When learning English at school we often go through a lot of English grammar lessons, vocabulary sheets, and formal exams. This is not wrong. Grammar and vocabulary are essential to properly learn how to communicate in a language.
But some of these classes can have some limits if they don’t teach you further how to apply that knowledge into the everyday.
For example: Maybe you learned the past tense and got an A+ in the exam that had a few sentences. But you need more practice to use the past tense fluently. Or maybe you got an A in your vocabulary test. But what do you do with those single words?
This is where watching a show can help you! You’ll see how characters apply them in their everyday lives and in all kinds of situations. So you can know how to use them in your own daily life.
If this is one of your language goals, we really recommend that you learn English for daily life by watching “Friends”. This is a great show for this.
About “Friends”
Just in case you haven’t heard about the show “Friends”, here’s a bit about it.
It first aired in 1994 and ended in 2004. So it was ten years of great success. People truly loved tuning in on their tv to watch this fun comedy. Because it was relaxed but it also had a lot of heart.
Even though many years have passed, it still resounds a lot. People that grew up with it have rewatched it – sometimes way too many times to count –. And new generations have discovered it and watched it as well.
But what exactly is it about? It’s exactly about what its title says: Friends. Basically, it follows a group of six friends with different personalities through their daily lives living in New York.
You’ll see many different situations, many of which you’ve probably experienced yourself. From heartbreak to dating to losing a job to going after your dreams to pregnancy to birthdays to growing up. Happy and sad situations. All with a fun twist.
Why Should I Learn English with “Friends”?
It’s fun and relaxed
Even though English classes can be super enjoyable, it can also be tiring to study your second language all day long. That’s why classes have an end. But you still need to keep practicing after school hours to reinforce the knowledge and improve faster.
Of course, we understand you might not want to keep doing homework, filling in the blank exercises, or sitting down to study. So, in order to not saturate yourself, you can watch a tv show in English.
Even better, if it’s a fun comedy, because you’ll be super relaxed and will have tons of fun, while still learning and improving. You might not even notice that you’re studying and learning because you’ll be concentrating on the plot and laughing.
So yes, practicing English can also be a super chill, relaxing and joyful moment with not a lot of seriousness.
It’s easy
Learning through a chill show can be easier than learning through a show with tons of tangled stories or time jumps.
“Friends” is linear. It does have a few flashbacks to the characters’ past, but they’re short scenes and there aren’t many of them.
Plus, it’s comedy nature and its everyday life plot makes the vocabulary easier and not too elaborate. Contrary to watching a documentary, or a series about medicine or politics where you could find more jargon.
Sure, there’s English slang that you might not know. But what’s great is that you can understand it through context. That is, through what the characters say or how they act when they’re saying certain words or expressing certain things.
So, whether you can’t understand one or two words or whole sentences, the acting scenes and the whole context can help you get a grasp. It’s not a complicated show, which is great for language learning.
It resonates with you and your life
We often think that comedies tend to be more ridiculous than real life. But if you pay attention, many things on our favorite sitcoms can happen to us. Because they often follow characters in real situations but with a fun perspective.
So it’s almost like we’re mocking or laughing at our own lives and situations.
Above we gave you some examples of the circumstances we find the “Friends” characters in throughout the whole series. Like heartbreak and job hunting. Moments you might have experienced as well. This makes it a great show to learn vocabulary for everyday situations.
You’ll be able to practice your listening, pronunciation, and speaking skills. You’ll also acquire a lot of words and phrases in English for your daily life. Most importantly, you’ll learn how and when to apply that vocabulary!
It won’t happen overnight, but little by little you’ll notice the improvement. See? As relaxed as this activity seems, it’s still very useful for your English skills.
You’ll sound natural
To keep talking about vocabulary, by watching friends you’ll learn words and phrases that sound casual. This is great for everyday life. Think about it: Natives don’t often use very pompous vocabulary while living their normal lives.
Native people shorten words, use slang and idioms, and maybe even change the formal structure of sentences for more casual ones.
So, by watching “Friends” you’ll truly learn how Americans and English-speaking people express themselves. Because it’s not a show about grammar structure or people in business; it’s an everyday life show.
