How To Learn English With Friends

What do a K-pop star, a Cuban actress-turned-Hollywood-sensation, and a German football manager have in common? 

They all used the sitcom “Friends” to master the English language!

But it’s not just them – millions of regular people around the world say that it was watching “Friends” that taught them English.

This even has an official name – the Friends effect. 

So what’s going on here?

And if you’re learning a new language, what big lessons can you take from this in your own journey to fluency?

Welcome to the world of Friends!

If you prefer watching videos to reading, click on the video version of this post at the top of the page. Otherwise, keep scrolling to discover how to learn English with “Friends”!

The Friends Effect 

“Friends” is the unofficial classroom for millions!

If you’ve missed out, I’m so sorry. But let’s catch up – “Friends” is a show about 6 friends navigating life in New York that turned into a language learning sensation meaning millions use “Friends” as their secret weapon to learn English! 

You probably know the catchy phrases like “We were on a break” – but it’s more than just awesome lines.

“Friends” is all about relatable situations, simple dialogue and simple humour – and these things make it the perfect show for language learners. 

I’ve hunted down some superstar fans who all learned English with the help of “Friends”.

And even if you’re learning Spanish, Portuguese, or another language, you can have a tonne of fun with this method! 

Should we meet the gang? 

Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Monica, Joey and Chandler never set out to teach anyone English, but they did.

You see, it’s all about immersion. Their interactions and personalities pull you in, so you end up feeling very close to them, like you’re actually there, and it’s easy to pick up on the language they use. 

In fact, that’s exactly what a certain megastar rapper needed.

He didn’t know a single word of English once, but he had a trick up his sleeve, no wait, that’s wrong, his mum had a trick up her sleeve.

How Did RM Learn English With Friends?

Rap Monster is the leader of the most famous K-pop group, BTS.

And if it wasn’t for him learning English, his group might not have skyrocketed in the West. It turns out fans and media like it if you can speak to them! 

His real name is Kim Nam-joon and he has the best story about how to learn English with Friends.

It was actually all his mum’s fault, or her ingenuity!

When he was a teenager his mum bought him all the seasons – 10 DVDs. So he watched all 10 seasons at least five times, studying the language, the gestures, the facial expressions. He went all in.

He started off watching “Friends” with Korean subtitles and then watched with English subtitles. And then he watched all the episodes again with no subtitles! Bear in mind that he understood pretty much nothing when he started out!

But my next story is truly shocking.   

Did you know that the actress who played Marilyn Monroe couldn’t speak a word of English only 5 years before? 

Ana de Armas

Ana de Armas is a Cuban-Spanish actress, a rising star in Hollywood. Guess how she learned English? 

When she moved to LA at 26 she booked a major horror film with Keanu Reeves – with no English!

She even admitted: “I learned it phonetically. I wasn’t really sure what I was saying.” 

Ana almost lost her chances when the makers got wind of this, but she was determined to never be a “Maria, Juana or Lola” , in her words.  

Talk about motivation!   

She still didn’t speak much English when she was cast in “War Dogs”. The only lessons she’d had were 4 months of English classes, and watching “Friends” at night. 

So how in the world did she land Marilyn Monroe, of all roles? Listen, you don’t just pass up a chance like Marilyn. 

So Ana took 9 months of dialect coaching, practising, and extra recording sessions, and she said: 

“It was a big torture, so exhausting. My brain was fried.” 

And “Friends”? She did total immersion in “Friends”, watching episode after episode, gaining ground on these Americans, until she got fluent.

Brilliant! Want a fun movie star tip? 

If you’re working on your pronunciation, record yourself saying lines out loud, because then you can hear what you really sound like and not just what you think you sound like, and that’s how you become a star! 

I have to say, I love accents – whether they’re Spanish, Korean, or from any other language.

And since this blog is all about languages, let me share a trick I use when learning a new one:  immerse yourself!

One easy way is to watch TV shows in the language you're learning, just like RM and Ana dived headlong into “Friends” –  it’s just fantastic for improving your listening skills fast!

I have another star story coming up, but first, aren’t you dying to know how this Friends method even works?

Why Friends Is Awesome For Learning English

“Friends” is packed with hidden language lessons in every episode!

It’s those everyday dialogues – you’ve got chats with friends, interviews with bosses, gossip, flirting, solving problems, parties, coffee shops, fights.

There’s a magical predictability to the characters, and they’re easy to understand –  the humour is simple, and the level of English is just hard enough to actually learn something. 

Basically, there’s no complexity, and that’s awesome – you can easily pick up authentic phrases and slang that Americans use. 

