In a previous article, I suggested five books written in Spanish to indulge in your Spanish language interest. In this article, I have 6 movies or TV series to put your listening skills into practice.

“It’s funny how the colours of the real world only seem really real when you watch them on a screen.”

― Anthony Burgess, 

Leaving the language angle aside, movies in the target language, set in the target language culture, are the best way to understand the mindset while having some pleasure (if you like the genre and the story). Because learning doesn’t need to be boring or hard, that’s a misconception. Learning comes from discipline, but it has to be rooted in meaning and pleasure. Movies give us meaning, pleasure and stories in about 2 hours. And our brains like nothing more than a good story.

I said six movies, but the truth is that I have seven movies and one TV series that I absolutely loved. Of course, Netflix is riddled with movies and TV series in the Spanish language set in Spanish speaking countries with a wide range of themes and, it has to be said, quality. These suggestions are only my personal choices.

You might notice a certain heaviness in themes, and that is because, for me, while I love the dark, heavy dramas and thrillers (from crime to drama to horror (gosh, we have such good Spanish horrors!), I am not a big fan of comedy and even less, of that kind of comedy that makes fun of the worst of the Spanish culture, also known as “españolada”. These are not my thing, although they are a great way to know Spain and Spanish culture. But you won’t see this here, and I am here not to reinforce stereotypes.

Let’s start with a trilogy that I adored so much that I created a conversation course based on it last year.