German · Deutsch

Guided 97 resource listings .

German has full A1–C2 paths and on-site tools on this site — start with the level that matches your speaking, not your reading vanity. Last reviewed 2026-08-01

About German

Language family
Indo-European, Germanic, West Germanic
Where it's spoken
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg
Speakers
roughly 135 million native speakers
Writing
Latin

German descends from the West Germanic dialects spoken across central Europe and standardized gradually after Martin Luther's 16th-century Bible translation helped fix a common written form. It is the most widely spoken native language in the European Union. Its close cousin Dutch and its more distant cousin English share large amounts of core vocabulary and grammar with it.

Speaker counts are approximate orders of magnitude for learners, not census figures. Family labels follow Glottolog-style classification; vitality notes (when shown) follow UNESCO WAL / Ethnologue-style framing and should be re-checked for program planning.

Sources

How to start

  1. Pick one free course (or free-with-upgrades) below and finish a short beginner unit before hopping apps.
  2. Bookmark one dictionary or grammar reference and look up every unknown word for a week.
  3. Add 10–15 minutes of listening most days — news, radio, or a teaching channel.
  4. Drill vocabulary with First 500 words , then situational lists in topic decks .
  5. Go deeper with the Language Hacks – German series · Buy on Amazon.
  6. When ready, use a tutor marketplace listing below for short speaking sessions.

Some outbound links may earn us a commission. Commission never affects inclusion or ranking. Full disclosure.

Resource Type Levels Cost Verified
Deutsch für Euch
Clear beginner and intermediate grammar lessons.
youtube channel A1-B1 free
Deutsch mit Marija
Established Deutsch mit Marija resource for German learners.
youtube channel A2-C1 free
Deutsch mit Rieke
Clear German explanations for learners.
youtube channel A1-B1 free
DW Learn German YouTube
Established Deutsche Welle resource for German learners.
youtube channel A1-C1 free
Easy German
Street interviews with dual subtitles.
youtube channel A2-B2 free
Easy German Podcast clips
Podcast video companion content.
youtube channel A2-B2 free
Funk / public youth media
German public youth media — authentic immersion.
youtube channel B1-C1 free
German with Laura YouTube
Case and gender explainers for English speakers.
youtube channel A1-B1 free
GermanPod101 YouTube
Short beginner German video lessons.
youtube channel A1-B1 free
Get Germanized
Culture and language tips in German and English.
youtube channel