How long does it really take to learn German? The American Foreign Service Institute estimates it takes about 36 weeks of concentrated part-time study for an English-speaker to reach a professional working proficiency in German. This kind of timeline will depend on how focused you are on your language studies. Of course, not everyone has 20 hours a week to devote to language learning. However, one of the keys to making progress with German is to be consistent with your language practice. Even if you don’t have lots of time, do a little every day, whether that’s reading a short news article or watching a couple of TikTok videos in German. That way when your language class comes around, you won’t be completely out of practice.

While German has a reputation for being a hard language to learn, once you start you’ll discover there are some elements that are quite easy to pick up. The spelling, for instance, is very intuitive, particularly when you compare it to spelling in English or French. Those big German words everyone likes to joke about are just small words stuck together – like Legos – to make a bigger word. And they can actually be quite easy to decipher. Once you get some basic grammar down, expanding your vocabulary will really take your German to the next level. Are you wondering how to effectively learn German vocabulary? It takes more than just reading lists of words. Try singing, flash cards, or watching TV, as well as your regular German classes with Lingoda.

In your German language classes with Lingoda, you’ll learn common German phrases for everyday life and work, like discussing the weather, ordering in restaurants, expressing opinions, writing emails and letters, and explaining your past work experience and education. In small online classes, you can ask questions about how to sound like a native speaker when you’re in the bakery asking for Brötchen, or how to respectfully ask your elderly neighbor which is the plastics recycling bin.

Some of the most common German phrases are:

• Hallo (Hello)
• Wo finde ich…? (Where do I find…?)
• Wie viel kostet das? (How much does this cost?)
• Tschüss (Bye)
• Bitte (Please)
• Danke (Thanks)
• Entschuldigung (Excuse me)

Learning German online is easier than attending a language class in person. You can eliminate commuting to the language school, which makes fitting classes into your schedule much easier. It’s not always easy to find good, native-speaking German teachers locally, but when you’re learning online, you have a much wider selection of teachers to choose from. In a large, in-person language class, it’s tempting to sit at the back and avoid speaking. In a small online class, like the ones offered with Lingoda, there’s no hiding! You will get more effective practice in speaking and conversing and more direct feedback from your teacher and classmates.

Germany has the largest economy in Europe, and the fourth largest in the world, which translates to many career opportunities where speaking German would be an advantage. Not only that, but six countries in Europe have German as their official language, and 10 more recognize it as a minority language. Join the hundreds of millions of people who speak German worldwide, and experience the wide range of literature, film and art of the German-speaking world.

Busy work schedules and family responsibilities can make it very difficult to get to a German language class regularly. This doesn’t mean you can’t learn German! With Lingoda’s flexible online classes, you can fit in a class early in the morning before everyone is awake, at lunchtime, or between meetings. It’s really tempting to skip an evening class after work, but if you could do it from your kitchen table, it makes it much more likely you will actually attend it regularly.

Have you just moved to Germany or Switzerland and are looking for a German course for work or to settle in? Visit our pages on German courses in Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Basel and Zurich.