37 awesome Youtube channels for learning languages

It always blows my mind when I think of all the content available on Youtube, and the fact that my whole life wouldn’t be enough to watch everything I would find interesting there. Did you know that 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute? You can watch practically anything on Youtube! And even though there are millions of utterly stupid videos, there are also tons of valuable content and quite a few interesting Youtube channels. One of my favourite things to do on Youtube is to watch videos in any language I want to practice. That definitely helps a lot to get used to your target language, learn new words and phrases, and all of this without actually studying.

Regardless of your level, you can find someone who is teaching that language on Youtube, or just speaking it, and it’s a great way to immerse yourself in your target language without actually being in the country where it’s spoken. And it’s so much better than movies because people on Youtube usually use everyday language, which is exactly what you need to get used to the real language rather than the one in the textbooks.

So here is my list of 37 Youtube channels for learning some of the most popular languages:

French:

Francais Authentique – Meet Johan, a French guy teaching French online. He speaks slowly and it’s really easy to understand him (unlike other French people), which is why his videos are so helpful for people struggling with French pronunciation. I personally use this channel to improve my listening skills in French and would definitely recommend it to everyone learning French.

Cyprien – this one is really popular, it recently reached 10 million subscribers and there’s a good reason for that. This guy is really fun, the videos are suitable for intermediate or advanced French learners, and they have English subtitles, which is awesome if you’re like me and you can’t always understand what you hear.

Maintenant tu le sais – Another French guy with another great channel. There’s a series of videos in which he explains French expressions, and another one for the words of the future. You will no longer wonder what crazy French expressions mean and will be able to use them just like a native.

German:

Get Germanized – This is my favourite German channel. There are lessons for beginners, and lots of videos on German language and culture. I personally love the German slang series.

Authentic German Learning – There’s a free German course within this channel but I also recommend his other series, Daily dose of German. You really need just a small daily dose to start seeing progress in your German level.

LeFloid – This one is more suitable for intermediate and advanced learners since the guy is speaking fast. But even if you don’t understand everything, keep watching and you’ll see you get to understand more and more. He is basically talking about all kinds of stuff, from Internet viral videos to politics.

Italian:

Terzo Segreto – I love this channel! They have tons of short videos which are fun to watch. It’s suitable for intermediate and advanced levels. It’s not a vlog as the other channels on this list, they have short movies on different topics, and all of them are entertaining.

Willwoosh –  this guy also speaks fast (as all Italians) so you should be an advanced learner of Italian to follow. He talks about all kinds of stuff, and he also has another channel willwoosh2 that you can check.

Alberto ITALIANOAUTOMATICO – this guy doesn’t look like a typical teacher but he is actually good at it. Also, he speaks slowly and there’s a lot of content on his channel so it’s a great tool for beginners.

Sgrammaticando –  Finally a woman on this list! This is Italian grammar explained… in Italian. Grammar is an essential part of any language and as much as you hate it, you need it so you can speak correctly. And this channel can help a lot, especially if you are trying to learn Italian on your own.

Spanish:

Learn Spanish with SpanishPod101: Here you can find plenty of lessons in Spanish. There’s mainly vocabulary but also a little bit of grammar, and Spanish culture. This channel is highly recommended for beginners. They have series on different topics, and even separate lessons for Mexican Spanish and Spanish spoken in Spain.

WHATDAFAQSHOW: This guy is from Peru so it’s great for people wanting to learn Latin American Spanish. He is reviewing fun internet videos and it’s a really popular channel with more than 4 million subscribers.

EnchufeTV: This channel has all sorts of fun videos. It comes all the way from Ecuador and Spanish spoken in Ecuador is one of the clearest and easiest to understand. So even though it’s not dedicated to teaching Spanish it’s suitable also for people who have basic Spanish level and want to practice their listening skills.

Portuguese:

Porta dos Fundos: Here you can find original videos on various topics. You need have at least basic knowledge in Portuguese to be able to understand what they say, although some videos have subtitles in Portuguese or English. But even if you don’t understand everything, listening to the language will help you improve your level of Portuguese.

Hello Rusty: This girl is teaching Portuguese and she is super laid back, I like her approach a lot. Enjoy learning Brazilian Portuguese from scratch with this channel.

Small advantages: This guy is American speaking Brazilian Portuguese. He is actually teaching English to Portuguese speakers but in his Youtube channel you can find a lot of other content. His Portuguese is clear and easy to understand for beginners. It doesn’t matter that he’s not a native speaker, you can still learn a lot from him because he’s also been where you are, learning Portuguese as a beginner and now he’s fluent.

Arabic:

Arabic with Maha – Arabic is considered quite difficult to learn, probably because of its weird-looking alphabet but Maha can teach you Arabic on Youtube. She can also teach you how to make hummus!

