Series and films in Versión Original

There’s absolutely no shortage of great series and películas (films) in pretty much every language. When you’re studying Spanish, a fantastic way to mejorar el oído (train your ear) to the sounds of this fantastic language is to ver series y pelís (watch series and films) in their original version. Just like all the English students around the world do in that language, as a learner of Spanish you can benefit from the vast number of productions made in Spanish each year!

Nowadays, no hace falta (there’s no need) to go to the cinema to watch the latest estrenos (releases) as most of them are almost simultaneously released on the myriad of plataformas (platforms) we have such as HBO, Netflix and Disney+. The great thing about these is that there’s a Spanish language version which means you get everything doblado (dubbed) into Spanish if you fancy listening to international titles too! Also, all the shows and films have full subtítulos (subtitles) in multiple languages so you can listen in Spanish but read in another language to make sure you fully understand. It’s a great way to aprender (learn) new words and phrases in authentic contexts.

Here’s some vocabulary to help you find your way through the menus on your favourite platform.

As you can see, if you’re an English speaker, then half of these words are practically the same – ¡esto es pan comido! (this is easy!). We’d recommend looking for something that’s in a genre you already enjoy in your idioma nativo (native language) and go from there. The idea is to start practising listening in Spanish so that when you hear people speaking Spanish to you in the street, you can better understand them!

Given the huge choice available, you might get a bit agobiado (overwhelmed) trying to figure out what you want to see. There are always lots of reseñas (reviews) written by people online of all the new films and series, so get looking at some to give you some ideas. Here are some words to help you understand reviews in Spanish.

With all that information you get from the reviews, you’re sure to be able to encontrar (find) something that appeals to you! It’s just a case of thinking about your gustos (tastes) and spending some time looking through what’s available.

Once you’ve watched a few capítulos (episodes) or the latest pelí (film), you’ll probably want to go and have a chat about what you’ve seen with your Spanish-speaking friends. Here are some more useful phrases you’ll need to get the conversation started.

It’s always a good idea to practise speaking Spanish by getting out and talking to people about things you enjoy as you’ll be more motivated to make yourself understood. Watching series and films gives you hours of conversation material, and your listening skills will improve massively. You’ll learn about the culture of the Spanish-speaking world while having fun at the same time. Why not try finding something new to watch in Spanish and see where it takes you?