Learn English Through Movies and Film: The Complete Guide

You may fall in love with people via their love tales or practice your pronunciation by singing along to movies.
In order to help you learn new vocabulary and phrases while you watch, I'd like to offer some of my favorite movies for learning English.
You can be sure, though, that you'll still love the movies you watch even whether you repeat words or watch with (or without) subtitles.
Okay, let's start the video!

The Most Highly Recommended Movies for Learning English

1. “Finding Nemo”

The animated English movie "Finding Nemo" is about a clownfish named Marlin who misplaces his offspring Nemo. It's a pretty common option for people who want to learn English through movies.
He encounters Dory, another fish, while traveling. They embark on an incredible journey to discover Nemo across the vast ocean together! I don't want to give anything away, but it's one of the finest animated movies ever and is fantastic for all audiences to see!

2. “The Terminator”

Future conflict between humans and artificially intelligent (AI) robots is the subject of the "Terminator" television series. These AI systems send killer machines back in time whenever humans begin to get the upper hand in the conflict.
They want to attempt to murder John Connor, the head of the human resistance, and his family. It's an exhilarating science fiction movie that is unmatched in its category.

3. “Titanic”

One of the most renowned movies in cinematic history is "Titanic." It recounts the romance between Rose DeWitt Bukater, a wealthy family's daughter, and Jack Dawson, based on a true event (a poor artist who sneaks onto the ship).
The RMS Titanic's pre-sink events are shown in some highly thrilling sequences as well (one of the grandest passenger liners at that time).
You may be familiar with Céline Dion's well-known song "My Heart Will Go On," which was also included on Titanic. A masterwork of extraordinary technical intricacy and a true classic! It may be heard in the movie trailer down below.
When learning English through movies, seeing "Titanic" is an excellent cultural lesson because almost every English speaker on Earth has watched the movie and knows the song.

4. “Harry Potter”

If you enjoy magic, you should watch the "Harry Potter" films while learning English. You may learn about the wonders of Hogwarts and the wizarding world by watching these well-known English films.
The conflict between the good and wicked wizards is the subject of a seven-part book series (and an eight-part film series).
Harry Potter and the villain Lord Voldemort are the focal points of the narrative. You won't be able to look at magic the same way after watching this.

5. “Star Wars”

Another huge film series is "Star Wars," but strangely enough, the films in the series weren't shot in chronological sequence.
Overall, this tale depicts the conclusion of a protracted conflict between the Jedi Order and the Sith Lords, two opposing cosmic forces.
According to the Star Wars film and television series, the universe is held together by a "Force." The Sith Lords believe in utilising the "Force" via hatred, rage, envy, and other bad emotions, whereas the Jedi Order believes in using compassion and charity.
Throughout the six films, an exciting struggle between the Jedi knights and the Sith Lords takes place in this 2,000-year conflict between these two factions. Star Wars is the only film like it. Definitely a terrific collection of films to help you learn English!

6. “Lord of the Rings”

Another of the best movie series in the magic genre is "Lord of the Rings." Three main races—dwarves, humans, and elves—as well as minor groups like Hobbits, orcs, and werewolves are present in the Middle Earth region.
The series continues the sinister story of a revolt lead by Sauron, who was once considered to be the most wicked being in all of existence. A small group of combatants undertake a valiant quest to destroy a ring that is rumored to contain Sauron's powers, which would result in Sauron's downfall if it were to be destroyed in order to combat this evil.

7. “Pirates of the Caribbean”

The movie series "Pirates of the Caribbean" is about... pirates! Each movie recounts the exploits of Jack Sparrow, the Black Pearl's captain, and each one begins by tracing Jack's attempts to recover his ship after it was taken from him in the first movie.
In the following movies, Jack discovers the Dead Man's Chest, which houses Captain Davy Jones's heart and to whom he owes a favor. Jack is finally compelled to search seek the Spring of Youth, a mystical fountain that claims to provide its user perpetual youth.
Never before have you had so much fun with pirates in a movie.
When you are at an intermediate or expert level, these videos are usually better for learning English. It might be challenging to comprehend some of the accents and lingo.

Practice Tips to Really Learn English with Movies

Choose an interesting movie.

It should go without saying, but picking a dull film will make you bored. Additionally, it will be challenging to concentrate for longer than 1.5 hours if you're bored.
To learn English as a youngster, I recall having to watch many hours of incredibly old films like "Singing in the Rain" and "Mary Poppins." These movies are extremely old, but feel free to check them out if you don't know them. While I didn't precisely like them, I wasn't really enthusiastic to see these movies either.
In light of this, I urge you to pick movies you enjoy. To achieve this, you may visit the website Rotten Tomatoes, which features reviews from thousands of top critics and opinions on hundreds of films. It's the ideal approach to learn English while enjoying movies you know will be fantastic.

Select a movie that matches your current English level.

For instance, I often suggest that English novices learn the language using animations. The primary explanation is because English is often highly amiable, polite, and simple to grasp.
On the other side, you will be completely baffled if you attempt to watch anything like "Romeo and Juliet." Even for fluent English speakers, Shakespearian English—the English spoken several centuries ago—is quite challenging to comprehend on film.