This means, you’ll learn to sound more natural and like a local. Which is great, because if you only use the formality that school teaches you, you might sound too robotic.
This doesn’t mean that what you learn in school isn’t necessary. But sometimes you need to add more fluency and naturality for a real conversation with natives.
Long-running show
Even though “Friends” already finished many years ago, it had a very long run on the tv screen. There were a total of 10 seasons! With episodes of around 20 minutes, and around 20 episodes each season!
That’s a lot of content! A lot of situations to see, a lot of laughs, a lot of conversations to hear, and a lot of vocabulary to acquire! This is great news for your English language skills.
The more seasons one show that you love has, the more things you can learn while enjoying the process. You’ll have many, many hours of fun English practice.
The best of all is that you’ll notice more easily how much you improve as the seasons go by. Because the first season might be tougher for you to understand in all areas of the language. Your listening won’t be as polished, and your vocabulary won’t be too wide.
But as you go on, you’ll see that you start understanding more and more of the show. From what they’re saying and pronouncing to the meaning of the words. You might even catch yourself saying some of the iconic phrases out loud with more fluency or even singing the iconic intro.
28 Casual English Words From “Friends”
If you’re looking to start learning English through “Friends” here are some super common and basic English words related to the show. So you start getting a basic grasp of the show and its characters.
Most importantly, we’re sure you’ll apply these words in your daily life, because natives use them all the time. So, look for them throughout the different episodes to learn them and know how to use them.
- Friends
- Comedy
- Sitcom
- Fun
- Laughs
- Laughing
- Apartment
- Door
- Six
- Cafeteria
- Coffee
- Couch
- New York City
- Fashion
- Chef
- Actor
- Paleontologist
- Musician
- Guitarist
- Masseuse
- Funny
- Jokes
- Trips
- Love
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Job
- Best friends
English Phrases to Talk about with “Friends”
A great way to improve your English with “Friends” is by talking about it. This way you can apply the words you learned while watching the show and practice your English-speaking skills a lot.
If you’ve noticed, talking about a tv show is a very common thing we do in our everyday lives. And we use a lot of words you’ll keep using forever for many different situations. So talking about “Friends” will help you practice vocabulary for every single day.
Plus, let’s be honest, it’s always most fun to talk in your second language when it’s something you love, like a series. Even though it might be difficult at first, you’ll enjoy it more than talking about something you don’t like at all. Therefore, you’ll enjoy the learning process more.
Start with some easy and short phrases about what you liked or didn’t like about the show. Or talk about basic things you saw in the episodes. And maybe use some basic sentences to express how you experienced some things. For example:
- I love the tv show “Friends”.
- My favorite sitcom is “Friends”.
- My least favorite character is Ross.
- Season one is my favorite season.
- I wanted Rachel to marry Joey.
- I loved the last season of the show.
- I didn’t like the fifth season of “Friends”.
- I cried with Phoebe’s storyline.
- We should watch “Friends” today.
- Monica’s apartment was really big.
- Chandler is so funny!
Then, little by little start adding more complexity to the phrases you say. Maybe start talking more in depth about the things you watch on “Friends”. You can describe more and express the ‘why’ or reasons for your declarations and thoughts.
It’s even better if you take the show, its ideas, and situations into your own life. This seems more complicated, but it will also allow you to improve your speaking even more and use more vocabulary. For example:
- Phoebe’s songs were really cool and different.
- I would love to have a big group of friends and go drink a cup of coffee at Central Perk.
- I want to paint my door purple just like Monica’s.
- My favorite thing about Chandler was his sense of humor.
- Joey was the best friend out of all of them, because he was always there for every single one.
- I really admire that Phoebe wasn’t afraid of being herself; I wish I could be more like her.
- I just bought an orange couch, like the one that’s in Central Perk café, because it adds joy to my living room.
- I identify with Ross because he’s often misunderstood.
- Monica was a really interesting character with a lot of depth, because she was very realistic.
- I wonder if I can start working in a new industry, like Rachel and Chandler did.
