Yes, you can learn German for free, and you'll recognize more of it than you expect: Wasser, Buch, Garten and trinken are English words in a different coat. Germany also offers excellent free courses, from its international broadcaster, the Goethe-Institut and its adult education centers. This guide covers what is easy and what is hard, those free resources, a 12-week plan at 20 to 30 minutes a day and how long it really takes.
Is German hard for English speakers?
Harder than Spanish or Italian, easier than its reputation. The US Foreign Service Institute puts German in its Category II, at about 36 weeks or 828 class hours of full-time study for an English speaker to reach professional working proficiency in speaking and listening. French and Spanish get 30 weeks, Italian 24. In our guide to the easiest languages to learn, German sits in the group that is harder on paper and friendlier in practice.
The extra time goes almost entirely on grammar. Sounds and vocabulary are on your side.
| What comes easily |
What takes work |
| Everyday words shared with English |
Three genders: der, die, das |
| Regular spelling: you can read any word aloud |
Four cases that change articles and endings |
| Nouns start with a capital letter, so they're easy to spot |
The verb in second place, or at the very end |
| Long words built from short ones you know |
Separable verbs that split in two |
What is easy about German?
The everyday core of English is Germanic, so the two languages share their most basic words: Wasser (water), Buch (book), Apfel (apple), Bruder (brother), kalt (cold), trinken (to drink). Spelling is regular once you know a handful of rules. Ei sounds like the English "eye" (mein, my) and ie like "ee" (Liebe, love). W sounds like an English v (Wein, wine), v like an f (Vater, father) and z like ts (Zeit, time).
Long words look frightening but are short ones glued together. Handschuh (glove) is literally a hand shoe, Kühlschrank (fridge) a cool cupboard, and Krankenhaus (hospital) a house for the sick.
What makes German hard?
Three genders. Every noun is der, die or das, and logic doesn't always help: der Löffel (the spoon), die Gabel (the fork), das Messer (the knife). Das Mädchen (the girl) is neuter because every noun ending in -chen is. Learn each noun with its article and its plural, as one unit.
Four cases. The article changes with the noun's job in the sentence. In Der Hund sieht mich (the dog sees me), the dog is the subject. In Ich sehe den Hund (I see the dog), it's the object, and mit dem Hund (with the dog) takes the dative. Start with the accusative, which only changes the article of masculine nouns, and add the dative a few weeks later.
Word order. The verb comes second in a main clause, even when something else comes first: Heute lerne ich Deutsch, literally "today learn I German". After weil (because) or dass (that), it moves to the end: Ich bleibe zu Hause, weil ich müde bin (I'm staying home because I'm tired).
Separable verbs. Anrufen means to call, but in a sentence the prefix jumps to the end: Ich rufe dich morgen an (I'll call you tomorrow).
Watch for false friends as well. Bekommen means to get, not to become. Gift is poison. And your Handy is your mobile phone.
How do you start German in Qlango?
Download Qlango on Android or iOS, or open it on the web, choose English as the language you learn through and add German. The app is free to download and your first lessons are free; the first A1 lesson takes about five minutes. The German course runs from A1 to C2, and the languages page lists every course and level.
Lessons move from picking one of four answers to building whole sentences to writing German yourself, which is exactly where der, die and das finally stick. Spaced repetition brings each noun and its article back right before you would forget them, and flashcards keep the rest in rotation. Games such as Word Duel, Wordle and MinuteRush help on tired evenings. You can chat with other learners, with message translation and AI help to write your reply, and streaks, a weekly plan and statistics keep you honest. Premium adds an AI teacher and offline learning.
Where can you learn German for free? The best resources
Germany's public institutions publish a lot of free learning material. Use it alongside your lessons, and you can learn German for free well past the beginner stage.
- DW Learn German. Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster, offers free online courses from beginner to advanced, with a placement test. Start with Nicos Weg, a video course for beginners with grammar pages, and use the Deutschtrainer for vocabulary on 100 everyday topics. Its slowly spoken news, Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten, is a good bridge to real news once you reach upper intermediate.
