Technology made it much easier to learn a foreign language, and now it’s more convenient and enjoyable than ever. Various software allows learners to understand the new languages without struggling with boring books and heavy dictionaries.
Today, all you need is a smartphone and an Internet connection to access German language apps, blogs, stories, and podcasts. You can watch German online videos, movies, and TV while traveling or when waiting in a line or listen to German music when you want to relax.
But the easiest and most convenient way to learn German is probably using the German learning apps and platforms. You can always fill boring situations with entertaining German courses or fun grammar lessons, which give you the opportunity to learn and keep yourself busy at the same time.
However, there are many apps that may help you learn the German language today – so which one to choose? If you’re uncertain, don’t worry. In the article below, we’ve tried to find the best program to learn German – and listed several apps that offer the best German lessons. Check them out and find something that can boost your language learning process.
Learn German with stories by Readle
1. Readle – Learn German
Well, we wouldn’t put that much work and effort into the Readle – Learn German App if we didn’t feel like it’s one of the best apps for learning German.
Of course, you can get German textbooks, lessons, dictionaries, grammar, and vocabulary anywhere. But at some point, you might ask: How can I naturally, fluently speak and understand German without the need to think about the correct grammar or other rules, yet still master German grammar and pronunciation necessary for my current level?
Do you wish you could just talk to a native German speaker and think about any word they say, so you can remember what the translation was? Would you even like to make them repeat specific, hard words so that you can practice their pronunciation? And at the same time, would you like that person to tell you something important so that you can remember those newly learned words easier as they were put into an interesting context?
But who on earth would have that patience to help you out like that? You might have found out by now that German native speakers are not the most patient people and that a German person who can speak English would often just switch to English because it’s easier for them.
In that case it is important to understand and get as much content as possible from what they say to give them the feeling that you understand. To broaden your knowledge in terms of listening and vocabulary, try Readle. In this language learning app, you’ll get a story in either A1, A2, B1, B2, or C1 level every single day. You can listen to it, read it out loud and talk to a native German speaker about the topic. You can repeat it over and over again, as fast or as slow as you like. At the same time, you can click on each and every word in the story and see its translation according to the context – a powerful feature that not many apps can offer.
But that’s not all. The German grammar used in the story, is presented and explained in the form of a short grammar point, and you also can check your comprehension of the story and the words in a level-based quiz after reading. That’s German courses made easy and interesting!
2. Babbel
Not everyone likes games and colorful layouts. The Babbel app is great for those who don’t like that. It has a very simple design, and it is fast and handy. But most importantly, the app offers interactive dialogues and lessons made by language experts.
If you want to boost your vocabulary, comprehension, listening, and conversation skills, Babbel might be the right tool for you. However, if you want to learn more about German grammar and improve your speaking, or writing skills, you might want to look for another app or German course.
3. Drops
Drops is an interesting and new way to learn languages. It has become one of the fastest-growing language learning apps in the world – and you can see why. The short, engaging games make language learning an amazing and fun part of your daily life. It has a very simple but pleasant design.
This app for learning the German language can be described as an extended flashcard game – it will be perfect, for example, for improving your vocabulary.
4. FluentU
This app uses real-world interactive videos, music, audio, news, movie trailers, inspiring talks, and other media to help immerse you in the German language. Its intention is to help users to speak and understand German naturally while learning about German culture at the same time.
If you ask us, this is one of the most pleasant apps out there, as it’s not only useful when it comes to learning the language but also great for boosting your conversation and listening skills.
5. LingoDeer
LingoDeer fits well for learning a structured language such as German. It has structured materials for beginners as well as advanced learners, so regardless of your current learning level, you will find interesting exercises there.
Various detailed learning and analysis features assist the growth of successful recall and production abilities, which can boost your speaking and conversation skills. LingoDeer also offers a browser version for desktop learning, which can be especially useful if you are not comfortable with a small smartphone screen.
