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CULTURE

The five weirdest and best reality TV shows for improving your German

From the 'Voice of Germany' to 'Farmer Seeks Wife', here are five of the most sublime and ridiculous German reality TV shows that will keep you entertained while improving your language skills.

Published: 26 November 2021 15:15 CET
Updated: 2 August 2022 16:56 CEST
The judges of ProSieben's
Photo: DPA

The Voice of Germany

For over 10 years, “The Voice of Germany” has been one of the most popular casting shows on German television. Launched with a new “blind audition” concept in 2011, the ProSieben show has consistently brought in high ratings, particularly amongst younger viewers.

In this singing contest, the judges initially sit with their backs to the auditionees so that they can only judge them on the quality of their voice. They can vote for a candidate by pressing a button during their performance to turn their chair toward the stage.

In the current season, British pop star James Blunt surprised the judges with a blind audition of his hit song “Goodbye my Lover”.

Watching this show will broaden your musical vocabulary and ability to critique anyone’s Stimme (voice) and Ton (volume/tone) – but as a bonus, it will also improve your knowledge of German popstars. To get into the mood, you can start by listening to some of the tunes of this season’s judges: Sarah Connor, Johannes Oerding, Nico Santos and Mark Forster.

Höhle der Löwen

German Lion's Den case
The investors on hit German reality TV show ‘Höhle der Löwen’ gather for a press photograph. Photo: picture alliance / Caroline Seidel/dpa | Caroline Seidel

The German version of the British hit show “Dragon’s Den” features lions instead of dragons and invites entrepreneurs to present their business proposals to five wealthy German investors.

The “lions” have included some of Germany’s wealthiest business people over the years, including extreme sportsman and experience-website founder Jochen Schweizer and Formular One champion Nico Rosberg. The investors probe the ideas and business plans of start-up founders, before deciding whether or not to invest.

Earlier this year, the show was the subject of a furious online storm when two entrepreneurs proposed a peculiar menstrual hygiene product, in the form of a rubber glove.

READ ALSO: Two German men face backlash over ‘Pinky’ period glove product

The show is great for broadening your business vocabulary with Umsatz (turnover), Gewinn (profit) and Anteile (shares) being the most prominently featured terms.

LOL: The Last one Laughing


The German stars of the third season of LOL: The Last one Laughing. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Prime Video | Frank Zauritz

This is a great show for anyone who doesn’t think that Germans have a sense of humour.

In this reality show, ten top German comedians compete against each other in a battle for €50,000 in prize money that’s donated to good cause.

The participants stay in an apartment for six hours and present each other with short performances and the winner is the person who manages not to laugh the longest.

This is definitely a show for those who want to broaden their lexicon with some colourful German phrases – and hopefully make their German friends crack a smile in the process. 

READ ALSO: OPINION: Is it true that Germans don’t understand sarcasm?

Bauer sucht Frau

Bauer Sucht Frau
Farmer Keno Veith stands next to his tractor as he searches for true love in an episode of ‘Bauer Sucht Frau’. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Carmen Jaspersen

In this somewhat old-fashioned dating show, farmers from all over Germany search for their true love.

The show is one of the most popular and long-running German reality TV shows, and has been shown on RTL since 2005.

The farmers – who are usually referred to in the voiceover as either a raubeiniger Rinderwirt (rough-around-the-edges cattle farmer) or schüchterner Schweinebauer (shy pig farmer) – receive written applications from women hoping to be considered as farmer’s wives.

Prospective female farmers are invited to frolic around on the farm, to prove themselves in the field and in the barn and to try to win the heart of the respective farmer.

It may not be the most enlightened of TV shows, but it will do wonders for your agricultural vocabulary.

Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!


The 2015 Jungle Queen Maren Gilzer sits on her throne. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Stefan Menne

Another British import, the German version of “I’m a Celebrity – Get me out of here!” has been delighting German audiences since 2004.

In each season, 10 to twelve German celebrities are shipped to the Australian jungle, where they must compete in Dschungelprüfungen (Bushtucker trials) to win meals for their campmates. Celebrities are voted off by the public and eventually one is crowned the winner, or Dschungelkönig/in (Jungle king or queen).

While it may not help you order in a regular restaurant, the show is great for broadening your exotic culinary vocabulary, as one of its most well-known features is the eating challenge where contestants have to eat a variety of stomach-turning meals to win stars.

Previous episodes have seen stars eating a Käfersaftcocktail (beetle juice cocktail), Ziegenzunge (goat’s tongue) and even a Glas voller Kuh-Urin (Glass full of cow urine). Yummy!

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LEARNING GERMAN

‘Forget about bilingual Kitas’: Key tips for raising bilingual kids in Germany

With greater numbers of international workers choosing to settle in Germany and raise a family, the question of how to best raise bilingual children is often considered. 

