Christmas is big in the German-speaking lands and here's your cultural crash course in some wonderful Christmas traditions, many of which have spread throughout the world. Read on and you’ll also kit yourself out with the German Christmas words and phrases you need to throw yourself into the celebrations as a German learner. How do you say Christmas in … [Read more...]
German future tense (Futur I): top dos and don’ts
Das Futur I is the German future tense. You’ll usually first meet die Zukunft, as it’s also known, as you move into the intermediate or B1 level. But how do you form the Futur I correctly and where does it go in the sentence? In this post, you’ll discover all you need to know about the German future tense including common pitfalls you need to avoid to get it … [Read more...]
German listening practice on steroids (neglected technique)
Getting good German listening practice is essential if you want to get fluent. Even if you “know” lots of words and grammar, can read, write and even say quite a lot, listening often seems to lag behind. It’s really frustrating when you still can’t understand your favourite shows or movies. How embarrassing in a live conversation when you can’t catch the responses … [Read more...]
How to learn German fast
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...]
German genitive case: the only guide you’ll ever need
In this example-packed post you’ll discover how to form the German genitive case and what it’s used for. There are some nifty genitive-avoiding workarounds too! Genitive-avoiding? Yep, the first of three good pieces of news about the case is that it’s by far the least-used of German's four cases. Even in higher registers of written German, the … [Read more...]
The German imperfect tense: form and uses made clear
In this post you'll find all you need to know about how to form and use the German imperfect tense (also called the simple past tense or the preterite) or, in German, das Präteritum or das Imperfekt. The imperfect or preterite is one of the three tenses used to talk about the past in German. The others are the perfect and the pluperfect (the "past in the past"). In English, … [Read more...]
Transform your German by Summer 2020?
Are you a German learner who's been learning the language for a while and who's covered a lot of the basics? Are you ready to take focussed action to power yourself up as an "independent user" of the language and transform your German between now and the summer? Over in the Howtogetfluent Email Club, I've been talking to quite a few of you who've reached German "upper … [Read more...]
Happy New Year in three languages…and more
How do you say "Happy New Year" in your target language? It'a question I've had to ask myself as I saw in New Years past in Wales, Germany and Russia. The answers remind me, first, that direct translation is not always the name of the game in language learning. As we explore a few New Year's phrases, we'll get a quick glimpse of some of the linguistic nuts and bolts holding … [Read more...]
The Goethe-Institut German B1 exam explained
If you want the Goethe-Institut German B1 exam clearly explained, you're in the right place. In this post we'll unpick the format of this important "intermediate" German language exam. We'll get clear on just what the B1 test German exam itself involves. That'll help you decide whether it's for you. You'll get a better sense of what you need to achieve to pass this intermediate … [Read more...]