Learning German: Exploring Different Paths and Methods

This video explores different options to help you understand some of the most popular paths to learning German. Maybe one of them will help you out.

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⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
00:42 - Language Schools
09:55 - Online Classes & Private Tutor
13:37 - Language Exchange
16:24 - Self-Study with Books & Apps & AI
21:46 - German Podcasts

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[neilfazackerley]

I learned German before I came to Germany as well. I went to the Goethe Prüfungszentrum in Manchester University UK for about 7 years and went from B1 to C1/C2. The thing to remember is that you have to put in the work in between the formal lessons. So at the Goethe Institut, for every 3 hours of teaching you had at least another 3 hours of homework for most levels. At Level C1 it was more like 6 hours of work on top per week. We also had the Goethe exams at the end of each course. I did all these up to C1. The teachers were generally very good and were either Germans or Austrians. I am currently working with a private teacher once a week online. I found the teacher via Italki and he is very good. He studied German at Heidelberg Uni and understands the language in depth. I also do some Tandems each week just to practice speaking.

[laxmanadhikari]

hay i was born on 2000 and you have been learning since 2003 almost my whole life time 😮😮😮 .What but you guys look so young.

[Mandarin_Masala]

"You're such an inspiration! Your passion for Germany is infectious. Keep doing what you're doing. 💖"

[Calmasastone]

Moin schöne Frauen :)
Ich bedanke mich bei ihnen für ihre nützliche Videos auf diesem YouTube-Kanal. Ich werde dieses Video auf jeden Fall heute später anschauen, sobald ich meine Arbeit beende :D
Ehlich gesagt, lerne ich Deutsh seit 17. April 2023 und ca. B2-Niveau erreicht habe, aber vielleicht kann ich über etwas Neues erfahren :) Fahrt bitte fort ihre Arbeit.
Habt schönen Abend! Grüße aus Russland!

[wellingtonSturrup]

1:26 About 20% of the us population has German heritage which could be why its a popular language here for us. Plus since English is a Germanic language its easier for us to learn....or so they say....

[saeethegreat]

You guys are awesome. Thank you for all your help!

[Carla]

I studied also before moving to Germany (in Argentina), also in Goethe online, also at VHS in classroom as intensive manner + also the option de 1 or 2 per week.
I learnt that the best way is learning alone with the Hueber book (online version) that cost just 20€ or less and you have the management of your improvements. Classrooms in VHS is very very bad.

[Deviouscoffee]

I wish I'd known about your other channel sooner, I would have been watching that one too! Great video as always, I hope you're both doing well 😁

[rsorin]

The Gramatik Aktiv is the best rated or by Thalia. A teacher from a Deutsckurs also mentioned the same. There is a second book that goes to C1 grammar.
The Aspekte series from Klett are also very great to learn German in context.

[maryw]

Great points! I am currently using Lingoda, and doing well.

[joannunemaker]

Good advice for finding a language course. I enjoyed this video. 😊❤

[turjo]

Very insightful video...as someone who basically had to learn on their own I needed something where I can dictate the pace based on weekly schedule.

Nowadays not learning as much coz of my master's thesis but i hope to pick things up again soon ❤

[cjiscurrentlyonline]

Thank you, Jen and Yvonne! I love Easy German, and to that I'll just add the different learning materials provided by Deutsche Welle (DW) (YouTube channels, app, etc.)

[AhmetMurati]

Ich habe begonnen Deutsche Spraceh zu lernen seit 01. September 1994, nach zirka 2 Wochen ich habe den Satellitische Antenna gekauft und selber gebaut. Ich habe Deutsche TV geschaut von September 1994 bis 1998, Das hat an mich den Vokabular verberssert. Jetzt bin ich in B2 Berufsprachkurs und am 28. September ist mein B2 Prüfung

[Hoxgene]

Great stuff, Will def. tune in to the other channel

[nvca]

That must have been pre recoded a long time ago because you already ended your daily routine on the other channel 😢
But thank you - perfectly summarized per usual.👍

[ssabinaa]

You´ve presented a lot of good ideas to learn German language. I´ve used some of them. I like also "zweisprachige Bücher". And there is this "SmarterGerman" course but it´s not free.

