So, you want to learn German fast? There’s no hiding it, getting really good at German is a big undertaking that takes a lot of time: maybe 350 hours study for a basic, functional “working knowledge” at the “lower intermediate” level (sometimes called “B1”) and at least 600 hours to get even more fluent across a wider range as an “upper intermediate” speaker (B2). It also … [Read more...]
The 50 most common German verbs
Learning the most frequent German words is makes tactical sense when you're starting to learn the language. The most common German verbs - words expressing an action like “to eat” or a state like “to be” - should be at the top of your list. After all, beyond pointing at objects and naming them, you won’t get far in German without some "action"! :) There’s good … [Read more...]
How to remember German noun gender: the ultimate guide
Learning the German noun gender system can be a real headache. In this post, I'm sharing some top tips on how to remember German noun gender. Taken together, the tricks will stack odds of getting the gender right significantly in your favour. The info below will save you time and give you confidence as you power ahead auf Deutsch. Los geht's! So what is all the fuss … [Read more...]