Welcome to my curated archive of German learning resources.
Here, you can find all kinds of resources from courses to dictionaries to podcasts, and they’re hand-picked and hand-reviewed by me.
It’s not too big yet, but I’m adding more stuff over time and quite a few good ones are already there.
Enjoy exploring and if you have something you think deserves a spot, please share it in the comments.
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German Prefix Verbs – The Illustrated Book
Books By Emanuel Featured
German Prefix Verbs – The Illustrated Book
Books By Emanuel Featured
aufmachen, anmachen, ausmachen, zumachen… these are German prefix verbs and there are literally billions* of them. (*dramatized, may not actual be billions).
I talk a lot about them here on YourDailyGerman in the segmet Prefix Verbs Explained, but I am also making a book about them, together with my good friend Helen.
She’s an illustrator and cartoon artist and together we’re working on a book that should be a fun, memorable introduction to the topic as well as a long time reference. And it’s going to be a lot of fun, because the cartoons she is making are amazing.
We’re about 85% done, and we’re currently doing proofreading and drafting the ebook.
I’ll definitely keep you up to date here, but for more info, we’ve set up a little info page about the project, where you can (and should) also sign up for our book newsletter :)
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Prefix Verbs – The Card Game
Apps / Webapps By Emanuel Featured Game Practice
Prefix Verbs – The Card Game
Apps / Webapps By Emanuel Featured Game Practice
I have created a card game for German prefix verbs. Yes, with actual physical cards. 
You can play by yourself, with your friends or in class and it's a great way to repeat, practice and explore German prefix verbs. It was originally funded through Kickstarter and has hundreds of happy players worldwide :) Check my web-page or drop me an email to order a deck. Prefix Verb Dictionary And I'm also building a prefix verb dictionary that complements the game and goes beyond. It lets you look up and explore prefix verb families in a completely new and intuitive way and I have created all meanings and groupings by hand, so that you don't just look at a list of 10 translations but there is some logic to everything.
Visit → You can play by yourself, with your friends or in class and it's a great way to repeat, practice and explore German prefix verbs. It was originally funded through Kickstarter and has hundreds of happy players worldwide :) Check my web-page or drop me an email to order a deck. Prefix Verb Dictionary And I'm also building a prefix verb dictionary that complements the game and goes beyond. It lets you look up and explore prefix verb families in a completely new and intuitive way and I have created all meanings and groupings by hand, so that you don't just look at a list of 10 translations but there is some logic to everything. See also:
My Prefix Verb Dictionary★
Sievers Study Hall – German Exercises
Featured Free Practice Websites and Forums
Sievers Study Hall – German Exercises
Featured Free Practice Websites and Forums
Sometimes, what you need to make progress is good old grammar drill. So grinding out practice about a topic that doesn't stop after 10 questions or waste your time with lots of unnecessary clicks like Duolingo. Clément, a fellow language learner has created the perfect thing for that - Sievers Study Hall - a German Gym, so to speak. You can find literal thousands of exercise questions for drill practice on various topics like:
Visit → - noun gender
- verb prepositions
- noun plural
- Adjective Endings
- Conjugation
- Verb tenses
Aschkalon – Interactive Books for Learners
Books Free Game
Aschkalon – Interactive Books for Learners
Books Free Game
Aschkalon is three book series of so called interactive books, but for German learners. Interactive books are books where you can pick how to progress the story. The eBooks are very affordable at about $3 each, and if you're into Dungeons and Dragons are stuff like that, you might really enjoy this. There's also a free playable browser version of one of them. I'll link that as the main link.
Visit → 
Chaosradio Express – Podcast (G.O.A.T.)
Free German Content Listen
Chaosradio Express – Podcast (G.O.A.T.)
