Best Way to Learn German: 9 Top Activities, Resources, Tips

Looking for the best way to learn German? Du bist am richtigen Ort! (You’re in the right place!)

I’ve learned German myself (alongside 5 other languages) and wrote a book about language learning, and I’m happy to help you avoid the mistakes I made and make your German journey a huge success!

In this German learning guide, you’ll find everything you need to kickstart your German studies so you can start having your first conversations in German.

I’ll share the 6 best ways to get better at German listening comprehension, memorize vocabulary, learn grammar the correct way, and have fluent German sentences off the tongue.

I’ll also share my favorite resources with you and a sample learning routine you can start using today.

And finally, I’ll give you 3 ways to learn German you should avoid at all costs if you want to get fluent fast 🙂

Ready? Bist du bereit?

PS: Whenever I recommend a language product, I might earn a small commission. I only recommend programs I believe in anyway and that work well with Conversation Based Chunking™ 🙂

Best Listening Comprehension Resources

Watch German YouTube Channels

I co-founded a popular YouTube channel with German lessons, called Spring German. We have hundreds of German lessons on there that you can watch.

An overview of my favorite German YouTube Channels:

• EasyGerman (tons of conversations and dialogues)
• DeutschLera (more grammar-focused, not that many dialogues)
• Lingster Academy (also more grammar-focused)
• Dein Sprachcoach (fun channel, also a lot of focus on pronunciation)

Listen to German Podcasts

Podcasts are a perfect way to practice your German listening comprehension (especially if they come with an interactive transcript).

Special mention to GermanPod101 for creating tons of German content with transcript!

Watch German TV Shows (for intermediate/advanced learners)

If you’re a total beginner, watching series in German might be out of reach. But if you’re a bit more advanced already, German TV shows can be an excellent source of input to practice your listening comprehension.

What’s nice about these series is that they’re often ORIGINAL German TV shows. You’ll quickly familiarize yourself with the characters, the storylines aren engaging and there are tons and tons of episodes to watch. You won’t only learn the language but also a lot about German culture!

Here’s a video we created at Spring German about good Netflix shows:

Bonus tip: Watch series in German, with German subtitles. That way you can listen and read at the same time. If you use English subtitles you might stop listening altogether, and then you won’t learn that much. If you’re watching a Netflix series, you can also use this tool to add bilingual subtitles to your series!

Use Dialogue-Based Courses

If you prefer to get your listening comprehension from a structured course, make sure you use a dialogue-based course. We’ve created such a course over at Spring German. You can get access to the Essential German Chunking Kit easily!

Other good courses are:

• German Uncovered
• GermanPod101

German Uncovered is a course created by my friend and polyglot Olly Richards. Olly creates story-based courses based on his own method called StoryLearning®. In my experience, this method works even better if you combine it with Conversation Based Chunking. In fact, Olly interviewed me on his podcast a while ago about precisely this topic.

Listen here:

The course itself is high-quality, with a fun story, and comes with a transcript so you identify chunks more easily. The course is based around a 20-chapter story in simple German, and includes everything learners need to go from the complete beginner level (A0) to the intermediate level (B1) in German. This is the type of course I wish I had when I started learning German.

1: Listen to German Native Speakers as Much as You Can

It’s much easier to learn German (or any foreign language for that matter) if you start by listening to native speakers as opposed to studying words and grammar.

Why? Well, because if you don’t listen enough to German, you don’t really know what the language is supposed to sound (or look) like!

Think about it. If you start studying word lists and and grammar drills, and you try to string together a sentence, you only know if what you say is “grammatically correct”.

But you have no idea if what you’re saying is also what a native speaker would say! You’ll probably be asking yourself “Is that really what a native speaker would say?”

You just don’t have that frame of reference yet.

Now, compare that to starting to listen to German native speakers, in conversations, right away.

If you hear them say something like Ich bin im Urlaub (I’m on vacation), guess what: you now KNOW for a fact that’s what a native speaker says!

You don’t even have to understand the grammar behind it, you just know that’s what they say and you can say the exact same thing!

That’s why you should start by listening to native speakers from the very beginning. So your brain starts getting used to the language. You build that frame of reference.

Your listening comprehension will improve massively too. And your pronunciation too. AND you’ll feel like you’re learning a real language, used by real people to communicate, not just memorizing abstract word lists and rules.

2: Practice Shadowing to Work On Your Pronunciation

If you’re just starting out learning German, you’ll want to work on your pronunciation.

As a first step, familiarize yourself with some of the basic German sounds and common phrases.

Here’s an excellent article that covers all elemental German chunks.

Set aside some time to practice them all.

Afterwards, I recommend you start doing an exercise called shadowing.

How to shadow native German speakers

The basic idea: you listen to a recording of a German native speaker and, with just a slight delay (1-2 seconds), you repeat what that person says.

This will not only help your pronunciation, it will also help you internalize the German rhythm and cadence.

Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to shadowing (I would create a video demonstrating it, but it would be utterly confusing to you, as you would hear the original audio and the audio of me speaking at the same time! If I find a way to create a clear demo video, I’ll make one )

1. Find a speech, podcast or other audio in German (e.g. on YouTube). Take a slow one if you’re not that proficient yet. You could also slow down the audio/video a little on YouTube, or with with an app like Audacity. Maybe use this sample dialogue to get started:

2. Use headphones, but only in one ear—you want to hear yourself talk.

3. Play the audio and repeat what’s being said. If you want to focus solely on pronunciation, repeat what the speaker says as quickly as possible, with minimal delay (when the speaker finishes a word, you want to start saying it). If you want to train your memory as well, you can increase the delay between what you say and what the speaker says to a couple of seconds.

4. That’s it! You’re listening and speaking at the same time. Now marvel at your brain’s capacities and experience the improvement in your memory and pronunciation.

5. Start with slow conversations or speeches (find German podcasts for example, or YouTube videos), and slowly work up your way toward materials played at normal speed.

6. Then amaze native speakers with your flawless accent and comprehension.

One last piece of advice. Complete the exercise with audio only, without reading a transcript at the same time. Using a transcript might be tempting, but you really want to focus on memory and sounds only.

While shadowing, you don’t have to understand everything you’re saying. In fact, you probably won’t. But this doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re getting the muscles in your mouth and tongue used to producing certain sounds, and that you absorb the rhythm and intonation of a native speaker.

So go ahead: use the dialogue that I gave you and start shadowing it! Do this exercise as often as possible, especially in the first weeks and months of learning German. It’ll make a big difference in how you sound, and how native speakers perceive you.

Other good resources you can use to practice pronunciation

Speechling. The. Speechling app gives you native-speaker audio to work with and lets you record yourself repeating what you hear. Then, their pronunciation coaches (real human beings) listen to your recordings and give you feedback on your pronunciation! It’s a great way to practice pronunciation in a low-stress environment. Also, check out this in-depth Speechling review!

3: Focus on Chunks, Not Words and Grammar

Okay, so now we got you listening to tons of German every day, here’s the next tip that’ll supercharge your process:

Don’t learn words and grammar rules… learn chunks.

Chunks are word combinations with a specific meaning that are always, or very often, used together and that you don’t even think about as separate words.

Native speakers don’t even think about them as separate words anymore. They roll off the tongue without having to think about grammar… without having to understand the grammar behind them.

These chunks are stored in your brain as patterns, which are reinforced every time you hear them. When you want to use a chunk, it just rolls off the tongue, without you having to think about the grammar.

Your memory contains a network of such “chunks” which you naturally combine into sentences. They exist in all languages, including your mother tongue. This is why you don’t need to know all the grammar rules in your mother tongue and can still speak it naturally, without thinking.

Memorizing chunks is what will allow you to speak fluent German without having to think about verb conjugations, word gender, and more. They’re a way for you to bypass grammar altogether.

Here are some examples of chunks in English and German:

• Herzlichen Glückwunsch (Congratulations)
• ich mag es sehr (I like it a lot)
• hallo, freut mich (hello, nice to meet you)
• um wie viel Uhr (at what time)
• ich bin in Urlaub (I’m on holiday)
• übrigens (by the way)
• immer wenn (every time that…)
• Alles in Ordnung? (Everything good? = how are you)

English:

• by the way
• catch a train (but not “catch a taxi/car”)
• happy birthday
• Merry Christmas
• how’s it going

Think about it again. If you hear a native speaker say “ich möchte bitte zahlen“, does it really matter why they say “bitte zahlen” and not “zahlen bitte” or “bezahlen bitte” or so?

Of course not! You now know the chunk is “ich möchte bitte zahlen“. So you can learn that by heart and use it yourself.

So your goal as a language learner is to discover and learn as many “conversation chunks” as possible.

Where do you find such chunks?

You guessed it… Your best source for useful German chunks is in native-speaker dialogues. Not in your grammar book. Not in a newspaper or a novel either (people usually don’t speak in complex sentences from written language).

So focus on discovering chunks from conversations in everything you hear. For example, while watching a Spring German lesson (there are hundreds on YouTube).

In a bit, I’ll show you a good way to memorize them so they roll off the tongue.

Then combine that with some grammar study if you want. But you should mainly focus on learning the chunks.

4: Learn Grammar & Verb Conjugations In Context, Not In Rules

If English is your mother tongue, you’ll probably find German verb conjugations daunting. Same with word gender.

The trick to master these is to NOT to learn them by heart as rules you need to remember in a conversation (spoiler alert: you’ll be too nervous to remember them anyway).

Your only goal with grammar is to

1. understand it when you see it in context; and then
2. automate it by learning chunks in context

Here’s what I mean. If you want to learn the simple present for the verb “estar” (to be). You could learn a table by heart like this:

• ich bin (I am)
• du bist (you are)
• er/sie/es ist (he/she is (you (formal) are))
• wir sind (we are)
• ihr seid (you are)
• Sie/sie sind (they/You are)

And then in a conversation you’ll have to retrieve that whole table to build your sentence? That won’t work.

However, when you hear someone say, “Hallo Lukas, wie geht’s? “ (Hello Lukas, how are you?)

You can just learn “wie geht’s” by heart as a whole! You know it means “how are you” but you don’t have to analyze every single part of it.

Now, what if you then hear someone say “Es geht mir gut, danke.” (I’m fine, thanks)

Cool!

So “I’m good, thanks” is “es geht mir gut, danke“. You can also learn that by heart as a chunk (I’ll show you how to make the memorization easy in a second).

Would you agree that you can easily say wie geht’s and “es geht mir gut” now, without having to think of that whole conjugation table?

That’s how you should approach grammar. See it in action. See where it’s used in LINK TO GERMAN EXAMPLE ARTICLE. How YOU are going to use it in conversations.

And if you then want to learn the rule, then that’s fine. But again, the more you can avoid thinking about rules while speaking German, the easier it’ll be to speak!

Here’s an example of how you can learn the verb “sein” through chunking:

Note: German has two different verbs for the verb “to be” and “to have”: sein and haben. Both are essential. Here’s a guide on SEIN VS HABEN that’ll clear up a lot of the confusion.

5: Supercharge Your Memory with Spaced Repetition, Cloze Cards and Chunks

So now you’re listening to tons of German. You’re also paying extra attention to the chunks you hear. And you’re giving grammar the attention it deserves (but not more than that either).

Your next task is to make sure you don’t just hear the chunks… but you also imprint them on your brain so you can remember them when you’re trying to speak German yourself!

The best way to do so is by using a very specific type of flashcard: the Cloze Card.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Find a chunk

Let’s say you hear the chunk “Ich bin Lukas, freut mich.” (I’m Lukas, nice to meet you.)

Immediately you should think “Ah! es freut mich means “nice to meet you” or “please to meet you”! I didn’t know that, that’s interesting! I want to learn that too.

Step 2: Create a cloze card, blank out the chunk.

Now you write the full sentence where you found the chunk on a flashcard, but you blank out the chunk you want to learn. Like this:

Front:

Ich bin Lukas, ______________(nice to meet you)

Tip: It’s important to add the context of the sentence where you found the chunk. This will help you a lot with memorizing because your brain remembers better if it has more context. Think of it as more “hooks” to hang the chunk on so it doesn’t disappear from your memory.

Step 3: Add the answer to the back

At the back, you write down the full sentence with the chunk included. Like this:

Back:

Ich bin Lukas, freut mich.
I’m Lukas, nice to meet you.

Step 4: Learn and review the cloze card at set intervals

Your only task now is to make an effort to memorize the cloze card and review it at set intervals so you reinforce the chunk in your memory.

Luckily, you can make the process of learning and reviewing easier by using a flashcard app that helps you schedule your flashcard reviews at set “memorization/forgetting intervals” automatically! It’s the easiest way to learn German you can instantly use in conversations, almost on autopilot.

Top flashcard apps for Spaced Repetition (that work with cloze cards):

• Brainscape
• Anki

6: Practice speaking in a low-stress environment

Alright, so if you’ve incorporated all the previous activities, you’re now:

• Listening to German every day (fun! yay!)
• You’re looking out for chunks in everything you hear (useful! yay!)
• You’re memorizing and reviewing cloze cards with chunks every day (feels like a game! yay!)

If you’d just do these three activities every day, you’d already make massive progress in your German listening skills… and even in your speaking skills!

I know, I know, you haven’t said a word in German yet. But that’s fine.

Some of the top language learners in the world swear by a “silent period” at the beginning of their studies: a couple of weeks (or months) where they only listen. And learn chunks. They don’t say a word.

But of course, at some point, even these “silence addicts” have to get away from their podcasts and TV series, and actually start speaking German with native speakers.

The good news is that (after a small adaptation period), you’ll be much better prepared to speak German! After all, you’ve worked so much on your listening comprehension already so you actually understand what native speakers are saying to you.

AND (more importantly) you’ve been memorizing all these chunks, so when you try to create sentences you’re not worrying about grammar! Full chunks (and full sentences) like es freut mich, Ich bin in Uralub, and much more, are now rolling off the tongue.

Los geht’s! (Let’s go!)

That is if you have native speakers to practice with, which isn’t always so easy!

Where to find native speakers to practice your German with

(Online) Tutors

If you want some serious conversation practice, I recommend you look for an online tutor. They’re affordable and they’ll be focused on helping you speak German.

Just make sure to make it very clear you want to practice speaking skills, not listen to grammar explanations. Most are willing to just chat in German with you (which is great because you can discover even more chunks)! But some might want to stick to their set curriculum they use with every student. In that case, run for the hills. If they’re shoving grammar down your throat, they’re not a good fit for you 😉

With that being said, here are some good places to find tutors:

Italki

Italki is one of the biggest online marketplaces for language tutors. You can find tons and tons of tutors for almost any language. With German being a popular language, of course, you have plenty of options to find someone that’s a good match for you. You can try it out with $10 in free lesson credits (usually enough for a 1-hour class) by going here: try out Italki and get $10 lesson credit.

Verbling

Verbling is similar to Italki. They have a wide range of tutors for German (and other languages) available. You might want to take a look around there too and see if you find anyone to your liking.

Meetups

If you’re looking for in-person meetings with like-minded language enthusiasts, check out Meetup. It’s an app that allows people to organize gatherings around specific interests in their local community. You’ll definitely find some meetups related to language learning or learning German. Or maybe there are some German-speaking communities in your city that organize meetups, and you can ask them if you can join?

Language exchange apps

A more “low-key” way of practicing your German is through language exchange apps. In these apps, you create a profile and indicate your mother tongue and that you’re learning German, and you get matched with a German native speaker who’s learning your mother tongue.

You can then chat with them (text or voice/video chat usually), use the chunks you’ve learned, and at the same time you help them learn your mother tongue.

You could try Tandem (I’ve helped them implement a “collect expressions” feature that makes it easier to learn chunks from your chats).

Hellotalk is another one.

Summary: so what’s the best way to learn German?

