Unsure of the value of learning German by watching TV? Well, many learners seriously underestimate the sheer amount of listening practice that you need to get good at understanding – and speaking – a foreign language. We’re talking hundreds and hundreds of hours here. Watching Netflix shows in German provides an enjoyable way to get some of that essential exposure to real German (including regional accents). Plus, when you’re watching as well as listening, you have the pictures and (if you want) subtitles to help.

Sometimes you could do some intensive watching and listening. Here, the aim is to go deep and understand everything. Play an episode (or even a scene) over and over to understand as much as you can. If you can get hold of a full transcript you could try out the powerful technique of listening/transcribing as well.

Other times, you may just be ready to flop onto the sofa, tired after a busy day. That’s the time for extensive practice: put up your feet, don’t worry about not understanding everything, just let yourself get drawn into a cracking story.

OK, los geht’s mit der Liste of your must-watch German Netflix shows (in no particular order)

1. Biohackers

Biohackers is a fast-paced, six-part techno-thriller. Mia Akerlund is in her first year at the prestigious medical school of Freiburg University in south west Germany. She has a mission: to uncover the link between a family tragedy, a biology professor and the world of bio terrorism.

This is university life so (learners may be relieved to hear), people are speaking standard German. If you’re learning because you plan to move to Germany to study, this show lifts the lid on German university life. During my first stint in Germany (1990) I was a student at this very university (East European Studies, not medicine). My time there was exciting but, I have to admit, not as dramatic as this! Each episode: 45 mins.

2. Freud

An eight part biopic crime series that reimagines the life of the young Sigmund Freud in neurotic pre-First World War Vienna. It starts with a séance but we’re quickly into conspiracy, “a string of bloody mysteries” and the seemingly supernatural. This one can really help you get to grips Austria’s distinctive accent. Each episode: 1 hour.

3. Dark

Time travel is central to international sci-fi sensation Dark. Many people will tell you it’s the best German series on Netflix (“masterpiece”, “gripping”, “insanely good”, “incredible”, “mentally exhausting”…you get the idea). Centre-stage are four families in a small German town. People start to go missing but this is not going to be a crime drama. It’s creepy and dramatic, weird and, well… Dark. It’s slow-paced to begin with but you won’t get bored.

This is a great German series to watch when you just want a chill evening on the couch. However the plot is a bit intricate, so you do need to pay attention. No point just having this one on in the background when you’re cooking or cleaning. It can be somewhat difficult to understand the speech, but… sometimes that’s how people talk. Maybe start this one with the subtitles switched on (in German, mind, you intermediate + learners!). 3 seasons. Each episode: 50 minutes.

4. Charité

Set in Berlin’s Charité hospital, this German show is a wonderful way to practise your language and also to learn about Germany’s past. The first season was set in 1888 and following years. Controversial historical themes such as abortion and colonialism are handled well. We meet such greats as Robert Koch (the German microbiologist) and Emil von Behring (the first ever winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine). The second series is set in 1943 to 1945. In the first series, around the disturbing “eugenics” practices of the Third Reich are a theme. 2 seasons Each episode: 45 minutes.

5. Oktoberfest 1900

On English Netflix, the subtitle of this lavish costume drama is “Beer and Blood”. That gives you an inkling of what to expect. Oktoberfest is set at turn of the last century is based (very loosely) on true events. The plot is fun and dramatic. Plus, you get some German history in there, too. Mmm, history is a becoming a bit of a theme in this selection of top German shows. Curt Prank is an ambitious brewer with a tragic past, arrives in Munich to shake things up at the famous beer festival. That will upset vested interests but Curt is ready to ruffle feathers and use all his ruthless cunning.
You’ll get a belly full of the Bavarian accent with your beer. Bayerish can be quite strong but you need to get familiar with it. There are a lot of Bavarians and Freistaat Bayern is one of Germany’s economic powerhouses. Each episode: 50 minutes.

7. Weißensee

Weißensee is set in East Berlin during the last ten years of the Communist regime (1980 to 1990) with all its brutality and petty corruption. The two families at the centre of this authentic-feeling drama couldn’t be more different. The one: stalwart supporters of the regime; the other: dissidents. They are united by an unexpected romance. 4 seasons. 24 episodes. Each episode: 50 minutes.