Free German Content Listen
My favorite podcasts of all time, and an absolute OG, because it was big in 2011 already when Joe Rogan was still not a comedian. CRE is a spin-off from Chaos Computer Club. The host is Tim Pritlove and in each episode, he talks with an expert (an ACTUAL expert) about a certain topic. A lot of topics have to do with computers (IPv6, the DNS-scene, ARM architecture, various programming languages, app-design) but they also discuss the German tax system, Bitcoin, coffee, beer, board games, World of Warcraft, the solar system, the human ear, secret services, movie dubbing, feminism and post-structuralism…. just to name a few :). I’m sure you’ll find something. They really go into depth on a topic. No wonder that an episode is usually between 1 and 3 hours long. But it’s not a boring presentation but rather two guys just having a relaxed dialog along an outline. And Tim Pritlove is really pushing for layman’s terms and has a great talent to rephrase and summarize things. There are about 200 episodes and I think I’ve listened to almost all of them, even if I wasn’t too interested in the topic. It’s just kind of soothing. Like a slow evening where you sit with friends and you just listen to their nerd conversations. The audio quality is amazing by the way, and it’s completely free and it used to run on donations which is amazing, too. What I like:
Visit → - almost everything
- That he stopped uploading in 2022
DSH – Sample Test
Exam Preparation Free
DSH – Sample Test
Exam Preparation Free
DSH is the language exam you'll often need if you want to attend university in Germany. On this site, you can find a big selection of sample test and tasks from the various universities in Germany that offer the test.
Visit → 
DWDS – German Dictionary
Free Websites and Forums
DWDS – German Dictionary
Free Websites and Forums
DWDS is THE BEST pure German dictionary in my opinion. It stands for Digitales Wörterbuch der Deutschen Sprache and it offers:
Visit → - meanings
- etymology
- collocations
- usage statistics
- other references
Die Maus – German TV Docu Series
Free German Content Video
Die Maus – German TV Docu Series
Free German Content Video
Die Sendung mit der Maus is a German TV show by public television that is made for children, but they do have one series that is great for adults and absolutely perfect for intermediate learners - Lach- und Sachgeschichten. The idea behind Lach- and Sachgeschichten is to look at something from the real world and see how it’s made or how it works… in kids terms. But at least for me, when it comes to how a the technology behind a touch screen works or how tofu is made, then kids terms is just perfect.Seriously, the videos are absolutely lovely and many adults in Germany enjoy watching them, too. The language is simply and the speaker speaks very clearly and if you don’t understand the words the video often helps out and allows you to guess. Of course you need a decent amount of vocabulary to really enjoy it but for an intermediate learner it’s a great way to train listening while learning a lot of random interesting things like “How is a toothpaste made”. You can find it on YouTube, just follow the link here. You can just activate subtitles in your language if you need them. It works fairly well by now.
Visit → 
Easy German – YouTube and Community
Free Video
Easy German – YouTube and Community
Free Video
Most of you know Easy German probably, but they still must be here - The best (and biggest) channel for German learners. Originally, Cari and Janusz started out by interviewing people on the streets about a topic and adding German AND English subtitles, so you can learn how real Germans sound like while also getting a glimpse into their minds. But the channel has grown a lot and they’re also doing easy grammar explanations, community calls, a podcast, life-streams and they recently launched their own online learning platform where you can get worksheets for all their videos and a good structure. It’s really a great channel, the concept is great, the production quality is great and most importantly, the people are great and I’m happy to call them friends! Oh, I'm in a few videos too, by the way. I'll link them up below.
Visit → 
Easy German Podcast
Free German Content Listen
Easy German Podcast
Free German Content Listen
Easy German doesn't only have a YouTube Channel - They also have a podcast. Twice a week, Cari and Manual chat about various topics or with guests. I've been there five times already as well and it was always fun. If you're a paying member there you also get transcripts and other perks, but also the free version is great because they speak really really clearly and are easy to follow. What I like especially:
Visit → - great vibe
- Cari's laugh
- perfect type of speech for language learners
Eleos Corner – YouTube Channel
German Content Video
Eleos Corner – YouTube Channel
German Content Video
If you're looking for comprehensible input in German, Eleos Corner is a really nice channel for that. Eleos is making sort of vlogs about Germany and her life here specifically for German learners. So she speaks slowly and clearly and enriches the videos with vocabulary and short sentences. Perfect content if you're A2 or B1. And she's very authentic and genuine, not overly hyped up, not trying to sell you stuff. It's really relaxing to watch, and definitely one of the best channels for German comprehensible input in my opinion.