Here’s what you should do every day to learn German as a beginner:

1. Listen to German conversations (10-30 minutes)
2. Find Chunks (included in 10-30 minutes above)
3. Memorize cloze cards with chunks (10 minutes)
4. (In a later stage) practice speaking (10 minutes)

Do these things every day and you’ll make massive progress.

By the way, this whole process is called “Conversation Based Chunking™”. I’ve used it myself to learn 5 languages, and I’ve helped thousands of students learn Spanish, German, French, Italian, English, and other languages with it! Here’s an overview:

A sample German study plan: learn German in 12 weeks

Back in 2018 when I wrote my book on language learning, I also launched a Challenge for independent language learners who want to learn German on their own (and other languages). I called it the 12-in-12 Challenge. The goal is to focus on 12 “topics” (or units in course) you want to master, and then master these in 12 weeks.

Ever since, I’ve hosted 12-in-12 Challenges in various forms with thousands of language learners. I’ve hosted my own challenges, helped some YouTubers to start their own Challenges with chunking too. They work incredibly well, like for Brad:

I highly recommend you do a 12-in-12 Challenge yourself! It might well be the best way to learn German (and other languages).

The goal is to do daily Exposure Sessions where you mainly listen to German (and maybe read a bit).

You combine this with regular “Focused Study Sessions“, where you find chunks, create cloze cards, memorize cloze cards, a bit of grammar study, and (in a later stage) do speaking sessions with a tutor.

You can choose how much Exposure and how much Studying you want to do.

But here’s a sample routine that works well:

• 10-20 minutes of pure listening a day (getting input: Exposure)
• 10 minutes of cloze card memorization/review a day
• 3 times a week: a session with an actual German course (preferably dialogue-based but also some limited grammar explanation)
• 2 times a week: a 30-min speaking session with a tutor

Essential resources (you can find them all in this learning guide):

• A fun “input source”: Podcasts, YouTube videos
• A “study course” (dialogue-based)
• A flashcard app
• A conversation partner

Do this for 12 weeks and you’ll be amazed at how much your German improves!

Less recommended ways to learn German

Maybe you’re not convinced by Conversation Based Chunking Yet. Or you might be wondering about some more traditional options to learn German. That’s fine; doing something to learn German will still help you make more progress than doing nothing at all.

Still, I wouldn’t really recommend the following options:

Traditional language school

With traditional language classes, I mean classes with 10-20 students where you attend class once or twice a week. They usually don’t work so well because:

• You’re not hearing enough actual German conversation in these classes
• The teacher usually has to follow a set curriculum (which is heavily based on grammar instruction: after all, it’s easier to grade someone on verb conjugation drills than on holding an actual conversation in German)
• There are too many people in class. In a 2-hour class, you might only get 1 minute of actual speaking time.

Pure grammar-based instruction

If you love grammar, by all means, learn everything there is to learn about German grammar. But if your only goal is speaking German, you won’t need to know every single rule in detail. Most of the grammar you’ll start using correctly automatically when you listen a lot to German and when you learn chunks (effectively bypassing grammar)

So your goal should be to spend 80% of your time on listening + learning chunks, and 20% on grammar. Not the other way around.

Learning purely through reading

Reading can be useful to expand your vocabulary in German. It can also just be fun. But it’s not always the best way to improve your spoken German, because people don’t speak the way they write. People usually write much more complex sentences and use more complicated words than when they’re speaking. So you won’t find many “German-speaking chunks” in a newspaper article or a (non-) fiction book.

There are some exceptions: there are some great bilingual readers for German students that contain a lot of dialogue and conversational language. These readers are actually useful.

How long does it take to learn German?

It depends on the method you use and how much time you actually spend listening to the language. Learning chunks also goes much faster than learning grammar. A 12-in-12 Challenge is a great way to get started; after 12 weeks, you’ll be able to have your first conversations already for sure.

Can I Learn German Online?

Yes, absolutely! You’re often better off learning online because you create your own learning environment with the resources you’re interested in. There are tons of resources online, more than you could ever find in a library, or in your textbook, or in “real-life classes”. You can even find conversation partners online nowadays.

My advice? Start with this German starter kit I’ve created with my team over at Spring German. You get German videos, lessons with chunks, and much more.