10 Christmas Movies to Improve Your English This December

Speaking and listening skills in a foreign language are like muscles: it doesn’t matter how many words you memorise or how much grammar you learn—if you don’t train, they won’t get stronger.

So, don’t wait until the New Year; embrace the festive season as an opportunity to improve your English with our top 10 Christmas movies to watch this December!

Top Tip:

Struggling to follow the plot? Turn on the English subtitles. You’ll understand a lot more without having to translate into your native language. 

Love Actually

Difficulty: ❄️❄️❄️❄️

Fast British accents, slang, and overlapping dialogue.

No Christmas movie list is complete without Love Actually.

Some bits might feel a little dated (yes, that cue card scene), but this is a true Christmas classic. It’s got romance, emotion, and a pinch of the dry British comedy we all love.

The Holiday

Difficulty: ❄️❄️

American and British English with slower pacing.

A feel-good swap story. Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet exchange homes for the holidays and accidentally meet the loves of their lives. It’s sweet, charming, and (mostly) uncomplicated.

Elf

Difficulty: ❄️❄️

Buddy the Elf might talk like an overactive toddler, but dialogue is clear and simple.

Elf is a pure-hearted comedy for grown up kids. Follow Buddy the Elf, played by Will Ferrell, on his many (mis)adventures through 2000s New York as he adjusts from life in the North Pole.

Little Women (2019)

Difficulty: ❄️❄️❄️❄️

Natural dialogue, old-fashioned vocabulary, and layered conversations. A (beautiful) challenge.

Overflowing with joy, humour, and genuinely heartwarming moments, Greta Gerwig’s smart adaptation of the March sisters’ lives feels like curling up with a mug of hot cocoa.

A Christmas Carol

Difficulty: ❄️❄️❄️❄️

Some old-fashioned phrasing and fast dialogue.

There are many versions of this classic Dickens tale, but Disney’s 2009 animation is one of the most magical. Jim Carrey plays the iconic Scrooge, who must confront his past, present, and future to rediscover the joy of Christmas.

Paddington

Difficulty: ❄️❄️❄️

British accents everywhere, but clear, family-friendly dialogue.

This British classic follows the adventures of Paddington, a cute bear with a marmalade addiction who finds himself displaced in London.

Nativity!

Difficulty: ❄️❄️❄️

Lots of Brit-centric humour and children talking over each other.

The Christmas nativity play is a rite of passage for every child in the UK — and Nativity! knows it. This British comedy movie sees Martin Freeman navigate the chaos of putting on a primary school nativity production.

Harry Potter

Difficulty: ❄️❄️

A mix of accents, but let’s be honest — you probably know half the plot already.

You can watch Harry Potter any time of the year, but scenes of Hogwarts blanketed in snow and candlelit feasts in the Great Hall pair perfectly with the cosy nostalgia of Christmastime.

The Grinch

Difficulty: ❄️❄️❄️

Everything you’d expect from Dr Seuss: fun, but not necessarily easy.

Another Christmas classic, Jim Carrey plays the Grinch, a strange green creature who plans to ‘steal’ Christmas in a colourful, wacky world.

Bridget Jones’ Diary

Difficulty: ❄️❄️❄️

Not hard, but very British. Expect lots of repressed feelings and quick banter.

Beginning and ending during the Christmas holidays, Bridget Jones’ Diary follows its chaotic but loveable heroine as she fumbles her way through love.

Get Closer to the Movies You Love

There’s nothing like enjoying your favourite English movies without subtitles—and actually understanding every word.

Eager to improve your listening skills? Move beyond the textbooks with Twin’s immersive English courses. Using the communicative approach, our teachers focus on real English for real results.

Explore our range of courses in London, Eastbourne, and Dublin.