Heylama - A Full Guide To Learn A1 German in 30 Days

Heylama - free 30-day German A1 guide
Learn A1 German in 30 days for free

Self-study guide
1
Table of Contents
Course intro - read me first 5
How is this course designed? 5
Practice makes perfect 5
The best app to memorize new vocabulary 6
Day 1 7
Topic of the day - German pronunciation 7
Day 2 8
Grammar Topic of the day #1: Verb conjugation in the present tense
(Verbkonjugation im Präsens) 8
Grammar Topic of the day #2: W-questions (W-Fragen) 8
Vocabulary topic of the day: Introduce yourself 9
Day 3 : rest day 10
Day 4 11
Grammar topic of the day #1: Personal pronouns (Personalpronomen) 11
Grammar topic of the day #1:Sentence Construction (word order) 11
Vocabulary topic of the day: Hobbies and free time 12
Day 5 13
Grammar topic of the day: Possessive pronouns in the nominative
(Possessivartikel) 13
Vocabulary topic of the day: Germany’s geography and culture (Deutschlands
Geographie und Kultur) 13
Day 6: rest day 15
Day 7 16
Grammar topic of the day: Bestimmter und unbestimmter Artikel 16
Day 8 18
Grammar topic of the day: Negation in German (nicht and kein) 18
Vocabulary topic of the day: shopping - Einkaufen 18
Day 9: rest day 19
Day 10 20
Grammar topic of the day: Verben mit Vokalwechsel 20
2
Day 11 21
Vocabulary topic of the day: visiting the post office and a doctor (Post und Arzt)
Day 12: rest day 22
Day 13 23
Grammar topic of the day: Sentence structures in German language 23
Day 14 24
Vocabulary topic of the day: Uhrzeiten und Wochentagen 24
Day 15: rest day 25
Day 16 26
Grammar topic of the day: trennbare Verben 26
Day 16 27
Vocabulary topic of the day: everyday life and daily routine 27
Day 18: rest day 28
Day 19 29
Grammar topic of the day: Modalverben 29
Day 20 30
Vocabulary topic of the day: giving and asking for directions 30
Day 21: rest day 31
Day 22 32
Grammar topic of the day: Akkusativ (accusative case) 32
Day 23 33
Vocabulary topic of the day: Essen und Trinken 33
Day 24: rest day 34
Day 25 35
Grammar topic of the day: Dative case 35
Day 26 36
Vocabulary topic of the day: weather 36
Day 27: rest day 37

Grammar topic of the day: German prepositions 38
Day 29 39
3
Vocabulary topic of the day: Meine Wohnung - my apartment 39
Day 30 40
Final Test 40
4
Course intro - read me first

Congratulations - In the next 30 days, you’ll learn A1 German.
You’ll be surprised by all the amazing guides, posts, vocabulary lists, and
educational videos available to German learners like you for free. The only thing
missing is the structure - a step-by-step plan that guides you through all the
grammar and vocabulary topics to achieve your goal of mastering the German A1
level.
Well, you found it!
How is this course designed?

We designed this course based on the topics that such renowned language
schools as Goethe Institut and Humboldt cover in their A1 courses. The
difference is the content - this 30-day A1 course builds on the videos and posts from
some of the best language influencers and credible websites on the web.
To speak German, you must learn the language's grammar rules and building
blocks - words and phrases. Each day you will cover one or both topics by watching
short videos in English and German, reading articles, and learning new vocabulary.
Each class lasts 35-40 minutes. Depending on your motivation and willingness to
spend extra time watching videos or learning new vocabulary, it can take less or
more.
Practice makes perfect

Your mindset is 50% of success - I want you to commit that you will apply everything
you learn every day. Create your own sentences and do additional research if you
don’t understand something. Speak - to yourself, your dog, or your imaginary
German friend. Don’t just speak in your mind - speak out loud - the point at the
objects and name them in German, repeat sentences you just read, and introduce
yourself. Do anything that tells your brain that grasping and speaking German is
important to you.
Thrilled to get started? Los geht’s! (Let’s go)
5
Day 1
In the next 30 days, you will master the German A1 level and be able to say
simple phrases, understand the basic speech and have a solid grammar foundation.
Topic of the day - German pronunciation

The German language has some sound and sound combinations that are unique.
Before we jump into learning new vocabulary, you must know how to read those
words correctly.
Memorizing vocabulary with the wrong pronunciation is a very bad practice -

it’ll be tough to correct it down the road. Bad habits die hard. Learning a new way of
pronouncing words takes the same mental effort as learning a new word.
Task 1. Go through each letter and sound on this list from Deutsche Welle
Pro Tip #1: Not sure how to pronounce a word? Check its pronunciation with
Google translate or Wiktionary.
● Search for the word
● play the sound
● repeat it a few times.
Bonus homework: Start learning the basic German vocabulary. Here is a list of the
300 most frequent German words for you.
6
Day 2
Verb conjugation in the present tense (Verbkonjugation im

Präsens)
The present tense is your first touchpoint with German grammar! It’s the most basic
construction to express your thoughts.
Task 1.
● Read about it: German verb conjugation in the present tense

● Video explanation:
a. Video 1 (10 minutes)
b. Video 2 (4 minutes)
Pro tip #2: Not sure about how to conjugate a verb in German? Reverso Conjugator
is the free online tool that got your back.
● Enter the German verb and click ‘Conjugate’
● Get all the conjugation forms for any tense.
W-questions (W-Fragen)
W-questions are the question words such as what, why or where. In German, most
of these question words also start with W
Task 1. First read about the W-question words
a. Post #1 is here
b. Post #2 is here.
Task 2. Now let’s watch a few video explanations:
c. Video 1
7
d. Video 2
e. Video 3
Topic of the day: Introduce yourself

The first topic you’ll master is how to introduce yourself and meet new people:
Task 1. Go through this post to get the basics
Task 2. More useful vocabulary from the Rocket Languages
Task 3. To make sure you got everything, go through this post quickly as well
Task 4. Video lessons:
○ Video 1
○ Video 3 - Real people introduce themselves
○ Video 4 - conversation-based lesson
8
Day 3: rest day
You deserve a break!
9
Day 4
Personal pronouns (Personalpronomen)

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun in a sentence. Let’s look at an example.
“Max learns German. He watches youtube videos in German.”
“He” is a personal pronoun. It replaces or refers to “Max” without mentioning him.
It’s time to learn personal pronouns such as “I”, “you”, “we”, and others in German!
Task 1. Start with this video
Task 2. Continue with this guide
Task 3. And finish with this more extensive video on the topic
Task 4. Go through this video and exercises on DW
Task 5. And through this one
Task 6. Do these exercises.
Pro tip #3: Use google translate or Deepl to translate the sentences you don’t
understand. Google translate has a handy chrome extension, but Deepl is much
more precise!
Sentence Construction (word order)

You wouldn’t say in English, “Works Max today” (unless you’re Yoda). You’d rather
say “Max works today” (noun > verb > adverb). German has similar sentence
structure rules, albeit more flexible. There are a few ways you can twist and
formulate sentences. Let’s learn the rules!
Task 1. Start with this video in English
Task 2. Same content, different explanation approach - watch this video next
10
Task 3. Go through this more detailed guide that also covers negation and
questions
Task 4. Play on Duolingo for 10-15 minutes and observe how the sentences are
formulated.
Hobbies and free time
Task 1. Watch this video first
Task 2. Watch this video next
Task 3. Go through this vocabulary list and this one. write down whatever sounds
useful for you.
Task 4. Watch this video in German
Task 5. Watch this video in German
Pro tip #4: Learning vocabulary is more than just reading it once or writing it down.
You must review it many times before it gets into your long-term memory. The most
effective way to do this is through the Spaced Repetition method. The method is
about spacing out the review sessions and increasing the interviews between each
review session over time. Apps you can try are Heylama or Anki.
Heylama is a free powerful, engaging flashcard app designed specifically for

language learning.
11
Day 5
Possessive pronouns in nominative (Possessivartikel)

Possessive articles are words that help you express or indicate ownership. Let’s
look at the example: ‘This book belongs to me. This is my book’. The word “my’ is
a possessive pronoun that indicates that the book belongs to me. Other possessive
pronouns in English are ‘your’, ‘her’, ‘our’, etc. Let’s dive deeper to learn about such
pronouns in German.
1. Watch this 6-minute video that will introduce you to the concept
2. Go through the nominative possessive pronoun section of this guide on

study.com.
3. For more examples and additional clarification, go through this guide on

transparent.com
4. If you like, you can also go through this guide by Collinsdictionary. Pay
attention to the nominative case only, you can ignore other cases for now
5. For the most diligent ones, you can also take a look at the exercises and
explanations on Deutsche Welle.
Vocabulary topic of the day: Germany’s geography and culture