Gradually, as you improve and practice, you’ll realize you’re talking more, using longer sentences and more complex vocabulary.
Rachel Green’s Quotes
Here are some phrases the character Rachel Green said throughout the ten seasons. These quotes contain common vocabulary and/or are great everyday expressions you might use in real life. So they’re perfect for you to practice your vocabulary and speaking skills with.
- How do we end up with these jerks? We’re good people.
- You’re so pretty.
- Everyone I know is either getting married, or getting pregnant, or getting promoted, and I’m getting coffee.
- I just shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions anymore.
- I’m so happy and not at all jealous.
- I broke up with you because I was mad at you, not because I stopped loving you.
Chandler Bing’s Quotes
Now here are some quotes from Chandler Bing. These, once again, are either good to use in your everyday life and even add some fun to it, or contain common and useful vocabulary. So practice with these.
- It’s a Sunday. I don’t move on Sundays.
- I’ve had a very long, hard day.
- I don’t know what I’m gonna do with my life.
- Hi, I’m Chandler. I make jokes when I’m uncomfortable.
- I tend to keep talking until somebody stops me.
- I’m not great at the advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?
Monica Geller’s Quotes
It’s time for some cool quotes by Monica Geller for you to practice with. You can either apply this in your real-life situations that require it or use them to practice pronunciation and learn vocabulary.
- Welcome to the real world! It sucks. You’re gonna love it.
- I’ve got this uncontrollable need to please people.
- Getting over you is the hardest thing I ever had to do. I don’t think I could do it again.
- I don’t think you and I are destined to end up together. I think that we fell in love and we work hard at our relationship.
- I know!
- Get out and stop annoying me!
Joey Tribbiani’s Quotes
Saying out loud some quotes by Joey Tribbiani will help you practice your English skills and vocabulary a lot. And it’ll be fun too!
- You can’t just give up! Is that what a dinosaur would do?
- Joey doesn’t share food.
- How you doin’?
- It’s not what you said, it’s the way you said it.
- She’s my friend and she needed help. If I had to, I’d pee on any one of you.
- Man, this is unbelievable!
Phoebe Buffay’s Quotes
Phoebe is the most unique character and she’s very funny too. So you’ll have a great time learning and practicing with her quotes. And don’t worry, these also have common vocabulary for your daily life.
- If you want to receive emails about my upcoming shows, then please give me money so I can buy a computer.
- My friends are the most important thing in my life.
- They don’t know that we know they know we know.
- What! Monica, I’m scared!
- That is brand new information!
- I was trying to spare your feelings.
Ross Geller’s Quotes
Finally, here are some quotes by Ross Geller. The best of all is that many of these are super fitting for daily life situations. So this will come in handy.
- Fine by me!
- We were on a break!
- I’m fine.
- Why do bad things happen to good people?
- I can’t imagine my life without you.
- I would like to make a toast to Rachel and Joey.
TruFluency Will Be There for You During Your English Learning Journey
All right, so you’ve mastered some basic English vocabulary by reading this blog. And now you also know how to keep acquiring English skills through a fun tv show. So we’re sure you’ll just keep improving more and more.
But is Netflix and “Friends” all you need to master the English language? Sadly, no. Series, sitcoms, and movies will help you improve and practice a lot. But you still need some language classes if you want to be fluent in English.
Thankfully, there are some interesting, useful and fun classes out there. Like TruFluency’s online English lessons with native teachers! That’s right! With us, you’ll learn from highly experienced teachers that truly know the language and all its nuances.
The best of all is that we know each student has different needs and wishes. So from the very beginning we’ll discuss this with you and create a customized plan to help you achieve your English goals.
Even though we teach all areas of the language our main focus is on speaking! After all, you want to communicate properly in your second language and add your knowledge into your real-life situations.
That’s why through our Bellieu Method we motivate students to speak using their target language in every single class. This will result in achieving English fluency.
Don’t hesitate anymore. Take two one-hour trial classes for just $59! Simply choose one of our flexible schedules and watch your English confidence grow!
We’ll be here for you every step of the way!
