How to learn German? Resources, methods, and study plan

0:00 hey guys welcome to my channel

0:01 this is Zoe, a language enthusiast who speaks seven languages

0:05 I’m doing a bi-national PhD in sociology

0:08 between France and Germany now

0:10 based in Frankfurt

0:11 today I’m super excited to make this

0:13 video for this channel's old friends

0:15 you know I’ve been focusing on studying German recently

0:19 since I move here

0:20 I’ve discovered and tried a lot of resources and used

0:24 all my ultimate language learning methods

0:27 to quickly improve my German

0:29 I would love to share them with you in this video

0:31 let me briefly

0:32 tell you about my German learning journey

0:34 I’ve been learning German for three years

0:37 but with many interruptions

0:39 I studied A1 on my own

0:41 then went to the Goethe institute in Egypt for my A2 class

0:45 and I continued on my own to B1 then I took intensive

0:49 courses at the university here

0:52 and now I’m studying C1 on my own

0:55 language schools, books, websites

0:58 online lessons, YouTube channels, podcasts, tandem partner

1:02 anything you can imagine I’ve tested different methods

1:05 this video will be structured

1:07 by learning resources for the different levels

1:10 I won't just give you a list but select the best one

1:14 I will also tell you how I use them and their pros and cons

1:18 this video will be perfect for you

1:20 if you are just starting to learn German

1:22 you are lucky or hitting a plateau after an intermediate level

1:27 and at the end of each level

1:29 I will give you my two hour study plan template

1:32 please hit the like button

1:34 if you like this video and find it helpful

1:36 is the best way to support me

1:38 if you have any questions

1:40 leave comment

1:41 so let's get into the video

1:43 ah please remember to subscribe to my channel

1:51 for someone who's just starting to learn German I suggest

1:55 focusing on one learning resource

1:57 a maximum of two if you have more time

2:00 otherwise

2:01 you will be confused and overwhelmed by all the new information

2:05 during this period you will be learning all the basic

2:08 but essential things of a language

2:10 so you need to absorb everything

2:13 review and repeat enough to build a solid foundation

2:16 if you are not a self learner or need more

2:18 guidance or interaction

2:20 you might ask me if you should attend a language school

2:25 Goethe is very good

2:26 and reliable if you can find it in your country

2:29 and the material and the teachers are good

2:31 but the problem is that they have a fixed schedule

2:34 I remember I was in Egypt

2:36 our intensive lessons were three hours daily between five pm

2:41 eight pm

2:42 we had a lot of homework if you missed one class

2:46 you must catch up

2:47 there are also excellent online German courses my favorite

2:50 platform is lingoda

2:52 they have their own lessons that target vocabulary

2:55 grammar and communication

2:58 the content is interesting and useful

3:00 for A1 level they have practical topics

3:02 I can manage in German classes

3:04 I can introduce myself in German

3:07 I can give personal details in German

3:10 I can order a coffee in German

3:13 you can take private

3:14 lesson or small group lessons the teachers are all native

3:17 speakers of German

3:19 one of my favorite things about Lingoda is its flexibility

3:23 compared to traditional

3:25 language school you have a lot of time options

3:27 if you miss a lesson

3:28 you can join another group on another date

3:32 this is super convenient if you have a

3:34 busy study or work schedule like me

3:37 another thing I encourage you to try is their sprint challenge

3:41 if you take a lesson every day for sixty days

3:44 you can get one hundred percent cash back

3:48 in sixty days you can already finish A1.1

3:51 or even A1.2 lessons you can already have a good base

3:55 you can also take a lesson

3:57 every two days to receive fifty percent cashback

4:00 if you are interested in Lingoda or this challenge

4:03 please use the link in the description box

4:06 You can get the discount code from Zoe

4:08 one of the learning resources I use

4:09 is Nico's weg

4:11 the free online course is provided by Deutsche Welle

4:14 a German international public broadcaster

4:16 I’ve talked about it

4:18 in several of my videos and is the main resource I use up to

4:22 B1 level

4:23 but here I would

4:23 like to explain how to use this platform more effectively

4:27 for each lesson there's a short video

4:31 for the first

4:32 three or five lessons

4:33 just follow the exercises

4:34 directly since you have yet to learned about this language

4:38 when you are done go back to the video

4:40 rewrite the script

4:41 don't be lazy for this step

4:43 then you can read a grammar

4:45 and vocabulary list at the end of the video

4:48 don't rush to learn too much for this step

4:50 but focus on digesting everything you learn

4:54 I highly recommend Anki

4:55 Goethe Deck

4:57 from A1 to B1

4:58 for vocabulary learning

