Learn English with Madagascar

Alex the lion is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends—Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo—have spent their whole lives in blissful captivity before an admiring public and with regular meals provided for them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape—with the help of some prodigious penguins—to explore the world.

Why learn English with Madagascar?

"Madagascar" is a fun animated movie about four animal friends from the New York Central Park Zoo – Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe, and Gloria the hippo. Marty dreams of exploring the "wild," a word you'll hear often, meaning nature outside the zoo. He runs away, and his friends follow, leading to a series of funny mishaps. They end up on a ship and, through a comical series of events involving the penguins, arrive in Madagascar. The movie uses a lot of everyday language, animal names, and place names like "New York," "Connecticut," "Antarctica," "Kenya," "San Diego," and "Madagascar," which are great for building your vocabulary. You'll also learn words related to emotions, like "happy," "worried," "confused," and "scared." The penguins even use some military-style commands like, “Report” and “Dive!”. The movie explores themes of friendship, adventure, and discovering who you are. The characters experience a wide range of emotions, from excitement and joy to fear and frustration. The language used is conversational and expressive, with lots of humor and slang. You'll hear characters shouting, arguing, and even singing. Paying attention to how the characters express these feelings in English can help you understand and use the language more naturally. For example, Alex shouts, “I'm in heaven!” when he's happy, and Marty says “This sucks!” when he's unhappy. These phrases are common in informal spoken English. "Madagascar" is a good movie for English language learners because it's entertaining and easy to follow. The animation helps you understand the story even if you don't catch every word. The characters' clear pronunciation and expressive voices make it easier to learn new words and phrases. Because the movie is so engaging, you'll be motivated to follow along and improve your listening and comprehension skills. Plus, you'll be able to talk about the funny characters and story with other English speakers.

Words from Madagascar

Here are the first 15 of the more difficult words in Madagascar:

zebra: a horse-like African wild animal with black and white stripes on its body
daydream: to have pleasant thoughts that distract you from the present
dd: a term of affection for a daughter, often used in text messages and on social media
hop: a short jump by a person or animal
sterilize: to kill bacteria on something
heck: used to express mild surprise, annoyance, or to emphasize a statement
decade: a period of ten years, often used when referring to the past or future
digit: any of the numbers from 0 to 9
alarm: a loud sound or signal used to warn of danger, problems or to wake you up
seller: a product or person that sells well
trot: to walk or run at a moderately fast pace
routine: usual or standard procedures performed regularly
improvise: to create or perform something spontaneously, using whatever resources are available, without prior planning or preparation
lib: used in the names of groups fighting for more freedom, equal rights, etc. (short for ‘liberation’)
boom: a sudden increase in activity and success, or a period of rapid growth