Spanish Language Immersion with TV Series and Movies

One of the best ways to learn Spanish is by watching TV. Listening and understanding are at the heart of learning another language, so watching actions, hearing pronunciation, and seeing words in captions are perfect for language learning. So next time you’re watching something, turn on the Spanish captions!
Most streaming services now allow you to turn on subtitles in another language. Here is a quick overview of how to use this fantastic learning tool:
- Novice: Watch in English audio with Spanish subtitles to learn words, phrases, sentences, and translations from what you hear in English.
- Beginner: Watch in Spanish audio with English subtitles to learn pronunciation, expressions, and translation by hearing native speakers.
- Advanced: Watch in Spanish audio with Spanish subtitles to practice comprehension necessary in hearing the language and processing the meaning.
- Expert: Watch Spanish audio without subtitles to activate the brain to learn the words spoken without the subtitles showing you.
Get TWO Languages in Subtitles
Language Reactor is a Google extension that creates two sets of subtitles. With this tool, you can see both languages in written form while watching TV. It also has a popup dictionary, precise video playback controls, vocabulary saving, and many more features when watching on Netflix or YouTube!
Recommendations:
We highly recommend watching movies or shows you have already watched and are familiar with, as you will be more focused on learning new words and phrases than trying to understand the story. For example, you can try watching Disney movies in Spanish. They are much easier to understand. However, if you don’t know which movies or TV shows to watch, here is a list of our recommendations.
- Coco: The story follows a 12-year-old boy, Miguel (González), transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his late musician great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living and reverse the family prohibition against music. The Mexican holiday of the Day of the Dead inspired this movie.
- Encanto: Encanto follows the story of a multi-generational Colombian family, the Madrigals, led by a matriarch whose children and grandchildren, except for Mirabel Madrigal, receive magical gifts from a miracle and use them to help the people of their rural community called Encanto.
- The Emperor’s New Groove: This movie was inspired by ancient Peruvian culture and set in an Inca empire. The Emperor’s New Groove tells the story of Emperor Kuzco, who is accidentally transformed into a llama by his ex-advisor Yzma, and her henchman Kronk. To turn back into a human, the Emperor entrusts village leader Pacha to escort him back to the palace before Yzma finds and kills him.
- Pan’s Labyrinth: The story takes place in Spain in 1944, during the early Francoist period, five years after the Spanish Civil War. The narrative interweaves the real world with a mythical world centered on an overgrown, abandoned labyrinth and a mysterious faun creature with whom the main character, Ofelia, interacts.
- Roma: In the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, two maids help a mother raise her four children during her husband’s long absences. One of the young women, Cleo, cares for the children as if they were her own, even though she is going through a difficult time.
- Club de cuervos (Mexican series): This funny show is about two siblings who fight over the ownership and direction of a football team.
- Who Killed Sara: (Mexican series) The series follows Álex Guzmán, who, after spending 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, is finding out who killed his sister Sara and getting revenge.
- Somos: (Mexican series) It tells the story of the massacre perpetrated by the Los Zetas cartel in the border town of Allende, Coahuila, in 2011.
- Money Heist: (Series from Spain) Eight thieves take hostages and lock themselves in the Royal Mint of Spain as a criminal mastermind manipulates the police to carry out his plan.
- Bolivar: (Colombian and Venezuelan series, but it has other Spanish accents) This dramatization depicts the life of Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar, who helped liberate several Latin American countries from Spain.
Watching television is one of the best ways to learn not only the vocabulary but also the culture of the Spanish language. However, there is no substitute for real conversation and professional guidance, so join a language exchange group or find a great teacher to take your Spanish to the next level.