The best part is that you’ll understand almost all the jokes! 

When you’re learning a language, it’s a big goal to get to your first 1000 words, and guess what? The 1000 most common English words cover 93% of the dialogues in “Friends” – isn’t this great? 

Plus, you’re watching the 1000 words in action, so it all makes sense – you can connect the dots. 

The characters also speak clearly and slowly enough for you to follow along.

But the best part is that most words are repeated so many times, there’s just no way you won't remember how to pronounce them.  

Of course, the absolute best way to understand a language is to get to know the culture first-hand. And “Friends” gives you tons of clues about western society and how to fit in – body language, tone of voice, emotions.

You even learn how to sense a person’s intentions, or understand why certain jokes land and others don’t.    

But it’s really about the characters, isn’t it? You’re watching the relationships between 6 people who almost everyone can relate to in one way or another – you’ll find a favourite! 

And the thing is, when someone has a big impact on you, even if they’re fictional, you’re going to form an emotional bond. 

I remember when I was learning Cantonese, I binge watched this double series called “Triumph in the Skies“.

And I listened to so much Cantonese during that time that I feel like my level completely transformed, picking up so much language that I never would have otherwise.

And I think this is what's happening with people learning English with Friends. Hours and hours and hours of pure guilt-free bingeing.

Any Liverpool fans out there? I've got a football guy waiting in the wings. 

Jürgen Klopp

Jürgen Klopp was most recently the Liverpool manager, and even he is a huge fan of learning English with “Friends”. 

He’s German, and he found the show incredibly helpful.

He often talks about how it helped him bridge the gaps in his English because of 2 little problems he had:

• people speaking extra slowly to him
• people forgetting he was a non-native speaker and then speeding back up again!

So learning from “Friends” made it easier for him to talk to his players and the media – that’s a pretty big motivator he had there! 

And while we’re in the stadium, anyone into baseball? 

Major League Baseball

Baseball player Wilmer Flores does his walk-up to the “Friends” theme song!

He’s a Venezuelan player and he was only 16 when he came to the US. He almost gave up because it was so hard, until he found a few helpful friends, and now he refuses to stop paying tribute to them! 

According to Wilmer, he still watches “Friends” every single night because it helped him learn the language and the culture.  

But hold up. What if “Friends” just doesn’t work for you or for that Romanian friend of yours.  

Is it the only good show for learning English? 

Not Just Friends… 

“Friends” is fantastic, but it's not the only show that helps people learn English. 

The next most popular show around the world is “The Simpsons”! This TV series is a goldmine – it’s chock-full of humour and satire, and a fun way to learn new words and phrases. 

Someone put this in an interesting way the other day – it isn’t just about remembering; it’s about not forgetting. 

You see, when you watch a show like this over and over, you’re imprinting the useful parts in your brain. Each time you hear that catchy line one more time, you’re less likely to ever forget it.

This method is called spaced repetition – it’s one of the best ways to learn new words, and it happens in TV shows! 

Catchphrases

Kaplan International did a study and found that out of all the American shows out there, “Friends” was the one English learners watch the most – 26% said it was their favourite. And the biggest reason? 

They mostly loved all the cool catchphrases. You could literally pick a personality from these guys – they repeat their own catchphrases constantly! 

Have you ever heard someone doing this in real life, though? 

One of the story editors of “Friends” was in a cab in New York once, and his Middle Eastern driver put on his best Chandler accent and said: “Could there BE any more traffic?” 

Must’ve been pretty funny. 

And score for Chandler. 

Well, now that you’re convinced of the magic of “Friends”, I bet you want to know – can you use foreign shows to make any language lessons better? 

Glad you asked.

The Magic Of Foreign TV Shows

Watching telenovelas is a great way to help you learn Spanish, not to mention all the interesting accents you’ll pick up.   

But you can do this with any language – just be sure to choose a show with repetitive storylines! 

Want to steal Rap Monster’s method? 

Start with subtitles in your native language, then switch to foreign subtitles, and eventually you can ditch them altogether. 

Now don’t rush this.  

Focus on one episode at a time so you can really grasp what they’re saying. Some shows actually have fan sites with dialogues you can download.

Want to hear the really fun part? Mimic the characters! Copy their lines, jokes and all. Grab your fun friends who’re into the same language, and film yourselves role-playing scenes!

By the way, if you want to discover the fastest way to learn a foreign language, then you'll probably enjoy my other case studies:

• How US military linguists learn languages fast
• How Mormon missionaries learn languages fast
• How astronauts learn languages fast

Learn English With Friends FAQ

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.