we have all been overwhelmed once or twice with resources for language learning especially for popular languages like German and we just don't know where to start German is the fastest language that I've ever learned because I found the right resources for me early in my learning and I want to share them with you to beat overwhelm and to learn more efficiently it is important to have a clear idea of what resources are poor quality high quality and which ones are right for you so you can get the proficiency results that you want if you are on a budget all of these resources that I'm about to mention are going to be free to access now I highly recommend after this video that you go grab my free resource guide in the comments well you will get three bonuses specifically if you are more interested in paid resources that I combined with these free resources you'll get access to the websites that I recommend for getting free and complete textbooks in German and in digital format also you'll get my most valuable resources for all of these other languages right here so you won't feel lost or stuck with finding your next resource please note I will list the best free resources to learn German and self-study but just note that when and how you use these resources need to be tailored to your specific situation because we all learn differently I'm going to give you my top resource recommendations categorized by level and type but also stay till the end of this video so you can see my sample study plans for levels A1 to C2 in German so you have a good starting point for structuring your German language learning so let's start with the resources that will cater to any level from beginner to Advanced and you can find most of the five skills covered speaking reading listening writing and grammar my number one German resource is inthulene.com it works on everything except listening which you can easily supplement with YouTube videos that you find online there is a whole syllabus from German A1 beginner levels to B2 High intermediate levels and it's constructed as if you were going through two years of college German courses in the USA as you can see on the tab by German 101 102 203 and two or four labels on the side here Honestly though I just used the grammar worksheets where you can see cases you can see verbs verbs of prepositions and they really broken down into digestible formats so you get visual pictures but you also don't feel overwhelmed by what you are learning Nancy who is the owner of all the materials is great at breaking down what are seemingly complicated German grammar point you also get a lot of insight to culture vocabulary exercises reading song lyrics German literature recommendations there's way too much to go over for that resource but write me down below if you would like a more in-depth review of that particular site because there's a lot to discover next resource that covers everything is Deutsche Vela if you go and type Deutsch lanen in their website you will find all of their materials for A1 all the way up to C2 that they recommend it's a News website a YouTube channel for German learning and they tend to have a lot of gamified options on their website which I really like using a lot of pictures but also small grammar notes here and there to help you supplement your learning they also have a very well-known YouTube series for levels A1 to B1 called Nico's vague it's presented in a movie format but you can also watch it in about one minute to two minute clips of Nico going through his daily life in Germany now Nikos vague also comes with worksheets and a few explanations of grammar and vocabulary you saw in each clip so make sure you go over to the deutschevelo website because that's where you'll be able to access them they won't be included on YouTube number three that cover everything except for speaking and listening those will require that you pay for a membership with lingoda but I love you can download the free pdf presentations from German A1 up until C1 levels and they cover everything from grammar to writing vocabulary they even have speaking prompts for every level so if you're not sure what to talk about by yourself I suggest that you go over and download a slide that looks interesting to you best German dictionaries for any level I always recommend lingue punt de a because it gives you so much insight into how a phrase or different words are used in context I also love reverso context for this exact same reason but even if you start typing a letter into lingay Point de a with a search you'll see all of these amazing phrases that pop up I especially liked to use lingay when I was in the intermediate level because I could start really applying these Expressions that were just given to me on lingay whereas I would have had to search a little bit more for them in reversal context and if you are stuck on any of those tricky verb conjugations cool jugater.com is the best for that they also have great conjugations for other languages cool jigator is where you need to go so YouTube channels for beginners and up I highly recommend starting with music I started with Zinga kindalira which is a YouTube channel that has some familiar tunes of really popular songs but they are all in German and the lyrics are usually on the screen if you're really starting with German and looking for listening that is comprehensible and won't overwhelm you then I recommend this channel to start with is also a really cute episode series that is originally German and I watched this from the time that I was A2 and up other YouTubers I would recommend for language insights as well as insights into the culture are don't trust the rabbit Deutsche and get germanized I sometimes learned insights for the language but I even more appreciated their insights into German culture Antrim was where I picked up a lot of songs that will help me memorize the German cases and especially the prepositions for the German cases he made a lot of cheesy songs on his channel but they help so much with memorizing the grammar so definitely check him out if you are having trouble in the a2b1 stages for grammar I have never used learn German with Anya but I do teach a lot of students who are learning German and they really approve of her channel so I thought I would include it here too and easy German which is also a podcast and YouTube channel have great Street interviews they also have a segment called super easy German which is where they will go over the basics and you can hear them from a native speaker in real time for intermediate Learners and up Deutsch festane is a great YouTube channel again for more short video dialogues that come with illustrations and it'll really help your listening comprehension is also a channel that I recommend for intermediate Learners who are really getting into some shaky grammar points that require more in-depth explanations that's a great grammar YouTube channel for that takashao and Hoda sequent is a great news website and it is also on YouTube where it takes literally less than two minutes