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Sci-fi drama · American English
Stranger Things: English level and how hard it is to understand
Mostly simple vocabulary, but the teenagers speak fast and use 1980s slang. Exciting plots keep you watching, which is half the battle.
Updated
Short answer
Stranger Things is best for B1 to B2 learners. In 12 episodes we measured, a B1 learner knows about 96.8% of the words, and the characters speak at about 159 words per minute (fast).
Stranger Things in numbers
- Recommended level
- B1 to B2
- Speaking speed
- 159 words / min
- Words per episode
- 3,427
- Known at B1
- 96.82%
- Known at B2
- 97.7%
- Different words
- 3,516 in 12 episodes
Difficulty rank: 3 of 11 in our TV shows by English level list (easy words, fast kids).
Beyond the numbers
What makes Stranger Things hard (or easy)?
- The young characters talk quickly and interrupt each other.
- Slang and exclamations (whoa, freak, crap) appear constantly.
- Some scenes are dark and quiet, with whispered lines that are hard to hear.
Stranger Things is mostly American 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 Stranger Things
B2–C2 words that came up again and again in the episodes we analysed. Counts are for the 12 episodes.
acrobat
7×a performer who does jumps and balances
zombie
7×a dead person who walks again (in stories)
flayed
6×with the skin removed (a monster name)
kidnapped
4×taken away by force
spying
4×secretly watching someone
prank
4×a trick played on someone for fun
nightmares
3×very bad dreams
Spoken forms you will hear constantly
yeah ×360okay ×328hey ×220uh ×139gonna ×120um ×51
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 Stranger Things?
Share of all spoken words in each frequency band (A1 = the 5,000 most common words).
A188.24%
A25.34%
B13.24%
B20.88%
C10.69%
C20.6%
Unlisted1.01%
Watching plan
How to learn English with Stranger Things
- Use English subtitles for the action scenes and the scenes in the dark.
- Pause after big plot moments and say in English what just happened.
- Words about monsters and science repeat across the season, so learn them early.
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, S1E5, S1E7, S2E1, S2E3, S2E5, S2E7, S2E9, S3E2, S3E4, S3E6), removed sound descriptions, speaker labels, and character names, and matched each of the 41,121 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 Stranger Things good for learning English?
Stranger Things has easy vocabulary (a B1 learner knows about 97% of the words) but quicker speech than Friends. A good choice at B1 with subtitles, and comfortable at B2. We recommend it from B1 to B2.
How fast do they speak in Stranger Things?
About 159 words per minute of dialogue, which is fast for TV. Everyday conversation is often around 150 words per minute.
How many words do I need to understand Stranger Things?
A learner who knows the most common 20,000 English word forms (our B1 band) knows about 96.8% 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 (41,121 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 Stranger Things 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 Stranger Things 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.