Course description

You know the basics of German: now it's time to build on them. This course takes you from simple phrases to connected everyday German: telling someone what you did at the weekend, explaining what's wrong with your washing machine, booking a hotel, seeing a doctor, giving your opinion, and writing a proper email. It teaches standard German as used in Germany, with notes wherever Austria and Switzerland are different.

Every lesson is written in plain English for UK adults, with word and phrase tables, a simple saying guide for every new German word, short dialogues, sentences to read aloud and a practical task. The grammar of the A2 level is explained step by step: the perfect tense, the dative, two-way prepositions, adjective endings in three gentle steps, and the word order of weil and dass.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, and each section ends with a short quiz. You follow Sybella, a furniture restorer from Ludlow, through a twelve-week training placement at a restoration workshop in Leipzig: renting a flat, making friends, a trip to Dresden and a neighbour from Salzburg. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, an answer key, extra practice with answers, word lists as text and spreadsheets, phrase cards, dialogue scripts, flashcards and a grammar sheet, plus a pronunciation guide, verb tables, case, preposition and adjective ending charts, model emails and a printable phrase sheet where they help. The course ends with two final projects, a letter or email and an account of a trip, written in German with model answers.

What you'll learn

• A quick review: the sounds of German and the saying guides, present tense endings, verb second word order, articles and the accusative, and talking about yourself, your work and your studies.
• The perfect tense in full: participles of every kind, haben or sein, separable and inseparable verbs, and telling the story of a weekend.
• The simple past and modal verbs: war and hatte, all the modal verbs in the present and the past, permission, rules, advice and polite requests, and your working day.
• The dative and prepositions: dative articles and pronouns, verbs with the dative, the dative and accusative prepositions, and asking the way.
• Two-way prepositions and the home: Wo? and Wohin?, putting and placing, reading a flat advert, house rules, dealing with a landlord and describing your home.
• Adjective endings, shopping and complaints: adjective endings taught in three gentle steps, shopping for clothes and things for the home, and taking things back politely.
• Comparisons, reflexive verbs and health: comparatives and superlatives, verbs with sich, the doctor's and the pharmacy, and the emergency numbers.
• Linking ideas, phone calls and emails: weil, dass, wenn, als and ob, time, manner and place, making phone calls, and writing formal and friendly emails.
• Plans, opinions, travel and culture: the future with werden, giving opinions, booking trains and hotels, invitations and the weather, festivals, and notes on Austria and Switzerland.
• Review and final projects: a grammar and phrase review, a letter or email and an account of a trip written in German with model answers, common mistakes at A2 and how to keep improving.

Who it's for

Adults who have finished a beginners course in German, or who remember a fair amount from school, and want to move on. It's the next step after German for Beginners: Speak, Read and Understand Everyday German. You should already be able to greet people, introduce yourself and use common verbs in the present tense.

What this course is, and isn't

This is a text-based course with no audio or video: pronunciation is taught with simple written saying guides. It aims at CEFR level A2 but doesn't lead to a qualification or prepare you for a particular exam. It gives language rather than medical, legal or immigration advice, and it doesn't recommend any apps, books or brands. The story and characters are fictional.

What will I learn?

• Talk and write about the past with the perfect tense, choosing haben or sein, and use war, hatte and the modal verbs in the past
• Use separable and inseparable verbs, and all the modal verbs for permission, rules, advice and polite requests
• Use the dative and accusative correctly with articles, pronouns and prepositions, including the two-way prepositions
• Add the right adjective endings, learned in three gentle steps
• Compare things, say what you like most, and use reflexive verbs
• Link your ideas with weil, dass, wenn, als and ob, and follow the order of time, manner and place
• Deal with a landlord, a shop complaint, the doctor's and the pharmacy, and make phone calls
• Write formal and friendly emails, give your opinion, and make, accept and decline invitations
• Book trains and hotels, cope with delays, and talk about the weather, the seasons and festivals, with notes on Austria and Switzerland
• Write a letter or email and an account of a trip in German, and know how to keep improving

Frequently asked questions