Name: How to Learn English On Your Own (for FREE)
Uploaded: 2026-02-01T02:10:43.000Z
Duration: 13 min 28 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Present continuous

in this video I'm going to show you the best way to learn English on your own.

To-infinitive

Together, we're going to create a daily learning routine that covers all the major elements of learning English.

Vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, listening, speaking, and reading and writing skills.

I'll show you the best resources for building each of these skills based on your current level of English, and

then we'll create a learning plan that meets your goals and needs as a student.

Right now, you probably understand at least some English.

Maybe you studied it in school or you've watched American movies, or you're currently learning as an adult, and

But in order to find the resources that will serve you best, it's helpful to have a clear understanding of your current level of English.

And to do that, you can take this free English proficiency test, and

I'll put links to everything I'm talking about in the video description box below.

After you take the test, your results will be based on the CEFR scale and you'll receive a score somewhere between a one beginner level and C2, which is close to a native level of fluency.

Keep your score in mind throughout this video, because I'll be recommending different materials based on your current level of English.

Before you dive into watching TV shows and listening to podcasts, it's important that you have a core understanding of how the English language works.

How to conjugate a verb, how to build a sentence, how to ask a question, things like that.

And to build that understanding, you should use one of these two courses.

They're both excellent and they're completely free, and

they'll give you all the knowledge you need to continue learning on your own.

The only question for you is whether you want to study American English or British English, and

I'll talk more about that decision in our next segment on pronunciation.

If your English is already at a B2 level or above, you don't need to be using a course at all.

At that level, you'll learn faster by focusing on your listening, reading, and speaking skills.

And again, we'll talk about building the right routine for your needs at the end of this video.

As you probably know, there are many different dialects of English.

And every dialect has a different pronunciation.

The good news is that no matter what English dialect you learn, it's pretty easy to understand the others.

The bad news is that all English dialects have some pretty bizarre spellings and pronunciations, so you should study the dialect that you find most interesting or useful.

For many people, that's American English.

And the YouTube channel Rachel's English has a free course that I highly recommend for anyone who wants to improve their American English pronunciation.

As you'll see, Rachel gives clear and concise explanations on how to create every sound in the English language.

Listen carefully and then record yourself, pronouncing the various sounds.

If there's room for improvement, go back to the guides, make an adjustment, and try again.

Once you have a solid understanding of basic English pronunciation, you can start practicing a more advanced technique, Vocal placement Vocal placement refers to the way muscles in our mouths actually shape sound, and

it's an important part of English pronunciation.

You can use this playlist as a starting point, but

eventually you'll begin to hear English vocal placement on your own.

When that happens, you can practice by listening to news broadcasts and again recording yourself and trying to match what you hear.

If you're interested in learning British pronunciation, I recommend using this playlist to study basic technique and this one to master vocal placement.

And again, you'll find all the information in the description box below.

If you want to speak fluent English, it's essential that you build a wide vocabulary of words and phrases, and

the simplest way to do that is by using flashcards.

There are thousands of flashcard tools out there, but I recommend that you use a program called Anchor.

you can use the browser version for free on your phone.

it uses something called Spaced Repetition, which will let you learn as many new words as possible in the shortest amount of time.

All you need to do is open up the app and practice every day.

If you're currently at the A1 or A2 level, you should practice with this Anki deck.

As you can see, each card includes native audio, so you can also practice proper pronunciation and as you memorize new words.

Once you reach an intermediate level of English B1 and above, you can move on to this Anki deck, which includes more specific and conversational language at the advanced level, C1 and C2, it's a good idea to start creating your own flashcards based on new words that you hear and see in English language media podcasts, books, TV shows, things like that.

I'll share my top recommendations for each of those categories in just a moment.

But first let's talk about how to master one of the trickiest aspects of the English language Grammar English grammar is challenging and sometimes quite strange.

But with the right kind of practice, I promise that it will start to feel natural over time.

And I want to be clear that studying grammar rules does not need to be a part of your language learning routine.

If you consistently use the other resources that I talk about in this video, you'll automatically build an understanding of English grammar.

But I know that it can be frustrating when a phrase or a sentence just doesn't make sense.

So with that in mind, here are my recommendations for learning about English grammar.

For beginners, you should rely on one of the courses that I mentioned earlier.

They give clear explanations about English grammar in over a dozen languages.

For intermediate students, I recommend this free course from Shaw English Online.

The host, Esther, covers every major topic in English grammar and each video includes subtitles in around 10 languages.

And for advanced students who want to build an in depth understanding of English grammar, you can explore this Khan Academy course, which goes into significant detail.

It is, however, only available in English.

Finally, for students of any level who want to learn more about English grammar via a book, the infographic Guide to Grammar is by far my favorite.

It uses pictures and graphics to explain English grammar, which makes the concepts far more interesting and easy to understand.

Listening is arguably the most important skill for any English learner because it's the key to understanding how English is used in the real world.

And if you can understand spoken English, it will be much easier for you to read, write and speak English English Personally, I think that using podcasts is the best way to practice listening in a new language, for reasons that I talk about in this video.

So let's talk about the best podcasts for building your listening skills in English.

If you're somewhere between the A1 and B1 level, you should use one of these podcasts based on the English dialect that you want to study.

At this level, there aren't many high quality podcasts to choose from and these two are far and away the best.

Once you reach an intermediate level of English, however, you have hundreds of options.

Starting at the B1 level, I recommend using the American English Podcast.

The host speaks slowly and clearly and this podcast covers all kinds of useful topics for English learners, common expressions, slang words, cultural notes, et cetera.

At the B2 level, you can try the Past and the Curious.

This is actually a podcast for older kids, but the content is interesting and it's very well produced.

At the C level, your choices are almost endless, but

I would recommend starting with the Moth Story Hour or Radiolab, both of which will help you develop a native level of English and a deeper understanding of American culture.

Likewise for British English, you can listen to these podcasts based on your current level.

Now, no matter what your level or which dialect you're learning, you want to make sure that you're using podcasts effectively.

That means when you hear a word or a phrase you don't understand, use Google Translate to get a definition in your native language, and

then later on you can review any new words by looking through your translation history.

And as I mentioned earlier, making your own flashcards in Anki is always a good idea.

Now maybe you're wondering, can watching movies and TV in English be part of my learning routine?

Although I wouldn't recommend relying on TV or movies to boost your English until you reach a relatively advanced level, B2 or above.

The key, however, is that while you're watching, you should only use English subtitles, not subtitles in your native language.

With that in mind, feel free to find shows or movies you like and make watching them a part of your daily routine.

Just remember to look up new words and phrases whenever you hear them.

What's the best way to improve your English speaking skills?