Five great film scenes that can help improve your English

A woman sat on a sofa with a tv controller

Watching films can be a great way for people to learn English. We all have our favourite movie moments and, even as passive viewers, they're probably teaching you more than you realise. Here's a selection of our favourite scenes, along with the reasons why they're educational as well as entertaining.

?

Jaws
Play
隐私和颁辞辞办颈别蝉

观看此视频表示你同意培生可於一年内使用你观看的数据以作分析及营销之用。你可以通过清除肠辞辞办颈别蝉撤销设定。

1. Jaws (1975)

We'll start with one of the most famous – and quoted – speeches in cinema. Here, intrepid shark hunter Quint explains that his hatred of sharks stems from experiencing the sinking of the USS Indianapolis warship during World War II, and witnessing his fellow survivors being picked off by sharks.?

The scene is based on real events, and the story of its creation is as fascinating as the dialogue itself. Originally conceived by uncredited writer Harold Sackler, the scene was later expanded to 10 pages by director Steven Spielberg’s friend John Milius – before Robert Shaw, the actor playing Quint, did an edit that took the speech down to five pages.

This highlights how impactful language can be even with – and sometimes due to – fewer words, while the story of its creation shows how important it is to review and edit what we write to make it more effective.

SKYFALL | 007 Meets Silva – Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem | James Bond
Play
隐私和颁辞辞办颈别蝉

观看此视频表示你同意培生可於一年内使用你观看的数据以作分析及营销之用。你可以通过清除肠辞辞办颈别蝉撤销设定。

2. Skyfall (2012)

This scene is interesting for two reasons: firstly, it illustrates how tone can dictate the context of speech. The villain, Raoul Silva, introduces himself to James Bond with a story about how, as a child, he used to stay with his grandmother on an island, which he recalls as “a paradise”.

As his speech progresses, however, it takes a more sinister turn as he describes how the island became infested by rats, which he and his grandmother trapped in a barrel. The starving rats resorted to eating each other to survive. The two surviving rats, he suggests, are him and Bond – two men that have been forged by violent lives – effectively demonstrating the illustrative power of metaphors.

Secondly, the scene is notable because Silva's actor, Javier Bardem, is Spanish. Despite having a successful career in Spain, Javier learnt English and soon became a Hollywood star via films like Skyfall and No Country for Old Men. For that reason, he’s definitely an English learning role model.

Matrix architect scene
Play
隐私和颁辞辞办颈别蝉

观看此视频表示你同意培生可於一年内使用你观看的数据以作分析及营销之用。你可以通过清除肠辞辞办颈别蝉撤销设定。

3. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

This notoriously wordy scene – in which the film’s hero, Neo, meets The Architect of The Matrix – is both an illustration of advanced English and an example of how using complicated words can make your message harder to understand. Using simple language helps ensure clarity and accessibility and reduces misunderstandings.

You may even want to watch the scene with a pad and pen and write down any of the words you don’t understand, so that you can look up their meanings later. Even advanced speakers might not know the meaning of words like "concordantly", "inherent", "eventuality", "anomaly" and "assiduously".

Blade Runner - Roy Batty's monologue
Play
隐私和颁辞辞办颈别蝉

观看此视频表示你同意培生可於一年内使用你观看的数据以作分析及营销之用。你可以通过清除肠辞辞办颈别蝉撤销设定。

5. Blade Runner (1982)

We end with another monologue that, like Jaws', is among the most powerful in film history. It’s also a great example of how beautifully the English language can conjure up mental imagery. In the scene, Roy Batty – a dying bioengineered "replicant" – tells Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) about the things he has experienced in his life.

These include “attack ships on fire off the Shoulder of Orion” and “C-beams glitter in the dark near Tannh?user Gate”. And though we never see the places he’s describing, the dialogue evokes some powerful imagery. Additionally, the scene ends with a line that shows how poetic the English language can be: “All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.”

As with Jaws, the scene was the subject of numerous re-writes, including one by the Dutch actor who played Roy Batty, Rutger Hauer. Rutger – like Javier Bardem – learned English as a foreign language and therefore is another English learning role model.

Read our posts 'Easy tricks for improving your English skills' and 'Translating sayings into English – with some funny results'.

More blogs from 蜜桃app

  • Understand your English level

    By Sam Colley
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    Learning English as a second language is a journey that can be fun and tough. A key part of this journey is knowing your current skill level. The Global Scale of English (GSE) helps learners check their skills. The GSE is a scale from 10 to 90 that measures English ability. It gives clear information about what learners can do at each level. In this blog, we’ll look at how to find out your English level using GSE scores, levels, and "I can..." statements.

    Why understanding your English level matters

    You may wonder, ‘Why is it important for me to know my language level’? If you start studying without knowing your skill level, you might feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or find learning too easy and be put off or not make any learning progress.
    Knowing your English level helps you in many ways, such as to:

    1. Set realistic goals: Tailor your learning objectives to your current abilities.
    2. Choose appropriate materials: Select books, courses, and resources that match your proficiency.
    3. Track progress: Measure improvement over time and stay motivated.

    GSE levels and what they mean

    The GSE levels range from Starter to Expert, each with specific "I can..." statements that describe what you should be able to do at that level. Here’s a breakdown of each level, along with some practical examples:

  • Students sat at a desk looking at a textbook together, with a teacher pointing to it

    Real-world English: How GSE Job Profiles bridge learning and work

    By Sara Davila
    Reading time: 5 minutes

    Did you know that improving your English proficiency can increase earning potential by up to 50% and safeguard your career against AI? Recent research by 蜜桃app highlights that English is not just a skill but a career-defining advantage in today’s globalized workplace. For millions of adult learners, the journey from the classroom to the workplace requires more than general conversational abilities—it’s about gaining targeted, job-ready skills as quickly as possible. For English language educators, understanding what “箩辞产-谤别补诲测” English is and how to identify “箩辞产-谤别补诲测” skills can provide a significant advantage in ensuring learners are prepared to communicate effectively and collaborate with their future coworkers.

    That’s where the Global Scale of English (GSE) Job Profiles comes in. For educators and program developers, it offers a bridge between real-world job skills and the English learners need to perform them. Whether you’re creating programs for nursing assistants, hospitality workers, or IT professionals, this tool ensures that learners build the precise English skills they need to thrive in their roles.

    Let’s walk through how to create a GSE Job Profile and explore its practical use for building programs that align with today’s professional realities.

  • A older techer sat with students, in particular looking at a laptop with one of the students

    Teacher technology adoption: What’s age got to do with it?

    By Jennifer Williams
    Reading time: 4 minutes

    Educators, by design, are innovators. Living and working in a constant state of beta, teachers bring to the classroom a natural desire to explore and better understand new practices and methodologies to support students in their search for knowledge.

    Guided by an internal drive to make the world a better place and powered by the rewards of working daily with the youth that can create that positive change, teachers collectively are part of a profession different from any other. Within one classroom on any single day, a teacher can become a scientist, a historian, an inventor, or a scholar. Over time, whether in a one-room schoolhouse a century ago or in a technology enhanced classroom of the digital age, these defining characteristics of “teacher” have seemed to stay constant.

    Bridging the generational and digital divide

    Today, as citizens of our digital and global world, we are in an extraordinary time where divides are closing and collaboration becomes standard – where differences are truly celebrated and associations are surpassing separations in society.?As educators, this change reflects what we have consistently asserted in our classrooms.

    Yet, terms like 'generational gap” and “digital divide” suggest a significant separation between us as teachers and our students. In truth, teachers and students are increasingly using a?shared?language of innovation and exploration. Rather than sticking to notions of a technology-based generational divide, many are transcending the labels of “digital immigrants” and “digital natives”.

    This is further reinforced by current research demonstrating that technology adoption in education has less to do with age and instead is based more on exposure and experience (Bennett & Maton, 2010; Bullen, Morgan, & Qayyum, 2011; Guo, Dobson, & Petrina, 2008; Helsper & Eynon, 2010). ?As opposed to a focus on divides, this new evidence offers supportive pathways of possibilities to bring together older and younger generations in the process of learning in our world through exploration and wonder.

    Embracing skill development

    Moving attention away from a fixed age factor to emphasizing a continuum of proficiency based on exposure and experience enables teachers of all ages to identify as part of this digital age of education. Though digital technologies are fixtures in the daily lives of many (if not most) of our students, the ways students use technologies are not always consistent.

    Students of today – like students of previous generations – continue to need the guidance of teachers in finding ways to take and apply their understanding of technology to effectively convey perspectives with the world, influence the opinions of others, and contextualize and synthesize information in meaningful ways.

    Timeless lessons from teachers

    Teachers as innovators – young and old, tech-savvy and tech-novice – have extraordinary gifts to bring to their students, who are also navigating through digital environments. Though there are countless lessons teachers bring to students, here are several timeless ones that transcend any generation of teaching. Teachers guide students to use advanced technologies so that they can be...

    Critical consumers

    Today, students in our classrooms are bombarded with information at nearly every moment in time. With basic searches for information often leading students in multiple directions, research at every level has now become a highly complex and sophisticated process. The result is that we now see learning practices shifting from finding answers to discovering more questions.

    Teachers can guide students to evaluate and consume information critically. By promoting transparency and sharing, they help learners consider context and sources, reason with evidence and build knowledge.

    Creators of rich content

    As classrooms advance as blended learning environments, seamless integration of technologies and innovative teaching practices offers students opportunities to transform from passive learners to active content creators. With countless digital tools available for content creation, students can seek guidance from teachers on matching the best tool to a particular communicative purpose.

    Teachers who are skillful in creating synthesized messages can show students ways to comprehend and compose with combinations of digital technologies. Less in the role of directing lessons, the teacher becomes a catalyst for learning, inspiring students to work creatively and collaboratively to solve problems and respond to instructional lessons as producers of information.

    Centered on relationships

    A defining quality of a master teacher is the ability to create a positive learning community built on empathy and understanding. The focus on relationships in these classrooms models the continued importance of valuing alliances and friendships.

    Soft skills, such as joy, honesty, trust and respect, become even more essential as our students continue to interact in a highly networked and diverse world. Balance, too, becomes a critical area for discussion as students look to divide attention, time and social-emotional reserves between onscreen and in-person experiences.

    Within responsive classrooms and digital learning spaces that keep emphasis on the formation of relationships, teachers can offer opportunities for students to develop through collaboration, teamwork, solidarity and conflict resolution.

    Resilient in endeavors

    Our students are looking out onto a world where anything is possible. Digital age technologies are empowering students to believe: “if you can dream it, you can do it”. The impossible is within reach, and a mindset of grit and determination moves sparked ideas to a place of accomplishment and excellence.

    Through the creation of learner-driven classrooms centered on the student, teachers can help guide students to narrow their interests and ultimately find their passions. With relevance and authentic purpose, teachers can connect students in the process of learning through design thinking and trial and error – shifting the outlook from fear of failure to resilience and 'stick-to-itiveness' to advance learning to a place of discovery and invention.

    And it is this mindset – a position of inquiry and exploration – held by students and teachers, young and old, that can show that great will come from risk. We all just need to be ready to try.