Television is a great way to practice a language! While it can be difficult at first, sticking through a show and reviewing vocabulary can exponentially improve your Spanish! I’ve included some key strategies you can use to further enrich your TV series watching experience, and grow as much as possible in Spanish while enjoying yourself!
Keep a notebook. Jot down a general overview of the story line. Try to pick up people’s names. This is far trickier than it might sound. Draw out family trees and love triangles (or other dramas) that are important to the stories. When you do this, you will pick up on the plot much more naturally and it will push you to feel confident watching without subtitles.
Learn your favorite quotes or the theme song. Every show may have memorable moments, whether hilarious or dramatic, and trying to remember and recite your favorite lines will help you speak more fluently and confidently! The theme song also may have new grammar or vocabulary, and as you’ll have dozens of opportunities to sing along at the beginning of each episode, you may learn a lot in one song!
Turn off subtitles! As much as you may feel you don’t understand enough, if you force yourself to listen rather than read (subtitles), you will help yourself in the long run! You may find yourself lost in a scene every now and again, but as long as you understand generally how the show is moving, stick through and rewatch parts that may have confused you!
Without further ado, here are a few Spanish TV shows I recommend for all different tastes!
La Casa de Las Flores - Black Comedy, Drama
A soapy telenovela high budget show, Casa De Las Flores is a modern take on a classic television style! It depicts a dysfunctional upper-class Mexican family that own a prestigious floristry shop and a struggling cabaret, both called 'The House of Flowers’. The show is very campy, dramatic and with many great quotes to learn! Fans joke if you imitate Paulina when talking, your pronunciation problems will go away as she speaks slowly, rhythmically and enunciates very clearly. I’ve included a compilation of her speaking as an example!
La Casa de Papel - Crime, Thriller
“La Casa de Papel” was originally aired on a regular Spanish TV channel. Later, it was acquired, edited and re-aired by Netflix, only to become one of the most watched foreign language series of the whole service!
It tells the story of a group of robbers who broke into the Royal Mint of Spain, taking hostages as part of their plan to print and escape with more than 2 billion euros. While the language isn’t the easiest, its immense popularity means that there are tons of resources online from vocabulary list broken down by each episode, to activities for practicing Spanish!
La Reina Del Sur - Drama, Action
This famous novela is about a Mexican woman who escapes the cartels of Mexico only to begin running Spain’s illegal drug industry. She juggles international drug deals, and spends a brief time in prison. The shows showcases accents of Mexico, Spain and Colombia, which is great exposure for Spanish learners!
The story is primarily action-driven, so you’ll follow what’s going on thanks to the strong visual element to this show. With some of the highest production costs of any telenovela, you’ll see why this show was one of most popular novelas to date!
With these three shows, you have a variety of options to discover what you like and what feels comfortable following along in Spanish!
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~ I’m a Spanish teacher based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since 2007 I have been teaching Spanish to people from all over the world. Whether looking for an online Spanish tutor, or in person while visiting Buenos Aires, please reach out to me with any questions you might have! ~
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