Visit → See also:
My Review of Eleos Corner
Etymonline – English Etymology
Free Websites and Forums
Etymonline – English Etymology
Free Websites and Forums
Etymonline.com is an etymological dictionary for English and it's just awesome. The layout is really nice, it's fairly complete and it's not too heavy on abbreviations like other etymological dictionaries are. I use it a lot and compare and cross reference entries with DWDS.de (German dictionary) for my ventures into the origin of words and the connections between them. If you're interested in this at all, Etymonline is a great source. It does have ads, but they're subtle and not too pushy.
Visit → 
German StackExchange – Q&A
Free Websites and Forums
German StackExchange – Q&A
Free Websites and Forums
StackExchange is a question and answer forum with many many sub-domains and one of them is German language. It was way more active 10 years ago and there are not many questions coming in nowadays, but it's much higher quality on average than Reddit is, and the archive is quite good, with lots of really well argued and researched answers to complicated questions. What I like:
Visit → - more like an archive than the stream of thought that is Reddit
- very good answers to complicated niche questions about German
- knowledgeable community
- lack of activity
- the layout (I just find it old school)
Go German
German Content Video
Go German
German Content Video
Nice new YouTube channel if you're looking for comprehensible input and you like travelling and South America. Marcel is travelling and recording VLOG style videos, but in slow, clear comprehensible German. He's really likeable and the videos are enjoyable to watch. Probably too hard for A-level people, but if you're B1 or higher it's perfect.
Visit → 
LingoDeer – Language Learning App
Apps / Webapps
LingoDeer – Language Learning App
Apps / Webapps
LingoDeer is a classic language learning app the way that Duolingo used to be. The have a learning tree that you follow, but the lectures are actually challenging and the app is focused on teaching you the language fast instead of wasting as much of your time as possible, like Duolingo does. I really liked LingoDeer at least for a beginner level and I highly recommend it because it takes the learner seriously. And it's not just a vibe coded quick app but there's an actual team behind it. Oh, they offer plenty of languages, so it's not just German.
Visit → 
MiVoca – Vocabulary System
Apps / Webapps Freemium
MiVoca – Vocabulary System
Apps / Webapps Freemium
.hentry{max-width:750px;margin:auto;}MiVoca is an all-in-one vocabulary management system that helps you explore, organize, and actively practice the words you want to master. It's basically a next generation flashcard app and also functions as a dictionary and a translator app, similar to DeepL. And it offers really useful features like exploring related vocabulary or doing Ai powered exercises based on the words you have collected in your decks. The functionality offered is pretty nice and the price is very fair. I think it's a small team or single developer so it looks a bit like generic and "Ai-core" but that can still change in the future. There's a free tier so you can try it out and see if you vibe with it. And if you want to sign up for real, use code YOURDAILYGERMAN for $5 off on a yearly plan.
Visit → 
Nikos Weg
Courses Free Video
Nikos Weg
Courses Free Video
Nikos Weg is a German online course produced by Deutsche Welle. In a series of short videos we follow the protagonist Niko who moves to Germany, learns the language and starts building a life. Each episode comes with exercises and material and it's a structured course up to B1. The production quality is very high, the progression is solid, and the best thing is: Nikos Weg is completely free It's paid for by the state, so there's a nice example for what taxes are used for. Seriously, if you're looking for a structured course with video but you have little money, this is perfect for you. Pair it with a flashcard app (and YourDailyGerman of course, for deeper insights) and you have all you need. What I like:
Visit → - production quality
- it's free for everyone
- goes up to B1
- episodes are super short, so you'll see the intro a million times. But there is a movie-version on YouTube too, so that's good
- main actor is not exactly a "beginner" ;)
Ounio – German Online Course
Apps / Webapps Freemium
Ounio – German Online Course
Apps / Webapps Freemium
Ounio is an small family business run language learning platform and course from Canada and if you're looking for a course and primary platform that gives you structure but also freedom, then Ouino is the best choice in my opinion. They do not offer 100 languages like many other apps. Instead, they "only" have 5. But that's great because they actually built their material and courses slowly and methodically over years. They offer:
Visit → - grammar section
- practice words and grammar
- pronunciation section
- vocabulary section
Reddit -r/German
Free Websites and Forums
Reddit -r/German
Free Websites and Forums
r/German is the biggest German learning Subreddit with almost half a million members. It's very active and you can definitely get answers to your questions there really quickly. They also have a REALLY good and well organized resource list and a wiki that contains a surprising amount of well made grammar information. Just make sure not to mention AI, or you'll get chastised and down-voted. What I like:
Visit → - very active community
- great resource list
- useful Wiki
- lots of lazy questions
- very repetitive
- native speakers answering don't always know what they're talking about
See also:
Me on Reddit
Seedlang – The App
Apps / Webapps Freemium
Seedlang – The App
Apps / Webapps Freemium
Seedlang is a great German learning app for learning German made by my friend Jeremy and my other friend Cari (yes, from Easy German). At the core of Seedlang are short lovely video clips (real, not AI) that show you German vocabulary and grammar as it is really used, spoken by native speakers. And all the grammar and translations are always one click away. The lessons itself are handcrafted and full of love. And my grumpy self is in a few of them as well :). And there's also a flashcard section and a trivia quiz game where you can practice without ir it feeling like work. And the price is quite affordable and starts at 5 bucks a month. MUCH better deal than Duolingo, imo. Oh and by the way… they have Spanish and French now too, if you get sick of German :) What I like:
Visit → - The team
- The love and humor in the stories. They're really really memorable
- The price, more than fair!
- Some bits start to look a bit dated and I think the whole "speak" thing is oversold and under-leveraged
TestDaf – Overview and Pratice Tests
Exam Preparation Free
TestDaf – Overview and Pratice Tests
Exam Preparation Free
TestDaf is another one of the famous German language exams you can take. On this site, you can find a detailed description of each of the exam parts (writing, speaking,...) as well as example tasks you can practice with.
Visit → 
VHS Lernportal – Free Course
Courses Free Websites and Forums
VHS Lernportal – Free Course
Courses Free Websites and Forums
VHS is short for Volkshochschule and it's a sort of German community school/college organization. You can find it in pretty much all towns and cities and also online and you can take all kinds of courses there from knitting to crypto mining. It's usually really cheap and the teachers do it out of passion more so than for the money. But they also have an online German course. For Free!! It looks and feels a bit dated, but regardless, it's a structured course from A1 to B2 that you can use as a guide if you can put up with the slightly retro-web style design and functionality. Definitely a great choice if you have no money or cannot afford to pay European prices. I also have a review about it with a bit more details in my calendar, so I'll link that up too.
Visit → See also:
My review of VHS Lernportal
YouTube Anja’s Video Course
Courses Video
YouTube Anja’s Video Course
Courses Video
You might know the YouTube channel Learn German with Anja. She's one of the biggest Youtubers in the German learning sphere and her channel has almost a million subs. And together with some friends and plenty of other teachfluencers (including me), she has created an actual all round German learning course. But instead of boring lessons, the course is built around ... a comedy series. Anja has basically produced several seasons of a German learning soap opera The episodes follow a consistent storyline that gets ever more crazy, and each of them present you with new grammar concepts and vocabulary, all in context. Of course, there are subtitles, too, and for each episode, you’ll get a bunch of exercises, a vocabulary sheet and there are some exams at the end of a block as well. The course goes from A1 up to B2. For more info about the curriculum and all that, just check out their landing page… a bit ugly but it has all the info you need. And if you buy through my link, I get a little kickback, so you're supporting my work as well. What I like:
Visit → - the effort and creativity
- well structured
- managed community
- the price is steep
- their webpage is awful and super slow
See also:
My (first) Review
tecl Exam – All Levels – Overview
Exam Preparation Free
tecl Exam – All Levels – Overview
Exam Preparation Free
Telc is one of the big exam types you can take for German. And they have a really nice page where you can see all the different exams they offer. For each of them, you'll find requirements and also a sample test, so you can prepare.
Visit →
Hey Emanuel! First of all, great content, thank you! Your entire blog and the grammar course are very useful :)
I also find the @yourgermanteacher youtube channel very helpful in understanding the grammar and quite a bit surpised it wasn’t mention here. Is there any particular reason for that?
