Gather Starter Content

We're now getting into the fun side of learning a language—consuming content that you enjoy! In this lesson, we'll talk about how to find starter content to help you begin your English immersion. I'll give you some examples of various media that you can use to get started with Reading and Listening practice.

Keep in mind, this will just be starter content. The content you use for immersion will change over time as you change. It's important to keep your content flexible as you immerse. The content you consume needs to hold your attention. Don't force yourself to watch videos that you hate, don't read material that is boring to you. Consume the content that you actually enjoy.

For now, though, I just want you to play. Have fun with the content. Don't focus on learning yet. We'll get to that as we dive deeper into immersion during the Input Chapter. So, read some stuff, listen to some stuff, and watch some stuff. The goal is to find content that you enjoy. Later, we'll use the content that you enjoy to build a plan for improving your Reading and Listening skills.

I have a pretty wide range of content recommendations for you to use to get started, but feel free to use your own material if it works better for you.

Criteria for Starter Immersion Content

There are a few characteristics that make some content better than others for English study.

First, the content should be full, so to speak. What I mean is that the content should have a lot of English! For example, instrumental music has zero singing, so it will provide zero benefit to your language learning. What we want is material that is full of English. As a result, vlogs tend to be better than drone footage videos; blog articles are better than memes.

It's easy to fool yourself into thinking you're immersing effectively when you're consuming fun material that has little English, so be honest with yourself.

Second, the English in the content needs to be clear. You don't need to understand it completely, but the English should be clear. I love Ozzy Osbourne, but that dude has a HEAVY accent, so Black Sabbath probably isn't the best for English immersion (it also features a lot of amazing instrument solos, so the amount of English is pretty low).

Try to avoid content where the speaker has a heavy accent or speaks too quickly. Avoid writing from people who rite lik dis (who write like this), which is common for people on livestreaming platforms like Twitch where they're trying to type quickly.

Starter Content for English Listening

I'm going to provide some recommendations for content that is useful to English learners based on the criteria that I described above: lots of English, and clear English.

What I want you to do here is to pick a few pieces of content from each category and then start playing around with that content. Watch some YouTube videos from the YouTuber recommendations, listen to some music from the musician recommendations, and so on. Just have fun with it :)

And maybe YouTube isn't your thing, or maybe you don't have Netflix. That's okay! But at the very least, make sure to get some Reading material and some Listening material (video content counts as Listening material, by the way).

If you already have content that you like to consume, great! As long as the content follows our criteria of A) Lots of English, and B) Clear English, you can continue using whatever you like. But if your content is lacking in those areas or you'd like some other options, I have some tips.

English-Speaking YouTube Channel Recommendations

When looking for YouTube videos, we want to make sure they feature a lot of clear English, but also, good subtitles can be a great benefit to your language learning! The recommendations below use high-quality subtitles—either they were custom-created or the speaker in the video speaks clearly enough for YouTube's auto-generated subs to do a good job.

Good Mythical Morning - These guys have been around for a long time. They are two Americans (plus some occasional guests) with neutral accents who do various food challenges and create other miscellaneous fun videos. They create new videos almost every day, and with 4,000 videos already created, you'll have a lot of content to go through. They generally speak slowly and clearly, which is great for immersion.
Wolters World - If you like travel videos, Wolter might be a good fit for you. He's an American who speaks a little fast sometimes, and he's a little unclear at times, but you'll still find some good content here. Rick Steves is another option for travel videos. He speaks more slowly and more clearly than Wolter.
Jeff Nippard - Jeff is a bodybuilder/fitness guru. I personally watch his videos. He's a Canadian with a really clear voice. He speaks slowly enough, and he talks a lot; they're more than just the "watch me lift heavy stuff while music plays" type of videos. Jeremy Ethier is another good option for male fitness videos. He's another Canadian. Are all Canadians easier to understand than Americans...? 🤔
easy, actually - This is a YouTube channel focused on creating simple guides for things like coding, winning arguments, and even learning languages. The narrator talks about how these things are actually pretty easy to do! Whether you agree or not, he does provide some good tips and entertaining content. The videos are usually pretty funny. The speaker is American (I assume) with a slow manner of speaking that is usually pretty clear.
Yogscast - The first British recommendation! Yogscast is a group of gamers who make "Let's Play" videos. I grew up watching their Minecraft content when I was younger. Yogscast is a whole team of video creators, but I think they're all British with various British accents. When they get excited, they might be harder to understand, but most of the time, they're pretty clear. If gaming content is enjoyable to you, I'd recommend Yogscast. They're fun and funny.
Steve Kaufmann - He's one of the big language-learning gurus on YouTube, and I've watched a lot of his content. He's a Canadian with a pretty neutral accent, although he is an older guy, so his voice might add a little bit of challenge because of that. But he does speak slowly and uses custom subtitles for a wide variety of different languages, so you can set those to your native language if you need some help. He also gives good language-learning advice, so I'm happy to recommend his content.
English with Lucy - Lucy is a British English teacher, and while we have different teaching styles, you can't ruin your English. I don't believe in the importance of grammar as much as she does, but extra grammar practice never hurts. Good for supplementing your English studies while also getting some Listening practice with a British accent. She speaks very slowly and very clearly.
Marques Brownlee - MKBHD is great. He's an African-American tech reviewer. Whenever I'm shopping for a new phone, I watch his videos. He has a nice, clear voice. The products that he reviews are interesting too. Overall, he's an excellent YouTuber.
Brooklyn and Bailey - They are a couple of twin vloggers from America. They create videos about their lives, clothing, and, recently, pregnancy. I feel like a lot of female YouTubers speak quickly and much more excitedly than men, which can be hard for learners, but these two girls are easy to understand.
Mia Maples - She is another female lifestyle vlogger from Canada who speaks very slowly and clearly. She does makeup tutorials, shopping hauls, and product reviews.

