So you are a writer, I get it. But you can’t live on bread and water alone. You need some butter sometimes, some fat to add to your sustenance. Books are your bread, writing is your water, but YouTube videos, my friend, are all fatty goodness to supplement your grammar skills. But before you get sucked into the video vortex that is YouTube, start strictly with these grammarian-friendly channels.
Schoolhouse Rock
Start with the stars of the grammar school, Schoolhouse Rock. The Conjunction Junction video is still solid gold. These are the kinds of videos you’ll want to get your kids into…so they stop watching all of those self-made toy commercials. From the Disney Educational Productions, the Conjunction Junction video is side by side with Unpack your Adjectives and Interjections.
TED Talks
Check out the TED Talks to find your favorite grammarians hiding in plain sight on that stage, usually in all black. For starters, Does Grammar Matter has more than 1 million views, so they must be doing something right. The No Such Thing as Correct English TED Talk has fewer views but is just as interesting from a grammarian point of view. Then you have the Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjective. A tattoo artist with a Vietnamese background discusses how he comes to understand the subjective in learning English as a second language. So many TED Talks….so little time!
BBC Learning English
Oh, my, oh my! Speaking of so many videos, so little time, the BBC has produced a separate channel just for all of you grammarians out there. The BBC Learning English channel has more than 1.8 million subscribers watching videos on a schedule. Every Monday is exam skills with tips for preparing for English-speaking exams. On Wednesdays, you get a video called LingoHack featuring some vocab from the BBC news of the week. On Friday the channel goes live and takes on questions from the grammarians in the global audience.
What are your favorite YouTubers that are producing grammar-friendly content?
“Welcome. I’m the Whispering Wordsmith of the Woods, An Old Man Willow type cunning the lit forest, Disrupting textbookish writers with grammar snaps and cracks.” As a professional web content writer for small-to-medium businesses, Miranda B understands how to effectively balance technical jargon and personal brand messaging. Her content is sticky, evergreen when expected to be, and always creative. Keep ’em coming back for more, that’s Miranda’s motto!