Honestly, I didn’t really think of it :). I remember from way back in the day, when they started, Lucy had emailed me about something (not sure what). He’s a nice guy and they’ve given me a shoutout on a couple of videos, so I should probably return the favor.
Their explanations are a bit too mainstream sometimes for my taste, but it’s one of the better channels on youtube for German learning for sure.
Hello and thank you.
This is very useful and also fun to have access to different ways to learn German.
You included Nico’s Weg, which I really enjoy, but I’d like to encourage everyone to look at the whole Deutsche Welle Website, which offers Nico’s Weg, as everything on it is very good.
Once again, thanks for your hard work.
I’m going to check some of these out, and I think this is going to be an awesome resource page. Thank you! I’d like to suggest a couple of YouTube channels I really like.
The first one is Simple German Network, at https://simplegerman.net/, and https://www.youtube.com/@SimpleGermanNetwork on youtube. I haven’t spent much time on the website, but I love the videos, which are all in German. They pretty much focus on vocab and grammar, and yet they’re appealing and fun to listen to. His voice is easy to follow and I find his explanations clear and helpful.
Eleo’s corner also has videos that are all in German, but they focus on daily life, and I enjoy them. https://www.youtube.com/@eleoscorner
Both are German teachers, I think, or have training in teaching.
There are really a lot out there, and the variety is nice – different personalities, different approaches, different foci, so it’s great you have this page so people can find them and try them out.
Oh yeah, Youtube channels. I have to add more of those.
I know both of them and I actually recommended Eleo’s Corner in this year’s Advent Calendar.
I really like the way she speaks and she feels very authentic and relatable on camera. Good reminder, I’ll definitely add her, and maybe him too.
Emanuel,
ist doch wie ueblich eine absolute Informationsfuelle! Wirklich super!
Bloss wenn ich Deutschlerner waere, besonders auf der Mittelstufe, nun eben auch Fortgeschrittener, faende ich schon aeusserst nuetzlich eine Wiederholung der saemtlichen Modalpartikeln, z.B mal, doch, nun, zwar, nur, schon usw.
Nur ein Vorschlag.
Dazu kann man ja einfach in mein Wort-Archiv gucken :).
Diese Seite hier ist mehr für komplette Resourcen, nicht einzelne Sprachthemen.
Klappt dein Log In eigentlich wieder?
Doch, klappt schon!
Eine gute Idee, danke.
Werd’ ich mal hineingucken.
Hello,
I have been heavily using another resource recently: https://stud[….].io/, would it be possible to add it to this list?
What is it? Why is it good? What makes it special?
What I see is a vibe coded low effort boring website.
Hi! I am trying to make an anki deck based on your dictionary. Is there a page in which one can see all of the entries of the dictionary? I cannot find such a page
There is but it’s broken in that it doesn’t auto-load new entries.
Do you need just the words with link to the entry? Or do you need the full display?
Could you maybe send me an email? Maybe I can set something up but it’d be great if you should share the result with me so I can offer it here too.
i recently stopped seedlang for a while in order to spend more time on this site. getting to the later stories it starts to get a bit hard to repeat 2 or 3 sentences word for word (at that point its a memory game). will probably go back once i get more comfortable with word ordering. this site has been great though. thanks Emmanuel!
This website has truly been a game-changer for me. It’s by far the best I’ve come across, offering not only accuracy but also a deep understanding of how words are used in real-life contexts.
It has made my journey of learning German so much more exciting, inspiring, and motivating. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating such an incredible resource – I’m beyond grateful!
Gerne!! And thanks a lot for this great feedback. Made me smile and is hugely motivating to keep making it better and better.
Hi Emanuel
Few days back I read somewhere that you have written an article on how to learn a vocabulary or something similar to ‘vocabulary’ topic.
Can you please provide the link for the same I’m unable to find it.
I think you might mean this one:
https://yourdailygerman.com/learn-vocabulary-fast-method/
Hi Emanuel,
Somehow I missed the explanation regarding the color coding when we record our voices. My pronunciation is not good, and it would be helpful to understand what the different colors mean. Thanks.
