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Including German subtitles on your favorite movies and TV shows is vital if you’re a German speaker or want to learn German.
After all, it’s more straightforward to understand a language if you can see and read the words as the characters talk.
Thankfully, there are ways you can place German subtitles on your favorite movies and TV shows. In this article, we’ll show you how to use subtitles on German videos.
You may have heard of the terms subtitles and captions. Many people use them interchangeably; however, both terms have different meanings and purposes.
You can use captions when you cannot hear the audio in a video.
You can use subtitles when you can hear but don’t understand the audio in a video.
Let’s take a deeper look at the two words:
Media companies first introduced subtitles in the 1930s. During this period, silent film transitioned into spoken audio to accommodate foreign audiences that didn’t understand the local language.
Today, the primary goal of subtitles is still to translate spoken audio into words that a foreign audience will understand.
In most cases, subtitles are not appropriate for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers.
That’s because subtitles don’t include the aforementioned non-speech sounds that provide a viewing experience for those who can’t hear audio.
Until the 1970s, deaf and hard-of-hearing people struggled to understand TV shows and movies. However, media companies introduced captions in the 1970s to accommodate them.
By the 1980s, captions became mandatory in the United States for broadcast TV. Initially, you could not turn off captions; they were always part of the video.
However, media companies developed closed captions to allow users to control whether captions were on or off.
Today, most media companies offer captions to their viewers—including movie theaters, cable networks, YouTube, streaming services, Vimeo, and Brightcove.
So you’re learning or want to learn German? It’s a fantastic language that can be challenging to learn.
Still, you can speed up the learning process by using subtitles in German. Here’s how:
The main advantage of using German subtitles on your favorite movies and TV shows is building your German vocabulary.
Whenever you hear slang words and constructions, you’ll see them translated into German on-screen. Therefore, you’ll understand the phrases quicker.
If you watch German movies with subtitles, you’ll build efficiency with various colloquialisms and conversational expressions. However, you’ll also encounter them in context.
If you don’t understand the expressions, you can replay the video as much as you want.
The most challenging part about learning another dialect is listening to native speakers talk fast.
When a local speaker talks, the sound units connect rapidly. As a result, it can be difficult for the untrained ear to understand.
Thankfully, German movies with subtitles play at the same speed as a general German conversation.
Although this may feel quick for you, it will increase your reading speed and listening cognizance over time.
A visual connection to a new dialect is vital when learning a new language.
When you watch German movies with subtitles, you’ll witness the characters speak the words as you read them on-screen.
Therefore, you’ll improve how you pronounce words and understand the terms in a greater context.
If you’re looking to learn German, there’s no better way than watching German videos with subtitles.
However, where do you find them? Since the introduction of modern technology, there are many options:
YouTube has many excellent videos geared toward learning German. Some videos even offer closed captions and subtitles, which you can switch on and off.
BookBox is a popular YouTube channel featuring speakers reading German children’s stories. The speakers read the stories slowly to help kids learn the language.
BookBox is also superb because its videos are under seven minutes long. As a result, you can effortlessly fit them into your daily schedule.
EasyGerman is an excellent YouTube channel if you’re an intermediate to advanced learner. Their videos tackle cultural topics, specific grammar, and everyday street talk.
Learn German with Herr Antrim is another terrific YouTube channel for learning German. Many of his videos include subtitles in German to help you understand the language. He has aimed much of his content at beginners, so it’s excellent if you’re just starting.
Germany’s public broadcaster—Deutsche Welle—has an excellent YouTube channel for learning German with subtitles. Their topics are shopping, grammar, and daily life in Germany.
WALULIS STORY – SWR3 is another superb YouTube channel with subtitles. It covers everything from politics to popular culture.
However, not all YouTube videos have subtitles. When you search for videos on YouTube, use the filter to show only videos with subtitles; this can save you time and effort.
For example, find the small box near the top left of the search results saying ‘filters.’ Click features and then select ‘subtitles.’
You can switch on the subtitles by clicking the “CC” box at the bottom of the video window. Some videos may have additional subtitles that are not in German or English, which is excellent for learning other languages.
Streaming sites can be an excellent resource for finding German movies with subtitles.
Using a virtual private network—commonly called a VPN—can be excellent for using streaming services. They offer a selection of German TV shows and movies. You can often use German movie subtitles on Netflix for German films and TV shows.
Another option is Amazon Prime. They offer a similar steaming service to Netflix. They even allow you to access German movie subtitles, which can help you learn German.
However, using a VPN is illegal in some countries, and it’s also against Netflix’s terms of use. So keep that in mind before you use a VPN.
FluentU is an excellent resource for watching native German movies and TV shows. Their website has various videos in German—such as music videos, news segments, and blogs.
Many of the videos offer interactive subtitles to help you learn the language.
If you want to remember specific German words, you can place them on your flashcard decks in the video player, resume watching the video and come back later to revise.
Another superb option is WDR Mediathek (WDR Media Center). It’s one of the top public TV networks in Germany, and they produce a vast range of content.
However, WDR creates its content for the German market instead of German learners. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it to your advantage. The website can still provide subtitles to help you learn German.
ARD Mediathek (ARD Media Center) is also an excellent option. Unlike WDR, they focus their content on intermediate to advanced learners with made-for-TV movies. Ensure you watch videos marked in the search results with UT.
ZDF Mediathek (ZDF Media Center) is another outstanding choice for learning German. However, you may need a VPN to access their content because it’s limited to specific areas.
The videos on ZDF are mostly TV shows, news shows, and documentaries for the German market. However, you can learn German subtitles on many of their videos.
It can be tricky to find German subtitles on many videos despite increasing options for German subtitles on the internet.
However, you can now make your own subtitles in German without relying on streaming services, public broadcasters, or popular YouTube channels.
We can automatically convert any audio and video to text at Amberscript. Our service is available in German and 38 other languages. As a result, you won’t have to worry about finding German subtitles ever again!
Upload any video from your computer or mobile device into Amberscript. Our speech engine recognition builds the first draft from your audio.
At Amberscript, our super-fast AI service ensures a rapid turnaround. In addition, you can edit the text in our online editor—which allows you to scroll through the text, revise, and edit.
Once our AI has created your subtitles, we can export your transcript into Word, JSON, Text, and various other formats. We can even add speaker distinction and optional timestamps.
