Have you caught the winter blues? Or are you looking forward to a little bit of down time after the holiday season? Starting a new year and looking ahead to what is yet to come can be exhausting! You want to get back into learning English after Christmas, but you also want to ease into it. What do you do? We have the perfect solution for you, a happy medium: watch some English language movies! By doing so, you can create a forest with one seed!
We have compiled a list of our top 10 best movies to learn English. The list has contributions from some students and learners of English. So, get your popcorn at the ready, and let’s begin!
The first on our list of best English movies is Pixar’s animated movie Brave. There are so many Pixar movies that can help you improve your English, but we chose Brave for many reasons. Firstly, Pixar movies often depict certain cultures, which is great when learning English, as characters can often be voiced by actors from the countries where the movies are meant to be based. Brave is set in Medieval Scotland and follows Princess Merida on her journey to break a spell that was cast upon her mother. Brave casts a wealth of Scottish actors, and is perfect for you to become accustomed to some Scottish accents. Secondly, there are reams of everyday phrases used throughout the movie like, “careful what you wish for” and idioms such as “feast your eyes.” If you enjoy medieval themes and folklore, then this is a movie that all the family will love!
Trailer: Brave Trailer
“The hills are alive with the sound of music!”
Musicals can often be overlooked when we think of movies to watch to help improve our language skills! The Sound of Music is one of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical masterpieces and one of the best English movies to help improve your English! The Sound of Music follows the story of Maria, a trainee nun, and the von Trapp family. Maria takes care of the seven von Trapp children in the beautiful Salzburg, Austria, and teaches them how to sing. This musical is perfect if you want to enhance your English language skills because of the intent behind the lyrics, and the clear speech, and the music allows you to practice both enunciation and pronunciation. Plus, the songs are very catchy too! Music and dancing, and some English practicing, these are a few of our favourite things!
Trailer: The Sound of Music | #TBT Trailer | Fox Family Entertainment
This one is for lovers of fantasy, witchcraft, and wizardry! The Harry Potter series, based on the novels by J.K Rowling, are some of the best English movies to help you enhance your English! Join Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they battle their way through their time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Many things make the Harry Potter series great for your linguistics skills! Firstly, the movies provide you with a wealth of words. Although there are significant words created for the story, such as “muggles”, the series will build up your vocabulary through memorable phrases like, “It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” Secondly, the vast number of movies gives way to a vast variation of characters. You can train your ear with Professor Snape’s slow, precise speech, or Seamus Finnigan’s melodic, Irish accent. Of course, you have double the opportunity to up your English language skills if you read the books too!
While the promising wizards and witches try to master their magic skills, this is a prime opportunity for you to work magic on your English!
Trailer: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) Official Trailer – Daniel Radcliffe Movie HD
A Christmas Classic! Home Alone is a must-see movie to watch during the festive season. Home Alone follows the young Kevin McCallister who was accidentally left home alone at Christmas (hence the title!). He gets a taste of freedom, but only for a short period before he must face some intruders on Christmas Eve. This is one of the best English movies to watch, especially for beginners. It is full of day-to-day phrases, as well as some iconic quotes such as, “Guys, I’m eating junk and watching rubbish! You better come out and stop me!”. The speech throughout the movie is slow and clear, so it is easy to follow while you enjoy watching Kevin’s antics! So grab some hot cocoa and put your feet up for this family favourite!
Trailer: Home Alone (1990) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers
Next on our list of best English movies is The Internship. This movie follows the story of two former salesmen who try to find their way in the tech world. Protagonists Billy and Nick take the plunge and decide to apply for an internship at Google! Viewed by their peers as “dinosaurs” (very old), the two ex-salesmen slowly but surely adapt to the digital age to seek permanent employment in one of the world’s largest tech companies. The Internship is one of the best English movies if you would like to brush up on both your technical and corporate vocabulary. The movie will put you right into the centre of the tech world, and along with Billy and Nick, you will begin to learn and understand the insights of social media, app creation, and communicating online! Apart from polishing your tech vocabulary, the movie also contains very useful and common day-to-day phrases!
