Watch German movies at home!
One way, how to increase vocabulary in a foreign language and improve both reading and listening skills is to watch movies. You might wonder how does it help you with reading but put on German subtitles on top of the German audio and you will see how they support one another. If you are still a beginner and listening as well as reading German at the same time feels too overwhelming, I would still encourage you to watch a movie with German audio but with English subtitles. That’s how I have grown up and learned quite a few phrases when listening to a foreign language but reading the subtitles in my mother tongue.
Borrow a DVD from the school
First of all, I would like to advertise the school’s own selection of six different movies in German. There is a sign up sheet downstairs on one of the blue boards alongside with other German leaflets etc. If you wish to take one of those films home for a week just please write your name, the date and the name of the movie on the list and inform Ms. Suvi about your reservation. Please be aware that causing damage to a DVD will make you liable to either replace the movie with the exact same copy or to buy another movie that has both German audio and subtitles available.
Goethe Institut: Onleihe eLibrary
If you do not own a device that plays DVDs, there are luckily several options nowadays online. For example, Goethe Institut offers in their Onleihe e-library over 500 videos, some with English and some with German subtitles to be digitally borrowed. The language of the website can be chosen from various languages, which is why you do not need to be afraid to land on a German website where you might feel overwhelmed how to navigate in it. Based purely on the age rating I would recommend the following 2 movies for children: Latte Igel und der magische Wasserstein and Der Mondmann (with English subtitles). I have not yet seen either so I cannot say anything about the content of the movies. https://www.onleihe.de/goethe-institut/frontend/welcome,0-0-0-101-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html
Online TV channels
The following websites offer TV programs including news, series and movies online:
Netflix
There are plenty of options but I have watched the following movies on Netflix and like them:
Isi und Ossi (age rating 16+)
The Secret Life of Pets (no age rating and audio as well as subtitles in German available)
Not a movie but I am currently watching the series called Kitz. (age rating 16+)
Youtube
Before Netflix became a thing, I used to watch an animation called Totally Spies in Youtube. It is not a movie but I would still recommend it. It tells about three young female students who also happen to be spies saving the world. The only unfortunate thing is the lack of subtitles in any language. Originally, I watched it from TV as a child in English or in Finnish but when it was not shown any longer on TV and I found it in German online I gave it a try since I already knew some of the episodes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U4eqXDFVAE&t=217s
Recommend a movie for me and I promise to watch it and let you know what I thought of it!
