Today, classrooms are no longer the only or even best place to learn a new language like German. More and more people are finding that they can easily learn a language just about anywhere they have a few minutes of spare time, including their daily commute to work. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American spends over 50 minutes a day commuting to and from work, or over 300 hours a year. Rethinking Your Daily Commute to Work But rather than simply sitting in traffic and wasting the time, you can instead use your daily commute to literally learn German in just a few short months! GermanPod101 has developed specialized learning tools that you can use on your commute to work (and home again) to master the language in... Show more

It’s a beautiful morning in Hamburg. You’re enjoying a nice piece of bread and a coffee at a streetside cafe. Suddenly a German friend of yours enters and you’d like to say hello. But this time, you’ll do it in German. So how exactly do you say “Hello” in German? Greetings are part of every culture, and no matter where you find yourself on the globe, there are plenty of different ways to do it. Each one has its own subtleties, ranging from formality to time of day to location. Fortunately, it’s not confusing in the least. Pretty much everything can be accurately mapped to a phrase or concept we’re familiar with in English. “Hello” in learning German is one of the most important things you’ll learn, so let’s delve into this... Show more

The German language is currently the 15th most spoken language in the world. The number of first language speakers according to the 21st edition of Ethnologue is 76 million. Speakers of German are found in 28 countries, located in 6 continents. German has official language status in Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria. You'll also find German speakers in Kazakhstan, Russia, Brazil, Namibia, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, South Africa and Australia. Being part of the Indo European language family, the English language and the German language share around 60% of their lexicon. Like most languages, the German language has its own set of quirks and unique features, which at times add to the confusion of German... Show more

Most everyone is familiar with this day, as it is celebrated nearly everywhere the world. Yet, when exactly is April Fools’ Day? And where did April Fools come from? April Fools’ Day is observed on April 1st every year. This day of jokes and pranks is believed to have stemmed from the 16th-century calendar change in France, when New Year’s Day was moved from April 1 to January 1. This action was taken due to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. However, a few people were resistant to the calendar change, so they continued to observe New Year’s Day on April 1st, rather than the new date. They were referred to as the “April Fools”, and others started playing mocking tricks on them. This custom endured, and is practiced to this day... Show more

German is a beautiful, important and challenging language, but fluency is definitely within your reach if you go about learning it in an efficient and intelligent way. Many people think they don’t have the time, money or dedication to learn a second language—especially a grammatically challenging language like German—but there are so many ways to avoid breaking the bank and reach fluency faster than ever before! Just by learning German through the intelligent use of these hand-picked online resources instead of paying for courses at a college or language school, you’ll save yourself literally thousands of dollars and also create the system that works best for you. Ultimately, one of the biggest drawbacks to language study programs at... Show more

Learn a little German everyday with the free German Word of the Day Widget. Check back daily for more vocabulary!Unterarm forearm (noun)Ich habe ein Herz auf meinen Unterarm tätowiert, knapp über meinem Handgelenk.I have a heart tattooed on my forearm just above the wrist.Unterarm und Faustforearm and fistmein haariger Unterarmmy hairy forearmOwn a blog or website? Share free language content with your readers with the German Word of the Day with Audio Widget. Click here for instructions on how to embed and customize this free widget!

When it comes to foreign languages German sometimes gets a bad rap. People are quick to highlight the most difficult parts of the language and write it off as being next to impossible to learn. There are some unique features of the German language that can be challenging to native English speakers, but that need not scare new learners away. With the right focus, and a little persistence you can start speaking the German language correctly and comfortably. In this post we’ll take a look at how to master three of the most difficult parts of the German language. Why it’s important to pinpoint the hard parts of learning German As a new German learner the complexity of the language can seem pretty intimidating. It doesn’t help that... Show more

In most cultures, it is custom to express gratitude in some way or another. The dictionary defines gratitude as follows: it is “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness”. Giving a sincere, thankful response to someone’s actions or words is often the ‘glue’ that keeps relationships together. This is true in most societies! Doing so in a foreign country also shows your respect and appreciation for the culture. Words have great power - use these ones sincerely and often! Table of Contents 12 Ways to say ‘Thank you’ in German Video Lesson: Learn to Say ‘Thank You’ in 3 Minutes Infographic & Audio Lesson: Survival Phrases - Thank You Video Lesson: ‘Thank You’ in 31... Show more

Learn a little German everyday with the free German Word of the Day Widget. Check back daily for more vocabulary!bekommen receive (verb)Der Mann bekam Geld.The man received money.Der Mann bekommt Geld.The man receives money.Ich bekam eine Postkarte von meiner Freundin.I received a postcard from my girlfriend.Geld bekommenreceive moneyeine Postkarte bekommenreceive a cardeinen Weckruf bekommenreceive a wake-up callOwn a blog or website? Share free language content with your readers with the German Word of the Day with Audio Widget. Click here for instructions on how to embed and customize this free widget!

Learn 4 tools and techniques to stop translating in your head and start thinking in Going through lessons is enough to get by and learn the basics of , but to truly become fluent you need to be able to think in . This will allow you to have conversations with ease, read smoothly, and comprehensively understand natives. To do this, you need to go beyond just completing daily or weekly lessons. We naturally translate in our heads because it's viewed as the easiest way to learn the definitions needed when learning a language. This way of learning can actually hinder your skills and fluency later on. If your brain has to make neural connections between the word you're learning, what it means in your native tongue, and the physical object... Show more