to listen to the news in German and really expose yourself to new vocabulary current affairs anything that could be going on in the world I used to listen to this every morning as part of my daily routine to just have German there even if I didn't understand much of what was being said by listening to it every single day and it coming out with a new episode every single day could greatly improve my intermediate listening skills for Chevella as I said also has news completely in German so I advise to look around on their website as well as just type in Deutsche and there you'll see all of their new segments for German now Julian Bim in Lisa Luca they are some of the biggest German YouTubers I think they were really big back when I started learning German they are entertainment channels and they're not usually my cup of tea but it was interesting to see the very colloquial way that they spoke they integrate a lot of English and it's really fascinating to see how the language is truly used by my generation instead of in a textbook so even if that kind of genre of a channel doesn't interest you I would highly recommend to go and check them out for advanced Learners and up Lee Hoy visvison is great because he dives into different fascinating stories from very different perspectives Leila fablik is a German Channel specifically for improving and Discerning verbal communication non-communication to go that is more aimed at a lot of history and a lot of current affairs at the moment is a lifestyle investigation Channel and it also investigates into different trending parts of the internet that are fascinating as well as kind of weird I love it so definitely check that out if you're interested in that and TAF has their own YouTube channel that is a lifestyle Magazine from the company Paul zeben and it reminds me a lot of reality TV in Germany so you can definitely check that out if you're interested now if you are enjoying these resources so far make sure you give a like down below and subscribe to make sure you don't miss any other resource recommendations or language tips that have to do a lot with our mindset and well-being while we are learning a language let's go on to podcasts which are one of my favorite topics what's great for beginners is slow German podcasts for beginners learn German with Fark that is aimed at A1 and up coffee break German is aimed around a two and up all my easy German also some of my favorites when I was just getting into learning German or the intermediate Learners we have George einfachen if you're looking for different podcasts that are outside of just teaching you German then I really recommend a lot about travel if you're interested in cooking Finance if you are into any Finance also make sure you head over to the recommended tab when looking at these podcasts so you can find related ones that might pique your interest as well for the advanced Learners I love Financial they discuss a lot of how finances retirement Investments work in Germany in a labin which deals a little bit more with psychology which deals a lot with history and is also hosted by Marco from mysticism ago I also like the constant contoulisen which is also a business podcast we are now reaching the miscellaneous section of this video that will include music vocabulary practice blogs where to find tandem language partners and other freebies at the end so I recommend you find music that you like at any level enthalene.com has great transcriptions of the lyrics and translations but you can also start on YouTube with Wise Guys Paul Vince Georges Casper Koh Craft club you you if you're more into the rap scene etc for vocabulary I always loved receiving newsletters from learn with Oliver it is a spaced repetition tool and it gave me a daily newsletter where I could review the words that I already did from the previous week or I would also learn a few new ones that were thrown in there with some games now memorize and Quizlet they are both platforms that have pre-made flashcards labeled within categories or you can also make your own flashcards on the platforms I just find that Quizlet is a little bit more customizable for my needs so that's why I prefer that but I also like memorize because they already have a lot of flash cards to learn idioms or set phrases things like that so flashcards aren't everyone's favorites so if they aren't your thing then let's move on the best Vlog that I found for German is your daily German previously called German is easy blog it was written by Emmanuel who is a native German speaker and as he puts it loves explaining grammar and meanings of words he has short articles that aren't overwhelming they're digestible for when you don't have an hour-long study session I used it a lot not only for grammar but also finding nuances in grammar and differences between vocabulary words Etc language exchanges italki and hellotalk are some of the most popular ones out there where you can find a partner but I also recommend you look around for Facebook groups in your area or meetup.com where you can find online and in-person language events some more freebies are the global Language online support system I would start using it around upper Beginner territory it has a lot of different situations and was made by the the US government for a lot of other languages that you can find on there I.E languages especially from the very beginning of when you're starting your German journey into B1 sort of intermediate territory that is great for reviewing some of the grammar that you may have learned but have forgotten and then German for free is great for finding extra exercises to practice all of those tricky cases and prepositions verbs with so now let's get to the self-study plans that I recommend all of them last one to two hours this is assuming you don't want to spend any money on learning German you're not going to a language school but you are strictly self-studying you don't have a deadline and you want to improve all the five areas of writing listening reading speaking and grammar in German before we decide to go on I want you to tell me what your goals are for German are you trying to live abroad in Germany are you just learning it for fun with no certain end goal are you trying to get into a university there work there tailor these plans and the length of time that you will study each week to your situation so for A1 you are just starting out so rule of thumb do not overwhelm yourself self with too many resources concentrate on maximum three resources before you get started now for a one hour session I recommend the main resource learning foundations with deutschevela A1 section where you can also find Nico's vague learning the alphabet digestible phrases for the first 30 minutes of your session after that you would go into revision so using enthalene's first semester syllabus worksheets under the learn tab you'll find under German 101 and that would take about 20 minutes to revise the grammar points and vocabulary you learned then for the last 10 minutes I would review vocabulary such