5:00 you can simply search and download that on Anki

5:03 there are words examples and pronunciation you can learn

5:07 ten to twenty new words per day

5:10 if you want to build your deck

5:11 remember to never write down a word

5:14 but always add an example sentence

5:16 you will remember the words better in context

5:19 another important tool is a Dictionary

5:21 especially the conjugation Dictionary

5:24 I recommend Reverso

5:25 because you can save

5:26 new words in your favorites and review them

5:30 directly

5:31 with the application they have a spaced repetition feature

5:35 start building your word bank with one application

5:39 I don't recommend Google translate to be honest

5:41 even it's super handy

5:43 you can save words but they don't have a review feature

5:48 also start doing conjugation exercises

5:50 after you learn the basic tenses and build a list

5:54 of verbs in an Excel sheet or a notebook

5:56 you can watch this video to learn how I take smart notes

6:01 here is a two hour study plan template

6:04 that will allow you to cover all the skills

6:07 listening writing

6:08 speaking reading grammar and vocabulary

6:11 A two level the main resource Nico's Weg or lingoda's lessons

6:16 you can do both

6:17 or target your weaknesses with lingoda lesson if you have time

6:21 for example a lesson with Nico's Weg by yourself

6:25 a communication or speaking lesson with lingoda group lesson

6:31 if you want to target your grammar

6:33 you can try the Grammatik Aktiv A1-B1

6:38 I recommend using this book at this level

6:40 because they mix exercises from different level A1 A2 B1

6:45 the best way to revise A1 grammar and prepare for B1

6:50 An exercise that was super helpful for my pronunciation was

6:54 to follow a short article with Narichtenleicht

6:57 this is the German website where you

7:00 can find short news with slow speed audio

7:03 there are transcripts and you can change the speed

7:06 they are difficult for the A1 level but perfect for A2 level

7:10 to practice your pronunciation

7:12 increase your vocabulary

7:13 and build good shadowing habits and skills

7:16 which gonna be super useful after

7:24 for listening comprehension

7:26 you can start listening to songs podcast

7:28 or watch videos

7:30 you can check out YouTube channel

7:31 Easy German I like their content

7:34 the topics are interesting and

7:36 there are a lot of colloquial expressions it

7:38 it's also a good way to discover German culture and society

7:42 their podcast is also excellent

7:44 but I recommend it for the B1 level

7:47 for the podcast you can listen to

7:49 Deutsch podcast

7:50 they have content for different levels or sometimes you have the

7:54 grammar lessons at this level

7:57 don't try to understand everything is impossible just listen

8:00 while you walk or do housework you have

8:03 enough intensive listening exercises

8:05 with a central learning resource language lessons Nico's Weg

8:09 so a focus point and

8:11 other complimentary things to help you gradually

8:14 build the immersion environment

8:16 is the point of this period

8:19 if you start to find a

8:20 Tandem exchange partner at this level

8:23 please focus more on the pronunciation

8:26 so here is the two our study plan template for

8:29 level

8:30 A2

8:31 B1 a fundamental level if you want to see more progress

8:35 it's time to challenge yourself

8:37 Nico's Weg and Lingoda still work

8:39 but for the shadowing exercise, Narichtenleicht will be too easy

8:44 you can try the website news in slow German

8:47 with the speed of one to one point five

8:50 the topics and vocabulary are more complicated

8:53 and I highly recommend the easy German podcast for this level

8:58 listen to it when you have time

9:00 this was my main listening resource for this level

9:04 I used to listen to it with a transcript

9:06 when I go out I listen to the same podcast again while walking

9:11 and I try to remember all the new words I just learned

9:16 I think it's really good way to revise the vocabulary

9:20 for this level you have a lot of good podcasts from Deutsche Welle

9:23 like Das sagt man so

9:24 Deutsche im Alltag

9:26 you can also start listening to audio books before going to bed

9:30 you can simply type the title in höchbuch

9:33 after this book on YouTube

9:35 keep listening to Easy German podcast and

9:38 start watching vlogs in German

9:40 I don't really have favorite German vloggers sorry

9:44 uh I’m more into documentaries and serious topics like news but

9:49 I used to type in 'der Vlog' and watch whatever I could find

9:54 but I only watch videos with cc subtitles

9:56 to check the words quickly

9:58 now you can talk about many things at this level so

10:01 think and talk to yourself

10:03 only in German

10:04 if you want to know more about this technique

10:07 I call it like language learning hack

10:09 you can watch this video five golden habits of language learning

10:14 if you have a Tandem exchange partner

10:17 try talking about more complicated topics like a book a movie

10:22 it's time to step out of your comfort zone

