Learn German online

Learning German is an excellent step if you want to live, study, or work in Germany. If you are already living in Germany, learning German can make your life easier and help you enjoy your life in Germany even more. For those who prefer flexibility, you can also learn German online through various free courses and platforms, allowing you to fit language learning into your busy schedule while improving your chances of success in both personal and professional settings.

Beyond the fact that German is the most widely spoken language in the European Union, the main reason why the language is so attractive as a foreign language is Germany’s economic power.

In recent years, thanks to advances in technology, learning German, like other foreign languages, has become easier. As mentioned above, with the increasing influence of Germany and German in the world, there are now more and more institutions offering German language education all over the world. You can even opt for finding a tandem partner to practice your German skills.

It is possible to learn German easily and quickly by attending the language courses offered by these institutions and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by technology. In this article, you will find information about the importance of learning German and ways to learn German online.

Ways to learn German online

There are many ways to learn German. You can use digital solutions, take private lessons or attend German courses. We have brought together some important learning channels and information that you can try to learn German easily and quickly. When learning German, you will always need a reliable dictionary to understand the words in your own language German to English dictionary here.

Free German learning sites

You can use most of the apps mentioned above for free. However, if you want to learn German online completely free of charge or if you want to improve your German language skills

• Through Deutsche Welle, you can start learning German at no cost
• At Deutsch-Lernen.com you can support your German learning with exercises and video lectures.
• We strongly recommend that you take a look at the VHS online course. The VHS learning portal (vhs-Lernportal) is the free digital learning service of the German Association for Adult Education (DVV) for German as a second language, literacy and basic education. Click on this link to access the VHS-Lernportal.

Where do you learn German? Please share with us in the comments and help us improve our list.

Online private German courses

You may not have enough time to go to a course to learn German. But it is possible to learn German at home with online private courses. Consider the following platforms to learn German easily and quickly with online private courses:

• Goethe Institut (Goethe Institut ): Thanks to the Goethe Institut’s online platform, you start learning German from the comfort of your own home, without having to move country or city. For more information, please visit the Goethe Institut page.
• Preply: Another platform where you take online private lessons to learn German is Preply. You will choose from a selection of approved teacher profiles and start learning German at home.
• Berlitz: With Berlitz, you can take the German course program suitable for your level as online private lessons. With the help of German private lessons via Skype, you will learn German quickly.

German online learning sites (to learn German on your own)

When we talk about ways to learn German on your own, we can also refer to online sites. The most preferred ones for learning German at home:

• duolingo.com – Duolingo
• babbel.com – Babbel
• busuu.com – Busuu

Through these sites, you can learn German whenever you want, depending on your work or school schedule, and improve your knowledge of German through effective and useful exercises.

How about reading what is happening in Germany and around the world in simplified German in an online newspaper? Then let’s take you to Nachrichtenleicht.de, which is provided free of charge by Deutschlandfunk (one of the official radio stations in Germany). Additionally the most popular newspaper Tagesschau made their language more easy to understand for everyone, especially for beginners.

You can also have a look at the list of the best apps for learning German.

The most practical German learning – German podcasts

The most practical and free way to learn German is to listen to audio files (Podcasts). You will need applications such as Spotify or Apple Music for this. It is possible to learn German practically with these audio files that you can listen to whenever you want. Let’s take a look at our favorite free podcasts.

Slow German with Annik Rubens

The great thing about this podcast by Annik Rubens is that Annik speaks German in a slow and clear way. So it is much easier to understand.

Coffee Break German offers German podcasts on different topics for free. Of course, while doing this, it explains sentences and word patterns spoken in German to the listener in English. There are podcasts for many listener profiles from A1 level to advanced C level.

Deutsch Aktuell with DW – Daily news in simple German

DW, Germany’s official news agency, provides free resources to learn German online. The most important of these resources are of course the free podcasts. In this podcast series, DW presents daily news in simplified German. However, to understand the news, you need at least B1 level German.

Why it is important to learn German

Learning a new language is undoubtedly very important nowadays, but it is much more important to learn a foreign language like German that can have a direct positive impact on your life. If you are asking yourself “Why should I learn German?”, we have briefly summarized the most important reasons to motivate you below.

Career opportunities

German will open doors to different career opportunities: Being able to speak German will put you several steps ahead when it comes to finding a job in Germany, given Germany’s shortage of skilled labor. In most cases, you will need at least a B1 or ideally B2 level of German to attend to skilled workforce in Germany. You can learn German online and already start working in Germany to get paid.

Education opportunities

Thanks to Germany, you will be able to take advantage of the unique educational opportunities offered by universities in the country: Although the number of English-language universities in Germany has increased in recent years, many universities offer courses in German.

Being able to speak German is a great opportunity to take full advantage of the high-level educational opportunities in Germany.

Socialization

Germany is your (new) home, perhaps you have lived ther before or will be in the future for a long time. It is important to be able to communicate in German in order to participate more in the social life in Germany and to keep up with what is going on around you.

Being able to speak German will increase your sense of belonging to Germany and will help you to have a more fulfilling life where you can be active in all areas.

The difference between German and English

Learning a new language also requires thinking differently. Unlike Latin-based languages, German has a distinct set of sounds and pronunciations that you need to master. In German, you need to understand new symbols and capitalization like “ä”, “ö” or “ü” or f.e. the nouns start with a capital letter no matter where they appear in a sentence.

When you learn German’s unique accent, you can easily understand how letters change sounds. The German language has articles. These are “Der”, “Die” and “Das”.

It is like “the” in English, but each noun has its own article (der, die or das). Articles are like a part of the noun in which they are used. It is essential to learn the words with their articles. Then you will not have any problems in this regard. Lastly, Avoid those mistakes while learning German online such as setting wrong targets or only memorising but not practicing your speaking abilities with tandem partners.

Important when first moving to Germany, there is a chance that your German course fees are paid by the state for integration (Amt für Integration und Migration). You can contact the Jobcenter (employment office) in your city for a payment decision, which depends on your educational background and your ability to join the labor force in Germany.