Netflix Secret Categories

[devilyoudont]

I use Netflix a lot to try to watch material in my target languages. It can be hard for me to locate material in my target languages, especially because I mainly am uninterested in anime TV shows, but I do enjoy all kinds of animated films.

Previously, I have been trying to locate shows on Netflix based on searching for audio in my target languages

https://www.netflix.com/browse/audio

But, this pulls up a lot of things that are dubbed into my target languages. I find dubs to be somewhat undesirable because I know how unnatural dubs sometimes are in my native language, and I have every reason to think the quality of dubs will be worse in other languages.

By using the secret codes, I can find material that was produced in my target languages originally.

Here is an article at Mashable explaining what the secret categories are: https://mashable.com/article/netflix-se ... aD2Hr.rmqC

Basically the URL is:

http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/###

And ### = the code number

The list at Mashable is not exhaustive. For example: I was able to find Japanese Movies & TV 100385 by clicking around Japanese Movies.

There are some cases where Netflix only has an English dub available for a work originally in one of my target languages.

I took the liberty of going thru the list at Mashable and pulling out any categories that might be useful for language learners.

African Movies: 3761
Anime: 7424
Anime Action: 2653
Anime Comedies: 9302
Anime Dramas: 452
Anime Fantasy: 11146
Anime Features: 3063
Anime Horror: 10695
Anime Sci-Fi: 2729
Anime Series: 6721
Asian Action Movies: 77232
British Movies: 10757
British TV Shows: 52117
Chinese Movies: 3960
Dutch Movies: 10606
Eastern European Movies: 5254
Foreign Action & Adventure: 11828
Foreign Comedies: 4426
Foreign Documentaries: 5161
Foreign Dramas: 2150
Foreign Gay & Lesbian Movies: 8243
Foreign Horror Movies: 8654
Foreign Movies: 7462
Foreign Sci-Fi & Fantasy: 6485
Foreign Thrillers: 10306
French Movies: 58807
German Movies: 58886
Greek Movies: 61115
Indian Movies: 10463
Irish Movies: 58750
Italian Movies: 8221
Japanese Movies: 10398
Korean Movies: 5685
Korean TV Shows: 67879
Latin American Movies: 1613
Latin Music: 10741
Middle Eastern Movies: 5875
Romantic Foreign Movies: 7153
Russian: 11567
Scandinavian Movies: 9292
Southeast Asian Movies: 9196
Spanish Movies: 58741
World Music Concerts: 2856

[Jaleel10]

Some more codes:

Spanish-speaking content from Spain: https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/107569
Spanish-speaking content from Latin America: https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/100387

[Kubelek]

Netflix keeps changing but currently only a few languages are available in audio and subtitle selection screen, even if more are offered for a given title. By default it's the default language of your profile + the original language (if available, not always the case for kid shows) + language(s) of the geographic area you are currently connecting from (your internet provider or VPN). It's worth keeping profiles with more exotic target languages set as default.

It's impossible to make a master list of good dubbings since availability changes often, I've had languages disappear between two episodes of a show more than once. Netflix' response was that licensing of audio tracks is very complicated and they all expire at random times.

[devilyoudont]

For me when I look for Japanese media, I have better luck finding material that has both audio and subtitles in Japanese AND those options won't randomly disappear if I stick with Netflix Originals that were originally produced for a Japanese market.

Hopefully eventually I won't need Japanese subs, but considering I often use subs even when watching TV in my native language, I might always prefer having them

Finding shows with audio and subs available for Spanish hasn't been as problematic for me so far... knock on wood.

[brilliantyears]

Don't be surprised if none of the tricks in the posts here work... Unfortunately in my case, for example, I can't find more than two movies and one series in Russian (and while the audio is Russian, I can't select Russian subtitles). I can't even set my profile language to Russian (but I can set it to Bulgarian...). I contacted Netflix about it and it all has to do with distribution, copyright etc. So if you're in the wrong region, you might simply be out of luck.

[patrickwilken]

It's a fairly obvious thing to do, but I have found it useful to setup separate profiles on Netflix for each of my target languages (English, German, Spanish). So when I want to Spanish I go to Spanish-Patrick's profile and (mostly) get offered content with Spanish language content.

[Saim]

I contacted Netflix about it and it all has to do with distribution, copyright etc. So if you're in the wrong region, you might simply be out of luck.

Perhaps not completely out of luck.

[reineke]

Edit: To reliably switch between languages, you will need to choose a new default language under account options. Choosing a default language will remove other languages from the menu. Lists such as "audio in Portuguese" are unreliable.

Changing languages in Netflix may cause some language options to disappear. For example, changing to Mandarin or Polish may "erase" other languages as options from the menu. If you tinker around, your languages will reappear.

Just this evening I switched to German and I lost Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese. I gained Russian. I used Ash vs Living Dead to double-check. Searching for hidden categories did not restore the languages. I may need to look up and play an actual Brazilian movie to restore this language which will then delete other languages.

"Netflix transmits only a limited number of languages to each customer for a given movie, even though more options may be available. I suspect this is a bandwidth issue. The languages listed above the subtitles/audio icon depend on account settings and customer location. This means that you might not see German listed as an option even though German subtitles & audio are actually available. The solution is simple: Just go to your account settings, choose Language, pick your target language, and hit the Save button. If you do this for Deutsch, all German options will then appear whenever available. Do be aware that if you switch to German, almost everything on your account will appear in German. If you watch stuff in German for a while, some lurking Netflix subroutine will identify you as a German speaker, so you will still see German options displayed even if you switch back to another language."

https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/2567 ... -subtitles


Netflix ideas

https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 88&#p92402

[Stefan]

Fell for the temptation and signed up.

German TV Shows: 65198

Shame it's quite thin with only a handful of German series.

There's plenty of dubbed content but their subtitles rarely match.

[WildGinger10]

There's plenty of dubbed content but their subtitles rarely match.

It's really bad sometimes. Often they aren't even a little bit the same. It's a bit mind-boggling - can't Netflix hire ONE German speaker to do what most subtitlers do: Listen to the audio and subtitle what they hear? Even someone who speaks no German at all can easily tell that the subtitles and the audio aren't even close to matching.