Nine Christmas And Winter Holiday Movies For English Practice

Happy holidays! Here are nine suggestions for movies to watch during the winter holidays to help with English practice. Most of these films are American classic and popular movies about Christmas and the winter holidays. In addition to helping you learn English in a fun way, they show a lot about the culture and traditions of Christmas and winter holidays in the USA.

Remember these tips to help you learn English with film:

1. You don't need to know every word to understand what's happening. Try to get the main idea through a combination of the language you understand and what you can see happening in the film.

2. Try to use subtitles only if you understand less than 75% of the film. If you can't understand something important, you can go back and watch that seen with subtitles again.

3. If you understand less than 75% of the film, try to get the script and read it beforehand. You can also watch the scenes first in your native language (with subtitles), and then in English.

4. Write down a few new words and phrases from the film to add to your vocabulary list. If it's helpful, try to associate the words or phrases with the actions that you saw in the film.

5: Make it social: watch the film with a friend who is also studying English, and discuss the film together afterwards. Or, start a film club where you watch films in English and then discuss them.




 A Christmas Carol

This classic story by Charles Dickens is one of the most famous Christmas stories of all time. Many film versions and adaptions exist of this story. Here are a few:

A Christmas Carol, 1951

A Muppet's Christmas Carol , 1992

A Christmas Carol, 1999

 A Christmas Carol, 2009

Scrooged, 1988

The Man Who Invented Christmas, 2017

This film is about Charles Dickens's life and how he created the story A Christmas Carol.

A Christmas Story, 1983

This comic story tells about a boy growing up in the USA in the 1950s during the Christmas season. It's a funny look at life and American holiday traditions at that time.

It's A Wonderful Life, 1946

This is a classic movie that many Americans watch around Christmas time. An angel helps a desperate businessman during the winter holidays by helping him understand what's truly important in life.

Miracle On 34th Street, 1947

In this classic movie about Christmas, Santa Claus comes to town (New York City, to be exact). A lawyer and a little girl try to save a man who says he is Santa Claus and is trying to save the spirit of Christmas.

The Polar Express, 2004

This movie is based on the beautifully illustrated children's book of the same name .On Christmas Eve, a boy goes on a magical  adventure on the Polar Express train to visit Santa at the North Pole, and learns about the spirit of Christmas.

Home Alone, 1990

A comedy about a 8-year-old boy who is accidentally left alone on Christmas when his big family goes on vacation, and must protect his house from a pair of robbers

The Snowman, 1982

This animated movie is based on a popular children's book of the same name. There is no dialogue, but there is a song for part of the film. For English practice, you can watch the film and describe the story to yourself or someone else.

Joyeux Noelle (Merry Christmas) , 2005

This film tells the true story of the Christmas truce* in 1914 during World War One. It shows how, in the middle of a bloody war, during Christmas soldiers from both sides met each other, exchanged gifts, sang songs, and even had a soccer match.

*Truce:an agreement between enemies to stop flight for a certain time.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!, 1986

Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the other characters from the cartoon series Peanuts celebrate the New Year in this short film.

Watch whole film here

ESL Resources About Film

Warmup

Watch this movie trailer on Youtube or IMDB, and try to guess what this film is about. What is the plot of the film? What is the film’s genre? Remember that it’s okay if you don’t understand all of the words in the dialogue. In addition to the dialogue, you can see what the characters are doing in the different scenes in the video.

Vocabulary

Genre

My favorite genre of film is comedy.

Plot

The plot of the movie was based on a novel.

Setting

The settings of James Bond films often are in exotic locations around the world.

Fiction

I prefer reading fiction, because I like to escape from reality sometimes to relax.

Nonfiction

It’s hard to believe that this book is really nonfiction, because it’s such a strange story. But it actually took place.

Scene

The first scene of the movie takes place in a restaurant in New York City. 

Stage

The actors stood on the stage.

Character

The characters in Shakespeare's plays are often complex.

Sequel

I can’t wait to see the sequel to the movie and learn what happens to the characters.

Prequel

I hope they make a prequel to the movie, so we can see what happened before the plot of the movie took place.

To live up to expectations

My friend told me that the film was great, but it didn't live up to my expectations.

Kick off

It’s important to kick off the day with a good breakfast.

