Explore Movie Vocabulary
Learn English with movies. Discover how much of a movie’s vocabulary you already know and review unfamiliar words before watching.
Once Upon a Time in America
Unique vocabulary and phrases by level
How difficult is Once Upon a Time in America in English?
Once Upon a Time in America: 63.2% A1–A2 vocabulary; 15.9% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary. Vocabulary size: 1,489.
Unique vocabulary
- For A2 learners: 26.6% of unique vocabulary is above A2 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B1 learners: 15.9% of unique vocabulary is above B1 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
- For B2 learners: 10.4% of unique vocabulary is above B2 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
10.2% Unclassified. Unclassified vocabulary has no reliable level assignment.
Vocabulary weighted by word occurrences
92.6% A1–A2 vocabulary; 2.9% 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
- hell (C1): 10 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: A place of suffering in some religious beliefs; also used informally to express anger or surprise.
Subtitle example:
What the hell are you kids doing here?
- anymore (B1): 7 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: Any longer; used mainly in negative sentences and questions.
Subtitle example:
but then you won't be able to get it up anymore.
- cop (B2): 6 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: An informal word for a police officer.
Subtitle example:
Second of all, you got the cops in there protecting them.
- go ahead (B1): 6 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Go ahead, shoot the dice, man.
- policy (B2): 6 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
This kid conned me into every policy in the world.
Compare with titles in similar genres
- Striptease: 15.9% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.0 percentage points less than Once Upon a Time in America).
- Focus: 16.0% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.0 percentage points more than Once Upon a Time in America).
- Double Indemnity: 15.9% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.0 percentage points less than Once Upon a Time in America).
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: