- A show works as a lesson only when you understand most of what you hear.
- Start with audio in your language, then move to the language you learn.
- Words from a show stay only if they come back in a review a few days later.
Why Netflix works for language learning
If you want to learn a language with Netflix, a series gives you hours of natural speech on topics you care about. You hear the same characters, the same places and the same jokes again and again, so words repeat without a textbook.
The limit is vocabulary. A study of movie scripts measured how many words you need. The 3,000 most common word families cover about 95% of a film, and 6,000 cover 98%. Below that, you watch the pictures.
Pick a show you would watch anyway
Choose something you already enjoy, or something you have seen in your own language. Knowing the plot frees your attention for the words.
Sitcoms and slow dramas are easier than thrillers with fast dialogue. Documentaries with one narrator are easier still.
Set audio and subtitles for your level
Change both in the Audio & Subtitles menu during playback. Which languages you see depends on the title and your region.
Let a few words come to you
NativeLingo swaps a few words in each subtitle line into the language you learn, in the right form for the sentence. Hover a word to see the original, click it to pause.
On Netflix this is a beta. Turn on “Subtitles on Netflix (beta)” in the extension popup. YouTube works out of the box.
Keep the words you meet
A study of learners watching TV found that words which came up more often were learned better. One episode is rarely enough. The words you met go to your word list and come back in a short typed review.
Questions
It builds listening and vocabulary, but most people also need a few minutes of review and some speaking practice.
Yes, at least until B2. Pick the subtitle language by your level, not by habit.
No. It works in Chrome on a computer, on netflix.com.