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 Basketball Diaries
Unique vocabulary and phrases by level
How difficult is The Basketball Diaries in English?
The Basketball Diaries: 66.2% A1–A2 vocabulary; 15.3% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary. Vocabulary size: 1,287.
Unique vocabulary
- For A2 learners: 23.2% of unique vocabulary is above A2 or marked rare. Expect substantial preparation; start with short scenes and English subtitles.
- For B1 learners: 15.3% of unique vocabulary is above B1 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
- For B2 learners: 11.9% of unique vocabulary is above B2 or marked rare. Preview recurring words and use English subtitles.
10.7% Unclassified. Unclassified vocabulary has no reliable level assignment.
Vocabulary weighted by word occurrences
91.4% A1–A2 vocabulary; 3.1% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary; 4.0% 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): 22 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: A place of suffering in some religious beliefs; also used informally to express anger or surprise.
Subtitle example:
Hell! Hell! Hell! Hell! Hell! Hell!
- cop (B2): 8 occurrences in available subtitles.
English meaning: An informal word for a police officer.
Subtitle example:
Jim, I'm getting sick. I got to get some money to cop.
- clothe (C1): 5 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Hey, y'all, I carried the clothes up,
- sniff (rare): 5 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
I was just going to sniff a bag,
- whore (C1): 5 occurrences in available subtitles.
Subtitle example:
Mary the whore. Mary the hairdresser.
Compare with titles in similar genres
- Hunger: 15.4% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.1 percentage points more than The Basketball Diaries).
- Kill the Messenger: 15.1% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.2 percentage points less than The Basketball Diaries).
- Hoffa: 15.0% B2, C1, and rare vocabulary (0.3 percentage points less than The Basketball Diaries).
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: