My Top 8 German TV Shows for Language Learning 

I'm german, why am I watching this

1:15 Unsere Mütter, Unsere Väter 2:05 Deutschland 83 2:40 Der Gleiche Himmel 3:23 Babylon Berlin 4:02 Dark (not sure I agree this is easy to follow...) 4:58 4 Blocks 5:37 Heute Show (ZDF Mediathek) 6:25 Neo Magazin Royale I recommend Mord mit Aussicht and Tatortreiniger.

I’ve seen ‘Dark’ and for me this is the best series i’ve ever seen! Its story is really interesting ,and well filmed ! Love it! Everyone should watch

You should put the name of the series in the description.

4:11 are you kidding me !!! this show is at another level. stranger things is no match to this!

There's just the problem that Netflix doesn't provide the same series everywhere

I would not call Dark the German Stranger Things as these two series are quite different. They have elements in common for sure, but there is more that divides them than what connects them.

The first show is called Our mothers our fathers and translators just went: "Hm, generations war sounds adequate."

Watch Disney movies in german it’s amazing!😊 my personal suggestion!

"Tatortreiniger" is a great German series, actually one of the best series I've ever seen. It's about a guy whose job it is to clean up after murders and accidents have happened. Every time he meets weird people at the crime scene and they begin to have bizarre, intelligent and hilariously funny dialogues. Very clever series with amazing characters!

I honestly believe „Dark“ is one if the best (if not the best) series! It’s insanely good!

I recommend "Nico weg film"

Ive seen DARK already and i was hesitating for a long time because of the level of difficulty on the story but i have to admit that being A1 level it really help to understand basic questions words such as wo, was? 😅 and i loved it

Why is mostly german movies I find about war or crime :/

'Dark' has become one of my all-time favourite shows

I ve seen Dark already 3 times the 1st season. Its my favorite German series. You should definitely watch it !

While I agree that Dark is an absolutely phenomenal show I’m a bit hesitant to recommend it for learning German as it has a very complex storyline. I’d say it is better suited for quite advanced learners but definitely give it a watch! You won’t regret it. And if you really want to catch all the subtleties you’ll need to rewatch it once anyways ;)

Ihr müsst wissen, dass "Die Anstalt" die beste Satiresendung von allen ist. You have to know that "Die Anstalt" is the best satirical show of all.

As a german I have to admit, that beside the Late night shows I don't know one of these shows at all.

Me, a German, that really doesn't like german shows: how interesting

If you like satire, you might also like "Die Anstalt". As for Drama, you can watch the first 3 seasons of "Weißensee" on Netflix.

This is incredibly useful. I study languages at university and one year ago I decided to start learning German. I am Italian and I can speak English pretty well, but German is definitely more challenging. I have been searching for some shows in German to understand the language better and I have just stumbled upon this channel. You gave amazing suggestions and I will definitely check these shows out. Vielen Dank!

I’ve watched Generation War many, many times...and I have no facility in German. It really drew me in, and the characters are so well done. I forget I’m reading subtitles after awhile!

nice collection! i m german and have never heard from 4 blocks. i will watch it! babylon berlin is awesome, maybe the best german show ever. as a movie i suggest "lola rennt". greetings from germany!

If you want to get a little bit more into german humor, go watch 'Mord mit Aussicht' and 'Der Tatortreiniger'

I'm a German and I'm watching dark in English 😂🤣

I've been obsessed with Babylon Berlin, can't wait for the next season

Honestly, Charité and Charité: At War is a wonderful series. (It’s the Same series just cut into Season 1 and 2). It’s about the hospital Charité in Berlin and the first series plays out in the 1890s(?), the second season plays out in Nazi Germany. The second season in my opinion is 1000 times better than the first. It’s great for anyone who wants loves historicity accurate TV shows. The costumes are accurate and the hair is accurate enough. The story in itself is based on reality and I’ve watched it a few times already. The German subtitles are alright and English ones are available. Overall it’s series I would highly encourage anyone to watch.

Unsere Mütter unsere Väter is my favourite series of time! Tom schilling is an absolutely great actor. I think German actors like him and Volker Bruch are much to underrated!

Try the Tatortreiniger!

Ich empfehle sehr die Serie "In aller Freundschaft", es geht um Ärzte in einem Krankenhaus, die Sprache ist sehr klar und deutlich und die Serie ist sehr realistisch, es erzählt Geschichten vom wahren Leben.

Danke für die Empfehlungen!

"Türkisch für Anfänger" is the best German show ever & I recommend it to everyone

5:06 "I'm going to break the rule about stuff being easy to follow." And mentioning "Dark" didn't already break that rule? Hahaha.

watch "türkisch für anfänger" its on netflix (all 3 seasons) and its about a german mother with her two kids and a turkish father with two kids who immigrated to berlin. so the mother and the father get together and move in together with all of their kids and its about culture clash between these two families and overall just great. its from lenas perspective (the daughter of the mother) and there are a lot of prejudices but in the end they overcome them obviously. the series is already a bit older, from the 2000s i think, but still as cool as it was and my go-to when i dont know what to watch

Das Leben der Anderen is the finest German film I have seen. Tense drama about the Stasi. Handkerchief ready for the final scene though.

I also recommend "Türkisch für Anfänger"

Als ich ein Kind war habe ich Deutsch in meiner Schule in Amerika gelernen. Ich hab a bisschen Deutsch vergessen.

You’re so humble saying I don’t have a job. Thanks for your critique and honesty!

Watching Dark definitely taught me a few German words like "Es tut mir leid"," Meine werld" I didn't even try to learn German

Dark is my favorite series I'm looking forward to next season. Jonas 😍👌 From india ❤️

Love Babylon Berlin!!!!! Love Love love...

Extra is the easiest online series to learn German (just for beginners), it's also available on RU-vid .

Tom, I want to know that your work is really helping me in my process of learning German. Danke

Babylon Berlin is a masterpiece!!! I fell in love with it!

I've been watching German shows to help me learn as well.

try watching Skyline (love this series, not just the story but the music), Dogs in Berlin (action and socially relevant, i think), Freud ( strange but it drew me in as i watched every episode), Parfum (interesting plot or story).... i love watching films or series both in German audio and subtitle... thanks for sharing ur recommendations... do add films you‘ve watched.. so i can put it on my list to watch as well☺️

You can also watch at ARD 3 series 1. Tatort 2. Lindenstraße 3. Sendung mit der Maus ( This is for kids but I like Sachgeschichten they explain how something works or how something is produced - nice to listen because it’s not difficult 😉

I need a series such as "Friends" or "How I Met Your Mother" to learn German language.Can anyone help or recommend something?? 🙏

Ladykracher, Heute-Show, comedian Jürgen von der Lippe, Stromberg, tatortreiniger; but you can watch almost every English series in german synchro as well (burning-series is an illegal example but quite helpful) . my favourite movie is Bornholmer Straße. Best high fives from Erfurt, Bundesrepublik ;)

You definitely chose the best which German TV has to offer so far!

I suggest you people movies of Fatih Akın: Soul Kitchen (super funny, easy to understand) Im Juli (funny and lively road movie) Tschick (also called as Goodbye Berlin)

eine andere Sendung die ich sehr mochte, und mir beim Lernen sehr geholfen hat, war Verbotene Liebe. wie der Name raten lässt, geht es um Liebesgeschichten, aber nicht nur. die Gespräche sind sehr reel, ich meine, so wie die Menschen wirklich im Alltag sprechen, und es ist sehr hilfreich für das Lernprozess.

That Tom Schilling is a cutie. I probably spelled his name wrong. Anyways I wish he was in the tv show Dark. That show is awesome. Its truly a psychological thriller. Very sci-fi, the cast, crew, staff were amazing and I can't wait for season 2. Who's Noah? That's everybody question.

Interesting to see. I have never really had trouble following German shows, because I had it on highschool. Talking German has become a bit rusty though. Haven't been there in a couple of years now. As a Dutchie, I would like to see the same for Dutch. I fully enjoyed your 20-days challenge. You did amazing, even though some little pronunciation mistakes kept creeping in. I can advice you Zondag met Lübach and Hollands Hoop.

Oookay, just finished Unsere Mütter today and reaaallly loved it . And now started watching Deutchland 83 - haven't really learnt any german yet, but I'm definitely loving the music/soundtracks for sure!! Really well made shows even if you can't speak german for s*it - it's still nice to see things from a completely different angle and think along. Really great stuff!! Very well made. Very happy with how I've spent the last 10 hours of my life. If somebody thinks it sounds like sarcasm, it's really not! - i genuinely feel like a smarter/more considerate person so I think that's last 2 days well spent and I personally am really grateful/happy with that :) Thanks for these recommendations :)

which location are you watching from? I am in german and cannot watch half of them. even was chatting with netflix help and they confirmed that babylon berlin and gleiche himmel are not available in german netflix... confused.

German Movies: (Beispiele) 1: Who am I 2. Fack ju Göhte 3. Honig im Kopf

such a cool list man! And Crime is my favourite type, so Thanks!!

I watched this video before watching anything so he really doesn`t explain exactly how good is DARK. The colors are a tiny little piece :D So I am here to say that it is epic and you should watch it!!! Unsere Mütter, Unsere Väter is also good. We`ll see with the others..

1. Unsere Mütter Unsere Väter 2. Deutschland 83 3. Gleicher Himmel 4. Babylon Berlin 5. Dark 6. 4 Blocks 7. Heute Show 8. Neo Magazin Royale

Bad Banks is a genius Show. Currently it has only one season but i read somewhere that they are shooting the second one. Some part is in french bc the series is set in frankfurt and Luxemburg. Its about the financial world in germany, but if someone like me loved it, and i dont understand a thing about financial stuff, than its gonna be no problem at all for you. BUT Dont watch it without subtitles (especially when they talk about finances😂) other than finances, its about manipulation and each episode you learn about the characters and theyre ugly past. I can only recommend it and you can watch it on the arte.de/mediathek

Dark is my absolute favourite!!! Its very good, as i am trying to keep up my German after being an exchange student!

I loved this! Thank you for sharing!! Watching TV series and movies is my favorite method for language learning. It worked very good for me while learning English and Italian, but for German it has been difficult to find something I want to watch repeatedly.... I'm definitely gonna try your suggestions!

"Charité" is really really cool too and its on Netflix:))

or you could watch an english movie you already know with german dub

Better to add the list in description :) But you've done a good job!!

I've been looking for recommendations. Thank youu!

I also recommend Doctor‘s Diary.

the truth is everybody WAS a victim that time, doesnt matter if theyre german british or russian whatever

A lot of native English-speakers find "Dark" hard to follow in English. "Babylon Berlin" is a little easier. "The Same Sky" (Der Gleiche Himmel) is easier still. (All on Netflix.) There are movies (and probably series) available on RU-vid aimed at A1 or A2 or B1 German-speakers. For example, "Nicos Weg" is available on RU-vid, apparently in an A1 and an A2 version. These can be watched with German subtitles. NOTE: Beginner = A1 < A2 < B1 < B2 < C1 < C2 = almost bilingual.

Here is another German TV-series I think is thrilling and also very very funny and therefore would like to recommend: "Der letzte Bulle". It is about a Kriminalhauptkommisar (= the equivalent of a British detective inspector, I think) from the 80ies who awakes in 2010 after having been in a coma for 30 years due to having been shot in the head. The story takes place in Essen (far western Germany, Ruhr area) with it's typical honesty and non-nonsense mentality. So some of the characters speak with the local accent which might be a slight challenge for non native speakers of German, but not half as much as with, for example, the Bavarian dialect, though. There's a greater plot, but every episode also has its own plot as a who-done-it crime movie. The main character is an able inspector and basically a decent guy, but he also tends to sometimes break the rules in order to bring the perpetrators to justice (like regularly commiting B&E to procure evidence, for example) Plus, he is an incurable macho. So he has quite a hard time adjusting to the customs of the 21st century (like political correctness and non-smoking policies) and to learn the appropriate behaviour towards women (still, they usually like him, so there is also some romance going on, most of the time). He also has to learn the use of digital technology like smartphones and the internet, and of course, he has to see a shrink, which adds a lot of comedic moments. The series is finished, consists of five seasons and stays interesting and funny till the very end. The other characters are also written and cast very well. Edit: Oh, and the soundtrack is great, too. Mostly classic hits from the 80ies.

Watch germen RU-vid it's pretty useful especially with subs 😶

Learning german while watching DARK, I think german themselves doesn't understand the hell of it.

DOGS OF BERLIN!!!! Amazing. I've made a vocab list for the first episode for my German class.

If you feel confident enough you should try to watch some "Die Sendung ohne Namen" (Just search it here on YT ^^). I don't think that any subtitles are available but even for native speakers this "show" is almost an information overflow as you are confronted with fast monologues, pictures that match some of the mentioned words (sometimes in a ridiculous way), text that adds further information on either the spoken word or on the picture in the back and then some needed pauses filled with some kind of philosophic meaning.

any German funny tv shows / sitcoms suggestions ?

If you never saw them I would recommend 'Kriegerin' (2012; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZBHQQ5BVK-4.html) a drama which is about a Neonazi woman which decides to help a refugee after almost killing another. Another GREAT movie is 'Das finstere Tal' (2014; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wZqYbJM3JJc.html) which I think is an Austrian movie (with quite a bit of a dialect, but with subs very manageable) about an isolated Austrian village in the late 1800s which is rather tightly controlled by a patriarchal family. Suddenly an American photographer appears and seems to stir the slumber. Great version of an "European western". I would also recommend giving 'Gegen die Wand' (2004; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gGd6RaoYPxo.html) and the comedy 'Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland' (2011; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1symyME8TdE.html) a chance. The first is really the breakthrough of Fatih Akin and the second manages to portrait the same German-Turkish milieu but rather differently - and of course wittier. And of course, there are the two films I always answer: 1. Friendship (2009, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-p1WrRmJ_p2Q.html) which is a lovely little road movie about two Eastgerman friends shortly after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, traveling through the USA to find the father of one of them, which fled the GDR years ago. Matthias Schweighöfer gets a lot of bad rap for his mediocre rom-coms these days, that movie was one of his last gems in my view. 2. Das Parfum - Die Geschichte eines Mörders (2006; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-d62GcKN08Hs.html) Now, admitelty, its only German production so the original language is English and people might find i odd to hear Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman speaking German, but I recommend it anyway. :P

if you're a teenager i recommend the shows druck and intimate/the movie tigermilch.all the other recommendations here are also really good!!

I learned a lot of words with Sturm der liebe. 😍

I have a beginner question. Is it better to watch shows/movies with German subs, even though I'm not able to understand more than 50%. Is it better to keep watching with English subs until I get a greater grasp of vocabulary?

Starting learning German just because of Dark lol

I've seen most of these and they are very good. Will check out 4 blocks and talk shows.

Hey, I can recommend the Series (3 Seasons) of „Türkisch für Anfänger“ (turkish for beginners). It‘s just a nice comedy series and it‘s realy easy to follow, the German is pretty good german. And also I can recommend the Movie „Zeit der Wünsche“.

Wow, your English is really good.

As I German I can tell u : Don't watch German TV shows... Most of them are painfull to watch... Pick yourself a fancy TV show u like (Perhaps Game of Thrones, Rick and morty or whatever u like) and use German Audio with an English subtitle... It helps a lot if u brain Know what is going on until u can connect German words with they English counterparts....

You should really watch tatortreiniger. Its funny but has also very deep themes. And it showcases Hamburg and its people perfectly.

Oldie, but still a great viewing experience: "Das Boot" in the original mini series format.

Great idea!! I needed some tips for series to watch to re-learn german!! Thanks!

Some other great options: Mord mit Aussicht, Weißensee and Türkisch für Anfängern. Had a lot of fun watching those!

Great video! :) Another series I can recommend would be Charité.

Just watched ‘Dark’. Got instantly hooked! Just beautiful! Thanks a lot for the suggestion!

Great list and thank you for telling us about subtitles.

If Tom Schilling is in it, I will watch it. 😍

First time I've come across your spot, Tom, nice recommendations and commentary.

I am German and those are exactly the shows I love to watch or would watch the most. Well done!!

Just some fun information. Almost everyone I know ( and I am German) hates German tv and films. I mostly watch Asian or American serieses in english, or with english sub and on Netflix with German dub. It might be strange but I personally recommend watching your favourite shows in the language you want to learn and not the serieses from that country.

I watched Generation war and it was good! It was fun to realize that I could understand some words.

I'm planning to rewatch dark series it was so amazing

I prefer something somewhat more lighthearted. I recommend Kommissar Rex. Very easy to follow.