Movies to learn English according to your level
If you are looking for films to learn English, in this article you will find the best films to learn English according to your level and how to make the most of them.
Table of contents
You have surely heard or read somewhere (probably in many places) that watching films to learn English is a phenomenal way to learn this language. Haven’t you? Well, I’m here to repeat it, but also to tell you that simply watching films is not enough if you want to learn English. Besides watching them in their original version, you must choose well which type of film will suit you best according to your English level, and how to properly work with a film to improve your English. I know many people who watch a lot of films and series in English, but they always get stuck at the same level. Here we go! 😎
English subtitled films to learn more and better
If you really want to get the most out of this way of learning English, it is essential to watch English subtitled films to learn effectively. And using subtitles has a series of very clear advantages, but remember, the subtitles must be in English if you really want to learn by watching films. 😅
Why should films have English subtitles and not Spanish ones? Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? If the subtitles are in your mother tongue, and you don’t have a good grasp of English, your attention will focus solely on the subtitles, which your brain is deciphering in Spanish. On the contrary, if the subtitles are in English, the same language as the film, your brain will use both the subtitles and the audio to decipher the meaning of what is being said. This way, we will benefit not only from the film’s audio, but also from the subtitles.
Is it advisable to watch films without English subtitles? Of course, absolutely. But it’s not easy if your English level is not adequate. Therefore, if you are still at an A2, B1 or B2 level, it might not be the best time to dive straight in, so I recommend watching easy films to learn English, that is, English subtitled films that are better adapted to your level.
If you don’t know what the best films to improve your English level are, don’t worry, in the next section I’ll give you a series of recommendations that will surely come in handy.
The best films for learning English
In this section of the article, I’m going to take the plunge to give you advice on what I believe are the best films for learning English according to your level.
Now, it’s not easy to recommend films for learning English, as there is no objective ranking established for this kind of thing; and you should know that everything that follows is based on my personal taste, but I can tell you that I have done it with great affection 😘 and taking into account the theme and the linguistic demands of each film 🤓.
I am not a film intellectual (nor do I want to be), but I have spent hours and hours watching films in English, especially during my student days. 😂
So here are the best films for learning English according to your level. 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼
The best films for B1 level
If you currently have a B1 English level or similar, it’s best to start with easy films to learn English. This doesn’t mean you should use films specially adapted for English learners – I don’t even know if that exists – but rather that the films you choose are relatively simple to follow, both linguistically and cinematically.
Why? Well, it’s very simple: if the film’s story is complex and difficult to follow, imagine how tough it will be to watch it in English, a language you don’t yet perfectly master. 😅
Therefore, if you have an intermediate level, I recommend focusing on dramas and simple action or animation films. Dramas, especially, tend to have linear and easy-to-follow plots, so you’ll only have to concentrate on understanding the dialogues. On the other hand, many action films, like superhero ones 💥, or even animated ones, have such a simple plot that it’s practically predictable, so your attention can focus on the English, rather than so much on what’s happening. If you also like dramas and action films, you’re in luck.
Below are 5 films for learning B1 English:
- Finding Nemo: After his son, Nemo, is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, Marlin embarks on an adventure-filled journey to rescue him.
- Finding Dory: If you liked the first one, you’ll probably love the second. In this case, it’s Dory, the friendly forgetful fish, who gets lost; and Marlin and Nemo embark on an adventure to find her. 🙂
- Terminator 2: A cyborg, identical to the one who tried to kill Sarah Connor in the first instalment of this saga, must protect her son, John Connor, from another more powerful and advanced cyborg. Both have arrived from the future.
- American Beauty: In this great film, an American father has a mid-life crisis after falling in love with his daughter’s best friend.
- Toy Story: A toy cowboy sees his status as «Andy’s favourite toy» threatened after the arrival of a toy astronaut.
- Room: A boy is raised in a shed, where he lives with his mother, who was kidnapped and locked up years ago.
An interesting point about these films I’ve just recommended for learning English is that they all feature an American English accent, more or less standard. Why? Because I believe that standard American English is the easiest version of English to understand. I know many people think it’s standard British English, but I disagree, as British English omits many letters in its pronunciation, while American tends to pronounce all ‘r’s, for example. And that, in my experience with my students, makes comprehension much easier.
On the other hand, obviously, the fact that I recommend these films in English if you have a B1 level doesn’t mean that the films are in B1 level English, far from it. But I do believe that the plot of these films is simple enough (and good enough) to be able to follow them with a B1 English level without getting too lost.
The best films for B2 level
If you are already at a B2 level and want to learn English by watching filmsin their original version, you can now afford slightly more complex films in English, although you will still rely heavily on English subtitles.
But that’s okay, relying on subtitles isn’t bad, although I do recommend that every now and then you try not to focus on the subtitles and see if you can follow the thread of conversations with greater or lesser difficulty.
You can now put aside easy films for learning English and focus on feature films with a slightly more difficult story to follow. You can even try a film where the actors have slightly more challenging accents.
- Forrest Gump: In this moving film, we are told part of recent American history (Vietnam, Watergate, etc.) from the perspective of a young man from Alabama with an IQ of 75 points.
- The Dark Knight: When the threat of the Joker appears in Gotham City, Batman, the Dark Knight, must face one of his greatest psychological and physical challenges to combat injustice and crime.
- The Lord of the Rings: A modest Hobbit from The Shire embarks, with 8 companions, on a journey across Middle-earth, towards Mordor, with the aim of destroying the One Ring of Sauron, the Dark Lord.
