TRANSCRIPT OF THE ABOVE VIDEO: 'Recommended Movies For English Learners - Improve Your Listening and Vocabulary Skills Through Films'

Hi everyone, its Nicole from Sydney English Teacher and from The Successful English Learner by Sydney English Teacher, and today I would like to share with you some great movies that you could watch to practise your English.

One of my students had a really good question, and has been asking me this question for weeks and weeks and weeks, and I've been recommending movies to him, to watch, so I thought that I'd share these movies with you as well so that all of you can, I suppose, practise your English listening skills and so that you have a lovely list of movies that you could watch, not only to practise English, but to enjoy as well.

So, look, um, as you're aware, there's a lot of opportunities for you to practise your English listening skills, we've got DVDs, we've got the internet, you can download movies, you can watch Netflix, or Disney, or Stan, or Apple TV, you know, there's so much, so really there's no excuses not to watch movies, not to listen, not to practise, not to learn.
I'm just going to help you a little bit further by giving you some examples of movies you could watch.

Look, I do have a previous video where I speak about how to practise your listening skills, how to improve your listening skills, your ear for listening, by watching movies and TV shows, and I talk about both focused listening and general listening. So, please do go back to that video and follow step-by-step what I suggest - that will really really help.

But today, the aim of this short video is just to answer the question and to give you a list of some movies that I really enjoyed, that I have watched, and that I believe that you will enjoy as well.

Yeah, I will definitely watch all of these movies again, and some of them I've seen many many times. So, I do hope that you enjoy watching them once or twice or many many times, and yeah, let's call these movies “timeless classics” - they’re movies that everybody knows, and everybody has heard about, and that most people have seen, or would like to see, embarrassingly, some of them probably show my age, so please forgive!

First of all, some romantic movies that I think you might enjoy, and that are really great for your English.

PRETTY WOMAN. One of the best.

LOVE ACTUALLY. I watch this every year. It's a Christmas movie, if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour. It is just beautiful.

BRIDGET JONES DIARY, any of the Bridget Jones movies are fabulous for English skills. The language used is great, it’s not too complicated, and it's really easy to follow the storyline and to get involved. So, definitely any of the Bridget Jones movies.

Obviously TITANIC, one of the most classic romantic movies there is - watch it, enjoy it, three hours of pure beautiful movie entertainment.

DIRTY DANCING, if you're a fan of dancing, this is one of the best, Patrick Swayze - amazing actor, amazing dancer, yeah watch that one as well.

NOTTING HILL is one of my favourites, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, such a beautiful, pure, romantic movie and one where I always cry, guaranteed.

FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, another Hugh Grant movie there. It's quite old, I think it's from the 90s, perhaps, late 90s, maybe early 2000s, but if you haven't watched it or heard of it, go and watch it, it's so emotionally beautiful, and yeah, you'll really enjoy it, I guarantee.

Next, a few comedies that I recommend, any of the MEET THE PARENTS movies are fantastic, you know, Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, who else is in the movie? Bette Midler, um, just incredible movies, really funny funny funny, you'll have tears of laughter. They're great, and it's important to also practise, you know, your ability to understand humour, so movies like that where it's a real physical comedy, I suppose, they're fabulous for you to build your skills in that area.

Um, THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, you know, another Ben Stiller movie. Absolutely hilarious. Um, definitely watch that one, I've seen that many times as well.

MRS DOUBTFIRE, Robin Williams. If you are a fan of his, you know that all of his movies are incredible, Mrs. Doubtfire is not only a wonderful comedy, but it's just, it speaks to the heart, it's a really beautiful beautiful story. So, please watch that one as well.

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S EUROPEAN VACATION. This is such an old old movie, but it's a classic, it is hilarious, Chevy Chase is the main actor, and it's about him and his family winning a, what should I say, like a TV competition, and they win a holiday to Europe, and they travel around Europe, and it's about their adventures, and about everything that goes wrong, it is so funny, still one of my favourite movies today. The best part of the movie is when they're in Germany, when you watch that you will laugh so much, and you'll think of me giggling away because it is so funny.

AMERICAN PIE, another fabulous movie. They're just funny, a little bit rude perhaps, but very very funny.

Some action/adventure movies that I recommend for your English, any of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE movies, you know, Tom Cruise is really the king of action and adventure at the moment, I would say, so any of the Mission Impossible movies are just brilliant, yeah, really interesting, entertaining, great language, great storyline.

Having said that, nothing compares to any of the JAMES BOND movies, any of the 007 movies, whether they're the old Sean Connery movies, or the newer movies from today, brilliant stuff. So, yeah, action-adventure, that's at the top of the list.

You know, same with INDIANA JONES, if you enjoy Harrison Ford, any of those movies.

Obviously STAR WARS is on that list as well.

Any of the Arnold Schwarzenegger TERMINATOR films, they're great for action-adventure.

THE MATRIX if you're a fan there, they’re little bit out there, a little bit different, but Keanu Reeves makes them perfect.

DIE HARD might be another action/adventure there, with Bruce Willis.

Some drama movies that I recommend might be GONE WITH THE WIND, the most classic drama, the most beautiful drama, winner of Academy Award many many many years ago, but so worth watching.

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, incredible, I always cry in that movie.

THE GODFATHER is another drama, any of those.

JAWS if you want to watch one about sharks, maybe not during the summer.

ERIN BROCKOVICH, incredible, that's one of the best dramas I've seen, definitely put that on your list.

Cartoons to watch, look any of the Disney movies are just incredible. I don't have to tell you that, but a few others and a few of the favourites might be TROLLS, or THE LION KING, or SMURFS, FROZEN, obviously, TOY STORY, FINDING NEMO, so good, DESPICABLE ME, ICE AGE, SHREK, one of my favourites, maybe even HAPPY FEET. They're all brilliant movies, so definitely add them to your list of movies to see.

And if you really enjoy music and singing, just like I do, then musicals are definitely a happy feel-good movie, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, my all-time favourite, this is seriously my favourite movie ever ever ever. If you've never heard of it, if you've never watched it, watch The Sound of Music, it is, what should I say, for English speakers, it is definitely almost always the number one choice. It's beautiful.

So, The Sound of Music, CHICAGO might be another one, or LES MISERABLES. Ah, I love Les Miserables. Definitely watch that one, that's great for English, even if they do sing, GREASE, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, one of the best musicals there are, I love it. Um, most Australian people sing the songs all the time, and we know all the words, so that shows you how much it's loved. MOULIN ROUGE with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, again, right up the top of the list for me, beautiful movie, THE KING AND I, if you want something a little bit more classic and romantic, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, I mean, Hugh Jackman, one of the best, or even THE WIZARD OF OZ, yeah, it's known universally as a beautiful story, a feel-good movie.

So, look, there's a few examples of movies that you could watch to practise your English listening skills, to develop your vocabulary, and really just to enjoy watching a movie in English without getting bored, without tuning out, and really being able to take something away from that movie, something to help you with your English, and something to make you smile.

So anyway, go and watch a movie - best homework I've ever given you, enjoy! Thanks for listening. Bye.