10:24 here is my two hour study plan template

10:28 B2 C1 level finally my favorite

10:31 level

10:32 I have a lot to share if you are at this level congratulation

10:36 you are ready to enter a new intellectual world

10:40 many friends have written to me asking how to break the plateau

10:45 hmm even increase the intensity by increasing your study time

10:49 per day

10:50 per week giving yourself more tasks

10:53 or increasing your focus and

10:55 maximizing the effect of each learning session

10:59 plus immersion

11:02 the strategy for this level is

11:04 different from A1 to B1

11:07 where you need to cut back on resources to

11:09 quickly build a language solid structure

11:13 without too much confusion

11:14 so the classic study

11:17 take notes and review plan is more appropriate for that level

11:21 but for the B2 C1 level

11:23 you need to expose yourself to the language as much as possible

11:29 and you don't need to take notes and review all the time

11:32 because it's too overwhelming and not effective

11:35 so apart from the exercises in grammar book

11:39 Grammatik Aktiv

11:40 B2 to C1 I really like the exercises inside

11:44 I separate

11:45 the resources into two categories and two objectives

11:50 everyday life

11:51 an academic or professional life

11:54 even if you already have a B1

11:55 and B2 level and know a lot of complicated words

12:00 my experience in Germany told me

12:02 this doesn't mean that you can speak fluently with Germans and

12:06 understand them

12:07 because there are many colloquial expressions

12:10 and they just speak so fast

12:12 so to improve understanding expression in everyday life

12:16 the primary resources are German movies and series

12:20 the easy German podcast is too easy for this level

12:23 even I really like them

12:25 here is a list of German movies and series that I recommend

12:29 Zoe always

12:30 tries to give you concrete and useful things

12:33 so remember to give me a like for my effort

12:36 academic or professional German

12:38 I want to talk about it for two hours

12:42 nah next time so I watch ZDF Heute Narichten

12:45 Tagesschau

12:48 while having breakfast is my favorite routine

12:52 I can learn what's happening in Germany and the world

12:55 allowing me to talk with my friends and colleagues

12:58 I like Mr.Wissen to go Geschihte for historical topics

13:03 I watch documentaries on ARTE my favorite channel

13:06 using your targets

13:07 language to watch

13:08 contents that really interest you is so satisfying

13:12 I save any new words in the video in my Reverso

13:16 read and go through the list quickly after learning sometimes I do a

13:21 revision at the end of the week

13:23 I don't use anki too much for this level

13:25 because I will just repeat and memorize the world

13:28 in an immersion environment

13:30 podcast

13:30 I listen to Lanz und Precht for political and social topics

13:34 and I have a Soziopod

13:36 for philosophical and sociological topics

13:39 you don't have to copy me the point is to

13:42 look for the podcast in your own field

13:44 and listen to it as much as possible Instagram

13:48 hmm I followed Tagesschau

13:50 Spiegelmagazin

13:52 as well as a bunch of German influences in cooking

13:56 exercise and other domains

13:59 I would love to say

13:59 a few words about Tagesschau's Instagram page is amazing

14:03 especially the update am Morgen

14:05 which sum up the news of every day

14:08 every time I open my Instagram I just read the

14:11 headlines to feel

14:13 less guilty that I use so much social medias

14:16 I say that ah I can learn a bit of German

14:19 and I’m starting to read

14:21 papers in German it's still really hard for me

14:24 but I will just read a page or two

14:28 a day out loud

14:39 I believe if I keep doing that and build up enough vocabulary,

14:43 I will read faster and faster.

14:45 I have the exact same feeling with my French

14:49 as I finished my DALF exam

14:51 I started my master's class I could only

14:53 understand twenty to thirty percent

14:56 I remember we had to read

14:58 Michel Foucault it was the nightmare, a French philosopher

15:03 at that time it took me four hours to read five pages

15:09 after two or three months and one year

15:11 with a lot of a daily reading

15:13 I now have no problem reading this kind of books in French

15:17 so I always encourage myself when I feel

15:20 stuck or frustrated in German learning

15:23 I will just tell myself

15:24 stick to your daily routine you will get there

15:27 and practice makes perfect as they say in German

15:30 No master has yet fallen from the sky

15:33 yeah a little motivation at the end of the video

15:36 and here is my two hour study plan template for

15:41 B2 C1 level

15:43 I hope this video can help you

15:45 even just a little inspiration it means a lot to me

15:48 please feel free to write me in comments if

15:51 you have any questions

15:52 it would be lovely if you could give me a

15:55 like and subscribe to my channel

15:57 so see you soon guys bye