6. Babylon Berlin

It’s 1929. German society is traumatised, riven and heading for disaster. The action takes place Berlin, its glamour and squalour lavishly recreated. Its epic scope, plots, characterisation and acting make Babylon Berlin one of the most celebrated German series on Netflix. A Soviet freight train full of gold is hijacked, a policeman traumatised by his time in the First World War and a poor young secretary uncover a political conspiracy… Season 1: 8 episodes; season 2: 8 episodes, season 3: 12 episodes. Season four: coming. Each episode: 45 minutes.

8. Neumatt / New Heights

Set in Switzerland, this is the story of a family feud between three very different siblings. At issue is the fate of Neumatt, the family farm (and maybe the central character of the piece). Neumatt checks all the boxes for German learners. Be warned, though, this show is mainly in Swiss German which is a separate (though closely-related) language to standard German. You (and native standard German speakers) will need the Hochdeutsch subtitles to follow it. It’s fascinating to see how characters switch to German when speaking to non-Swiss. One season. 8 episodes. Each episode: 50 minutes.

9. Queer Eye Germany

The format is from the US. As the trailer to the German remake says, Queer Eye Germany aspires to be more than just a makeover show: “We come to your house and help you to see your life from a new perspective”. The “Fab Five” are experts in fashion, beauty, lifestyle, health and design. In each episode, there’s a new candidate for makeover. There’s lots of laughing here but the Five treat the individuals with heartwarming sensitivity too. It’s easy to follow, even if you don’t get all the dialogue or understand all the jokes. One season. Each episode: 50 minutes.

10. Tribes of Europa

If you want to ease yourself into best of German series on Netflix, how about a show that’s primarily in German but with some of the characters at times speaking English? It’s 2074. In Tribes of Europa, the micro-states of a dystopian post-apocolyptic Europa are at war. An even greater threat looms as three siblings struggle for survival. In this series, German could save your life! Switch on those German subtitles for the whole thing, so that you’re practising even for the English bits. This is a ton of fun and you’ll soon get through all the episodes. Here’s hoping for more! One season. Six episodes. Each episode: 45 minutes.

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Two tips for watching the best German series on Netflix

If you can’t get the series where you are, try using a VPN to change location and set your country settings on the platform accordingly.

To help with comprehension, check out the Language Reactor (formally called Language Learning with Netflix. It’s Chrome browser extension that lets you pause to takei in the dialogue line by line. You can have subtitles in German and English up on the screen at the same time and there’s an pop-up dictionary (just hover the cursor over the word in the sub-titles that you’re stuck on).

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Do you find viewing helpful in your German learning? Are there shows that should be in the list for 2025 or do you think that some of them should be thrown off it? Share your thoughts in the comments below and we hope you have a much fun with some at least of these shows a we did. Auf Wiederlesen!

The post Best German series on Netflix for keen learners (2025) appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

A German false friend word looks like an English word but actually means something quite different. In this post, you’ll find “Dr P’s German false cognate killer”: your must-have list of the most common (and frustrating!) German false friends.

How to use the German / English false friend word list

In the first column of the list, you’ll find that wolf in sheep’s clothing, the German false friend. For nouns, you’ll see the gender (der, die or das) and the noun plural. Then, in the second column, we rip off that fleece to reveal the true meaning of the word. In column three, you’ll find the English false friend that looks so like the German and, in the final column, a German translation of the English false friend.

“Dr P’s German false cognate killer” is pretty comprehensive. So, alert yourself to these German false friends. It’ll make your guessing safer. After all, the intelligent guess is a useful took in any pro language learner’s toolbox. If a German word with an English lookalike isn’t on this list, they probably both have the same meaning.

Without further ado, here’s your list of false friends, those German words that don’t mean what you think they do.

The ultimate list of German and English false friend words

At which level do I need to worry about German false cognates?

When you’re a beginner in German, I wouldn’t worry too much about false friends. Few of those on the list are the type of high-frequency, essential words that you need when you’re getting started. Upper-intermediate and advanced learners will likely understand enough context around a “false friend” to realise that it probably doesn’t mean what it might seem to. It’s the intermediate learner who’ll benefit most from paying good attention to the list. Are you an intermediate learner struggling to get focussed in a steady routine as you expand your vocab, build your grammar and hone your listening skills? I might just be able to help! Check out my flagship Weekly German Workouts course for more info.

What do you think?

Any more words I should add to the list? Let me know in the comments below and we’d love to hear any war stories you have of how these German false friend words have caught you out. Remember, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger! Happy vocab buliding!