The colors give you an idea how you’re doing for the specific word.
red: not very good (<20% match)
yellow: okay (<50% match)
light green: good (<80% match)
green: amazing (80-99% match)
green+outline: perfect (100%)
Please keep in mind that the recording quality matters. As long as you can get it to light green, you're doing great. Only work on yellow and red words for now and listen to my reference recording to see how yours sounds different maybe.
Color coding can be exceedingly useful. I have my own individual system for color coding noun gender assignments: red for masculine, blue for feminine, green for neuter.
Hello Emanuel
May I ask if you would have a resource/book for prepositions as well? because I feel that the usage of German prepositions is sometimes hard to understand for non-native speakers.
Thank you so much in advance
There’s nothing specific that I can think of, unfortunately.
Have you seen the various articles on the topic here, though?
Hello Emanuel
Thank you so much for your suggestion
Actually, I’ve read some parts of the module “preposition”. There are some prepositions which were written as separated series such as “aus”, “zu”, “von”, “auf” etc., but not for some prepositions such as “uber”, “durch” etc. So, I am not sure if the latter type of prepositions might need specific explanation or not.
(or they’re not required because the meaning/logic is quite direct that they might not need separated series)
Thank you so much again
Oh, I could definitely do an article about “über” or “durch”. The question is just how much “new” information there is in it. “durch” for example is rather similar to English “through”, so there’s not much to say.
But I think I’ll write one about “über” at some point.
Till then, you can look them up in my dictionary (the search) and ask in the comments there, if you have a specific question :)
Thank you so much Emanuel for your reply. :)
I just found your website and OMG I LOVE IT. the humor, the information, the helpful-ness? (native english speaker, but also an 18 year old…) Im learning German for uni so im taking kinda a gap year but ich habe eine Frage. Im not sure if youve made an article on this but could you talk about the cases and MULTIPLE cases in a sentence? Including personal pronouns. I understand nominative, akkusativ, and dativ and when to use them; but when it comes to long sentences its more challenging. Same goes for when you have to use personal pronouns in dativ or akkusativ. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOURE DOING AHH ILL THANK YOU FOR MY DEGREE!!!
Happy to hear you’re enjoying my stuff :)!
I don’t have an article about multiple cases specifically, but I’m happy to answer your questions in the comments.
It’d be great, if you could just paraphrase it under one of the articles about cases.
That way, other people who might have the same questions are more likely to see our conversation.
https://yourdailygerman.com/german-cases-accusative-dative/
Oh and have you checked out my exercises on cases? There’s lots of pronouns in those.
Here’s the example for masculine entities. You can find the others easily there.
https://yourdailygerman.com/german-cases-exercise-masculine/
Liebe Grüße and I’m on the lookout for your comment with the questions :)
Many great site suggestions. May I add one for German grammar explanations? https://www.olesentuition.co.uk/german-language-blog
hmmm, I’m the one that posted about the german idioms on the Cool Resources page. It prompted the comment as anonymous for approval. I must’ve been logged out accidentally before posting the comment.
Anyhoo, just an FYI. Wasn’t just a random creeper. Twas me, a marginally less, but still somewhat random, creeper.
I replied to the other comment :)
I wasn’t sure where to post this question, but “cool resources” might be the best place…
Every language has idioms and sayings that are often metaphorical or figurative and impossible to translate literally from one language to another. I was curious if there was a way you could list a few good ones.
For example, I was talking with a native german speaker and asking him what the german version of “when the shit hits the fan” might be. First, it was hilarious to learn that he’d been saying “when the shit hits the fin” for years and had no idea what this saying meant until I corrected him and explained the visual. The clarification prompted some laughing. Then he said the german version is “die Kacke am dampfen ist.” Which. Is. Hilarious. Because what!? hahaha.
Anyway, I would love to learn some more of these–just to spice up my native mojo
Hey, so I do have a few posts with idioms in my Advent Calendar series, but they might be hard to find. You could also try the search/dictionary here because I have some in it as well.
Here’s a few links from my calendar:
https://yourdailygerman.com/work-proverbs-german/
https://yourdailygerman.com/kein-schwein-gehabt-meaning/
https://yourdailygerman.com/aussen-hui-innen-pfui-meaning/
https://yourdailygerman.com/german-proverbs/
There are a few more, but it might be fun to find them yourself in the calendar archive, based on the title. There’s usually a hint in there ;)
fun. i’ll definitely poke around in there. learning these sorts of sayings seems to be… where the rubber meets to road.
