English through Movies: Shanghai Calling

Jul 9, 2021 | Uncategorized

Hello again,

Thank you for visiting my blog, and I hope you’re all safe and healthy no matter where you are.

Saigon, where I’m currently living, has experienced large-scale lockdowns due to the fourth wave of COVID-19 since early May. Instead of being controlled by fear and anxiety, I find joy in working from home and spending more quality time with my family. I also have time to re-connect with myself, reflect on the past six months, re-work my plans for the rest of the year, and re-watch one of my favorite films. The last item brings me to the idea of launching a new series: English through Movies.

The benefits of learning English from movies are numerous, and I believe you say the same. I want to share with you the slangs, idioms, and colloquial expressions that are hard to find in coursebooks. I hope you seek to gain better exposure to the spoken language and sound more like a native speaker as much as I do.

The first movie I’d like to introduce is ‘Shanghai Calling.’ Long story short, it tells about a Chinese-American lawyer (named Sam Chao) who is sent to Shanghai on assignment for three months in exchange for a big promotion. As soon as he has landed, he immediately stumbles into a legal mess that could end his job prospect. With the help of a kind relocation specialist, a well-connected old-timer, and a clever journalist, Sam can just carve his own career path, find romance, win everyone’s heart, and learn to appreciate the beauty of his homeland.

Though I’m a huge fan of the main actor, it is the message that has drawn me to the movie over and over again: “Sometimes the language you don’t speak is the one that speaks to you.” You probably want to check out the movie to see what I’ve meant.

For now, I won’t let you wait any longer. Are you ready to learn to some nice vocabulary?

The time is now.