What dedicated language learner could pass up an opportunity to spend endless days studying German and all its nuances? Unfortunately, in our society, time is money and the reality of things can be quite different. Most of us just don’t have the time to study languages at our leisure.  Because time is such a constraint, there’s an important question to ask yourself before beginning to learn this beautiful language: How long does it take to learn German? Mark Twain said: "A gifted person ought to learn English in 30 hours, French in 30 days and German in 30 years." But it might not take quite that long! I’m sure we all instinctively look for the fastest and easiest ways to learn new things. Being efficient with our time allows... Show more

The best way to learn German is by letting go and allowing your subconscious to do all the work.  That might sound a bit too sci-fi for you, but it’s kind of true.  Think about how German teens nowadays learn English—they sleep through English class in school, then come home and stay up late watching Minecraft videos in English on YouTube.  Then the world praises Germany for being a multilingual country—but you can do it, too! All you need is a good recommendation.  In this article, you’ll find ten different German YouTube channels covering a wide range of interests. At the same time, you’ll also see the Internet’s best free German educational resources to help give you a leg up when you’re not quite ready for late-night... Show more

You might be one of those folks who wishes they knew German. But wanting to know German is different from learning German or wanting to learn German. The people who just long for the day when they know German are usually the ones asking "Is German hard to learn?" But here’s the thing. Every language out there is hard in one way or another, even the ones that are close to your native language. Whether the difficulty comes at the beginning of the journey or in the middle, you’re never going to get off easy. The challenge is the fun of it! And besides, do you really have that much to worry about when it comes to learning German?  Table of Contents Is it Hard to Learn German? The Hardest Parts of German The Easiest Parts... Show more

Make no mistake—people have been complaining about the difficulty of the German language for centuries. Mark Twain did it then, and you’re probably doing it now. It seems like the harder a language is, the more pressure we put on ourselves to get it exactly right. That’s even more true when the locals tend to speak English quite confidently.  But as the Europe of today becomes more and more multicultural, the stigma of "perfect German or bust" is slowly falling away. There’s no need to paralyze yourself with doubt concerning common German mistakes or creating the perfect German sentence, because others in your community are probably dealing with language struggles of their own.  So if you want to improve your German, you can start... Show more

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to tonight’s round of German Questions Extraordinaire!  Does that sound like a quiz show you would watch? It would certainly help out your German! Perhaps you’ve realized that every time you have a German conversation, you’re kind of on a quiz show yourself. Conversations tend to be built around questions and answers—especially the kinds of conversations that you’re likely to have as a foreign student of German. Therefore, practicing the following German questions and answers for beginners will provide you with the tools you need to sail through opening conversations like they’re nothing. In a typical German conversation, questions and answers like the ones we’ll introduce today will... Show more

You asked, so we provided—easy-to-follow instructions on how to set up your electronic devices to write in German! We’ll also give you a few excellent tips on how to use this keyboard, as well as some online and app alternatives if you prefer not to set up a German keyboard. Table of Contents Why it’s Important to Learn to Type in German Setting up Your Computer and Mobile Devices for German How to Activate an Onscreen Keyboard on Your Computer How to Change the Language Settings to German on Your Computer Activating the German Keyboard on Your Mobile Phone and Tablet German Keyboard Typing Tips How to Practice Typing German 1. Why it’s Important to Learn to Type in German Learning a new language is made so much easier... Show more

Can You Really Learn German Alone? Learning a language on your own or without traditional classroom instruction may seem quite daunting at first. What if you run into questions? How do you stay motivated and on track to achieving goals? Don’t worry, not only is it possible to learn German or any language without traditional classroom instruction: GermanPod101 has created the world’s most advanced and extensive online language learning system. Not only is GermanPod101 specifically designed to help you with learning a language on your own, it’s actually faster, more convenient, and less expensive than traditional classroom options! Let’s look at some of the benefits of learning German or any language alone. Also, don't forget to... Show more

Yes, even beginners can quickly learn conversational German well enough to carry on real conversations with native speakers. Of course, beginners won’t be able to carry a conversation the same way they could in their native language. But, just knowing a few tips like which questions to ask to keep a conversation going are all you need to speak and interact with real native speakers! But before we get to specific suggestions, let’s first take a closer look at how having real German conversations is so vital to your mastery of the language. Learning to Carry a Conversation is Vital to Mastery of Any Language Communicating with other people is the very point of language and conversation is almost second nature in our native tongue. For... Show more

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

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