Im a scotsman who learned german at school (20 years ago) and looking to get back to speaking it, which of these tv shows if any would you recomend I watch to help me improve?
by Thescottishguy87
Im a scotsman who learned german at school (20 years ago) and looking to get back to speaking it, which of these tv shows if any would you recomend I watch to help me improve?
by Thescottishguy87
22 comments
Hello, a Northumbrian here! I started learning German via TV shows to immerse myself in the language. Deutschland 83 (and the sequels 86 and 89) are excellent and helpful when you already have an idea of the context behind the show (since it’s a Cold War drama). Tatort is a classic cringy crime scene show, I personally love the Münster version (Thiel & Börne), but the Köln version is also really good (Schenk & Ballauf). Stromberg is Germany’s Version of The Office U.K. and is cringy funny. Lots of good shows to sink your teeth into, happy learning!
Stromberg is a legend, it’s a bit like the office except that the main character is an absolute asshole, but a funny one
dark is a great series – but honestly already hard to understand in your native language haha..
Tatortreiniger is very good and the German is quite ‘real’.
You might also search out Mord mit Aussicht. A well made show with ‘everyday’ west German
The best TV show to help you learn German is the one that you enjoy watching the most. So we need to know what kinda stuff you normally watch.
The first 3 are excellent shows
Pastewka is amazing, watched all 10 Seasons multiple times
I should think Lindenstrasse (cancelled but still available, I guess) because it’s a soap and those are the best in order to learn the conversational aspect of any language.
Tatort is more of a meta-series. It’s a cooperation of the regional broadcasters many of which contribute one or even several sub-series, which then are produced at irregular intervals to fill the existing slots. So it’s not a coherent series, though sometimes there are crossovers.
Großstadtrevier is set in Hamburg, and it heavily embraces local culture and the city as its stage. Expect one or the other character having a distinct Hamburg way of speaking.
With a lot of the others, it’s also a matter of taste – Lindenstraße was Germany’s “never-ending” middle-class soap opera. It ran for 34 years. It’s unique in actually mapping everything happening in Germany, elections, social problems etc. into a small part of Munich.
Verbotene Liebe is more of a classical soap. You have to decide if soaps are your thing – if not, steer clear of Verbotene Liebe and be careful with Lindenstraße. Also, Lindenstraße has over 1700 episodes, so…
For fun short stuff in between, everything with Bernd das Brot
Few things are as German as a depressed Bread and as it is for kids, but with mature humor so adults love him as much or even more, the language is clear but not too difficult
Dark is a great series that was internationally well-regarded (something rare with German TV).
Tatort is something you should probably know just because it’s kind of an institution and if you don’t already know it, someone will tell you about it. There are viewing parties at the university Mensa and in some bars.
Watch “Die Martina Hill Show” and “Knallerfrauen” on YouTube. Great sketch-comedies.
I enjoyed Babylon Berlin.
Fellow Scot here. I used both Babylon Berlin and the Deutschland xx series and found them really helpful. Glad to see that a native speaker in a previous post didn’t recommend Dark as a learning tool… I enjoyed the episodes I watched but found.the speech a bit ‘mumbly’.
Pastewka and Stromberg for the funny part🤝
The only one of these I’ve watched is Türkisch für Anfänger, and I think you could do worse if you’re looking for a show with a lot of not-too-deep dialogue.
If you’re looking for a _good_ show, I’ve seen Dark get a lot of praise.
… do you know Loriot? ☺️
Stromberg. Rarely seen something so good in Germany TV.
Everything else is just meh.
That’s coming from a foreigner.
I feel like Alarm für Cobra 11 should be on that list for some reason.
Tatort is nice.
everything except verbotene liebe and lindenstraße.
never heard of deutschland 83.
but dark, babylon berlin, stromberg and dogs of berlin are top notch shows, regardless of origin language.
I really enjoyed dogs of berlin. The acting isn’t the best and the story also has some jokes but for some reason it was really enjoyable. It might be kinda hard to follow for a non native speacker, as they use a lot of dialect
Lindenstraße is made to 100% of irrelevant small talk.
My Grandma watched it and I never managed to finish an episode without falling asleep.