for it, Sony Crackle is a great website.
Like other streaming websites, Sony Crackle has a nice selection of full movies, TV shows, many classics (old movies and shows) and even some original content. It’s available on many devices so you can watch on the go—and take as long as you want on a movie or show without worrying about a monthly subscription.
Watch an episode of the series “Going From Broke” where an NFL cheerleader works on fixing his own finances and learn more business English.
Adam Savage is part of the team behind the TV show “Mythbusters.” This website is a collection of videos featuring Adam testing things, building, making things and much more. His clear voice is easy to understand, and the shows are fun to watch if you enjoy watching things get made. There are full episodes, or clips if you want something shorter.
Here’s a video where Adam Savage learns how the armor for Star Wars live-action Clones was built!
EngVid is a great source for English learning videos. It features a wide range of video lessons covering various topics, including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, writing and listening. Each lesson is presented by a qualified teacher who provides clear explanations and practical examples to help learners understand and use English effectively.
There are huge benefits of learning English with movies, TV shows, web series and video English lessons. In fact, you can learn English with any kind of English media! Many of the websites on our list have videos that don’t specifically teach English.
That means you’ll need to watch them like you would watch a movie or a show: by keeping your eyes and ears open, and watching for the purpose of learning (and not just to be entertained).
Before you start, it’s useful to have a goal. What are you hoping to learn from the videos you watch? Keep a notebook nearby for writing down new words, phrases and other useful information. After each video, describe the video in your own words, either out loud or on paper.
If the video you watched is short, it might help to watch it twice—once for understanding (by watching it through without pausing) and once for learning (by taking notes or replaying certain parts).
What kind of learning you do depends on what you watch for. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Watch for the language. Listen to the way vocabulary, grammar and phrases are used.
Watch for the people. Listen to the accents and slang. Watch for the difference between the way people speak, and what it tells you about their place in society. In other words, who uses professional English? Who uses slang? This can tell you a lot about people and their culture. Speaking of which…
Watch for the culture. People speak differently depending on where they’re from. Watch for the differences that location has on people’s English. British and American English are an obvious example, but even within the two countries, you can find many different accents, phrases and ways of speaking.
Watch for the knowledge. Finally, don’t forget to enjoy the content of the videos. Learning new information in English is a fantastic way to learn through English immersion: If you can understand a new topic when it’s taught in English, you’re doing great! And you’ll be adding a new topic of conversation to your knowledge, that you can discuss in English with others.
With all the options above, you’re sure to find something that interests you.
Use these sites to learn English with videos the fun and effective way!
If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.
The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.
FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.
For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:
FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.
FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.
The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.
