Netflix and Learn
Here at Na'atik we are all for making the learning process enjoyable, and what's more enjoyable than settling down to binge watch a great series! Here are a few of our favorite Spanish-speaking movies and series for your next Netflix-and-learn session.
House of Flowers. La Casa de Flores - An entertaining, soap-opera-like (but not so dramatic) series. It’s Mexican-based and produced so great for Mexican Spanish and particularly Mexico City slang. Deals with lots of social issues and themes; we love it.
México Diseña - The Mexican version of Project Runway. Young fashion designers compete for the chance to become Mexico's next big fashion designer. Entertaining and light-hearted.
Spongebob Square Pants - Don't laugh - we are serious! Even if they weren’t originally produced in Spanish, kids' cartoons are a great learning tool when you switch the language. The language is simple and the characters and storylines are expressive so you can follow along even if you're missing some vocab. Another plus is the short episodes which means you can dip in and out without getting that language brain exhaustion. Also check out @spanish.toons on Instagram if you like this.
Control Z - Pretty Little Liars meets Gossip Girl meets Sherlock type high school drama series. It's terrible... and we loved it! It's a great one if you want to learn lots of swear words.
Cable Girls - Las Chicas del Cable. Based in 1920s Madrid, the series centers around four young women who get a job at the first national telephone company in Spain. It’s in Spain Spanish so great for advanced speakers wanting to learn Spain vocab, slang, and accents. Warning: they speak quickly in this so not for the faint-hearted!
Unstoppable - TV drama about a group of friends set out on a road trip when an unexpected fourth passenger forces an abrupt change of plans. A good representation of real-world language and how young people speak. The characters speak pretty clearly and it's great for learning slang.
Disney movies - Or really any movie you've seen loads of times and know well. Pop it on in Spanish and voilá. It's good because it's still enjoyable but you won't be worried about following the story so you can concentrate more on the Spanish. Just be mindful when picking a movie...Harry Potter might be your favorite but there's some vocab in there that realistically you're not going to need in your everyday life, unless of course you yourself are a wizard!
El Callejon de los Milagros - Not on Netflix but still one of our favorites. This is a really good Mexico City movie with nice Mexican Spanish...and Salma Hayek. You can find it on Youtube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtada1HfxQI
Money Heist. La Casa de Papel - Spain Spanish again so probably best suited for Intermediate/advanced learners but an exciting adventure-based series even if you watch with your first language subtitles on! Centered around the heist of the Spanish mint we thought the first two seasons were best.
Narcos - How could we put together a list of what to watch without mentioning Narcos. Gripping with a lot of historical facts. Very well-made as a series and plenty of opportunities to pick up some good Mexican and Latin American slang. If you like Narcos check out El Chapo and Pablo Escobar, el patron del mal.
Bonus tip - Download the Language Learners extension for Google Chrome. This allows you to view subtitles in two languages when watching through the Netflix website, so you can compare the original audio and subtitles with a translation in your language. There's a pop-up dictionary and the extension allows you to listen to subtitles one at a time as well as change the playback speed - a particularly useful feature! Let us know your favorite Spanish-language TV shows and movies.
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