To take place

The movie Star Wars takes place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

Conversation Questions

•        What genres of movies do you like?

•        Are there any genres you don’t like? 

•        What are three of your favorite movies?

•        Tell me about the plot of each of these movies?

•        Where do you usually watch movies?

•        Do people often go to movie theaters in your country?

•        Do you remember the first movie you watched in a theater?

•        What makes a good movie?

•        Do you need a big budget to make a good movie?

•        How important is technology like special effects to make a good movie?

•        How important is the soundtrack of a movie?

•        If you made a movie, what kind of movie would you make?

•        Do you think that films can be educational?

•        What’s a movie that everyone should watch because it teaches us something        important or has an important message?

•        Who is your favorite movie hero or character?

•        Is there a movie that you like to rewatch sometimes?

•        What’s the film industry like in your country?

•        Are there any movies that everyone knows in your country/culture?

Additional resources:

Pre-intermediate and Intermediate

Breaking News English:

“Vertigo” Named Best Movie Ever

Paris Halts Filming of Actions Movies After Attacks

China Limits Pay for Movie Stars

http://www.lessonsonmovies.com/

VOA News:

Actor Director Orson Welles Cast Long Shadow In Daughter’s New Memoir

Drive In Movies In US Still Draw Crowds

There Is Still No Business Like Show Business

BBC 6 Minute English

US National Film Registry

Upper intermediate and up

NPR

In A Film Industry Focused On Youth Older Characters Are Tough To Find

As Time Goes By: What Makes A Movie Timeless

After 75 Years Here’s Looking At You Casablanca

The Art of the Modern Movie Trailer

What is Cinema For

When and Why We Cry In Films

TED

Talks About The Making of Movie Magic

The Power Of Film

Big Think

All Films Must Entertain

Film English Website

http://film-english.com/

Favourite Films Of All Time

Airistotle Repeats As World Air Guitar Champion

Listen to Story

Audio Time: 30 secs

Level: pre-intermediate and up

Vocabulary:  To help learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story (in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).

Definitions are written with the help of various sources including  Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

Airistotle: A funny combination of the words “air” and “Aristotle”, the name of one of the most famous ancient Greek philosophers.

Air guitar: A form of dance and movement in which the performer pretends to play an imaginary guitar.

Championship: an important competition that decides which player or team is the best in a particular sport, game, etc.

To survive: to remain alive : to continue to live.

Reigning Champion: the most recent winner of a competition.

Champ: Champion: The winner of a competition.

Otherwise: in a different way or manner.

To defend: to fight or work hard in order to keep (something, such as a right, interest, cause, etc.) from being taken away.

Title: the status or position of being the champion in a sport or other competition.

Thrash out: to produce (something, such as an agreement or plan) by a lot of discussion; in this text: to play a type of loud and fast music.

Punk: a kind of loud and intense rock music that was most popular from the late 1970s to the early 1980s — often used before another noun.

Performance: an activity (such as singing a song or acting in a play) that a person or group does to entertain an audience.

Stellar: very good; excellent.

Marks: a number or letter that indicates how a student has performed in a class or on a test : grade.

Watch Airistotle thrash it out here: 

Discussion questions:

1. Do you like doing funny things like playing air guitar?

2. Have you ever been in a championship for something like a sport or another game?

3. If you participated in the air guitar championship, what song would you “play”?

Answer-adapted for pre-intermediate level

  

Answer

By Fredric Brown

Level: pre-intermediate and up

This is a classic science fiction story about the topic of AI (artificial intelligence: intelligent machines). AI is becoming better and better. In the next hundred years, it’s very possible that we will have AI that can think as well as humans and perhaps even better than humans. This story imagines what might happen thousands of years in the future, if AI continues to improve. You can read the original version here.

Dwar Ev made the final connection to the machine with a piece of golden cable. Many television cameras watched him and sent pictures through the universe of what he was doing.

He gave a sign to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position next to the button that would turn on the machine when he pressed it. The button that would connect all of the supercomputers of all the planets in the universe—ninety-six billion planets—into the super-link that would connect them all into one great supercomputer, one machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies.

Dwar Reyn spoke briefly to the trillions of people who were watching and listening. Then after a silence he said, "Now, Dwar Ev."

Dwar Ev pressed the button. There was a loud sound, the great flow of power from ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed along the computer, which was as big as a city.

Dwar Ev stepped back and breathed deeply. "Dwar Reyn, you have the honor to ask the first question."

"Thank you," said Dwar Reyn. "It will be a question which no computer has been able to answer."

He turned to the machine. "Is there a God?"

The great voice of the machine answered without pause, without any of its lights flashing to calculate the answer.

"Yes, now there is a God."

Suddenly, the face of Dwar Ev showed fear. He jumped to hit the button to turn off the computer.

A flash of lightning from the cloudless sky hit him and broke the button, so that they could not turn off the computer.

Vocabulary:  To help learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story (in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).

Definitions are written with the help of various sources including  Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

Science fiction: stories about how people and societies are affected by imaginary scientific developments in the future.

Intelligence: the ability to learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations: smart.

Artificial intelligence: an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to have intelligence.

To imagine: to think of or create (something that is not real) in your mind.

Connection: something that joins or connects two or more things.

Golden: made of gold.

Universe: all of space and everything in it including stars, planets, galaxies, etc.

Button: a small part of a machine that you push to make the machine work.

To press: the act of pushing or flattening something with your finger or hand or with a device (such as an iron) — usually singular.

Galaxy: any one of the very large groups of stars that make up the universe.

Flow: to move in a steady and continuous way.

Pause: a temporary stop: a period of time in which something is stopped before it is started again.

To flash: to appear quickly or suddenly.

To calculate: to get a general idea about the value, size, or cost of (something).

Suddenly: very quickly in usually an unexpected way: in a sudden way.

To turn off: to stop the operation or flow of (something) by pressing a button, moving a switch, etc.

Lightning: the flashes of light that are produced in the sky during a storm.

Broke: past tense of ‘to break’: to separate (something) into parts or pieces often in a sudden and forceful or violent way.

Discussion Questions:

1. Computers are getting more intelligent. What are the good and bad sides to this?

2. Will computers ever be able to be as intelligent or more than humans?

3. Do you think a computer could ever become almost like a ‘god’, almost all knowing and all powerful?

4. If a computer could be created like the one in the story, what do you think it would do and how would it act?

5. What question would you ask the computer in the story?

Newly-Married Couple Jump Into Chilly River

Listen to Story

Transcript

Audio Time: 29 sec

Level: pre-intermediate and up

Vocabulary:  To help learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story (in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).

Definitions are written with the help of various sources including  Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

Couple: two people who are married or who have a romantic or sexual relationship.

Pennsylvania: A state in the northeastern part of the USA.

Definitely: without doubt: in a way that is certain or clear.

Wedding: a ceremony at which two people are married to each other.

Focus on: to cause (something, such as attention) to be directed at something specific — + on.

Aboard: on, onto, or within a train, a ship, an airplane, etc.

Wore: Simple past tense of to wear.

Pittsburgh: A city in western Pennsylvania.

Groom: a man who has just married or is about to be married.

Shorts: short pants that reach down to the knees.

Bride: a woman who has just married or is about to be married.

Swimsuit: special clothing worn for swimming.

Veil: a piece of cloth or net worn usually by women over the head and shoulders and sometimes over the face.

Ceremony: a formal act or event that is a part of a social or religious occasion.

Edge: the line or part where an object or area begins or ends.

Boat: a small vehicle that is used for traveling on water.

Discussion questions:

1.  What are some other examples of exciting and adventurous things a bride and groom have done at weddings? Would you want to do something like this?

2. Would you get married on a holiday?

3. Have you ever been in very cold water?

500,000 Lights: Family's Christmas Display Sets World Record

Listen to Story

Transcript

Audio Time: 30 sec

Level: Pre-intermediate and up

Vocabulary:  To help learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story (in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).

Definitions are written with the help of various sources including  Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

Display: an arrangement of objects intended to decorate, advertise, entertain, or inform people about something.

To set a record: to establish (a record) as the performance or achievement that is the best of its kind.

To do something halfway: To do something without completing it or not trying with all one’s effort to do something.

Guinness world record:  a reference book published each year, which has a collection of world records.

Exceed: to be greater or more than (something).