Published: 25 April 2024 15:01 CEST
Updated: 28 April 2024 08:35 CEST
'Forget about bilingual Kitas': Key tips for raising bilingual kids in Germany

The Local asked its readers who have raised bilingual children in Germany to tell us how they managed to raise children who speak German in addition to their parent’s mother tongue. 

Trust the (school) system. 

One piece of advice was echoed by several readers: Trust the German education system to take care of teaching German through immersion. 

Siniša, 44, from Hesse, who speaks Croatian and English at home, told The Local: “Speak your native language at home. The school will ‘cover’ German and other languages.”

Steve, 55, who lives in Munich and speaks English and Spanish with his daughter agrees.

“Be consistent and raise your child in your native tongue. At a local school, they will learn German quickly,” he said.

Chris, 44, from Hamburg, who speaks English with his children, backed the idea of leaving kids’ schools to take charge of teaching them German.

“Get the kids into the German education system as early as possible and let them learn themselves from native speakers. As a bonus, they’ll pick it up quickly and not pick up a ‘non-German’ accent either,” he said.

Read more: ‘Multilingualism is an enrichment’ – The challenges of raisin bilingual kids in Germany

Readers also noted that even in the preschool stage, children can handle multiple languages. 

Julie, 41, who lives in Hamburg and speaks English and Italian at home, said: “Relax and go with the flow. Don’t get hung up on finding bilingual Kitas for toddlers if they already get significant exposure to the non-German language at home. Languages seem to develop in different spurts at different speeds.”

However, liaising with schools in Germany was noted as an essential skill. 

Kim, 46, based in Sindelfingen, with a family speaking both English and German, said: “It’s essential for at least one parent to understand German when children attend a German school. They can help explain language and cultural differences. They can also help with administrative matters and even homework.”

Maintain the mother tongue.

While readers were keen to encourage parents to trust the immersion process that German schools provide, they were also quick to advise a concerted effort to maintain speaking the mother tongue in and around the home. 

“For international parents, I think it’s very important that their children do not lose touch with their mother tongue, as it is a very special part of their identity,” said Prashanth, 42, who lives in Munich.

Anne-Marie, 52, from Frankfurt, who speaks ‘Singlish’ (Singaporean English) with her children, stated that it’s essential to be firm.

“Speak in your mother tongue to your kids from the day they are born. Be consequent about it, even in front of other people who do not speak your mother tongue,” she said.

Karl, 44, who lives in Celle and who speaks English and the indigenous American Ute language with his children, said getting family on board is important. 

“Communicate with all family members your decision, intentionally speak all of the languages, when possible provide translations so family members present are not excluded from conversations,” he said.

Charles, 40, from Berlin, even stated that speaking German at home may prove detrimental: “Don’t speak your own mediocre German with them. It may be hard to see them speaking another language as their more comfortable primary language than your own.”

Charles, who speaks English at home, added: “Find books and shows to share with them in your native language to continue the shared experience.”

Read More: What foreign parents should know about German schools

Just let it happen with the kids…

Sometimes, it seems, becoming bilingual takes care of itself. 

Paul, 40, from Munich, married to a German, said: “Our oldest just started speaking English one day around age 3. She had heard so much she could understand and just started talking. 

“The twins are starting to speak more and more English. It wasn’t a problem since she was fluent in both by age 4. I advise patience and not expecting perfection at a young age.

Crystal, 38, who lives in Nuremberg and speaks English at home, responded: “At first, my main concern was getting as much German into our lives as possible so my son would be ready for Grundschule. 

“Now I’m swinging the other way. My advice is to try to relax. There are always other things to worry about, and kids learn so much really quickly.”

…but also challenge yourself

Finally, respondents to The Locals’ survey repeated that raising bilingual children is something that requires a degree of effort – on the parent’s behalf. 

J.K, 40, who lives in Hanau and speaks English and Telugu at home, told The Local: “Language is very important for the kids to grow in a culture. 

“Parents should facilitate situations around the kid to better integrate locally. Parents (at least one) should be able to speak German at a level better than B1. 

“If not, supporting kids in their education is difficult, and this will hamper their chances of reaching a higher education level.”

Read More: Six surprising facts about Germany’s school system

Moreno, 40, who lives in Munich and speaks Portuguese with his children, was firm in his advice: “Don’t choose the easy way for you, parents. Don’t hide in your language community bubble. 

“If you intend to live in Germany for a long time, put your kids in German schools and get them in touch with the German community.

“If you don’t speak German like me, deal with it. But don’t transfer your problem to your kids.”

Have we missed any crucial advice for raising bilingual children in Germany? Tell us in the comments section below.

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