That's probably enough for YouTube recommendations. Also, remember that you can adjust the playback speed on YouTube videos. Don't be afraid to slow the video down if the speaker is too fast to understand. There's no shame in that, and slowing things down can really help with your English comprehension. Walk before you run!

English-Speaking TV Show Recommendations

I've given some older recommendations as well as some new ones here. You should be able to find these shows on video streaming platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime. Most platforms offer subtitles; you can turn those on at the beginning so that you understand the story.

Friends - Every English learner on Earth seems to watch this show. It's a feel-good sitcom about some friends living their lives in New York City. No one has a heavy New Yorker accent, though. It's a good choice for TV show content.
How I Met Your Mother - This is very similar to Friends, but funnier, in my opinion. It's also newer than Friends.
The Office - Another American sitcom about office work.
The Great British Bake Off - In America, it goes by the name of "The Great British Baking Show". I love this show. It's just a very wholesome show about a baking competition. The contestants, hosts, and judges are British. Some of the accents are very hard to understand (even for me...even for my British fiancée!). Turn on subtitles if you need some help, but try to focus on Listening rather than Reading the subs.
Top Gear - Another British reality TV show about racing cars. They speak clearly and slowly most of the time.
Bridgerton - This is a historical fiction TV show set in England. It's very well-liked by British and American viewers.
Stranger Things - A fictional American TV show about some kids growing up in the state of Indiana while being chased by monsters. They have Midwestern accents, but they're pretty easy to understand.
Sherlock - This is a modern adaptation of the classic Sherlock Holmes stories. It's a fictional series based in England. Super cool show, I loved it.

English-Speaking Music Recommendations

So, everyone knows singers like Adele, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift. I won't give really obvious music recommendations like those. Instead, I'm trying to focus on lesser-known (internationally, at least) artists who generally sing slowly, clearly, and use more poetic lyrics rather than something like, "I want to rock and roll all night and party every day" (I've always disliked KISS for some reason). Because of these criteria, my recommendations here lean towards the genres of pop or folk.

The 1975 - British; Pop, Alternative Rock, Indie.
Bastille - British; Pop. Heavy British accent.
Arctic Monkeys - British; Pop.
Sleep Token - British; Rock.
Jack Johnson - American; Folk.
William Fitzsimmons - American; Folk.
Simon & Garfunkel - American; Folk, Rock.
Michael Bublé - Canadian; Crooner.
Bruno Mars - American; Pop.
John Legend - American; Pop.
Billy Joel - American; Pop, Rock.
Kodaline - Irish; Pop.
Ben Howard - British; Indie, Rock.
Dean Lewis - Australian; Pop.
Vance Joy - Australian; Pop.
James Bay - British; Pop.
Crywolf - American; Pop, Rock.

That should give you plenty of Listening content. Now let's talk about where to find Reading content.

Starter Content for English Reading

It's a little harder to give recommendations for Reading content because people like to read very different things, but I have a few ideas that you can use to get started.

Whatever content you choose to read, make sure you pick something that's interesting to you.

English-Speaking Reddit Recommendations

Reddit is an excellent tool for Reading practice for English learners because there's a LOT of it and you can find written content for any topic that you choose. Simply use Reddit's searchbar to find something you're interested in.

For people new to Reddit, I want to give recommendations for subreddits* that create a lot of discussion. The original posts tend to be more wordy, usually because people type whole stories. There are often a lot of replies to the original post too, and those replies are substantial—people giving lengthy explanations as to why the original poster was right or wrong in their thinking.

*A subreddit is a sub-forum on Reddit. It groups posts by themes such as gardening or music.

Unfortunately, Reddit is often a very negative place. People are very commonly rude towards one another, and the topics can be upsetting. It's frequently described as being a "cesspool", a container for storing sewage. The amount of negativity depends a lot on the sub (the subreddit). The recommendations I'm giving below are helpful for learning English, but they are more cesspools than other subs, unfortunately.

AMA - The acronym stands for "Ask Me Anything". This is a sub where people briefly explain their life story and then invite repliers to leave questions for them. They then reply to those questions to give more information about their stories. Sometimes famous celebrities do AMAs, but most of them are posts like "I have terminal cancer, AMA" or "I was in prison for 5 years, AMA".
AITAH - Another acronym. This one stands for "Am I The Asshole". People tell stories about arguments they had and ask redditors if they did the wrong thing or if it was the other person's fault.
Malicious Compliance - These stories are about people who followed instructions in a way that knowingly harms the person who gave the instructions.

Ugh, Reddit really is a cesspool. I just like to use it to see things like houseplants and news updates for my city. But there's no denying that it's a good source of English content.

That's my point anyway. People like to read different things. Find some subreddits that are interesting to you.

Conclusion

My advice is to pick whichever pieces of content are the most enjoyable to you—some Listening content and some Reading content. When you've hooked yourself on the content, I'll show you how to use it more effectively for English practice. But fun comes first!

You could even consume my recommendations in your native language, I don't mind. Watch the YouTube channels with subtitles in your native language. Watch TV shows with your native language audio. Use a translator for Reddit, blogs, and other written content. It's okay for now. Do whatever you need to do to make yourself truly interested in the content. Later, you can switch to consuming that same content in English. When you do make the switch, you'll receive a huge learning advantage because you already enjoy the content.

The next lesson will be something different. We're going to be building the first Action Plan, where I'll give you instructions on which actions to take at this point in the roadmap to optimize your English study time. From now on, we'll have an Action Plan at the end of each chapter. I'll tell you more about it in the next lesson.

English Tea Break