(Deutschlands Geographie und Kultur)
One secret to making progress is not to try to understand everything! Try to get the
gist of it from the context and learn the most important words in those sentences - if
you learn 5-8 new words related to the topic, consider it a success!
1. Watch this video. Translate the words you don’t understand and memorize
them. Repeat what the narrator says out loud to get used to the German
sounds and words.
2. This video is quite advanced for the 5th day, but you might still want to watch
it. You will not understand everything, but you’ll get it from the context.
3. Recycling is part of the culture in Germany. Here is a great video by

EasyGerman on the topic.
4. A great interview video by German learners about what to do in Germany.
12
Day 6: rest day

You worked hard, now, you should take some time off to let your brain sort things
out. Feel free to watch some youtube videos or review your vocabulary, but doing
nothing is just fine.
13
Day 7
Grammar topic of the day: Bestimmter und unbestimmter Artikel

Just like English has the definite article “the” and an indefinite article “a/an”, German
has articles that do the same job - they define the subject in the sentence (nouns).
Each noun in the German language has its own gender and its own article. Today
we will learn about these articles
Pro tip #5: Always learn new nouns with their articles! It’s tough to relearn the
articles and fix your mistakes down the road.
Pro tip #6: Don’t try to map the article to the biological gender - it’s false logic. Noun
Gender in German a linguistic gender, and it doesn’t always map well to the
biological gender. The word “das Mädchen” in German means “a girl”, but the
definite article ‘das’ is a neutral gender. A girl cannot be a neutral gender, can it?
The reason is that the ending ‘-chen’ takes the neutral article. The best way to
navigate the articles is to memorize them. Later on you will read a lot, watch
videos and listen to podcasts and will instinctively recall the correct articles.
1. Start with this guide from the routetoGermany.com
2. Learn about the definite article “der” in this video
3. Learn about the definite article “die” in this video
4. Learn about the definite article “das” in this video
5. Bonus video on the definite articles
6. Another bonus video on the definite articles
7. Learn about the indefinite articles in this video
8. A more detailed video about the indefinite articles
9. And for the most studious ones - here is a great video guide to German
articles in German
14
Day 8
Grammar topic of the day: Negation in German (nicht and kein)

If we want to negate something in English, we usually use the particles ‘not’ or ‘no’.
In German, we have a similar particle ‘nicht’, but we also have a special word for
nouns only - ‘kein or keine’. Today you will learn how to say things like “I don’t know”
or “I don’t have a car” or “I don’t have a sister”. Let’s go:
1. Start with this guide. Only pay attention to the nominative case for now.
2. Go through this guide now to make sure you understood everything
3. Go through some extra examples here
4. If you want a video explanation, you can watch this 5-minute video.
5. Or this one, a more detailed video explainer (12 minutes).
6. And finally, go through this guide on Deutsche Welle
7. Make sure to write down and learn all the new words you don’t know!
Vocabulary topic of the day: shopping - Einkaufen

1. Watch this video and repeat after the narrator
2. Now watch this one and do the same
3. A bit awkward video, but full of useful conversation phrases
4. PDF with useful vocabulary on the topic.
5. Bonus: A long video that extensively covers the topic. You don’t have to
watch it all, just go through it and write down the phrases you like or find
relevant.
6. Bonus: An advanced video in German, but even if you understand 10%, it’s
still helpful. Turn on the captions.
15
Day 9: rest day

16
Day 10
Grammar topic of the day: Verben mit Vokalwechsel

Some verbs in German change their vowel in certain situations. Today we will learn
about such verbs.
1. If you don’t know what a vowel is, go here.
2. Start with this primer-video.
3. Simple explainer video ( especially if you are a bit familiar with the US
geography :D)
4. Short explainer video in German
5. Watch this video to practice some of the most common verbs and
pronunciation.
6. And another video with the most common verbs that change their vowel
7. Make sure to write down and memorize all new words - Heylama app can
help you with that!
17
Day 11
Vocabulary topic of the day: visiting the post office and a doctor
(Post und Arzt)
1. Start with this video on the topic of post office
2. Video on the topic of doctor visit
3. Bonus video: visiting a doctor
4. Bonus video: visiting a doctor
5. Write down and memorize all the new words!
18
Day 12: rest day

19
Day 13
Grammar topic of the day: Sentence structures in the German

language
Let’s learn how to formulate different types of sentences - declarative (just a normal
sentence), question, and imperative (giving instructions, telling someone to do
something) sentences.
1. Start with this video
2. Go through the guide to the declarative sentences
3. A deeper dive into the rules of asking questions in German
4. The rules of telling someone to do something (imperative sentence)
5. Immediate task: Formulate at least 5 sentences using each. Post your

examples in the telegram group to get your grammar checked by me or
other peers.
20
Day 14
Vocabulary topic of the day: Uhrzeiten und Wochentagen

Today we will learn to speak about time and weekdays in German. Let’s go:
1. First of all, let’s make sure we know how to count:
a. A short video to learn to count from 1 to 20 is here.
b. If you are ambitious and want to know how to count up to 1 billion,

here is a video for you.
2. Now let’s find out how Germans talk about time:
a. A cool intro video by Jenny
b. To make sure you got it, let’s watch this video by Anja
3. Let’s learn about weekdays:
a. Watch this video first
b. To wrap both topics up, watch this video and try to say everything
after the narrator.
21
Day 15: rest day

22
Day 16
Grammar topic of the day: trennbare Verben

Some verbs in German are separable! Yes, you heard that right - some verbs in
some sentences break into 2 pieces. And there are specific rules about where to
place each of those pieces. Let’s figure this out.
1. Read through this guide to understand the concept
2. Watch this video to learn more
3. A pretty good video in German on the topic. It has English text explanations.
4. If you dare, here are some exercises to practice
23
Day 16
Vocabulary topic of the day: everyday life and daily routine

1. We will start with this video from Anja
2. Go through this post. Make sure to study the image with useful vocabulary.
Write down all the vocabulary on the image and memorize it.
3. For the most studious and ambitious ones, watch this video in German and
try to learn at least 5 new ways of saying things. Repeat after the narrator.
24
Day 18: rest day

25
Day 19
Grammar topic of the day: Modalverben

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that express necessity or possibility. English modal
verbs include must, shall, will, should, and others. Let’s learn from their German
peers:
1. Start with this guide. You only need the intro and the section on the Present
Tense, but getting acquainted with the Past Tense is also a good idea.
2. Watch this short video with Anja that shortly covers the topic of Modal verbs
in German.
3. Deeper dive into the modal verb “must - müssen”
4. Deeper dive into the modal verb “can - können”
5. Deeper dive into the modal verb “may - dürfen”
6. Deeper dive into the modal verb “want/will - wollen” (it’s not a modal verb in
English)
7. Deeper dive into the modal verb “should - sollen”
26
Day 20
Vocabulary topic of the day: giving and asking for directions

1. Let’s start with this video by Deutsche Welle
2. To expand our vocabulary - let’s go through this post on basic words and
phrases
3. Then we go through this list by the Rocket Languages
4. Finally, let’s watch Anja’s video fully in German! (Turn on the subtitles)
27
Day 21: rest day

28
Day 22
Grammar topic of the day: Akkusativ (accusative case)

1. Let’s first go through this extensive post on Akkusativ
2. Next, we will watch a 3-part video series from Jenny that explains the
Accusative case step-by-step:
a. Accusative case by Jenny - part 1
b. Accusative case by Jenny - part 2
c. Accusative case by Jenny - part 3
3. And finally, to make sure you’ve grasped everything, I highly recommend

watching this video, too.
29
Day 23
Vocabulary topic of the day: Essen und Trinken

1. We’ll go through the basic vocabulary by watching this video
2. Let’s now watch a video on the topic from Anja
3. Easy German street interviews about favorite foods
4. Easy German video about German breakfast
5. Four mini-lessons based on the Nico’s weg series from Deutsche Welle that
will introduce you to useful vocabulary in a fun way:
a. Offering drinks
b. Ordering food
c. Food taste
d. Groceries
Pro tip #8: If you haven’t started yet, I recommend starting watching Nico’s weg on
Deutsche Welle!
30
Day 24: rest day

31
Day 25
Grammar topic of the day: Dative case

1. Let’s first watch in intro to Dative from the Learn German channel
2. Now go through this post on Dative by Chutterbug
3. Finally, to consolidate our understanding, we will watch a 7-part video set by

Jenny:
a. Dative case - part 1
b. Dative case - part 2
c. Dative case - part 3
d. Dative case - part 4
e. Dative case - part 5
f. Dative case - part 6
g. Dative case - part 7
32
Day 26
Vocabulary topic of the day: weather

