Resources · Series & films
Israeli TV shows and films to learn Hebrew from, by level
Israeli television is the best free Hebrew teacher there is, if you watch it the right way: Hebrew audio, English subtitles the first time, Hebrew subtitles the second, and one episode you know well with no subtitles at all. Start with the slow talkers.
Picked and annotated by the teachers of the Israeli Hebrew Institute. Every entry links to the people who made it; nothing here is hosted by us. How this list is put together.
Shtisel
שטיסלBeginnerIntermediateNetflixThe clearest Hebrew on television. A Haredi family in Jerusalem, and everyone speaks slowly, in full sentences, about food, money, love and parents. The vocabulary is everyday and the pace is kind to a learner.
Start here even if the world is foreign to you. Keep a list of the words the grandmother repeats.
Netflix ↗Where to watch ↗Checkout
קופה ראשיתIntermediatestreamingA mockumentary in a supermarket, and the closest thing to standing in an Israeli queue. Short episodes, small talk, complaints, the Hebrew people actually use at the till. Israelis quote it.
Watch one episode three times. By the third, the customers' lines are yours.
Where to watch ↗Clips on Kan's YouTube ↗Fauda
פאודהIntermediateAdvancedNetflixThe one everybody has heard of. An undercover unit, half the dialogue in Arabic, the Hebrew fast, military and full of slang. Not the place to start, but the place to test yourself once you can follow Shtisel.
Listen for the army words and the short commands; they are the same ones you hear on a Tel Aviv street.
Netflix ↗Where to watch ↗Srugim
סרוגיםIntermediatestreamingFive religious singles in Jerusalem, and mostly conversation: dates, flatmates, Shabbat dinners. Natural Hebrew at a natural speed, without Fauda's shouting.
Where to watch ↗The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem
מלכת היופי של ירושליםIntermediateAdvancedNetflixA family saga in Jerusalem across three generations, with a little Ladino and a lot of history. Slower and more literary Hebrew than the street shows; good for the ear.
Netflix ↗Where to watch ↗Tehran
טהרןAdvancedApple TV+A spy thriller that moves between Hebrew and Farsi. The Hebrew scenes are office and family Hebrew at full speed; keep it for when Fauda feels easy.
Where to watch ↗Zero Motivation
אפס ביחסי אנושIntermediateAdvancedstreamingA dark comedy about bored women soldiers on a desert base. The most modern, most slangy Hebrew on this list, and the film every Israeli under forty knows by heart.
Where to watch ↗Operation Grandma
מבצע סבתאIntermediatestreamingThree brothers, one funeral, the kibbutz and the army, in under an hour. Israelis still quote it thirty years on, so its lines are a passport.
Where to watch ↗Ushpizin
אושפיזיןBeginnerIntermediatestreamingA poor Haredi couple in Jerusalem and two unwanted guests at Sukkot. Warm, slow, clearly spoken, and a gentle first film.
Where to watch ↗Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi
הכוכבים של שלומיBeginnerIntermediatestreamingA teenager who runs the whole family's kitchen and turns out to be a genius. Family Hebrew: cooking, arguing, grandparents. Easy to follow, easy to love.
Where to watch ↗Footnote
הערת שולייםAdvancedstreamingA father and son, both Talmud scholars, and a prize given to the wrong one. Formal, academic Hebrew beside kitchen-table Hebrew; you hear the two registers in one film.
Where to watch ↗Noodle
נודלIntermediatestreamingA flight attendant in Tel Aviv is left with a Chinese boy who speaks no Hebrew, so everyone speaks simply to him. Which means they speak simply to you.
Where to watch ↗