NassraArabicMethod.com –  This channel is great for complete beginners. Their method is claimed to help people learn Arabic in just a few months. I haven’t tried it myself but according to the testimonials they have it should be working.

N2OComedy –  It is a comedy channel with quite a lot of content. It should be useful for intermediate or advanced Arabic speakers because they don’t teach Arabic, the target audience is people who are already fluent.

Dutch:

Dutch for Noobs: This girl is teaching Dutch in her channel so it’s good for beginners in Dutch. There are grammar lessons, some videos about pronunciation and also some dedicated to Dutch culture so it’s pretty useful as a start.

Clipphanger:  These are animated educational videos which explain all kinds of concepts, such as ‘What is light?’, ‘Who was Shakespeare?’ and ‘Why can parrots speak?’. They don’t have English subtitles, so they’re suitable for intermediate Dutch learners.

Ik ook van Jou –  This is a TV show about four couples. There are many short videos in this channel, they’re funny but the best part is they talk clearly so you should be able to understand the jokes if you already have some knowledge in Dutch. And even if it’s basic knowledge, you will notice progress in your listening skills after a couple of episodes.

Icelandic:

Cool Islandic lessons: There are 57 lessons in Icelandic in this Youtube channel and they cover the most important grammar and vocabulary concepts for beginners. It’s a great place to start your learning Icelandic online and to decide if it’s for you.

tunfiskurinn –  Here you can find lots of Disney movies songs in Icelandic with subtitles in English and Icelandic. Even if you’re not a Disney fan you can learn a lot just by watching these videos.

Russian:

Learn Russian with RussianPod101.com: This is a massive channel with plenty of grammar and vocabulary lessons in Russian. There’s also a series of lessons on reading practice, so don’t worry about the alphabet, it’s definitely easier to read than Arabic or Chinese.

This is Хорошо:  This guy is reviewing fun internet videos and he has more than 5 million subscribers. If your level of Russian is intermediate or advanced, you should be able to understand most of what he’s saying. Otherwise you can just enjoy the videos.

Russian with Passion:  Antonia is a Russian girl and she teaches both English and Russian. The playlist with Russian videos is called Russian with passion.

Japanese:

nihongonomori New Now Next: In this Youtube channel there are Japanese lessons for learners of all levels. Just pick your level from the list and get started.

Learn Japanese from Zero: The title of this channel speaks for itself. It is excellent for beginners and there’s lots of content for your practice. The guy is American but as you see from other examples in this list foreigners can also teach you a language, and sometimes they do it even better because they understand your struggle.

Korean:

SEEMILE (Korean language lessons (For English speaker)): This channel is great for beginners in Korean. There are lots of basic lessons, such as how to read Korean, basic vocabulary, etc. It looks a little bit like a traditional classroom but that’s why it’s the best of both worlds – offline and online language learning.

Talk to me in Korean: There’s a lot of content on this channel and it’s suitable for all levels. There are subtitles in both English and Korean so you can listen, pause and read, and then listen to each phrase as many times as you want. On top of all lessons they have in this channel, there are also videos about Korean culture, Q&A sessions and language challenges.

The world of Dave: This guy is American and he is making funny videos with subtitles in both English and Korean, which is super helpful. There are also lots of Korean guys appearing in his videos so don’t worry, you can listen to native speakers, too.

Chinese:

Learn Chinese with ChineseClass101: This is another channel of the Innovative Language Learning group. You can start with the playlist named ‘Top 5 Videos You Must Watch to Learn Chinese’ and then if you like it, go on with the rest of the videos. They even have special lessons dedicated to reading practice.

Learn Chinese Now:  This guy is American but he is fluent in Chinese. The channel is fun, and I personally like the fact that he is explaining everything giving examples with situations so you can understand it better and remember it. He is also making videos about life in China, Chinese culture and even Chinese poetry!

Chinese Corner (Happy Chinese series): These are short TV series aiming to help you learn Chinese. They are more suitable for advanced learners of Chinese but there are subtitles available in English and Chinese so don’t worry, you should be able to understand it anyway.

Here are two more channels which can be useful in learning almost any popular language:

Easy Languages:  They have lessons in Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Croatian, Korean, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Spanish, Arabic, and even Swahili. They always have English subtitles and subtitles in the target language. Also, you will hear people on the street talking in these videos, and this is the closest thing to immersion in a country where your target language is spoken.

Bookboxinc:  This Youtube channel features children’s stories with subtitles and audio in the target language. They have many languages on this channel, such as English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Dutch, and Russian.

And if you like playing video games, you can practice the language you’re learning while watching a native speaker play a game you love. Just type let’s play + the language you are learning + a game you enjoy playing in the search bar and voila, thousands of gaming videos you can watch in your target language. You learn while enjoying yourself!

So what’s your favourite channel that you use to practice another language?