Top German Language Learning Resources: A Comprehensive Review

Learning a new language can be a daunting task, but with the right resources, it can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. For those setting their sights on German, a plethora of language learning apps and courses are available. This article provides a detailed review of some of the top German language learning resources, based on hands-on testing of their features, pricing, and overall effectiveness.

German Language Learning Apps: An Overview

The market for German language learning apps is vast and varied. Over the course of the last year, numerous apps were purchased, used, and reviewed, testing more than a dozen. Some stood out as excellent, others were satisfactory, and some were deemed not worth revisiting. This guide ranks the top contenders, offering insights into their teaching methodologies, key features, pros and cons, pricing, and overall value.

Top Picks for Learning German

Rocket German: A Comprehensive Approach

At first glance, Rocket German might not seem extraordinary, but it offers a comprehensive approach to learning that sets it apart. The core of Rocket German lies in its audio lessons. These sessions feature an English-speaking guide who leads you through the material, explaining concepts clearly, introducing new vocabulary in context, and encouraging active participation. Rocket German goes beyond just audio lessons. It offers detailed grammar content presented in a user-friendly manner and supported by numerous examples. With interactive audio lessons, drills to reinforce the audio, and detailed grammar coverage, Rocket German is a must-have for serious German learners.

Babbel: Affordable and Structured Learning

For beginners seeking an affordable start to learning German, Babbel is a top choice. A key strength of Babbel lies in its structured approach, which keeps you focused and motivated as you track your progress. Babbel focuses on teaching practical vocabulary that you can immediately use in real-life situations. Babbel’s lessons are interactive and engaging, incorporating a variety of exercises to reinforce learning. From listening and speaking exercises to writing and grammar drills, the app offers a well-rounded learning experience for different learning styles. Babbel is perfect for beginners and budget hawks.

Pimsleur: Audio-Based Learning for On-the-Go

Pimsleur’s lessons are primarily audio-based, focusing on improving listening and speaking skills. While Rocket German maintains a conversational tone, Pimsleur’s lessons tend to be more formal and academic. One of the greatest features of Pimsleur’s app is its dedicated driving mode, allowing learners to study while on the go. Pimsleur is a lot like Rocket German, offering a similar teaching methodology, but definitely has some differences.

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Rosetta Stone: Immersive and Visual Learning

Although kind of an old school program, Rosetta Stone offers a unique and somewhat bold approach to language learning by immersing you in the German language right from the start. At the core of Rosetta Stone is its immersive approach. Rosetta Stone places a strong emphasis on visual learning-more so than any other app. A key strength of Rosetta Stone is its natural language progression. This gradual buildup enables learners to develop a solid foundation in the language. Rosetta Stone is an excellent choice for visual learners and those seeking a more immersive approach to learning German.

Lingopie: Learning Through Authentic Content

Lingopie’s approach is centered around using authentic German-language TV shows and movies as learning material. Plus, their library is very deep. Lingopie is much more than subtitles on foreign language films. These tools enhance the learning experience by allowing you to interact with the material in different ways. One of Lingopie’s main strengths is its affordability.

Anja's German Course: A Fun and Engaging Approach

Anja, a popular YouTuber with a large German channel, has created a German course that stands out for its unique and engaging approach. Anja's course is structured as a comedy series, making learning German feel like watching Netflix. The series follows the main character Katie as she arrives in Germany, makes friends, and has adventures. Each scene is a short dialogue filled with useful words and phrases, presented in context. For each video, you get a script, grammar explanations, and exercises to practice the grammar and vocabulary. There is also a comment section where you can ask questions and get answers from native speakers.

What You Get

The first season of the show (level A1) has 20 modules, each with 3 short video scenes (about 2-3 minutes long), making 60 video lessons in total. For each video, you get:

mp3 of the dialogue
pdf with the transcript in German and English
explanation of the grammar topic of the lesson
a list of useful words and chunks
a bunch of exercises (as pdf)
flashcards (using the Brainscape-System)
native speaker comment support

After completing the course, you will have seen how many important everyday situations play out, learned loads of useful words and chunks, and know most of the basic grammar of A1 like pronouns, some cases, conjugation, negation and so on. It was originally designed as a 10 week program, but once you’re signed up you have full lifetime access, so you can progress however fast or slow you want.

Pros

The humor and spirit: Anja’s bubbly personality and positive energy make the series fun and engaging.
The Actors: The series features cameos from other German language educators.
The production quality: The production quality is great with professional equipment and people for camera and audio on set.
The narrator: The series also has a narrator that leads us along Anja’s journey and I think he does a phenomenal job. Really professional and engaging.
The bonuses: Along with the new course, you also get access to Anja’s other (smaller) courses like the ones on cases, modal particles, articles and sentence structure.

Cons

You’ll only get what you put in: It is still self study. It is YOU who needs to sit down and read the script with the grammar explanations and do the exercises.
The exercises: The exercises are mainly based on pdf. Something a bit more interactive would have been a better choice here in my opinion.
The price: The price for the course is €347.

Overall Verdict

Anja’s new course is an amazing project with lots of fun and love (and work) in it. If like Anja and you want to learn the basics of German is a fun way and you have some amount of self study power, then I totally recommend this. And they have a 30 day money back guarantee, so you can give it a try and see if it works for you.

Key Considerations When Choosing a German Language App

Cost

German language apps range in price from just $4/month to as much as $200+/month. The best apps generally cost about $8-$20 per month.

Effectiveness

German apps do work. Obviously, apps alone won’t take you from newbie to totally fluent, but they are a really easy and cost effective way to get you to a conversational, intermediate level of fluency.

Time Commitment

Your approach to learning German is going to 100% determine how long it takes. If you immerse yourself in German, you can start conversing in as little as a month. More typically though, if you are doing lessons yourself at home, expect about 6-12 months to intermediate fluency.

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