Meh, actually, learner tend to use them too much and then it sounds forced or like a wanna-be.
Having a proper handle on r-versions is a MUCH bigger boost for how idiomatic you sound. I would focus on that before learning a bunch of idioms.
But if you enjoy it, then do it, of course :). It’s not that it’s bad or anything, but it’s not where the rubber meets the road, imo ;)
bad joke, i guess (rubber meets the road is an idiom so it was supposed to be sort of an “eye roll” type of statement). joke flop. I can picture an east german judge holding a 6.5 out of 10 scorecard with an intense scowl of disapproval. Meh. Einmal ist keinmal.
yea, i agree. no forced idioms for newbs. although, they are fun to chuck into a convo after you’re done butchering some grammar, just for a cheap grin. but r-versions are good for that too.
thanks again E. keep doing the lord’s work spreadin’ the good Deutsch news.
Do you have a recommended source for looking at etymology of German words? In English I would use “etymonline.com”, is there a similar source in German?
The three big ones are Wiktionary, DWDS.de and Woerterbuchnetz.de
But they’re not as “fun” to read as etymonline.com, which is a bit more conversational.
And you can use my dictionary of course. I’m using etymonline and dwds mostly, and I cross reference the entries and dig around a little so sometimes I find connections that they have, but don’t mention.
Have you heard of “The Thinking Method” aka “Language Transfer”?
It’s just one guy (like you) that does audio courses for language learning, he’s done different languages including a beginner one in German.
The audio quality isn’t excellent but the content is really good for beginner level.
I heard the name before but I’ve never looked into it really. So you’d recommend it?
Yes, it’s easy to follow, he covers some good grammar without too much jargon and he focuses on remembering how to get to what you want to say, not just memorising rules.
He also encourages thinking about the meaning of words, and has some neat tricks for getting started.
here’s a link: https://www.languagetransfer.org/german
Hello Emanuel,
My hubby, Mark, and I are coming to Berlin for a week in November and want to take German classes in the mornings while we are there. We have considered ALPADIA, Inlingua, Victoria, Language International, Humbolt… Ak, so many! Do you happen to know anything about any of these? Any recommendations (or ones to avoid)? We have been taking private lessons in German for a while and I follow your blog site, but we are still at an A1-A2 level.
Thank you for any advice you can offer. (Lisa)
Hey hey,I’d love to help, but I have absolutely zero idea about the schools in Berlin.
If you are in the Easy German community discord, you might get better help there, but yeah… I can’t give any recommendations or warnings :)
OK. Thanks for trying!
Lisa
Hi Emanuel,
I asked my nephew, who has lived in Berlin for a while. He said,
“Hey there! I haven’t taken a one-week course, but I’ve taken many evening and intensive courses, for various lengths of time. GLS is generally regarded as the best school and my own experience agrees. I highly recommend it! And they do have one-week courses. I’ve also had good experiences with Goethe Institute, Kapitel Zwei, and Speakeasy, but quick glances at their websites lead me to conclude that none of them offer courses for just one week.”
In case anyone else is interested in this same topic…
Sweet, thanks for sharing!!
GLS is also collaborating with Easy German from time to time, which I’d take as another sign that they’re good :)
Emanuel…you had an article on a German website like Duolingo, but you liked it better because you could skip around the topics instead of just having to go step by step. Would you please let me know the name of this site…I want to share it with my kids. Thx so much
Yes, that’s OUino languages :)
https://www.ouinolanguages.com/
Meine Empfehlung: Slow German mit Annik Reubens. She speaks slowly and clearly and her audios all have a free transcript. The topics are so diverse that you wind up learning vocabulary about a huge number interesting themes.
Great one!!! Danke
Der Podcast das ich am liebsten habe ist “Zeit Verbrechen”. Die Geschichten sind immer interessant und sachlich da gesellt. Die Hauptdarstellerin, Sabina Rükert, sprich ein ausgezeichnetes, klares Deutsch und Ihre Aussprache ist wunderschön. Ich kann es ohne Vorbehalt weiterempfehlen.