- Seven: In this thriller, two detectives, one a rookie and the other about to retire, confront a serial killer whose crimes recreate the seven deadly sins.
- Saving Private Ryan: In this war film, a group of American soldiers infiltrate behind enemy lines, during the Second World War, to find another soldier whose brothers have died in combat.
In this case, the five films I have chosen either have an interesting accent, as is the case with Forrest Gump, with a very pronounced American accent from the US interior, or they have a more complex plot like the film Seven or The Dark Knight. In my humble opinion, all five films are masterpieces worth watching and probably, if you like cinema a little, you will have already seen more than one, even if it was in Spanish.
The best films for C1 level
Right. If you are now preparing for a C1 level, you should watch more difficult films in English than the previous ones. And how can we increase the difficulty of the film? Well, it’s very easy. We can choose films with different accents, films with complex plots or films with very specific themes. Let’s look at the 5 I recommend to get you started:
- Inception: In this futuristic film, a thief who steals corporate secrets using dream induction technology is tasked with implanting an idea into the mind of the owner of a large multinational corporation.
- Braveheart: When his wife is executed for assaulting an English soldier who tried to rape her, William Wallace begins a revolution against King Edward I of England.
- Snatch: In this ingenious film, various groups of colourful criminals clash to find an extremely valuable diamond.
- The Full Monty: In this British comedy, six unemployed men with no future decide to perform an amateur striptease to earn money.
- This is England: A young teenager befriends a gang of skinheads. His friends soon become his family and his life takes a 180-degree turn.
Honestly, it was very difficult for me to choose these 5. Although I love them all, they are not necessarily my favourites, but they are very good for learning English. On the one hand, Inception has a very complex plot and dialogues that can be difficult to follow, and on the other hand, we have 4 non-American films, with British, Irish and Scottish accents, so you are exposed to a variety of accents perfect for continuing to improve your C1 level. Also, I encourage you, since you are at a C1 level, to try to put the subtitles aside from time to time.
Now that we have the best films in English to learn, in my opinion 😂, we need to see how to get the most out of an English film.
How to get the most out of a film for learning English
Although you can learn a lot just by watching films in English, if you implement the strategies I’m about to tell you, you will be able to get much more out of feature films in Shakespeare’s language. So pay attention because if you do these things, you will see your English improve much more quickly. Here we go!
First with subtitles, then without subtitles
As I explained before, subtitles are fundamental, especially at the beginning and at lower levels such as A2 or B1. With subtitles, we achieve many things, among which I can highlight:
- Creating a connection between oral and written language.
- Learning vocabulary and idiomatic expressions.
- Assimilating and learning grammatical structures.
- Increasing comprehension and, therefore, motivation.
So don’t be afraid, turn on the subtitles but always in English, okay? If you use Spanish subtitles, the only thing you will achieve from the four points above is increased comprehension, but with hardly any improvement in your English.
Watch films in English again
Have you already seen the films I recommend in this article in Spanish? No problem! If you liked a film in Spanish, don’t hesitate to watch it again in English, whatever your level. I always recommend this trick to my students because in this case, if you already know a film or series well in its mother tongue, it will be much easier for you to understand it in English, as you know the context and the nature of the dialogues.
Take notes
When you are watching a film to learn English, as I also mentioned before, you should do it actively, not just passively. Therefore, when you sit in front of the computer or TV, grab a notebook or open a text document and, while watching the film, pause it from time to time to jot down expressions. Now, don’t go crazy writing things down, or you won’t enjoy the film, but don’t hesitate to write down anything that catches your attention, seems interesting to you, or you don’t understand at all.
So, when an idiom or a phrasal verb that you don’t know is used in the English dialogue, write it down. Also, I recommend that you note the film and the moment it was said (to refer back to it in the future if you need to), and that you write the exact sentence in which it was said, to have a clear context.
A very useful strategy is to use these notes to create your own film dictionary. Let’s say that for each film you note 20-30 expressions. After a few weeks, you will have a pretty good list of great idiomatic expressions.
Memorise short dialogues
The word «memorise» always causes dread, but hey, after all, everything we have in our heads has been memorised, hasn’t it? Languages are no different. Therefore, I encourage you to choose some dialogues from the films you watch and memorise them. They don’t have to be long, obviously, but they should be interesting, moving, make you smile, give you goosebumps. If you memorise these dialogues, you will be incorporating useful expressions into your repertoire and you will see that little by little, these expressions will become part of your active vocabulary, which is basically the vocabulary we use in conversations.
Do Listen and repeat and Lip-shadowing
In the same way that memorising dialogues is tremendously useful, so is the typical Listen and repeat. This consists of simply choosing a scene from the film, and as it progresses, you pause after each sentence for you to repeat the same sentence. In this way, you will be able to improve your pronunciation while also improving your vocabulary, grammar, and listening comprehension.
If your level is more advanced, don’t hesitate to move from listen and repeat to lip-shadowing. What is lip-shadowing? This strategy is simply «becoming the shadow of the actors» in terms of dialogue. It consists of repeating what they say immediately after they say it, without pausing. If you want to learn more, don’t hesitate to read more in this article on how to learn English with Netflix.
Great. You now know the best strategies for learning English by watching films in their original version. Believe me, these tricks really work, but obviously, it depends on how much time and effort you put in. 😉
What do you think of these films and these tricks? Do you want to recommend any other films in English? Do you use any other tricks with films to improve your English? Tell me everything in the comments. 👇🏻
In the meantime, don’t forget to keep smiling!