[Vocabulary] see/watch a movie

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sitifan

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Dec 30, 2006
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English Teacher
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Chinese
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Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
1. I saw a movie last night.
2. I watched a movie last night.
https://youtu.be/GjZw0bRzH-8?t=315

According to the teacher in the above video, #1 implies that the activity happened at the movie theater, and #2 implies that the activity happened at home.
Do native speakers agree with what she teaches?
 

jutfrank

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Mar 5, 2014
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English
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England
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England
To some extent, yes.
 

Yankee

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Sep 13, 2013
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Retired English Teacher
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English
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United States
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1. I saw a movie last night.
2. I watched a movie last night.
https://youtu.be/GjZw0bRzH-8?t=315

According to the teacher in the above video, #1 implies that the activity happened at the movie theater, and #2 implies that the activity happened at home.
Do native speakers agree with what she teaches?

Only if she teaches that context can change the usage, for example, "I saw a movie last night on TV", or "I've seen that movie 3 times" (home or theater).
 

emsr2d2

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Jul 28, 2009
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British English
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UK
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As a general rule, yes. In BrE, I would say:

I watched that film on TV.
I saw that film at the cinema.
 
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