The love of watching films can be a great companion to pace up your learning Spanish as a foreign language.
In this post, we mull over 6 best Spanish movies that you ought to catch when you are starting out as a newbie with the language.
Read on!
How Watching Movies Helps To Learn Spanish?
Like any other foreign language, learning Spanish as a beginner demands you to develop command over vocabulary.
Watching movies can help a lot in this regard as you can immediately relate with certain words and phrases that you hear or come across during your language learning classes.
Plus, it will also give you an idea how to go about using such phrases and words in regular life and not just academically.
The best films to learn Spanish according to your level
While Spanish movies mostly strike the right chord with equal dollops of romance, humor, and style, not every move can be the ideal choice for someone learning the language for the first time.
Thus, it is necessary to know which titles are meant for your easy understanding.
Here’s a list of the best films to learn Spanish for beginners, intermediate, and advanced speakers.
The best films to learn Spanish for beginners
El otro lado de la cama
English title: The Other Side of the Bed
Where to watch : Prime video
Thoroughly enjoyable, Emilio Martínez Lázaros’ romantic comedy depicts the lives of two young couples. This is one movie that will surely enrich your vocabulary as it’s not that complicated and this is well suited for anyone who is beginning to learn Spanish as a foreign language.
IMDB rating : 6.4
Source : https://www.justwatch.com/es/pelicula/the-other-side-of-the-bed
Tres bodas de mas
English title: Three other weddings
Where to watch : Netflix
This movie follows the story of Ruth who gets invited to attend three weddings of her ex-boyfriends, all in one month. The movie is a delightful watch and like any beginner Spanish movie, it is highly recommended for its lucid dialogues and easy to grasp vocabulary.
IMDB rating : 6.2
Source : https://www.amazon.com/3-Bodas-Mas-Inma-Cuesta/dp/B075GX1H3C
La comunidad
English title: Alone among Neighbors
Where to watch: Prime Video
Out and out a black comedy, the storyline of this movie revolves around a rough and murderous neighbourhood. This movie is set in such a manner that you will have your turn to argue, experience different opinions (if you are watching with friends or family), and above all the verbal Spanish is pretty easy to understand.
IMDB rating : 7.2
Source : https://www.amazon.com/Comunidad-Carmen-Maura/dp/B07YDZ5K5M
Los peores años de nuestra vida
English title: The Worst Years of our Life
Where to watch : Netflix
This is one poignant movie that involves two brothers who end up falling for the same girl. While a storyline like this may not be entirely unique, this Spanish feature film will leave you with meandering thoughts on love, faith, desire and varying moods of human beings.
One interesting fact about the movie is how “estar” and “ser” are used throughout the movie at regular intervals. Directed by Emilio Martínez Lázaro and written by David Trueba, the comedy also received nominations for four Goya Awards and ended up winning one.
IMDB rating : 6.7
Source : https://www.justwatch.com/es/pelicula/los-peores-anos-de-nuestra-vida
The best films to learn Spanish for intermediate level
Amores Perros
English title: Love’s a Bitch
Where to watch : Prime
Directorial debut by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Amores Perros is perhaps one of the most compelling among all Spanish dramas. Many cinematic experts believe that this is one movie that laid the directorial foundation right for Inarritu to win the ebay directors award at the Oscars later for “The Revenant” and “Birdman” .
The movie is a mix of three different storylines that is linked to one single incident; a horrible car crash. The essence of the movie is Inarritu’s cinematic style in narrating events.
As you get familiar with typical Spanish words and phrases, Amore Peress should be the first among all Spanish dramas that you can check out as an intermediate Spanish learner.
IMDB rating : 8.1
Source https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245712/
Abre Los Ojos
English title: Open Your Eyes
Where to watch : Netflix
Another great romantic drama starring Eduardo Noriega and Spanish sweetheart Penélope Cruz.
Directed by Alejandro Amenábar, “Abre Los Ojos” has its protagonist in the shape of a handsome man who undergoes disfigurement in the face following an accident and has to deal with it along with his beloved.
“Abre Los Ojos” won the Best Picture Award at the Tokyo Film Festival and is regarded to be one of the finest among all modern-day masterpieces owing to its emotional storyline.
However, what sets this film apart from the rest in the row is its powerful and moving dialogue play, which makes sense because for all intermediate Spanish learners, it is a great opportunity to build your vocabulary. Focussing more on daily day-to-day conversations, this movie can be a great watch for many Spanish learners as it encourages one to pick up on Iberian Spanish, which is the most widely spoken type of Spanish in the country.
IMDB rating : 7.7
Source : https://www.amazon.com/Abre-Los-Ojos-Eduardo-Noriega/dp/B075RRCNYC
The best films to learn Spanish for Advanced level
Mar Adentro
English title: The Sea Inside
Where to watch : Netflix
Based on the real life story of Ramón Sampedro, this Spanish drama has Javier Bardem playing the lead role of a 25 year old turning quadriplegic. The movie narrates the painful tale of Sampedro who fights for the rest 29 years of his life too secure his rights for an assisted suicide (euthanasia). The movie’s greatest asset as it goes without saying is Javier Bardem’s performance.
As an advanced Spanish learner who aspires to get a better grasp of the language by watching movies, “Mar Adentro” will give you a proper idea about the use of Pasado, Imperativo and Subjuntivo.
IMDB rating : 8.0
Source : https://api.bingr.in/show/the-sea-inside
Belle Epoque
English title: Season of Love
Where to watch: HBO Max
Belle Epoque is directed by Fernando Trueba and revolves around a love plot set at the backdrop of times before the Spanish Civil War. Thus, it has the essence of a period drama and hence anyone watching the movie to hone their Spanish speaking skills certainly come to know a great deal about the social structure as well as significantly enrich their Spanish vocabulary, particularly that of Spanish history.
IMDB rating : 7.1
Source : https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/belle-epoque
Relatos Salvajes
English title: Wild Tales
Where to watch : Netflix
Relatos Salvajes is a thoroughly enjoyable black comedy that deals with the extremities of human behavior and presents before an array of events through six continuous episodes.
What makes this film an interesting watch for newbies of Spanish language is that it puts your acquired knowledge into test and is a great way to learn and pick on several native spanish phrases like you would find nowhere else.
IMDB rating : 8.1
El Laberinto del Fauno
English title: Pan’s Labyrinth
Where to watch : Netflix
Comes from Director Guillermo del Toros, this one’s a classic Spanish offering set at the backdrop of civil war-infested Spain. Thus, for intermediate learners of the Spanish language it can help you get trained effectively in tenses, both present and past and thereby help improve your vocabulary as well.
IMDB rating : 8.2
Tips on Learning Spanish through Movies
Learning Spanish by watching movies can be a fun-filled experience. However, the fervor of watching movies shouldnt deter you from your curse of learning. Thus, it is necessary that you stay motivated and take time to rewatch the movie as and when necessary and especially at those junctures when you feel completely clueless.
The below pointers shall come in handy when watching a spanish movie to master the language :
- Always begin watching a Spanish movie with subtitles in your native language, as it will help you understand the storyline better.
- After you have watched the movie with your native subtitles on, its tiem to rewatcht he movie with Spanish susntitles on. Since you already know how the character development and plot goes on, its time to revisit things n Spahs
- Finally, its time to turn off the sunsttiles nd only watch the movie in Saihs like a Spanih viewe. Tis will helpyou geta grip on commonly used words ans phrases.
Now, the idea of repeated viweings might seem a bit absurd at the beginning , but trust the process as this is a full proof way to master any language by watching movies in the same language- entetinalemt aand learning here goes hand in hand.
Advantages of Learning Spanish through Movies
What should you focus on?
- Conversation
What is the organic flow of the conversation? Learn by seeing natives talk to each other as this is essentially different than the conversations you would have in a classroom.
- Syntax
Give a clear message to your listener. You don’t want to sound like a robot repeating the sentences you’ve have learned from a textbook, so here you can learn how to switch up some words and change their order. But be careful! Switching up the wrong words can change the meaning entirely.
- Pronounciation
Spanish is not the same everywhere. From city to city, country to country, the dialects can change significantly, so pay attention to which dialect the movie is set and be aware of its differences.
- Grammar
Don’t worry if some aspects of grammar are a little too advanced for you. By watching Spanish movies, you’ll see how sentences are built and will be able to follow the same principles for your own conversations.
- Get rhythm!
Repeat it! Watch these movies over and over again to help you memorize and learn more Spanish words. Watching a movie once won’t have the same effect, so if you really want to boost your Spanish proficiency, keep playing that movie on repeat.
Wrap up
There you have it, the ultimate guide for learning Spanish with movies and series. Watching Spanish movies is great for supporting your learning process, but it’s no substitute for learning in interaction with real natives speakers