- vhs-Lernportal. Germany's adult education centers, the Volkshochschulen, run free online German courses starting at A1. You register with an email address.
- Goethe-Institut practice tests. The Goethe-Institut publishes free practice materials for its A1 exam, Start Deutsch 1, including a model test with audio. Try the listening and reading parts in week 12 to see where you stand.
- nachrichtenleicht. Deutschlandfunk, a public radio station, publishes news in plain German with short sentences and a podcast. From week 8, read one article a day.
- tagesschau in 100 Sekunden. ARD's 100-second news summary is short, clear and free to watch online, and a good first test of your listening.
- BBC Bitesize GCSE German. The BBC's free revision pages cover the topics and grammar of the German exam British students take at 16.
What does a free 12-week German plan look like?
Plan 20 to 30 minutes a day, six days a week: about 15 minutes of Qlango lessons and reviews, then 10 minutes with one of the free resources. Keep the order, because each block uses the one before.
| Week |
Focus |
Say it like this |
| 1 |
Sounds and spelling, greetings, numbers to 20 |
Hallo, ich heiße Sam. Ich komme aus Kanada. |
| 2 |
sein and haben, du and Sie, der, die, das |
Wie heißen Sie? Wie heißt du? |
| 3 |
Present tense, questions with wer, was, wo, woher |
Wo wohnst du? Ich wohne in Manchester. |
| 4 |
Verb in second place, numbers to 100 |
Heute lerne ich Deutsch. |
| 5 |
The accusative, shopping |
Ich möchte einen Kaffee, bitte. |
| 6 |
Modal verbs |
Ich kann heute nicht kommen. |
| 7 |
Separable verbs, telling the time, your day |
Ich stehe um sieben Uhr auf. |
| 8 |
Dative with mit, bei, zu; first nachrichtenleicht article |
Ich fahre mit dem Bus. |
| 9 |
Past tense with haben |
Ich habe eine Pizza gegessen. |
| 10 |
Past tense with sein |
Wir sind nach Berlin gefahren. |
| 11 |
weil and dass, verb at the end; a 100-second news clip a day |
Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich in Wien arbeite. |
| 12 |
Review, the Goethe A1 practice test, messages to other learners |
Am Wochenende besuche ich meine Freunde. |
After twelve weeks you can introduce yourself, shop, take the bus and explain why you're learning German, with the verb in the right place more often than not.
How long does it take to learn German?
Cambridge English estimates about 180 to 200 guided learning hours to reach A2, 350 to 400 for B1 and 500 to 600 for B2. Those figures are for learners of English; for German, add a little, since the FSI's 36 weeks compares with 30 for French and Spanish. At 30 minutes a day, about 180 hours a year, A2 is a fair target for the end of your first year and B1 for the end of your second. If the levels are new to you, here are the CEFR levels explained.
An hour a day roughly halves those times. Our guide to how long it takes to learn a language shows how to turn your own week into a realistic date.
FAQ
Can I learn German for free?
Yes. DW, the vhs-Lernportal, nachrichtenleicht and the Goethe-Institut's practice tests cost nothing, and Qlango is free to download, so you can start a structured course today.
Is German harder than French?
Its grammar is, its pronunciation isn't. German has cases and three genders, while French spelling hides a lot of silent letters. The FSI gives German 36 weeks and French 30. Our guide on how to learn French for free shows the other side.
Should I learn du or Sie first?
Both, from the second week. Use Sie with adults you don't know, shop staff and officials, and du with friends, family, children and other learners. When a German suggests du, take it.
How long does it take to learn German?
About a year to A2 and two years to B1 at 30 minutes a day. Genders and cases take the most time, so give them a few minutes every day rather than a long session once a week.
Learn ten nouns with their articles this week, add German in Qlango with English as the language you learn through, and say your first full sentence out loud: Ich lerne Deutsch.
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