cartel
10×a criminal group that controls drug sales
Crime drama · American (Southwest) English
Breaking Bad: English level and how hard it is to understand
The slowest speech of the shows we measured, with long pauses and clear acting. The difficulty is crime vocabulary and street slang.
Updated
Short answer
Breaking Bad is best for B1 to B2 learners. In 12 episodes we measured, a B1 learner knows about 96.5% of the words, and the characters speak at about 131 words per minute (slow).
Breaking Bad in numbers
- Recommended level
- B1 to B2
- Speaking speed
- 131 words / min
- Words per episode
- 3,104
- Known at B1
- 96.5%
- Known at B2
- 97.52%
- Different words
- 3,985 in 12 episodes
Difficulty rank: 4 of 11 in our TV shows by English level list (slow speech, street slang).
Beyond the numbers
What makes Breaking Bad hard (or easy)?
- Crime and drug vocabulary (cartel, laundering) carries the plot.
- Some characters use heavy slang and short forms like ain’t.
- Some Spanish phrases appear without translation.
Breaking Bad is mostly American (Southwest) English. Accent and speed matter as much as vocabulary: if you know the words but can’t catch them, turn on English subtitles and slow down.
Learn these first
Useful words from Breaking Bad
B2–C2 words that came up again and again in the episodes we analysed. Counts are for the 12 episodes.
laundering
5×making illegal money look legal
methamphetamine
5×an illegal drug (often “meth”)
escalating
4×getting more serious
upshot
4×the final result
tortoise
4×a slow land animal with a shell
breakage
3×things that get broken
bookkeeper
3×a person who keeps business accounts
Spoken forms you will hear constantly
yeah ×351hey ×202okay ×179uh ×116gonna ×113wanna ×55
gonna = going to · wanna = want to · gotta = got to / have to. Textbooks rarely teach them, but TV uses them all the time.
Vocabulary profile
How common are the words in Breaking Bad?
Share of all spoken words in each frequency band (A1 = the 5,000 most common words).
A187.9%
A25.23%
B13.37%
B21.02%
C10.68%
C20.6%
Unlisted1.2%
Watching plan
How to learn English with Breaking Bad
- Enjoy the slow pace: it is ideal for listening practice without subtitles.
- Learn the crime and money words below before season 1.
- Watch for how characters change their way of speaking as they change.
In TeakReader you can import the subtitles of any episode, see the words you don’t know yet, and study them as flashcards before you press play. How it works
How we measured it
We took English subtitles for 12 episodes spread across the first seasons (S1E1, S1E3, S1E6, S2E2, S2E5, S2E7, S2E10, S2E13, S3E3, S3E5, S3E8, S3E11), removed sound descriptions, speaker labels, and character names, and matched each of the 37,253 spoken words to the same frequency list we use for classic book levels. Speaking speed is spoken words divided by the time the subtitles are on screen. Only statistics and single words are shown here.
The recommended level is our estimate from vocabulary, speed, and style, not an official CEFR rating. Later seasons can be easier or harder.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Breaking Bad good for learning English?
Breaking Bad is slower than any other show we measured, about 131 words per minute, so it is excellent listening practice. Learn the crime vocabulary first and it is comfortable at B2, possible at B1 with subtitles. We recommend it from B1 to B2.
How fast do they speak in Breaking Bad?
About 131 words per minute of dialogue, which is slow for TV. Everyday conversation is often around 150 words per minute.
How many words do I need to understand Breaking Bad?
A learner who knows the most common 20,000 English word forms (our B1 band) knows about 96.5% of the words spoken. Research on listening suggests that knowing about 95% of the words is enough to follow most of what is said, so subtitles help until you reach that point.
How did you measure this?
We analysed the English subtitles of 12 episodes from the first seasons (37,253 words), removed sound notes, speaker labels, and character names, and matched every word to the same frequency list we use for book levels. The level is our estimate, not an official CEFR rating.
Can I study the vocabulary of Breaking Bad before watching?
Yes. In TeakReader, search for the show, import an episode’s subtitles, and you get a list of its words you don’t know yet, with meanings and flashcards.
Ready to read
Learn the words from Breaking Bad before you watch.
Import any episode’s subtitles in TeakReader and get its unknown words with meanings and flashcards. Free on iPhone, iPad, and Android.