Improve your English with Fuller House

Level A2/ B1; Genre: Comedy

Fuller House is one of the most watched series on Netflix and there’s no denying it.
Did you also grow up in the 90’s watching Full House or have friends who did? If so, you were probably happy about the revival of most of the main characters. But, even if you have never heard of Full House before, this post is meant to tell you why you should watch Fuller House and how it can help you improve your English.

Fuller House is 5 seasons long with the last episodes coming out this year on Netflix.

Full House

Between 1987 and 1995 Full House was a beloved American sitcom. Situated in San Francisco a single Dad had to deal with his 3 daughters. To help him his best friend Joey and his brother in law Jesse also moved into the house.

Fuller House Plot

Netflix got most of the main characters (apart from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, actors of Michelle Tanner) back for the revival. The storyline is very similar at first glance. D.J (Donna Jo) Tanner-Fuller has to raise her 3 sons alone after her husband died. Her sister Stephanie Tanner, D.J.s best friend Kimmy and Kimmy’s teenage daughter move in with D.J to help her out.
The sitcom is based in D.J and Stephanie’s childhood house. The “dads” (Danny, Joey and Jesse), as well as their families make guest appearances. The series involves different topics of daily lives – work, love, children, teenagers and drinking. Every season has its own main focus. While the first seasons concentrate very much on DJ’s love life, later also the teenage problems as well as the surrogate pregnancy of Kimmy become a big issue.

Here is a trailer to the first season:

To believe or not believe

Despite Fuller House being a beloved sitcom, neither the storyline, nor the characters are very believable. I personally don’t think that stories like these happen in real life. For example Kimmy divorced and got engaged again to the same man within one day.
Also the story as well as characters are very cheesy. As an example we can look at DJ’s boyfriend(s). In the first season she can’t decide between her colleague Matt and her highschool sweetheart Steve.
Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that someone could jump around a lot after giving birth, but this is exactly what Kimmy does to celebrate not being pregnant anymore.
Sitcom (or better situation comedy is defined in the following way: a television series in which the same characters are involved in amusing situations in each show. This means the aim of the show is to be funny and not show a reality. And the characteristics for a sitcom are definitely fulfilled.

production

To the naked eye, it looks like one person produced Fuller House. However, this is not the case. Looking through all the seasons, there are many producers who put their mark on Fuller House. This also has a big effect on the timeline during the programme.
Even before Netflix confirmed they had the rights to produce Fuller House, it is clear that others also had interest in producing it for example the executive producers of Full House. This has an influence on the entire series and how it works.

Scandals

Unfortunately, Fuller House has also had its fair share of scandals as well. The writer, Jeff Franklin, was fired from the set because of abusive language and comments about his sex life. He apparently brought his girlfriends onto the set and gave them small roles. This, however, is not evident during Fuller House.
Furthermore, an actor, who had a main role in Full House, but just a guest appearance in Fuller House, was also fired for apparent fraud. The actress, Lori Loughlin, played the wife of Jesse and the colleague of Danny in Full House.
Despite these scandals, the series Fuller House was a relative success picking up 4 awards over 5 years.

Language and advice

This series is perfect for teenagers and adults to improve their English. The scripts make it easy for people to follow the storylines and it is aimed for the whole family.
However, despite winning the Kids’ Choice Award in 2017 and 2019, I would not recommend this for viewers under the age of 10. This is because there are sexual jokes, which younger watchers will not understand. Also themes such as the surrogate pregnancy are difficult to explain. Additionally, Jackson (the oldest of the three boys), has a girlfriend, who punches him regularly. This is amongst more than one thing that I wouldn’t want my young children to copy.

why should i watch fuller house?

Here are some good reasons why you should watch Fuller House to improve your English:

Ideal for beginners of English or at least beginners of watching English series
The language used is similar to that used in everyday life and therefore will improve your English
None of the actors have strong accents or speak too quickly
Even if your English level is quite low, you will be able to understand the slang.
Viewers will also notice how the teenagers use teenage vocabulary
Because of the easy storyline, it is not necessary to understand every word to understand the content.

I would recommend you start watching the series with English subtitles and once you feel more confident, try watching without.

Now let me know in the comments what you thought of Fuller House! I am looking forward to reading your comments!

If you would like to learn more sign Up for a free Present tense Cheat Sheet

If you need any other ideas on what other Netflix series to watch, then read my previous post about the 11 best Netflix series to watch.

Sources:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sitcom
https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/jeff-franklin-fuller-house-out-behavior-1202713011/
https://deadline.com/2017/03/kids-choice-awards-winners-list-fuller-house-finding-dory-2017-1202041765/