Explore Movie Vocabulary
Learn English with movies. Discover how much of a movie’s vocabulary you already know and review unfamiliar words before watching.
The Fortune Cookie
Unique vocabulary and phrases by level
How difficult is The Fortune Cookie in English?
The Fortune Cookie: 56.4% A1–A2 vocabulary; 20.8% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary. Vocabulary size: 1,966.
Unique vocabulary
- For A2 learners: 32.5% of unique vocabulary is above A2 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B1 learners: 20.8% of unique vocabulary is above B1 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B2 learners: 15.3% of unique vocabulary is above B2 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
11.2% Unclassified. Unclassified vocabulary has no reliable level assignment.
Vocabulary weighted by word occurrences
90.2% A1–A2 vocabulary; 4.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary; 2.7% Unclassified.
This counts repeated eligible words. Phrases are excluded from this calculation to avoid counting their component words twice.
Recurring words and phrases to preview
- sandy (C1): 17 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Buyin' that bull about how I'm gonna get Sandy back.
- buddy (B1): 13 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: An informal word for a friend or companion.
Subtitle example:
I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to hurt you, honest I didn't.
- settle (B1): 10 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
The reason we called you up here... - Lemme guess. You want to settle.
- vertebra (rare): 10 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
He had a compressed vertebra.
- bother (B1): 8 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
So why bother with something as trifling as this Hinkle case?
Compare with titles in similar genres
- Midnight in Paris: 20.9% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.1 percentage points more than The Fortune Cookie).
- Voicemails for Isabelle: 20.9% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.1 percentage points more than The Fortune Cookie).
- Sideways: 21.1% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.3 percentage points more than The Fortune Cookie).
These percentages describe vocabulary, not the proportion of dialogue you will understand. CEFR labels are estimates, not official film ratings. Accent, speed, songs, context, and your own vocabulary also affect comprehension. Repeated occurrences may include repeated dialogue or lyrics.
How we estimate vocabulary difficulty · Evidence generated: