German Pronunciation Guide: Vowels,

Consonants & Accents

German is one of those foreign languages that most people in the world can clearly recognize
by its sound even if they do not speak a word of German. No matter how harsh the German
language may sound to your ear, the good news is that mastering German pronunciation is
not too difficult, especially if you are a native speaker of another European language. If you
manage all the basics of German pronunciation presented in this brief guide, your German
should soon sound well enough for a native listener.

The Basics
German uses the 26 letters of the English alphabet. In addition, German has a character ß
called eszett (or scharfes-S) and three umlaut vowels ä, ö and ü. So, altogether there are 30
letters in the German alphabet but there are a lot more sounds than letters (to get started
watch this video to learn how to pronounce individual German letters).

In most cases, pronunciation of the sounds used in the German language follows certain rules
and patterns that you need to learn by heart. Unlike English words, German words are
pronounced as they are written. That is, if you learn how to correctly pronounce individual
letters and letter combinations and where to place accents you will be able to pronounce
German words correctly without even ever having heard them from a native speaker’s mouth.
Here is a brief overview of all sounds and basic rules that should help you get to grips with
German pronunciation:

German Vowels
English speakers, particularly Americans, tend to be careless with vowel pronunciation and
get away with it. You cannot do this with German. The German vowels must be as clearly
and cleanly enunciated as consonants for understanding. German vowels are pronounced long
or short.

Short vowels: A stressed vowel followed by two consonants is usually pronounced short
(Bett, hacken, kann, selber), but long vowels in a root form remain long even if inflected to
be followed by two consonants (groß – größte or leben – gelebt). The vowel preceding CK is
always short (Bock, locken, Lücke, trocken).

Long vowels: A vowel followed by a silent H or doubled is pronounced long (fahren,

wohnen, Boot, Seele, Stuhl). A vowel is usually long if its syllable is not closed by a
consonant (ja, so, ha-ben, o-ben) or followed by a single consonant (gut, kam, rot, schon).
The combination IE is usually pronounced as a long i (sieben, tief, viel). Unstressed vowels
except E at the end of a word are usually pronounced long (Schere, Sofa, Vati).

Pronunciation of individual German vowels is as follows:

 A: The German short A is pronounced like the U in “hut” only more open and tense.
The German long A is pronounced like the A in “father”.
 Examples:
Short A alle, kann, Land, Stadt
Long A Abend, Jahr, haben, nach

 E: The German short E is pronounced like the E in “get” or in “men”. The German
long E is pronounced like the A in “laid” but longer and without gliding. In some
words, the E is doubled to show that it is long. Many German words end with a final
E or ER. The final E, as well as E in a final ER, is hardly voiced. It is pronounced
similar to the final A in the English word “idea”.

Examples:
Short E echt, Elch, fertig, Kette
Long E Lehrer, leer, legen, Reh

 I: The short i (capitalized I not L) is pronounced like the I in “mitten”. The German
long I is pronounced like the EE in “seed” but without gliding. Sometimes the letter I
is followed by the letter E to indicate that it is long.

Examples:
Short I Bild, Gipfel, ich, richtig
Long I ihnen, Titel, wider/wieder

 Note: The combination IE is almost always pronounced as a long I, but in the word
Familie the IE is pronounced as two separate vowels.
 O: The short O is pronounced like the O in “knot” or in “hot” if you are British. The
long O is pronounced like the O in “so” but with the lips more rounded and without
gliding.

Examples:
Short O bockig, toll, Tochter, Woche
Long O Boden, Ober, rot, Wohl

 U: The short U is pronounced like the OO in “foot”. The long U is pronounced like
the OO in “pool” or “stool” but with the lips more rounded and without gliding.

Examples:
Short U Luft, lustig, unter, Wunsch
Long U Buch, Kur, ruhig, Ufer

 Ä: The German long and short Ä are usually pronounced like the German long and
short E although some native speakers may pronounce them somewhat differently.

Examples:
Short Ä Bänder, hätte, Lärm, Sänger
Long Ä Mädchen, Käse, täglich, zählen

 Ö: There are no English equivalents for the German long or short Ö. They are
pronounced like a German E with the lips rounded.
 Examples:
Short Ö Hölle, können, Löffel, öffnen
Long Ö böse, krönen, Kröte, Löwe

 Ü: There are no English equivalents for the German short or long Ü either. They are
pronounced like a German i with the lips rounded. Or better, the EW of the word
“yew” said in disgust with the lips rounded but tensed and no gliding.

Examples:
Short Ü dünn, drücken, Münze, tüchtig
Long Ü fühlen, Tür, Lüge, über

German Diphthongs
German diphthongs are usually shorter and tenser (less glide) than English diphthongs.

 EI, AI, AY, EY are all pronounced like the English word “eye” or the Y in “by” or
“my” or the i in “dine” or “mine”.
 AU is pronounced like the OU in “house” or the OW in “brow” or “crown”.
 EU, ÄU are pronounced like the OY in “annoy” or “boy” or “Troy”.

