Are you in the U.S. and trying to learn Euskera? Unless you live in Bakersfield or Boise, the likelihood of finding people nearby to practice with are flimsy at best.

Understanding comes before speaking and it’s the crucial first step in learning a language. Today, Netflix offers you movies dubbed in Basque with subtitles in several languages. Listening to Basque conversation while reading subtitles in your own language improves comprehension.

The list of movies dubbed in Basque is small right now, but it’s growing. The Zac Efron-Nicole Kidman movie “A Family Affair” was recently dubbed in Basque. I enjoyed it thoroughly and even though I am only at the A2 level of the language, I could understand about 50 percent of the conversations, which is the best I’ve done since I started studying Euskera seriously in 2020.

You can do a search on Netflix on your TV for any of the movies listed below, but to see the list yourself, you must open Netflix on your computer, where you have the option to “browse by languages.”

ONLINE RESOURCES for Learning Basque

Films With Original Language in Basque

I couldn’t see an option for choosing movies in Basque as “the original language,” but Basque is the original language for at least two movies, “Itxaso: and the Sea” and “Black is Beltza.” I thoroughly enjoyed the Itxaso series about a Basque girl who grows up in Mexico and comes to live in the Basque Country. I have watched it several times already in my attempt to improve my Basque. The best part is I can listen to movie in Basque and follow along with the subtitles in Basque or in English. Both options have worked on different skills to help me improve my Euskera.

Netflix also offers an option to slow the film speed down so the conversations are slower. I do this on Netflix and Youtube, reducing speed to 75 percent. It helps because most of the time, the problem is that people talk too fast!

I only recently found out about “Black is Beltza” and plan to watch it soon. “Black is Beltza,” directed by Basque musician Fermin Muguruza, was released in 2018. The animated film tells the story of a young Basque who arrives in New York City to participate in a Hispanic Day parade.

FANTASY
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Errementeria: The Blacksmith and the Devil (horror/suspense)

ANIMATED
Black is Beltza
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Chupa
The Magician’s Elephant
Nimona
Pinocchio
Rise of the Mutant Ninja Turtles
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol
The Sea Beast
The Soccer Movie
Spy Kids: Armageddon
Ultraman Rising

ANIMATED: FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
My Father’s Dragon
Kitti Katz
Orion and the Dark
Oddballs
Sonic Prime
Supa Team 4
Super Giant Robot Brothers

SERIES
Lost Ollie
Itxaso and the Sea