Course description

This course takes you from your very first German words to simple, useful conversations about yourself, your family, your plans and your travels. It's written for adults in the UK who are starting German from scratch, or picking it up again after half-forgotten lessons at school, whether for holidays, family, work or simple curiosity. By the end you'll be at roughly CEFR level A1.

Every lesson is written in plain English, explains each grammar word the first time it appears, and gives a guide to saying every new German word, so you can learn without audio. You'll practise out loud from the start, with short dialogues, sentences to read aloud and a practical task in every lesson. The grammar is kept to what beginners need: the present tense, the verb in second place, the subject and object forms, modal verbs and a first look at the past.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. You follow Violet, a physiotherapist from Chichester, as she learns German to talk to her son's family in Freiburg, practises with a language exchange partner in Austria, and finally makes the trip. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, example answers, extra practice with answers, a word list and flashcards, plus verb tables, a pronunciation guide, role-play scripts and a printable phrase sheet where they help.

What you'll learn

• Getting started: how German sounds, the alphabet, vowels and umlauts, the consonants that surprise English speakers, greetings, du and Sie, and numbers to 20.
• Talking about yourself: the verbs sein and haben, nouns and their genders, der, die, das, ein and eine, plurals, where you're from, jobs and family.
• Everyday verbs and sentences: the present tense, verbs that change their vowel, the verb in second place, questions, saying no with nicht and kein, prices and your age.
• Time, routines and free time: days, months, dates and the time (and why halb vier is 3:30), separable verbs, hobbies, the weather and making arrangements.
• Food, drink and the accusative: the object form in plain words, ordering in a bakery, a café and a restaurant, explaining a food allergy, and market shopping.
• Getting around: places in town, directions, trains and tickets, trams, buses and taxis, and what to say when travel goes wrong.
• Shopping, accommodation and modal verbs: können, müssen, wollen, dürfen, sollen and möchten, clothes shopping, checking in, and sorting out a problem by phone.
• Health, work and a first look at the past: the pharmacy and the doctor, emergencies, your working life, and the perfect tense with haben and sein, war and hatte.
• Real-world German: messages and emails, fast speech and phone calls, when to switch from Sie to du, Austrian and Swiss German, and everyday customs.
• Review and final projects: a grammar and phrase review, your own spoken and written self-introduction, a role-play script to act out, and how to keep learning.

Who it's for

Adult beginners in the UK: complete beginners, and anyone who learned a little German at school and wants a fresh, structured start. It suits travellers to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, people with German-speaking family or friends, and anyone who'd like to learn a new language for its own sake.

What this course is, and isn't

This is a text-based course with no audio or video: pronunciation is taught with simple written guides. It teaches standard German as used in Germany, with notes on Austria and Switzerland. It doesn't lead to a qualification, and it doesn't recommend any apps, books or brands. The story and characters are fictional.

What will I learn?

• Pronounce German confidently, including the umlauts, ch, the German r and the letter ß, using simple written guides
• Greet people, introduce yourself and choose between du and Sie
• Talk about yourself, your family, your work, your hobbies and your daily routine in simple sentences
• Use the present tense, put the verb in second place, ask questions and say no with nicht and kein
• Understand der, die and das and the subject and object forms, explained in plain English
• Use numbers, prices, dates and the time, including how Germans say half past
• Order in a bakery, café and restaurant, explain a food allergy, shop for food and clothes, and pay
• Ask for directions, buy train and local transport tickets, check into a hotel and sort out simple problems
• Use modal verbs for what you can, must, want and would like to do, and talk about the past with the perfect tense
• Write short messages and emails, cope with fast speech and phone calls, and know the main differences in Austria and Switzerland

Frequently asked questions