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The post German false friend words alert! (Your ultimate list) appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

What is German grammar? 

First, what even is grammar, let alone German grammar?

Well, grammar is the system, the structural patterns of a language. Think of it as the way words are arranged in a meaningful phrase (syntax) and how some words change form to express different meanings (morphology). 

Linguists are interested in how people use the system of German and how it’s changing over time (as all languages do). That’s “descriptive” grammar.

In contrast, the German grammar we often think of as learners (or teachers) is “prescriptive grammar”. That’s to say, German grammar as a set of explicit, fixed rules that govern the “standard language”. We know that we need to master the system and the structural patterns that fluent speakers (mostly unconsciously) use but does paying attention to the explicit rules or prescriptive grammar help in this? 

Do I need to learn German grammar? 

Native speakers learn to speak their language without having studied the “grammar” (in the sense of explicit rules).  They pick up the common patterns of the language naturally from context. These language patterns often vary in some ways according to region, social group, age.  

For us as adult German learners, it’s attractive to attempt to learn naturally, like a child. It sounds like it’s going to be easier. That’s often a selling point for apps and courses that downplay grammar (or don’t teach it explicitly at all). After all, many adult learners have already been put off explicit grammar rules from unpleasant experiences trying to learn foreign languages as schoolkids.  

But hold on a minute!

Before we say that learning German grammar doesn’t matter and we’re just going to acquire the language “naturally”, don’t forget two awkward truths. 

First, it’s a lot harder to learn a language “like a child” than you might think. Remember just how much exposure to their first language that children need in order to pick it up “naturally”. We’re talking thousands of hours. Remember too how motivated they are to be able to understand the world around them better and express their essential needs. Can you really replicate that for two or three years? 

OK, let’s say you are ready to replicate that “babe-in-arms through toddler experience” to learn German. Do you really want to end up sounding like an out-sized three-year-old at the end of it?

Here’s the thing!

Educated native speakers have usually spent many years cultivating their grasp of the language. 

In the modern world, this is always bound up with the written as well as the spoken language. 

As school children, they learn standard written rules for clear basic expression on paper and this feeds back into how they speak. Some of this is punctuation and spelling, but some of it will be explicit rules about how the language works, as well (such as German case endings and how to write longer, more complex sentences).  

As they grow up, they continue to develop their skills in the standardised language. It’s a quite deliberate process in the modern education system. Young people learn to express themselves across various elevated registers and the grammar rules that they’ve learned feed into that.   

So, if you want to sound (and write) like an intelligent, educated German adult, you’ll need to give yourself some deliberate education about how German works. 

You need some explicit instruction in the rules of German grammar.

Of course, it’s a question of balance. 

Just learn grammar and vocab and, at best, you’ll end up able to speak and write in a slow, mechanical and stilted way.

No! 

To get fluent, you need lots and lots of listening and reading practice (receptive skills or input). And lots of speaking and writing practice (productive skills or output). 

That’s a given. 

But supplement that with judicious, conscious focus on explicit grammar and you’ll feel the benefit. 

Next, let’s look in more detail why it makes sense to study German grammar. 

What are the benefits of studying German grammar? 

To learn German you need to get a lot of practice across all the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.  Studying grammar can’t take the place of any of this practice. 

But, done right, studying German grammar will give you a number of benefits that will help you as you get the extensive practice across all four skills: 

Notice what you hear and read better

As you listen and read, you’ll notice patterns that you’ve already become aware of from your focus on grammar. They’ll stick better. 

Work out more from context

An understanding of grammar will give you the framework to understand how new, individual words that you come across when reading fit into the structure of the sentence or phrase and relate to the other words. That will give you a better chance of working out the meaning out from context. Deduction is a great way to learn! But if you can’t work it the actual meaning of the word, you can just look up the meaning and slot it in to the grammatical whole. 

More accurate speaking and writing

Live speech moves too fast for you constantly to apply grammar rules or recall tables of case endings as you go. You don’t want your grammar “monitor” in your head to get in the way at the cost of natural fluency.

Yet your “monitor” will sometimes be able to give you a helpful steer as you speak, improving your accuracy.

When you’re writing, meanwhile, you do have time to think about the grammar as you go and, if you’ve studied it, you’re more likely to write accurately (but it’s still important to read and listen a lot to develop your feeling for natural “German” ways of expressing yourself).   

