Carol M. answered • 09/15/21
Certified English teacher with 10+ years of teaching experience
Adding the phrase "while having fun" makes this an excellent question! That's because language acquisition (learning) experts say that being highly motivated and having a low level of anxiety are extremely helpful for success in language learning. (https://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash-english.html)
Of course, it depends on what you think is fun. Over the years, I have had my students use several different APPS/websites for language learning and different students have preferred different sites. But, the first one I would suggest is Memrise. The great thing about Memrise is that they use hundreds of one-word or one-phrase video clips. So you're not just hearing the same voiceover person pronouncing the words in a completely neutral environment. The video clips are out in the real world! The creators went around in a bus recording regular people in everyday environments. Lucky for you, you are learning English. The reason I say that is that English was the first course they made and there seem to be more video clips for English than for other languages. And, the free version includes a lot!
Other APPS I have enjoyed (I've been working on Spanish and Italian) are:
Duolingo - I highly recommend doing the "stories" part of Duolingo! Also, the APP tends to throw you right into the quizzes, but you can choose to do the learning first (logical, right?) If you are not a beginner, be sure to click on the test-out icons that look like castles so that you don't have to do all the beginner exercises if they're not useful to you.
Busuu - This is good if you're willing to spend some money.
Songs - I find songs to be a fun and effective way to learn a languages.
Lyricstraining is an APP (not available as a website) that lets you learn English on your phone. It's basically a game where a song is playing with the lyrics printed out in front of you like a karaoke machine, but there are blanks. You can play this with multiple choice (which I suggest because it's not easy). For more of a challenge, you can choose
Lyricsgaps is a website that does the same thing. Actually, I think that one existed before Lyricstraining. There are a lot of ads on the page, so be careful to click the small "play" button for the song if you don't want to buy what they're selling with the big "continue" buttons.
Video - I think short video clips are better than movies or TV shows if you are not at an advanced level.
Learn English with... on YouTube - There are at least two series of this, TV shows and movies. I like that this one has short clips and then highlighted words are explained by the teacher.
Extra English - on YouTube - This is a bit dated, but my students have found it to be more fun than typical language lessons. It's like watching a sitcom, but it was created for language lessons. Try to find a copy that includes subtitles in English. It's British English, but even if you are intent on learning American English, it will teach you a lot of shared vocabulary and basic English structures. This series is quite long and includes all the typical topics any language course would cover.
Shorter video segments are on
EnglishAttack - (website) - British English again and it's not free. But, it's fun. Lowest price is $7/month.
There is actually so much on the internet now, you can keep searching, but if you find something that is fun for you, you will make progress. Good luck!