Careful: English speakers tend to confuse the diphthong EI (pronounced “eye”) with IE
(pronounced “ee”).

German Consonants
Most German consonants are pronounced much as they are in English. The exceptions are C,
J, L, Q, R, S, V, W, and Z.

 B: This letter is pronounced as it is in English, except a final B is pronounced more

like a P. The word halb (“half”) is pronounced as if it were spelled halp.
 C: Except in the ligatures CH and SCH, the letter C is not a genuine German letter
and is used only in borrowed foreign words. Pronunciation tends to follow the original
source language. Many of the borrowed words come from French. Therefore, the CH
in words like Chance, Chef, Chauvinist, etc. is pronounced like the CH in champagne.
The Words Chat, Cheeseburger or checken, which were borrowed from English, are
pronounced like in English. The initial CH in words like Chor, Christ and Chromatik
is pronounced like a K.
 CH: This letter is pronounced as a rasping sound made in the back of the mouth
something like clearing the throat before you spit. The Scots use this sound to
pronounce “loch” (as in Loch Ness). CH is pronounced this way. Here are some
examples: machen, Buch, Sache, ach!
 CHS is a separated KS sound as in the English word “vixen”. Examples include
sechs, wachsen, Fuchs, Ochse.
 CK is pronounced K. The preceding vowel is always short.
 D: This letter is pronounced as it is in English, except a final D is pronounced more
like a T. The word Rad (“wheel”) is pronounced as if it were spelled Rat.
 G: This letter is pronounced like it usually is in English (“good” or “green”).
  IG: The suffix IG (used to convert a noun into an adjective) can be pronounced in
various ways. The Westphalians pronounce it as if it were spelled ICH (see CH
above). The Rhinelanders pronounce it as if it were spelled ISCH. Others pronounce it
like the IG in “pig.” Take your choice.
 J: This letter is pronounced like the English initial Y in “yes”.
 L: The German L is pronounced somewhat different than the English. Try curling the
tip of your tongue up to touch just behind the top front teeth and keep the back part of
the tongue lower as you pronounce it.
 NG: The German N is pronounced as in English, but English speakers have a
tendency to insert an extra G following an NG sound if another syllable follows. The
Germans pronounce the word länger as läng-er, not läng-ger.
 PF: This letter combination is pronounced very nearly like a simple F, but not quite. It
is more like the PF in “stepfather”. The P becomes a little explosive puff before the F.
Examples include Pferd, Pfarre, Pfeffer, Pfütze.
 Q: As in English, Q is always followed by U in German words. The combination QU
is pronounced KW (except in the borrowed word “queue”). Examples are quälen,
quer, Quelle, Quatsch!.
 R: Most North Germans tend to swallow their final R’s to the point of nonexistence
(like Bostonians or New Zealanders who pronounce “car” as cah). South Germans,
Swiss German speakers and Austrians almost tongue trill their R’s like a Scotch
“burr”.
 S: A single S at the beginning of or in the middle of a word is pronounced like the
English Z. At the end of a word an S is pronounced as it is in English. A double S (ss)
is pronounced like the English S although it may be broken into separate syllables
(was-ser). A double S following a long vowel is often represented by an eszett (ß).
Note: There has been a highly controversial reform of German spelling in 1996 in
which the use of eszetts (ß) has been changed. The usages given in this course refer to
German as it has existed for nearly the last hundred years because many people still
use eszetts in the old way.
 SCH: represents the sound SH as in “ship”, “shoe”, “shred” or “shadow”.
 SP and ST: when at the beginning of a word or following verb prefixes they are
pronounced SCHP or SCHT. In the body or at the end of a word they are pronounced
as they would be in English. Examples for SP include Spachtel, Spur, spinnen,
versprechen pronounced SCHP but Haspel, Raspel or Wespe pronounced SP.
Regarding the combination ST, in the words Storch, Stoß, Stuhl, Sturm it is
pronounced as SCHT but in the words Dienstag, Gäste, Kasten or Kunst it is ST.
 V: This letter is pronounced like F except in a few borrowed words (Vase, Verb,
Veranda) in which it is pronounced like in English.
 W: This letter is pronounced like V in English.
 Z: This letter is pronounced like TS in “sits” or “tsunami”. Examples are Herz,
plötzlich, Zimmer, zerbrechen.

German Syllables and Stress

German syllables begin with a consonant if one is present and divide before single
consonants or between double consonants. Each syllable is pronounced clearly and distinctly,
often separated by a glottal stop. There is no slurring together of syllables or liaison between
words (if you are trying to sound sober). Typically, the first syllable of a word is stressed.
The main exceptions to this rule are inseparable verb prefixes such as be-, er-, ent-, miss-,
ver-, wider-, zer-, and ge- which prefixes past participles. Separable verb prefixes are stressed
when attached to the verb. Compound nouns have a secondary stress on their component
parts. Words of foreign origin such as The’ater and Exekuti’on bring their foreign stress with
them.

German Accents
Apart from separate languages like Low(land) German/Frisian and Swiss German, there are
many dialects of High(land) German or Hochdeutsch; the language this guide tries to address.
Some of the more extreme of these dialects are Saxon, Swabian, and the dialects spoken in
rural Bavaria and Cologne. Other big cities have language idiosyncrasies. In Hamburg the
SP’s and ST’s are pronounced more like they are in English. The Berliners have a tendency
to pronounce the past participle prefix ge- as if it were spelled ye- (as in Old English –
Anglo-Saxon – where it lingered on in such forms as y-ronne and y-falle in Chaucer’s Middle
English). Being human, a German enjoys speaking his own dialect and disparages or laughs
at the dialects of others.

If you are still not sure about your German pronunciation check out these web resources
dedicated to helping German learners practice pronunciation of individual German sounds:

The Best Web Resources for Training German Pronunciation

 Paul Joyce German Course

 Learn German with Anja
 Easy Online German
 GermanPod101.com: Introduction to German Pronunciation

Alternatively, as pronunciation and listening comprehension go hand in hand, watch German

TV or German videos on YouTube and listen to German radio to become familiar with
German sounds. If you lack exposure to native speakers, hire a German tutor or find a native
German-speaking conversation partner online to find out how Germans would react to your
pronunciation and to help you sound more like a native German.

As you will certainly appreciate, German pronunciation (unlike English) follows set patterns,
vowels are pronounced clearly and there are logical rules for placing accents in words.
Therefore, if you learn the above rules, you will know how to pronounce each German word
as German spelling is phonetic. In turn, this will also help you spell German words correctly.
After having spent some time practicing German pronunciation you will most likely agree
that it is not as bad as its reputation.

German Spelling and Punctuation

(Orthography)
The German alphabet uses 26 Latin characters which can also be found in English. In
addition, there are four special characters, including the so-called Umlaute (ä, ö, ü), and
Eszett (ß) that is also known as scharfes s (sharp s in English). While the letters ä, ö and ü are
commonly found in many other languages, the letter ß is today only used in German. The
Eszett is a ligature of s and z and is normally used in place of a voiced double-s following a
long vowel or a gliding vowel called diphthong (whereas the double-s is used when the
preceding vowel is short). The Umlaut signifies a vowel plus e and on the Internet (e.g., in
German discussion forums, blog comments, etc.) words are often written this way (i.e., ae,
oe, ue instead of ä, ö, ü). In very old text, these letters were printed with a very small e above
them instead of the two dots (diaeresis mark).

Font Type and Script

From about 1530 up to 1941, German was printed in a very different font (type face) than it is
today. This old script is called Fraktur (meaning “fractured”) and is still used occasionally in
Germany today for fancy titles and signs, just like Old English black-letter script is in Britain.
Fraktur evolved from Schwabacher (and replaced it in the 16th century) but some people still
refer to all old German scripts as Schwabacher. German handwriting called Sütterlin was also
very different. German school boys in the 1930s sometimes called Sütterlin “Zickzack
Schrift” (Zigzag script). Today, German print and handwriting is much like English, but you
may find old books printed in Fraktur in libraries. It is easy enough to read once you get used
to it.

German Punctuation Marks

In many cases, German and English punctuation are quite similar, if not identical. However,
comma can be used differently in German when linking two independent clauses, or when
writing numbers as decimal points and commas are reversed in German (1.000 is one
thousand while 1,5 is one point five or one and a half). Also, German uses different quotation
marks than English („…“). Moreover, with few exceptions, German does not use apostrophe
for genitive possession (e.g., Roberts Fahrrad – Robert’s bike). For additional examples of
differences between German and English punctuation see this summary from StackExchange.

Capitalization
In modern German, all nouns, as well as proper names, are capitalized (as they once were in
English several hundred years ago). This makes the nouns easy to spot when parsing
(determining the grammatical structure of) a sentence. But, this sometimes makes it difficult
to determine whether a word beginning with a capital letter is a common noun or a proper
name. Thus, for example, Schneider could refer to a tailor or to a person named Schneider.
Adjectives and verbals that function as nouns are also capitalized. However, there are a
couple of nouns that can function as uninflected adjectives (ein paar meaning “a pair of…” or
ein bißchen meaning “a little bit of…”) which are not capitalized when so used. Furthermore,
unlike English, adjectives which refer to nationality are not capitalized. Thus, die indische
Küche (the Indian cuisine). The German counterpart for English “I” (ich) is not capitalized,
but the polite counterpart for English “you” (Sie) is (as is the accompanying possessive
pronoun “your” Ihr as well as Ihnen).
Spelling versus Pronunciation
In German there are generally precise rules for spelling and pronunciation of words and,
therefore, spelling is a good indicator of how the words ought to be pronounced. For instance,
long vowels are usually either doubled (e.g., leer), or followed by a single consonant (e.g.,
mal) or silent h (e.g., mehr), whereas short vowels are typically followed by a double
consonant (e.g., schnell). Check the section on German pronunciation for a complete guide.

German Spelling Reform

The aim of the controversial German spelling reform (Rechtschreibreform) of 1996 (revised
in 2004, 2006 and 2011) was to simplify the spelling and punctuation rules but critics object
that it made certain things yet more complicated. As a result, you can now find composite
words with triple identical consonants such as the words Sperrrad (ratchet wheel), Schifffahrt
(shipping) and even Flussschifffahrt (river transport with triple-s and triple-f), or with triple
identical vowels like the word Kafeeernte (coffee harvest) and that certainly looks weird. So,
do not be surprised when you find recently published German texts that do not obey all these
new spelling rules. However, since you are learning German today learn the new rules.
Below you will find links to resources providing further details on the latest German
orthography reform:

 German Orthography Reform of 1996 from Wikipedia describes the history of the German
spelling and punctuation reform, discusses its controversial points and provides explanations
of the most important changes it introduced.
 Neue Rechtschreibung: What has changed? from StackExchange is a comprehensive
overview of the major changes introduced by the Rechtschreibung reform.
 The German Spelling Reform from Michigan State University is yet another brief summary
of the most important changes resulting from the new German spelling reform.
 Rechtschreibreform: Die neuen Regeln der Rechtschreibung from canoo.net is a complete
overview of all new spelling and punctuation rules, but it is written in German.
 Die 20 wichtigsten Regeln zur Rechtschreibung from neue-rechtschreibung.de is a list of the
twenty most important rules that have changed as a result of the new spelling reform. It is
written in German. At the bottom of the page you can find a downloadable PDF file that
contains all Rechtschreibung rules.
 Dokumente zu den Inhalten der Rechtschreibreform from Institut für Deutsche Sprache in
Mannheim includes all new spelling rules (the latest revision from 2011) in German language
that you can download in PDF format.

For complete spelling rules you may also wish to check these resources (all are in German):

 Canoo.net Regeln
 Rechtschreibrat.com
 Levrai.de – Rules and Examples

To correct the spelling of your German text you can use this free German spell checker:

 Canoo.net Prüfung
Free Online Exercises for Practicing German Spelling Skills

As they say in Germany “Übung macht den Meister” (practice makes perfect), so here are a
few links to sites where you can practice your German spelling skills for free:

 OrthografieTrainer.net
 Rechtschreibung Übungen von Levrai.de

German spelling is phonetic. Therefore, if you are pronouncing the words correctly, you
should be able to spell them correctly too. German spelling and punctuation are unlikely to be
your biggest enemy when learning German as your text editor, such as Word, will correct
most of your mistakes automatically. And, if in doubt, you can always refer to an online
dictionary or use a free online German spell checker, such as canoo.net (see the link above),
to iron out the remaining imperfections.

Learn German Grammar Online for Free

Many people, including German native-speakers themselves, believe that German is a
difficult language to learn because of its complex grammar. But for a language, having
precise grammar rules is not all that bad after all. That is, most of the German grammar rules
are very logical and often related to grammar rules found in many other European languages.
If you learn to apply these rules correctly, you will soon be able to speak reasonably good
German. Below is a brief overview of the most important specifics of German grammar from
the perspective of an English (native) speaker.

German Grammar Basics in Brief

Articles and Grammatical Gender

German uses two indefinite articles “ein” and “eine” which stand for “a” or “an” in English
and three definite articles “der”, “die” and “das” that correspond to the English “the”. These
articles tell you whether a noun associated with the article is masculine, feminine or neuter as
all nouns in German have a grammatical gender (but this is not the same as biological
gender). For example, a man in German is “ein Mann”, or “der Mann” if definite article is
used, which tells you the noun is masculine whereas a woman is “eine Frau” or “die Frau”
and, therefore, feminine. However, in most cases, there are no signals to indicate which
gender a noun belongs to and you will need to learn the gender of each noun by heart.

Cases and Declension

The German language uses four cases. They are reflected in the declension of the
aforementioned articles and certain adjectival pronouns as these change to show the case of
the nouns they modify (however, the German noun itself does not change much to signal its
case). For example, “ein” and “eine” can also appear as “einer”, “eines” or “einem”, while
“der”, “die” and “das” can be transformed into “dem”, “den” and “des”. Although there are
exact grammatical rules for this, you will need to know the grammatical gender of a noun to
apply the rules correctly.

Plurals

The plural form of many nouns can differ significantly from its singular form and in most
cases there are no exact rules to help you with that. You will have to learn the plural form of
most German nouns by heart.

Formal and Informal German

The English “you” has two forms in German – “du” and “Sie” in singular and “ihr” and “Sie”
in plural. This is important when conjugating verbs that follow these pronouns and there are
precise grammatical rules for it.

Word Order

German word-order is not the same as English, although there are a lot of similarities. The
biggest difference is that in German the verb is always placed at the end of subordinate
clauses. Also, the prepositional part of compound separable verbs, e.g., “auf” in the German
verb “aufstehen” (meaning stand up in English), comes at the end of the clause.
Grammatical Irregularities

German, like English, has grammatical irregularities or exceptions. One such example is
irregular verbs which are often the same in German and English (e.g., sing, bring, drink).
Fortunately, these exceptions tend to follow set patterns but a certain amount of pure
memorization is required.

Free German Grammar Exercises and Reference Books

There is no shortage of free online resources that teach German grammar. Below we present a
list of those that specifically address grammar issues (please note that most German courses
listed in other sections of this website are also dealing with grammar):

 Lingolia is a website that primarily focuses on helping its visitors to cope with the
complexities of German grammar. Exercises at the end of each chapter will reveal whether
you understand the rules. However, this resource is also a good alternative for all those who
wish to enhance their German vocabulary.
 German-Grammar.de is an internet handbook of German grammar. Explanations are very
clear and all are in English. Paradoxically, this site, which is dedicated to German grammar, is
also an ideal tool for training pronunciation because of its excellent sound quality.
 German Grammar Trainer from Deutschakademie offers free grammatical exercises, audio-
lessons and a downloadable application for mobile phones. Their courses and exercises are
suitable for all levels of German learners (A1-C1) and all instructions and explanations are
given in English. There are currently 22,000 exercises from 70 German grammar textbooks
that are accessible through this website for free.
 German ToLearnFree is a a growing collection of more than two thousand free German
exercises focusing primarily on developing German grammar skills, though there are also
some vocabulary building exercises. These materials have been provided for free by
different users, therefore, some may have instructions in other languages than English (e.g.
French). You can evaluate your answers online as unregistered user but to save your learning
progress you will need to register (it is free).
 Deutsch.info enables visitors free access to the grammar section of their site but you will
need to register to get access to their courses and media library. Registrations are free. The
grammar section is comprehensive but not too overwhelming to discourage you. You will
find there all the basics you need to know.
 Travlang is a perfect reference for anyone who wants to learn or brush up on their German
grammar. The website may seem a bit archaic but the most basic grammar rules are not
changing that often after all.
 Canoonet language portal was developed jointly by several universities in and outside of
Germany and contains a huge section on German grammar. In addition to that you can find
there links to dictionaries and a German spell checker.
 Dartmouth College has a comprehensive overview of German grammar compiled by the
now retired professor of German language emeritus Bruce Duncan. You can use this online
resource as a free reference whenever needed or use it as a textbook to learn German
grammar. Thanks to the clear explanations you are guaranteed to master German grammar
with ease. The main categories include nouns and pronouns, verb tenses, moods and voices,
word order and modifiers.
 German for English Speakers is a good introduction to German language and particularly to
German grammar. This resource also provides very useful tips on German pronunciation and
spelling.
  German.net allows you to test and practice your German grammar skills for free. Most
exercises consist in either filling the missing words in a sentence or choosing the correct
missing word (multiple choice test). There are plenty of exercises to practice all aspects of
German grammar. All instructions are in English. If you want to keep a record of your
learning progress, you will need to register (registration is free).
 Verbito is an online application that will conjugate any German verb you type in to the
“Verbeingabe” box.

Alternatively, if you prefer paper textbooks, you may be interested in these PDFs for
practicing German grammar that you can download for free.

Do not let grammar to discourage you from learning German. It is not too difficult, especially
if you are a native speaker of another European language. Once you start, you will soon
realize that the basic rules of German grammar are relatively simple. A quick-learner can
probably memorize them in a couple of days. However, it will take practice and discipline to
apply them in speech.

German for Beginners: Learn German

Basics Online for Free
Whether you are an absolute beginner or you want to brush up on your school knowledge of
German, there are plenty of free German language courses for beginners available online to
help you get started. But, before you begin learning German you should define your goals.
Some people may only want to learn a couple of basic German phrases to impress their
German friends on an occasional visit to Germany, some may wish to acquire vocabulary
needed to understand written German, while others may be planning on moving to Germany
for study or work. You have to decide what you want to achieve and how much time you are
willing to invest so that you can choose the right approach. There are so many free German
online courses for beginners as well as lessons for more advanced students that you can easily
get lost.

The Beginner’s Worst Fears

German is generally considered to be a difficult foreign language to master because of its
complex grammar and extremely long compound words that are hard to pronounce. But, in
fact, at least for an English speaker, German is not too difficult. Also, many local dialects,
which are still in use, are thought to make understanding problematic. You should not worry
too much about that either as foreigners are rarely confronted with German dialects.
Nonetheless, there are a few basic facts you may need to know before you begin learning
German.

German Pronunciation

For most people who speak English or some other European language German pronunciation
is not too difficult. However, there are two vowels called “umlauts” that you will not find in
English. These are ö and ü. Also, some German beginners may have difficulties pronouncing
the German “ch” and can be tempted to substitute it with “sh”. Some native Germans as well
as many French who speak German as their second language do that too.

German Grammar

All German nouns have a grammatical gender that is reflected in their article (der, die or das).
For most nouns you will have to learn their gender by heart as there are no grammatical rules
to give you a hint. Knowing the grammatical gender of a noun is necessary for declension.
Likewise, you will need to learn plural forms of most nouns by heart. In addition, unlike
English, German has formal and informal forms of address and, therefore, two second-person
pronouns, both in singular and plural. This may sound confusing at first hearing but it is
nothing to worry too much about as there are exact rules for this.

German Dialects

There are many local and regional dialects in the German speaking world and some German
native speakers, especially those in Austria, Switzerland but also in parts of Germany,
commonly use them in everyday communication. Some of these dialects are classified as
separate languages and differ significantly from the standard German language called
“Hochdeutsch”. However, all German native speakers are taught standard German at school
and will use it when speaking to people outside of their community.

The Best Free German Lessons for Beginners

Most of the free courses you will find on the net also include German lessons for beginners
but not all of them are suitable for absolute beginners. Many of them are too ambitious and
skip the basics while instructions are only given in German. However, the majority of
German learners will agree that for complete beginners it is important to find a course that
has instructions in their native tongue or their second language such as English. From level
A2 onwards they should be able to use lessons that are in German only. Some of the best free
resources for learning basic German online (where the language of instruction is English) are:

 German lessons with Eva is a great channel for all those who are looking for a painless
approach to learning German language. A German teacher Eva will in 30 lessons (divided
into three course units) help you get to grips with German pronunciation and grammar and
will teach you the most important German phrases and words.
 Deutsche Welle has developed German lessons for absolute beginners, in addition to
courses and exercises for intermediate and advanced students. The course called
Deutschtrainer, consisting of 10 video lessons with full transcript and explanation in English,
is the most basic course. Each lesson can be downloaded either in MP3, MP4 or FLV format.
 Goethe Verlag offers 100 free German lessons for beginners who have some basic
knowledge of German language (level A2). Each of these lessons consists of simple English
sentences that you are asked to translate into German. You are provided with the initial
letter of each German word in the sentence to help you with the translation. If in trouble,
you can listen to the audio recording of the translation. This will also help train your German
listening comprehension. Mobile apps of this German course are available for download for
a small fee.
 Deutsch-Online-Lernen.com presents 22 well-structured free lessons with exercises for
beginners. Each lesson focuses on a different aspect of the German grammar. You can find
this course also on their youtube channel (though the lesson no. 22 is missing).
 Radio D is a free audio course from Goethe Institute developed jointly with Deutsche Welle.
There are two series for beginners (levels A1 and A2), each consisting of 26 episodes. This is
an innovative approach to teaching a foreign language. Check it out to see whether it is your
cup of tea. You can also download this audio course from iTunes to your mobile device.
 Learn German with Anja is an unconventional and a fun way of learning German basics with
a German native speaker. There are around 150 video lessons to help you with
pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and listening comprehension.
 Duolingo is a free German course for beginners and pre-intermediate learners. You can
create your own profile (though it is not necessary) and start learning German basics right
away. If you are on a pre-intermediate level you will first need to take a placement test
before you can start taking free lessons. This course should teach you to communicate on a
basic level when visiting a German-speaking country and is equivalent to the level A1,
perhaps A2.
 LanguagesOnline is a language learning platform of the Department of Education and
Training of Victoria State in Australia that offers free resources for language teachers and
students. Besides other languages, there is also a free interactive German beginner course.
In 35 lessons you will learn basic vocabulary such as greetings, numbers, the names of
animals, body parts, family members, colours, days and months, foods, clothes, school
items, words that describe weather and how to tell the time. This is a very basic course
suitable for total beginners. For each lesson, you can download worksheets in PDF format.

Please note that German courses for beginners listed above only include those that are
specifically tailored for adult learners. Hence, you will not find German beginner courses for
children amongst them. Likewise, beginner lessons that form part of more comprehensive
courses for German learners of all skill levels including German beginner lessons on
downloadable PDF files as well as YouTube videos for beginners were omitted from this list.
They can all be found under the corresponding links above.

In addition, most German courses that are available as applications for portable devices are
also ideal for beginners. Therefore, visit our section on mobile apps for German learners to
find out whether you would like to use them as a practical alternative to courses that were
primarily designed for viewing on larger screens.

Your First 625 Words (in Thematic Order, with notes):

Key:
Category words (i.e. ‘animal’) are designated with a little superscript C (Like this ). Learn these words word
C

by using 2-3 other pictures/words on your flashcards (i.e. ‘animal = dog, cat, fish…’).
 Easily Confounded Images (i.e., ‘girl’ looks like ‘daughter’) are designated with an asterisk (Like this*).
These are groups of words that will use very similar images (girl/daughter, marriage/wedding). Learn these
words by adding a personal touch (i.e., the name of a ‘daughter’ you might know) or an additional word or two
in your target language (i.e., daughter might go with mother/father).
Animal: dog, cat, fish, bird, cow, pig, mouse, horse, wing, animal C

Transportation: train, plane, car, truck, bicycle, bus, boat, ship, tire, gasoline, engine, (train) ticket,
transportation C

Location: city, house, apartment, street/road, airport, train station, bridge, hotel, restaurant, farm, court, school,
office, room, town, university, club, bar, park, camp, store/shop, theater, library, hospital, church, market, country
(USA, France, etc.), building, ground, space (outer space), bank, location C

Clothing: hat, dress, suit, skirt, shirt, T-shirt, pants, shoes, pocket, coat, stain, clothing C

Color: red, green, blue (light/dark), yellow, brown, pink, orange, black, white, gray, color C

People: son*, daughter*, mother, father, parent (= mother/father), baby, man, woman, brother*, sister*, family,
grandfather, grandmother, husband*, wife*, king, queen, president, neighbor, boy, girl, child (= boy/girl), adult (=
man/woman), human (≠ animal), friend (Add a friend’s name), victim, player, fan, crowd, person C

Job: Teacher, student, lawyer, doctor, patient, waiter, secretary, priest, police, army, soldier, artist, author,
manager, reporter, actor, job C

Society: religion, heaven, hell, death, medicine, money, dollar, bill, marriage*, wedding*, team, race (ethnicity),
sex (the act), sex (gender), murder, prison, technology, energy, war, peace, attack, election, magazine,
newspaper, poison, gun, sport, race (sport), exercise, ball, game, price, contract, drug, sign, science, God
Art: band, song, instrument (musical), music, movie, art
Beverages: coffee, tea, wine, beer, juice, water, milk, beverage C

Food: egg, cheese, bread, soup, cake, chicken, pork, beef, apple, banana, orange, lemon, corn, rice, oil, seed,
knife, spoon, fork, plate, cup, breakfast, lunch, dinner, sugar, salt, bottle, food C

Home: table, chair, bed, dream, window, door, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, pencil, pen, photograph, soap, book,
page, key, paint, letter, note, wall, paper, floor, ceiling, roof, pool, lock, telephone, garden, yard, needle, bag, box,
gift, card, ring, tool
Electronics: clock, lamp, fan, cell phone, network, computer, program (computer), laptop, screen, camera,
television, radio
Body: head, neck, face, beard, hair, eye, mouth*, lip*, nose, tooth, ear, tear (drop), tongue, back, toe, finger,
foot, hand, leg, arm, shoulder, heart, blood, brain, knee, sweat, disease, bone, voice, skin, body
Nature: sea*, ocean*, river, mountain, rain, snow, tree, sun, moon, world, Earth, forest, sky, plant, wind,
soil/earth, flower, valley, root, lake, star, grass, leaf, air, sand, beach, wave, fire, ice, island, hill, heat, nature C

Materials: glass, metal, plastic, wood, stone, diamond, clay, dust, gold, copper, silver, material C

Math/Measurements: meter, centimeter, kilogram, inch, foot, pound, half, circle, square, temperature, date,
weight, edge, corner
Misc Nouns: map, dot, consonant, vowel, light, sound, yes, no, piece, pain, injury, hole, image, pattern, noun , C

verb , adjective
C C 

Note:  Use these last three (noun, verb, adjective) as labels to help distinguish between very similar-looking
words (i.e., to die (verb), death (noun), dead (adjective))
Directions: top, bottom, side, front, back, outside, inside, up, down, left, right, straight, north, south, east, west,
direction C

Note: You may not find all of these in your glossary, and you may have trouble finding pictures even if you do.
That’s fine. Skip them for now, or use my collection of images for directions and prepositions at Fluent-
Forever.com/Appendix5
Seasons: Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall, season C

Numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 30, 31, 32, 40, 41, 42, 50,
51, 52, 60, 61, 62, 70, 71, 72, 80, 81, 82, 90, 91, 92, 100, 101, 102, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 10000, 100000,
million, billion, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , number
st nd rd th th C