4 videos for you to learn the necessary vocabulary to speak about the weather:
1. Weather vocabulary video from Anja
2. Weather vocabulary video from Learn German
3. Weather vocabulary video from GermanPod101
4. Weather vocabulary video from Get Germanized
5. That’s all you need! Don’t forget to memorize the new words with Heylama
33
Day 27: rest day

34
Day 28
Grammar topic of the day: German prepositions

Here is a definition of preposition by Lingoda: “a preposition will typically describe a
movement or direction, a location or position, or some other relationship between
the object and the rest of the sentence.” Examples of prepositions in English include
with, at, from, by, on, in, etc.
1. Let’s first familiarize ourselves with the prepositions
2. A deeper dive into the prepositions that take the accusative case
3. A deeper dive into the prepositions that take the dative case
4. Two-way prepositions - prepositions that can take both accusative or dative

depending on the context
Pro tip #7: Prepositions are key to being able to speak. If you don’t understand any
specific preposition, google it and watch videos or read the explanations with
examples.
35
Day 29
Vocabulary topic of the day: Meine Wohnung - my apartment

1. We will start with a cool animated video
2. More vocabulary on the topic (with English subtitles!)
3. Four mini-lessons based on the Nico’s weg series from Deutsche Welle that
will introduce you to useful vocabulary in a fun way:
a. So wohne ich
b. Meine Wohnung
c. Sofa, Sessel und Tisch
d. Unser Haus
36
Day 30
Final Test
You made it! Irrespective of the test results, you committed to learning German A1
in 30 days and made it so far - I’m very proud of you!
Scientists that study learning and education have proven that testing is one of the
most effective ways of learning something in the long term. Today we will test your
knowledge of A1. This test will help you find your blind spots, but if you followed the
guide and did your homework, you should easily nail it. Good luck!
Link to the final test: German A1 test.
37

Heylama - A Full Guide To Learn A1 German in 30 Days

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Heylama - A Full Guide To Learn A1 German in 30 Days

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Heylama - free 30-day German A1 guide

Learn A1 German in 30 days for free

Day 3 : rest day 10

Day 6: rest day 15

Day 9: rest day 19

Day 12: rest day 22

Day 15: rest day 25

Day 18: rest day 28

Day 21: rest day 31

Day 24: rest day 34

Day 27: rest day 37

Vocabulary topic of the day: Meine Wohnung - my apartment 39

Course intro - read me first

Well, you found it!

How is this course designed?

Practice makes perfect

Thrilled to get started? Los geht’s! (Let’s go)

Topic of the day - German pronunciation

Memorizing vocabulary with the wrong pronunciation is a very bad practice -

● Search for the word

● play the sound

● repeat it a few times.

Verb conjugation in the present tense (Verbkonjugation im

● Read about it: German verb conjugation in the present tense

● Enter the German verb and click ‘Conjugate’

● Get all the conjugation forms for any tense.

Task 1. First read about the W-question words

Task 2. Now let’s watch a few video explanations:

Topic of the day: Introduce yourself

Task 1. Go through this post to get the basics

Task 2. More useful vocabulary from the Rocket Languages

Task 4. Video lessons:

○ Video 3 - Real people introduce themselves

○ Video 4 - conversation-based lesson

Day 3: rest day

You deserve a break!

Personal pronouns (Personalpronomen)

“Max learns German. He watches youtube videos in German.”

“He” is a personal pronoun. It replaces or refers to “Max” without mentioning him.

Task 1. Start with this video

Task 2. Continue with this guide

Task 4. Go through this video and exercises on DW

Task 5. And through this one

Task 6. Do these exercises.

Sentence Construction (word order)

Task 1. Start with this video in English

Hobbies and free time

Task 1. Watch this video first

Task 2. Watch this video next

Task 4. Watch this video in German

Task 5. Watch this video in German

Heylama is a free powerful, engaging flashcard app designed specifically for

Possessive pronouns in nominative (Possessivartikel)

2. Go through the nominative possessive pronoun section of this guide on

3. For more examples and additional clarification, go through this guide on

Vocabulary topic of the day: Germany’s geography and culture

3. Recycling is part of the culture in Germany. Here is a great video by

4. A great interview video by German learners about what to do in Germany.

Day 6: rest day

Grammar topic of the day: Bestimmter und unbestimmter Artikel

1. Start with this guide from the routetoGermany.com

2. Learn about the definite article “der” in this video