Reduced unconscious influence of English patterns on your German

Study the grammar and you’ll have a keener sense of the contrasts and similarities between how German and English work. So, there’s less chance your English will inadvertently affect your German.

Increased ability to cope with longer, more complex sentences

This is especially important as you move into the intermediate levels. You’ll want to be able to understand more complex spoken and written German. You’ll be expected to write more complex sentences as well. If you don’t understand what clauses are and how they fit together, you’re going to have difficulties.

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In short, if you learn German grammar, you’ll be better prepared to get the most out of your listening and reading and be on the way to speaking and writing more accurately. You’ll be more aware of how German works.

You’ll feel more confident in your use of German. 

So, you’re probably wondering, “How can I learn German grammar?” 

What is the best way to learn German grammar?  

If you want to get good at German, grammar matters. But you need to learn German grammar in the right way.  Here’s how: 

Start with a grammar overview

Start with an overview “road map”.

Granted, you’ll get nowhere on a journey if you just look at the map and never get out the door and into the elements. Don’t get lost learning about German at the cost of exposure to real German and starting to use it.  

That said, a map can give you a basic idea of the lay of the land. That can prepare you well for the journey and come in handy as you go. Start with a brief, basic overview of how German works (in comparison with English and any other languages that you know).  

Demystify grammatical jargon

There’s no need to learn lots of jargon but don’t be intimidated by the specialist vocabulary either. This “fear of grammar” seems to be an Anglo-Saxon thing and it’s pretty pathetic, really. The basics of the “science of grammar” aren’t that difficult, you see.

It’s worth mastering the lingo of grammar because it’s easier to say “noun plural” than to say “the form of a word for a person, place, a thing, feeling or concept that indicates there are more than one of it”.  It’s easier to say “verb tense” than to say something like, erm, “in relation to a word expressing a state of being, action or feeling, a form which show when in time that state, action or feeling takes place.”

After all, every field has its helpful shorthand and you should think of grammar terms in that way.  Technical words are useful among people focussed on the “trade”. Mechanics communicate more effectively thanks to specialist terms such as carburettor or crank shaft. They understand what these parts do and why they are needed. It would be silly to have to paraphrase this every time they come up in a discussion of car maintenance.  

Think in terms of patterns in context more than abstract rules

There’s no point learning loads and loads of abstract rules about German. You won’t usually have time to apply them as you speak. If you try, you’ll end up speaking very slowly and sound stilted. There’s a good chance you’ll just get it plain wrong.

Instead, your aim is to master language patterns that you can apply. Once you know a stock of basic phrases that illustrate the patterns, you’re in business. 

So, you can learn “The boy ate the apple” or “The dog is bigger than the cat” and you’ll be able to say limitless other sentences that have the same pattern: “The baker ate the bread”, “Russia is bigger than Germany” and so on. With practice, performing these acrobatics as you speak will become second nature and you’ll be confident that you’ve got it right. It’s how the natives do it!

The best courses are light on rules and explanations and big on patterns: they’ll give you grammar as a useable framework.

Take it in stages

“How do you eat an elephant? Bit by bit!”. Don’t overwhelm yourself with grammar. Take it in stages.

As a beginning and lower intermediate German student, learn just enough explicit grammar (explanations and rules) so that you can understand how the patterns work. What’s the role of each word in a sentence (noun, verb, adjective, and so on)? Why do some types of words change form in some circumstances, for example to show that there is more than one of an object (plural) or that an action happened in the past (verb tense). 

Most good courses will do some level-appropriate grammar filtering for you. They’ll guide you through the grammar that you need in stages. They’ll also teach some more complex but very useful grammar from the beginning as “set phrases”, for now. Towards the end of the post, you’ll find lists of the grammar you need for the different attainment levels in German from A1 (beginner) to C1 (advanced).  

Keep reviewing the grammar

Don’t stress or get stuck about any aspects of German that seem overwhelming at first. Get more experience of the real, live language and double back to the explanations again later on. Build up real experience of German and you’ll have more bandwidth for exceptions to the usual patterns as well. 

That’s “Why?” and “How”. Next up: “What?”

If you’ve read this far, you’re obviously serious about locking horns with German grammar.

Good for you!

Next check out my overview German grammar guide. There you’ll find the grammar topics you need to know with links in one place to my in-depth guides on each one. I’ll bust the jargon for you and you’ll also more on what grammar to focus on as beginner and intermediate student. By the time you’re advanced, you’ll know most of it already!

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