Bring your dictionary. 

Maybe I'll include point 3.5 as well: pick a movie with subtitles! So do your research when you hear a word that interests you. You'll be able to remember that term for a very long time since you took the time to comprehend it!
However, it's critical that you utilize dictionaries effectively. It will be frustrating to have to go through a large book for a while in search of a term. Instead, a dictionary app would be useful.

Repeat short phrases!

You could occasionally hear something interesting in a movie. For instance, several regularly used English slang expressions like "hell yes!" or "sure thing" or "you betcha!" It certainly helps to say it out loud if you like the way it sounds! You'll be able to recall it for a longer period of time after repeating it aloud several times! It's a fantastic and entertaining workout—one of my favorites.

Watch with and without subtitles. 

I am aware that watching a foreign-language movie without subtitles can be very difficult. So, here is what I advise. Just activate the subtitles when you watch a movie for the first time. However, if you have a second chance to watch it, consider turning off the subtitles.
In this manner, the narrative is familiar to you from the moment you watch it. You can also try listening to some of the words you may have previously checked up close this time. You could also see how well you can follow the movie without subtitles.

Use VLC player. 

In fact, I suggest using this video player to view movies on your computer. One of my favorite tools is this one. I utilize it a little differently than other people, who mostly use it to view movies. (If you don't already have it, you may download the free VLC player.)
You know how sometimes you can't comprehend English when you play a movie you downloaded from the internet? This is what I do:
You may watch movies at half or quarter speed with VLC Player. You may thus play back the portions you don't understand at a slower pace and try again. It's beneficial to practice listening in English.

It’s okay to miss words… just let it go.

Last but not least, recall what we mentioned at the beginning. Movie watching should be enjoyable... Therefore, it's alright if you forget a word, a phrase, or even several phrases. Simply read along with the subtitles to learn. Make no effort to feel guilty—watching movies is intended to be enjoyable!

Why Learning English with Movies and Film Works

Maybe you're still debating if watching movies can help you learn English.
After all, going to the movies is meant to be enjoyable. So how can you learn while enjoying the movie so much? Furthermore, why watch movies to learn English rather than using textbooks?
Here are the three reasons I think it's effective and why I suggest using this method to learn a language.

You’ll get to learn real English… not textbook English. 

The English you learn in school or in ESL classes is not the English you will hear on the street. You may have learnt phrases like "great weather we're having" or "it's pouring cats and dogs" in your introductory English lessons, for instance. Although theoretically true, we seldom rarely use these expressions in conversation.
The English used in movies, on the other hand, sounds incredibly natural. Additionally, it closely resembles what you'll hear if you converse with native English speakers. This will enable you to speak English more fluently.

You learn English words in context. 

One of my favorite parts about viewing movies is this. Say you enjoy viewing crime movies (they're awesome!). You'll start to acquire terminology connected to the context, or subject, of crime after watching ten or twenty films.
Usually, when we study things like vocabulary lists to acquire words the traditional way (for example, at school), The issue with using vocabulary lists to learn new words is that you might learn what words mean but not their context or usage.
Let's imagine, for illustration, that you learn the term "detective." You already know what it means to be "a person who investigates crimes" according to the dictionary. But if you don't utilize it, it's simple to forget. Additionally, it doesn't indicate where or how the word is used most frequently.
On the other hand, if you become familiar with the term "detective" through watching crime movies, you will realize that it may signify a variety of things. It may be a title in front of someone, like "Detective Beckett," for instance. Or perhaps it's the word describing the occupation (for example, he's a detective). You could even hear comments about the term that will allow you to create an opinion about it (such as "you awful detectives").
By doing so, you will not only understand what each term means, but also how to utilize it.

You hear how things are said. 

People frequently claim that just 7% of English-speaking communication is verbal in nature. What about the remaining 93%?
Well, it all depends on your delivery. You know, stuff like your tone of voice, body language, and facial emotions (like a grin or a frown) (like when you sound angry, or when you sound sad). As you might expect, for English folks, the how frequently takes precedence over the what.
I'll use one as an illustration.
You probably intended to learn "I love you" as one of your first English words. But did you know that it may sound extremely different depending on how you pronounce it aloud?
After a disagreement between two individuals, especially lovers, you could hear the phrase "I love you"! It's possible that one person is attempting to convince the other that they are in love with them.
I adore you, — A person could genuinely desire to express their affection for another individual.
I adore you. This might be someone attempting to profess their love by shouting "I love you" really loudly!
I adore you. — The speaker may be shouting "I love you" out of genuine rage!
These sentences will make great sense to you if you say them aloud.
You may learn new words and gain an understanding of how they are spoken by watching performers in movies. There may be joyful, sorrowful, astonished, or furious characters. And you'll realize this right away.
Here are our top seven suggestions for films to help you learn English.
I hope you like viewing them; these are some of the most well-known movies in cinema history.
As you can see, we are really enthusiastic about using movies and other audiovisual tools to learn English. I hope this has persuaded you that watching movies may be an enjoyable way to learn English.