Reclaim: to get back (something that was lost or taken away).

Title: the status or position of being the champion in a sport or other competition.

Wire: a thin, flexible thread of metal.

Discussion questions:

1. Have you ever tried to set a record?

2. Do you decorate your home for any holidays?

3. Would you consider decorating your house like the people in this story? 

This I Believe: Made for Walking

This I Believe

This I Believe was a five-minute radio program hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow in the 1950s. The show encouraged both famous and everyday people to write short essays about their own personal motivation in life and then read them on the radio. This I Believe became a cultural phenomenon that stressed individual belief rather than religious or ideological dogma. The show has continued in different forms on public radio. –adapted from Wikipedia

Listen to Story

Transcript

Audio Time: 3 min 11 sec

Level: Pre-intermediate and up

Vocabulary:  To help learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story (in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).

Definitions are written with the help of various sources including Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary

To stretch: to put your arms, legs, etc., in positions that make the muscles long and tight.

To slip: to move easily across or over something.

Bubble: a very light ball of air inside a thin layer of soap.

Cricket: a small black insect that jumps high and that makes loud, high-pitched noises.

To ease: to free someone or something from trouble or worry.

Alertness: able to think clearly and to notice things.

Trail: a path through a forest, field, etc.

Appalachian Trail: A marked hiking trail in the eastern USA over 2000 miles long (3000 Km) going through the Appalachian Mountains from the state of Georgia to the state of Maine.

Pack: (backpack) a bag or bundle of objects that is carried on a person's or animal's back.

To survive: to remain alive: to continue to live.

Hiking:  to walk a long distance especially for pleasure or exercise: to go on a hike.

Tuna: a large fish that lives in the ocean and is eaten as food.

Instant: of food: able to be made very quickly: partially prepared by the manufacturer so that final preparation is quick and easy.

To crawl: to move slowly on, across, or through something.

Exhausted: to be very tired.

Sleeping bag: a warm, long bag that is used for sleeping outdoors or in a tent.

To embrace: to surround; to hold someone in your arms as a way of expressing love or friendship.

To crackle: to make a series of short, sharp noises.

Addiction: a strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble).

To cling: to hold onto something or someone very tightly.

Clutter: a large amount of things that are not arranged in a neat or orderly way: a crowded or disordered collection of things.

Noodles: a thin strip of dough that is made from flour, water, and eggs and that is cooked in boiling liquid.

Steak: a thick, flat piece of meat and especially beef.

To soothe: to cause (someone) to be calmer, less angry, etc.: to cause some to feel better.

Back-breaking: Involving very difficult physical work or effort.

To reap: to get something, (such as a reward) as a result of something that you have done.

Rewards: payment that is given or received for something that has been done or that is offered for something that might be done.

Vista: a large and beautiful view of an area of land or water.

Language Tips:

          Grammar reminder: Comparatives and Superlatives

“The vistas are prettier, the water always cooler…”

Remember that we form the comparative and superlative in English in two ways:

1: For words with one (or two syllables if they end in y), we use –er and –est.

Big, bigger, biggest;  pretty, prettier, prettiest; Cool, cooler, coolest

2. For words with two or more syllables, we use more and most.

Important, more important, most important; interesting, more interesting, most interesting

Useful phrases:

To ease one’s mind

“The sounds of crickets, birds, and the morning wind ease my mind into quiet alertness.”

Just spending a few minutes in nature, even a park, can help to ease our minds.

Reap the rewards

“But if you work, if you put in good, honest, back-breaking…leg-tiring work, you will reap the rewards.”

It was very hard to grow the vegetables in the garden. We had to work hard to do it. But after a few months we reaped the rewards: fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and salad.

Discussion questions:

1. Have you ever gone hiking? If so, where and when?

2. Do you enjoy hiking, walking, or just spending time in nature? If so, where do you usually go to take a hike or walk?

3.  Why does spending time in nature make us feel better?

4. How do you like to relax from the stresses of modern life?

5. Do you sometimes like to live more simply and easily? How do you do this?

6. Do you have a special place you go to relax from stress and the problems of life?

7. Do you agree with the author that  “The vistas are prettier, the water always cooler, when you earn it instead of buy it.”?