5 Movies and TV Shows to Watch to Improve Your German

TV shows and movies, whether they are cartoons, animated or not, are great ways to improve your German. Not only do you learn new words but you also surround yourself with many different dialects.

You can also read along with captions and/or subtitles in either your native language or German while watching.

Here are our 5 picks of movies and TV shows to watch to improve your German.

Lola rennt (“Run Lola Run”)

This is a classic German movie that follows a woman called Lola, who has to find 100,000 German Marks in 20 minutes, to be able to save her boyfriend’s life. Lola’s boyfriend is a small-time criminal and has lost his boss’s money and will be killed if he doesn’t come up with the money.

The story of the film is told 3 different times, all ending in completely different ways.

If you enjoy fast action, and thriller films and want to get a taste of Berlin and the Berliner dialect, this is a great film for you.

Nichtlustig (“Notfunny”)

Nichtlustig is a cartoon but not for the younger audience, as it does have some adult humor. Not exactly like South Park, in terms of humor, but it does have a mix of dark and dirty jokes.

Its cartoon style is similar to that of Futurama and so far only has 1 season with 15 episodes, lasting between 14 to almost 20 minutes.

Das Haus Anubis (“The House Anubis”)

This mystery show focuses on 8 young people who are living at a boarding school, Haus Anubis. Nina is the newest resident and what she doesn’t know is that her room once belonged to Linn, who disappeared.

This isn’t the only secret of the school! Throughout the 3 seasons of the show, the character seeks out the mysteries and secrets of Das Haus Anubis.

Das Haus Anubis is targeted at children between 12 years and older, but it is a great choice for both beginner and intermediate levels of German.

Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage

Based on true events, this film is set in Munich during World War II and shows how the members of the Weiße Rose (“White Rose” - a resistance group) and Sophie Scholl were punished for giving out disloyal anti-nazi literature.

This movie has a lot of dialogue and is great for those who enjoy learning about history or watching history films.

It may be a little difficult for beginner-level Germans, but those at an intermediate or higher level can learn and expand their vocabulary of political and activist-like words and phrases.

Die Sendung mit der Maus

Almost all native German speakers are familiar with this little cartoon mouse and it is one of the country’s most successful TV shows.

This show aims to educate young children about everyday things, in an easy way. There are over 2000 episodes and you can watch them on Youtube (Look for “Die Maus”) as well as on the website - “Die Seite mit der Maus - WDR”.

A great way to educate and inform yourself but in the German language! You can learn lots of different words, and useful information about almost everything.

Conclusion

Movies and TV shows are a fun way to learn a language. You get to hear many different dialects, learn new words, and understand how the spoken language is formed. Watching them with subtitles can be very helpful if you are struggling or just want to see how the words and sentences are formed and written.

There’s a movie or TV show for everyone, find out what interests you, and have fun watching and learning at the same time.