For me personally, listening and speaking German are definitely my biggest weaknesses. So I’ve spent a lot of time online searching and searching. I’ve found that the videos with German subtitles to be the most helpful — although I do get stuck in the trap of merely reading instead of listening sometimes. I’ve come across a few great resources that offer German videos with subtitles that I wanted to share.
Stream German Videos with Subtitles
With any of these streaming television broadcasters, always look for “UT” or Untertiteln in the description. This means the video has subtitles.
German Public Broadcasters
Many of the public broadcasters are regional and share content. For that reason, you can sometimes find overlapping videos. But there are unique shows and movies on each. You can usually find all sorts of programs from news to popular German shows like Tatort.
- ZDF, ZDFNeo, ZDFinfo, etc. has a large portal for streaming videos online. Not all of the videos have subtitles but a significant portion do. They have loads and loads of online videos from news to daily soaps to weekly dramas and comedies. Check out The Daily Show-like Heute-Show and the CIS-esque SOKO series.
- ARD
- BR
- WDR
- NDR
- RBB offers a direct link to their subtitled videos.
- MDR
- SWR
Other Channels & Shows
- Lindenstrasse, the popular German weekly soap opera, has free on-demand streams of the show with German subtitles. I’ve found the language level to be not too difficult.
- Deutsche Welle, the German broadcaster has a wealth of German language learning options. There’s the online soap opera Jojo sucht das Glück as well as other news and documentary videos. The videos are generally available as a podcast and for download so there’s no excuse not to practice!
- 25 Best German Movies on Netflix, Hulu & More
- 20 Best German TV Shows on Netflix, Hulu, & More
- Don’t forget YouTube! The video streaming service has plenty of videos in German and some have subtitles — in German and/or English — to aid in your practice.
Looking for more ways to practice German language? Be sure to check out part 2 with more German videos online for learners, plus a collection of German language television streams.
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