[confusedcommenter]

If I can pronounce and spell the name of the language school that Jen went to, I’ll believe I’ve reached German A1 level

[nurimustafa]

Me and my wife tried different kind of german courses in my town, except we did not try private Tutor and Goethe because it is expensine and also Goethe is not available in my town. In my town all german courses (including VHS) use books that are intented for Telc test.
From my understanding there is no a language skill difference between people who finish Telc or Goethe courses. Telc and Goethe just have different question types and different tricks. Kind a TOEFL vs IELTS.


Briefly about my experience:
- One of the Sprachchule in my town is twice expensive than others, but the same lesson hours. The difference is, as I heard, this one organizes activities outside of the language courses. But my language teachers told me that this course pays less than others. So expensive courses does not necesseraly mean teachers are better because they are paid better.
- VHS has both evening courses (1.5 hours a day, 4 times a week) and day courses which are (3.5 hours a day, 5 days a week). As I remember VHS evening courses are until B1 or B2 level.
VHS teachers are mostly old, retired teachers, but out of 5 teachers me and my wife had 1 one was bad, another was ok, the rest 3 are good ones. Bad one even had a PhD degree, but was really really boring. From my experience, you can find good and bad teachers both in VHS and private schools. VHS is a I remember around twice cheaper than private language courses.
There is just higher demand for VHS so you may not find a place when you want to register.
Another thing is, VHS building was better equipped and had more beautiful classes. It had a smart board, but as teachers are mostly old, a few of them used smart boards.
VHS was bad in terms of teaching to speak. In private courses they encourage to answer questions instantly by speaking, but in VHS you usually write down, then you read it.
One of the teachers at VHS, from her initiative, also created a speaking lesson. it was only 60 euros, once a week. Teacher gives you subject, next week you come and speak with others in group about this subject. I suggest you to check that out if it is available.
VHS does not give you a certificate with your performance after you finish the course, they give attendance certificate.
- Neither VHS nor Private schools actually prepares are to the Telc exam! They just have books which have similar questions like in Telc but they don't do any model exams. I highly suggest you to buy model exam books and try them before you take actual exam.
Knowing a language and passing an exam are completely different things. To evalulate your writing you may use ChatGpt I guess.
One of the private schools I attended conducts exam after each level and gives you a certificate which includes your points, but that is not as difficult as Telc itself. Also, you get points for speaking only from your performance at lesson, no additional exam. Good thing, one of the students used that certificate at either Auslanderbehorde or University (I don't remember exactly which one), they accepted it temporarily, until she passes actual Telc exam.

- One of the private schools provided both online and on site lessons. Part of the students attended online only, but if you can't come to school you could also attend to lesson from home.

- Presently I attend to online courses which are provided by my company, it is 90 minutes a week. The only thing about online courses is you don't meet new people in person, you can't make friends there.

[Danny]

Will you ever do a video in German? Would looove to hear Jen speak German :-) The words she spoke in this video were pronounced very well! And yes I know the drill doing language classes after work. I am learning Hungarian for 13 years now. Initially in a language school when I still lived in Dublin, but as the courses went on there were less and less people interested to go on, so in the end there was only me left. So my teacher offered me 1-2-1 classes and we met either in Starbucks (V noisy tho') or a hotel bar where it was quiet at that time. That was prior to Covid. During Covid we did it online and even after that hardly ever found the change to meet live as she had also moved to another part of Dublin and coming to town after work was a bit of a detour for her. And now that I am back in Germany we can only do classes online. And we are usually flexible, we text Monday or Tuesday when to have class, usually Tuesday, but if something comes across we can also postpone or choose any time that suits both sides. When I still had live class in Dublin I sometimes ate something in town before class, so once I got back home I didn't have to bother with cooking anymore, could chill out a bit and then head to bed when it was time for it