Trailer: The Internship | Movie Trailer HD | 2013
Yet another timeless classic! The Wizard of Oz tells the story of Dorothy, a young girl from Kansas, who was magically transported from her home to the Land of Oz and needs to find the Wizard of Oz to return home. This oldie is one of the best English films as it also incorporates music and songs! The Wizard of Oz is also very suitable for learners of all levels due to the clear and concise speech throughout, and many of the characters speak in a more formal tone which can be beneficial for grammar and sentence structures! Additionally, the movie is full of life lessons, common idioms, and phrases like, “there’s no place like home” and “everything has to come to an end, sometimes.” So, what are you waiting for? Follow Dorothy on her journey down the yellow brick road to find the Wizard of Oz!
Trailer: The Wizard of Oz – Trailer
Are you an aspiring lawyer, fashionista, or maybe both? Well, you may learn a thing or two from our next movie! Legally Blonde tells the story of sorority girl, Elle Woods, who goes on a mission to win back her ex-boyfriend. Elle takes everyone by surprise by getting accepted into Harvard Law School, so she could prove she has brains as well as beauty. A journey of self-discovery, Legally Blonde is one of the best English movies for learners of English. Not only do the characters speak clearly, but you will also get the opportunity to learn a mixture of legal terminology and beauty/fashion terminology – an unlikely match! This movie is full of humour from start to finish and not only do you learn everyday phrases, but it will help you to strengthen your word bank by learning synonyms such as “truly heinous” for “horrendous”. If you want to improve your “legal jargon”, then watch and learn from Elle Woods!
Trailer: Legally Blonde (2001) | Official Trailer | MGM Studios
Superheroes, villains, suspense and action. The Dark Knight trilogy has it all. A series of Batman movies that feature some of his arch enemies such as Bane, Scarecrow, and the infamous Joker, these are some of the best English movies of the mid to late 00’s. Batman faces many demons from his past and his present to try and save Gotham City throughout these three movies. In doing so, Batman and the other villains and heroes of the movies can help you to enhance your English! The Dark Knight trilogy contains idioms, phrases, and iconic quotes, such as, “The night is darkest right before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.” However, these English movies are also great to help you with intonation in your speech (the use of pitch to express emotions) as well as where to stress certain syllables in words! As Batman says, “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.”
Trailer: The Dark Knight Rises Ultimate Trilogy Trailer – Christopher Nolan Batman Movie Legacy HD
Based on Roddy Doyle’s 1987 novel of the same name, The Commitments is one of the best English movies you can add to your list! A musical-comedy, The Commitments follows a group of aspiring musicians who form a soul band in Dublin city. What makes this movie so good for learning English is not just the hip-shaking music throughout the movie, but also the accents. Ireland has an abundance of accents, and Dublin alone contributes strongly to this plethora of accents! The characters in The Commitments speak at a moderate speed and if you want to familiarise yourself with some Irish pronunciation, then look no further than this Dublin-based band! We would also recommend reading the novel too as it is a literary joy, and it is a great opportunity to advance your literacy skills! So, warm up your vocal cords and get ready to rock the night away with The Commitments!
Trailer: THE COMMITMENTS – Trailer ( 1991 )
This is a movie that will make you laugh, make you cry, and give you some useful life lessons. Forrest Gump is an iconic 90’s movie that still captures the hearts of viewers to this day. The movie follows the life of the protagonist, Forrest Gump, as he recalls significant moments of his life, which just so happened to have been during some historic 20th-century events. This movie is one of the best English movies for learners as Forrest speaks so slowly throughout the entire movie. He also has some very memorable quotes: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”, and, “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows.” Sit back, relax, and watch Forrest Gump run through his life with you!
Trailer: Forrest Gump – Trailer
At Everywhere English, we like to think outside the box! Our teachers love to give movie recommendations as an assignment for the week. It does really help your language journey. If you’d like to combine your favourite movies with lessons by a qualified teacher, book a free trial today!