6. Memrise
Memrise is an app that takes a unique approach to education. It employs flashcards as memory aids, but it also uses spaced repetition and mnemonic techniques to improve recall abilities. It also contains tutorials created by native speakers and German language courses.
This app is mostly free, but there is a Pro version that gives you access to the premium content. The price is pretty competitive – only $8.99 USD monthly.
7. Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone’s immersive approach to teaching German distinguishes it from other language apps. Unlike other apps that simply translate English words, this one teaches students to connect words with imagery, sound, text, and video.
This platform uses the language immersion method – which means you won’t hear any English during the course. This works great as all the exercises require you to think more, and your vocabulary is naturally boosted.
But remember that this is a paid app – and its price can seem pretty high when compared with the others – a 3-month subscription is $36, a 6-month subscription is $66, a 12-month subscription is $96, and a 24-month subscription is $144.
8. Anki
The name of the program already tells you what it does: Anki is a Japanese word that means “to repeat.” This app, like Memrise, uses spaced repetition to help students cut down their study time while increasing the amount of information they learn. It also employs flashcards and allows the submission of user-generated content such as photographs, audio, and video.
If you want to learn some new German words, this app might be a great choice.
9. iStart German
iStart is a perfect app for beginners studying German, as the name implies. The app’s 21 lessons advance at a slow pace, but they help you get a detailed understanding of the German language. The app contains a large amount of content aimed at making learning German enjoyable and fun.
If you need to learn how to construct basic sentences in German, or use some essential grammatical rules, make sure to give this software a try.
10. Learn German By MindSnacks
You can learn, read, and speak German while playing games with this app. It includes nine games with various themes such as education, family, and food. Mini-games are used to display vocabulary.
The app also includes audio recordings that can help you make spelling, reading, and oral language development much easier.
11. Wie Geht’s German
The expression “Wie geht’s?” which roughly translates to “How are you?” gives a clue as to what the app does: it teaches students popular German phrases that they can encounter in everyday life. To name a few, there’s social etiquette, greetings, colors, months and seasons, days of the week, food, and describing people.
Of course, this phrase might not give you many exercises for using grammar, but it’s great for learning new German words.
12. Learn German By Bravolol
This website contains a list of frequently used German phrases and vocabulary. The app’s content, which includes phrases such as “I’m good,” “Thank you!”,” “Cool to meet you as well,” “How much,” and “A table for two, please!” makes it an excellent learning platform for beginners and tourists visiting Germany.
13. DeutschAkademie
This app is a robust grammar trainer for learning German. DeutschAkademie is a great choice for students who already know German and want to improve their knowledge of this language – so intermediate and advanced students. It has over 22,000 grammar exercises that are organized according to various learning levels.
14. MosaLingua
MosaLingua, which has over 7 million users worldwide, provides many excellent opportunities to learn a new language quickly and inexpensively. Their team consists of 30 language enthusiasts from various nationalities who have all been in the same boat when it comes to learning a new language.
In this app, you will find excellent tips, tools, and techniques that will help you master the new language with little effort.
15. Langster
Langster is a new language-learning app that, just like Readle, focuses on learning through stories. There, you can read and enjoy news and exciting stories from all over the world that are translated appropriately to your level. All stories are read out loud by native speakers, so you can practice your pronunciation, and there’s always a quiz and grammar points responding to every story. It’s simple, it’s fun, and it might be an amazing resource both for beginners and experienced learners.
Note: For now, the app has only French, but other languages, including German, are going to be added in the near future.
So, What Is the Best Program to Learn German Language?
As you might have noticed, we haven’t mentioned some of the very popular online platforms for learning a foreign language, such as Rocket German or Duolingo. Today, we wanted to focus on the app that can help you with reading, writing, grammar, pronunciation, speaking, listening, and vocabulary practice.
Some of the only courses (such as Rocket German), for example, work as online courses in the first place – so they are not as compact as the apps on our list.
Nevertheless, feel free to give them a try – anything that can help you learn more about the German language is great. Just remember to practice from time to time – after all, no app subscription and no real teacher will help you with learning if you don’t study on your own.