Céline Roustan
When learning a new language, there’s only so much you can learn in class or on an app like Duolingo. Nothing beats being fully immersed in the culture and learning idioms, slang and everyday conversation on the fly. This is something a young Chinese woman, who has just arrived in the US, is very conscious of. Eager to improve her English, she finds an unexpected – and hilarious – way to learn new expressions. With Learning English, writer/director Jean Liu crafts a sharp comedy filled with heart , this emotional depth working to make it all the more compelling and delightfully funny.
At its core, Learning English is an immigrant story, but told from a fresh and unexpected perspective. Unlike the often heavy narratives we’re used to seeing on this topic, this one is light, and fun, making it incredibly relatable for anyone who’s ever moved abroad, especially to the U.S. There is an undeniable authenticity to the screenplay, right down to the specific choice of expressions used. I still remember the first time I heard “Have a good one” – it was while buying coffee – and, of course, words like “boner” (definitely not picked up in a coffee shop), neither of which appeared in my English textbooks.
Ran Wei (L) and Zine Tseng star in Learning English
The positivity of the protagonist is also very contagious and what makes the film so effective is how Liu creates this absurd situation for her. She comes across as innocent and genuinely eager to explore her new country, make American friends, and fully embrace the culture. Her enthusiasm almost comes off as naive, which makes the contrast with the phone sex scene all the more hilarious. That contrast – between what the couple is saying, how she is using this unexpected situation to practice her American English, and the fact that it happens in broad daylight at a regular restaurant – becomes the core of the comedy in Learning English. Elevated by Zine Tseng’s performance, her smile and relentlessly positive attitude captures both the lightness and the depth of the screenplay, making the humor hit even harder.
“Something I’ve thought a lot about is what it means to be truly ‘fluent’ in a language”, Liu shared with us while discussing the inspiration behind the film. It’s definitely a concept without a clear definition and one that most people struggle with when learning a new language. “How much of fluency is about mastering linguistics and how much is about absorbing a culture?”, Liu reflected. She revealed that she wrote the screenplay shortly after moving to the U.S. from Shanghai. Despite having grown up in the UK and speaking English, she admitted she “felt an immense culture shock and alienation”. On top of that, she confessed, when she got a new SIM card, she kept receiving texts and calls intended for the previous owner – a strange and unexpected quirk of starting over in a new country.
Ahead of its online debut, Learning English had its World Premiere at the 2024 edition of SXSW. It went on to play at multiple festivals including Salute Your Shorts, where it won the Best Comedy Award.