Note: If you search for a number (uno (one), dos (two), tres (three)), you’ll find pictures of objects (1 apple, 2
monkeys, etc.). This usually works until 10. Then search for the digits (10, 11, 12). You’ll find colorful numerals,
address signs, etc. Use these images (picture of hotel room #33) instead of text (#33); these pictures easier to
remember and they don’t get mixed up as easily.
Months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Note: You’ll usually find pictures of holidays and weather. Add in the number of each month (#1-12) to get more
specific.
Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Note: You’ll usually find pictures of people going to work on Mondays and partying on Fridays/Saturdays, etc. To
get more specific, use an image of a weekly calendar with weekends greyed out and indicate which day you
want. I’ll find a few good calendars to use and post them here in the near future.
Time: year, month, week, day, hour, minute, second , morning, afternoon, evening, night, time C

Note: You’ll find pictures of clocks and calendars. If needed, define each time division in terms of another time
division, i.e. 60 x minuto  = 1 ___ (ora), 1 ora = 60 x ____ (minuto).  Don’t worry about plural forms (you don’t
need the word for “minutes” yet)
Verbs: work, play, walk, run, drive, fly, swim, go , stop, follow, think, speak/say, eat, drink, kill, die, smile, laugh,
C

cry, buy*, pay*, sell*, shoot(a gun), learn, jump, smell, hear* (a sound), listen* (music), taste, touch, see (a bird),
watch (TV), kiss, burn, melt, dig, explode, sit, stand, love, pass by, cut, fight, lie down, dance, sleep, wake up,
sing, count, marry, pray, win, lose, mix/stir, bend, wash, cook, open, close, write, call, turn, build, teach, grow,
draw, feed, catch, throw, clean, find, fall, push, pull, carry, break, wear, hang, shake, sign, beat, lift
Note:  For verbs, you’ll probably need to learn your language’s word for “verb” and add it to any verb that could
masquerade as a noun (to kiss  vs a kiss). Basically, get a picture of two people kissing, add the word “Verb”
underneath, and poof, you’ve got a pretty clear “to kiss.”
Adjectives: long, short (long), tall, short (vs tall), wide, narrow, big/large, small/little, slow, fast, hot, cold, warm,
cool, new, old (new), young, old (young), good, bad, wet, dry, sick, healthy, loud, quiet, happy, sad, beautiful,
ugly, deaf, blind, nice, mean, rich, poor, thick, thin, expensive, cheap, flat, curved, male, female, tight, loose,
high, low, soft, hard, deep, shallow, clean, dirty, strong, weak, dead, alive, heavy, light (heavy), dark, light (dark),
nuclear, famous
Note:  For a few of these adjectives, you may need to learn your language’s word for “adjective” and add it in
cases of ambiguity (i.e., to clean vs a clean room).
Pronouns: I, you (singular), he, she, it, we, you (plural, as in “y’all”), they.
Note: Make sure you read about these in your grammar book before adding them. Languages divide their
pronouns into many categories. Hungarian, for instance, has six words for “you” (singular informal, singular
formal (for acquaintances), singular official (for teachers, policemen, bureaucrats), plural informal, etc.), and
depending upon how you count, Japanese either has no pronouns or tons of  pronouns. We’ll need to have some
pronouns now in order to deal with grammar later, so you’ll want to find at least a few words to refer to yourself or
someone else. You’ll find a good explanation of pronouns (and a list of them) in the beginning of your grammar
book. Note that you don’t  yet need  him, her, his, their, etc.  We’ll get them later, when we discuss grammar.
How do you learn these without translations? Use pictures of people pointing at themselves/each other. There
are decent pronoun pictures on Google Images, and I’ve gotten some better ones commissioned here. Use these
images, and if your language, like Hungarian, has different sorts of pronouns for different sorts of relationships
(i.e., friends vs acquaintances), then take a few minutes to think of some people you’d use these pronouns with.
Use their names on your flashcards.

The Alphabetical Order List (along with printable lists, etc.)

Enjoy!  Please make sure you follow the instructions above.  This is a tool that can be misused and
seriously mess up your language studies from the beginning if you badly translate words into your
target language and then intensively drill them into your memory with Anki.  Also if you skip
the pronunciation step then you’re going to have a harder time memorizing them, recognizing them
when a native speaker says them, and you’ll be intensively drilling bad habits into your brain.  The
steps are there to save you time; they’re worth following.

Translations

When you’re using an alphabetical list, the translation step (Step 2, above) is pretty easy. But still, it
takes some time and you may not particularly want to do it. If you’re learning one of the languages of
my Kickstarter:

 Spanish
 Italian
 French
 Portuguese
 German
 Russian
 Hebrew
 Arabic
 Mandarin Chinese
 Cantonese
 Japanese
 Korean
 Dutch
  Hungarian

I’ve commissioned and compiled a professional translations of this list, put them into a set of thematic
groups that makes them ~10% easier to memorize and commissioned 90 original illustrations for each
thematic group. I’ve added detailed pronunciation information, gender (when appropriate), counting
words (when appropriate) and occasional notes when a word doesn’t quite translate directly. So if you
want to save yourself ~30-60 minutes of time, then grab one of these translations. [As mentioned
above, you’ll find information about these on the Word Lists page, and you can order them here]
If your langu