as with Quizlet memorize whatever spaced repetition card you like to use if you don't like using vocabulary cards I would recommend writing your new words or phrases a few more times down before your session is over A2 rule of thumb you want to build on your foundations to more complete sentences you can talk about everyday situations with basic vocabulary and at this point you can expand to more resources I would recommend maximum five and a study session of 1 hour and 50 18 minutes now main resource plus listening would be deutschevela the A2 section you could use Nico's vague still you could use a music analysis from enthalene and vocabulary to picture matching which you will also find on the A2 section of deutschevela this will take about 35 minutes then you'll have writing one time per week that could be from a lingoda writing prompt labeled for a one to A2 levels which would take about 15 to 20 minutes give or take I would also recommend finding a language partner mainly so that they can check your writing prompt beforehand you could ask them to record themselves reading the corrected version revision which includes grammar I would recommend in the lean second semester syllabus worksheet labeled as German 102 that would take about 15 minutes to review some of that grammar and vocabulary same thing you would end the session reviewing some of that vocabulary through your chosen method now German is a very grammatical language and if you want to be an advanced speaker then grammar cannot be ignored so don't shy away from it at the stage especially remember enthalene.com is great for those short and clear explanation ends and breaking down more complex grammar concepts for B1 general rule of thumb you want to have more complex usage of the language introduced some immersion can be introduced but you will understand main ideas of work study leisure activities topics you can cope while traveling using German I suggest keeping your resource list still a little bit small maximum six reevaluate what resource at this point is working for your learning style not working what language methods have worked for you so far and what don't anymore this study session would be about an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes now your main resource would also include listening and vocabulary again from deutschevela's the one section where you would get Nico's vague toptema for short news articles telenovela style German shows and a special section to learn and drill vocabulary related to work any resource you wanted to choose from to work on that date that would last for 30 minutes reading you would integrate through lingoda slides labeled as B1 they have a lot of great reading passages there I would spend about 15 minutes for that revision which in includes grammar that would involve you going to in the lean third semester syllabus worksheets labeled under German 203 that would take about 15 minutes and then you can integrate speaking talking with a tandem partner one to two times per week at least 15 minutes again writing if you wanted to work on that I would include that one to two times per week again using the lingoda writing prompt and then send it back to you with corrections as well as recording their voice reading the corrected version which would take around 15 minutes now B2 is where full immersion is introduced re-evaluate what resources you like at the stage do away with resources that you don't like or haven't worked for you I would keep between 6 to 12 resources here but again you might find yourself bored at the stage with the same ones because you understand more at a faster Pace working through the fourth semester syllabus worksheets from in thuline under the top German 204 and this would take about 40 minutes now I switch these to the main resource since at this stage you'll have a good level of understanding to use the slides more on your own fill in any gaps of knowledge on grammar vocabulary Etc through reading I would pick a Deutsche Vella article section which would last about 20 minutes to read through that writing would be any prompt that you could choose from the B2 lingoda slides which would take about 15 minutes and then for listening you could use the gloss section any of those exercises you could also listen to the nahunten from tagashao or you could pick from langzam which would last about 15 minutes whichever resource you wanted to use at this point I would be speaking as much as I could at least one time a week for an hour or divide that into two lessons for 30 minutes per week C1 again would be full immersion and you're building precise vocabulary and specialized fields of your interests of what you're working in University Etc you can pick whatever you would like to listen to and get comfortable with expressing the same idea in more advanced ways you need to constantly push yourself to phrase an idea using words outside of your comfort zone and avoiding saying the same phrases over and over again that will keep you in B2 I would talk as much as I could with natives that would involve finding a really dedicated language partner which will take some time through the websites that I had mentioned previously in this video and really hone in on what sort of language skill you want to improve because at this level since we are getting more specialized texts or specialized audio for listening whatever skills you want to work on that is going to take more dedication to really bring it up to an advanced level understanding even more Nuance behind the words that are read or if you're using listening to practice now C2 complete immersion once again you would be looking around for very Niche topics as well as nuances in vocabulary expressions and understanding the cultural nuances behind them as well Reading Writing it can be very academic at this level and if you think about the difference between C1 versus C2 C1 Learners can basically read what C2 Learners can write now once I reached a B2 level I started to teach a little bit of the language to really solidify what I learned and get all of my grammar Concepts and nuances in the language kind of figure it out I started off on italki and then explained it to other platforms but if you are interested in teaching anywhere from B2 and up would be a good level to start getting into teaching if you wanted to if you wanted to work on writing in this especially a native is a must because that is where you are going to start getting a lot of comments about oh that's grammatically correct what you wrote but a native speaker would never say that that way you would really really need someone to tell you how whatever you wrote would be more naturally phrased if you're already studying German and you found a really helpful resource in this video that you didn't know before make sure to write it down in the comments so others can see don't forget to subscribe and check out this next video about how I learned Italian make sure you write down any questions in the comments that you have otherwise I will see you next week bye everyone