quiero televisión provechosa
April 2, 2011 12:08 PM

I want Spanish language TV shows/movies that I can find free online where the dialogue is relatively slow and I can have Spanish subtitles.

I'd like recommendations for Spanish language tv shows/movies that:

-are good enough that I want to watch them
-are available free online (I have netflix instant). This is the hardest part for me... I have no idea how to find spanish language tv online... mostly because my spanish isn't good enough to google it. hah.
-don't have light speed dialogue
-are preferably in Latin American Spanish (not a dealbreaker)
-have Spanish language subtitles (I'm not good enough for no subtitles, and too lazy for English subtitles)

Anyway, this is kind of a tall order (especially the first point), so if you have suggestions for amazing spanish langauge films/tv that don't meet some of my criteria, throw them out too. Or in general any resources for a lower-intermediate speaker that I should know about (although I've read similar threads on metafilter, so I know most of the common recommendations). Thanks!
posted by geegollygosh to Writing & Language (15 answers total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
Not sure if this has been recommended in previous threads, but in high school, we watched Destinos on a regular basis. It wasn't corny (at the time, maybe now it's a laughfest), and the storyline held my interest. It's for beginners, and I don't think it has subtitles, but you might not need them, as they speak slowly and clearly and include vocabulary lessons within the show.

I haven't seen this in at least 14 years, but it stuck with me as something fun to watch in Spanish.
posted by Fuego at 12:27 PM on April 2, 2011


I second Destinos. It's definitely cheesy but otherwise exactly what you are looking for (though it's not all Latin American Spanish if I remember right).
posted by LeeLanded at 12:29 PM on April 2, 2011


Destinos looks perfect! And I realized I should clarify that my spanish is almost good enough not to need subtitles (as long as the speaking is relatively slow), so very slow and/or simple stuff without subtitles is great too.
posted by geegollygosh at 12:34 PM on April 2, 2011


I watch "Noticias" on Univision (available through most cable providers). Most anchors and reporters speak in a rather broad and flat accent, and enunciate clearly. Not subtitled, obviously, but very informative.
posted by msali at 1:01 PM on April 2, 2011


Duck Season (Mexican) is available on Netflix Instant, but I don't think you can turn off the English subtitles if you watch it online. I'm pretty sure you can turn them off if you have the physical DVD (library?), but if I remember correctly, there are no Spanish subtitles.

It's a comedy but quite slow-paced (I was able to pick up some isolated phrases and I don't speak Spanish), about a few kids and a pizza deliveryman one lazy Sunday afternoon.
posted by phonebia at 1:50 PM on April 2, 2011


Not what you asked for but I just found this yesterday and was pretty excited - parallel text stories in all sorts of different languages including Spanish. Lonweb Parallel Texts I'm at about the same level you are or lower. Now I'm excited about your question too.
posted by BoscosMom at 2:16 PM on April 2, 2011


By weird coincidence I just watched Duck Season on the physical DVD from Netflix and it DOES have Spanish subtitles. The bad thing about watching movies and TV via streaming Netflix is that you have no choices over subtitles - it just automatically gives you English. You don't say whether you have the regular Netflix service. If so, some but not all DVDs of films and TV with Spanish dialogue have Spanish subtitles. I've been learning Spanish the past couple years, so I have watched a ton of films over the past couple years. But if you're only watching via streaming, many of them won't be available, so I won't get into listing them...also you don't say what you consider "good enough" that you want to watch them..drama? comedy? etc.
posted by unannihilated at 2:25 PM on April 2, 2011


I don't have the regular netflix service, but I'd be willing to track down really great movies or watch them on instant and cover up the subtitles or something. I like most types of films, but not big on horror.
posted by geegollygosh at 2:41 PM on April 2, 2011


Off the top of my head, here are some movies that I, as an intermediate speaker, was able to watch all in Spanish or with Spanish subtitles. I remember the dialogue being fairly slow and the action was such that it could help you figure it out (i.e., the plot was fairly straightforward): The Crime of Padre Amaro, Tango, The Violin, Duck Season (lot of slang though), Lake Tahoe, Frida, and a number of documentaries. The last is a really good bet for slower speaking. I also watched stuff I already knew (in English) dubbed into Spanish. Knowing the plot helps give you a push. I haven't had much luck with TV because I don't live in an area with many Spanish speakers.

Stuff that is awesome but hard unless you have English subtitles or are advanced: stuff from Pedro Almodovar (his movies are really quirky such that you can't figure out what's going on unless you know what they're saying), stuff from Alejandro González Iñárritu (in particular Amores Perros...but very fast dialogue).

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for with this question...
posted by unannihilated at 3:17 PM on April 2, 2011


I don't know about Netflix, but most Spanish programming has closed captions, just enable them in your TV. Depending on the formatting, you might get the bonus of the english subtitles being covered up.
posted by Marky at 3:30 PM on April 2, 2011


I watch "Noticias" on Univision (available through most cable providers). Most anchors and reporters speak in a rather broad and flat accent, and enunciate clearly. Not subtitled, obviously, but very informative.

Often the programing on Univision, Azteca, Telemundo and other Spanish language do have closed captioning in Spanish which you can turn on your TV. In many US TV markets, these channels are broadcast over the air and you can get them with rabbit ears.

For me I've found having the Spanish (or English) subtitles too close to cheating. I read Spanish well. My problem is listening and having the words makes it hard to not look down and read instead of listen.

Also, a lot of times the subtitles and closed captions are not a direct transcript of of what was said (especially when people use colloquialisms. I was watching a "Y Tu Mama Tambien" with Spanish subtitles (from DVD) and you can make a drinking game of the times they say "guey" or "pinche" but these words don't appear in the captions... a lot of other phrases can be phrased differently).

And sometimes the captions are just wrong. Especially with live transcription like the news.
posted by birdherder at 3:32 PM on April 2, 2011


Are you a fan of The Office? Have you seen La Ofis, the Chilean version? It's actually kind of easy to follow even without subtitles because it's basically another seemingly direct copy.
posted by cazoo at 4:53 PM on April 2, 2011


I want to watch Spanish movies/TV but WITH English subtitles. A lot of the posts here are great because Netflix puts subtitles in automatically. Also, someone earlier mentioned English movies/TV that have been dubbed (or subtitled) in Spanish -- I'd love to find more of those. Don't mean to hijack this thread and I'll start a new one if it deserves its own.
posted by seatofmypants at 5:57 PM on April 3, 2011


seatofmypants-- if you have netflix instant, you can actually get it to sort by language. I think it's a sub category in foreign films, maybe. And all of those will have english subtitles.
posted by geegollygosh at 7:41 PM on April 3, 2011


gee golly gosh! sounds like a swell plan. muchos gracias!
posted by seatofmypants at 7:54 PM on April 3, 2011


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