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In short:
📚 3 common pitfalls: articles, verb position, separable verbs
🧠 Brain training included: Learning German challenges your brain – and keeps it healthy.
🏃♂️ Practice actively, don’t just read: Speak German every day – a little, but consistently.
🌱 Think in German, not translation: Focus on German, not English translations.
🎵 Learn with fun: Music, songs & tools make German memorable and easy to learn.
In our article “Is German hard to learn? Not If You Avoid These 3 Common Mistakes” we discussed how certain mental blocks can make learning German seem difficult.
In this article, we focus on linguistic and everyday strategies you can use to make learning German easier.
Learning German: 3 Features You Should Know
There are a few linguistic phenomena in German that are simply unique. They don’t exist in most other languages. Here are 3 that stand out:
1. German has 3 articles: der, die, and das. These articles have different forms:
- der, den, dem, des (masculine)
- die, die, der, der (feminine)
- das, das, dem, des (neuter)
🔎 Difficulty: You need to learn the correct article for each noun. Additionally, you need to know when to use the different forms.
💡 Tip: Read our blog post about the rules when to use which article and do the 3-level test. It will help you a lot understanding the principle behind the articles: Deutsche Artikel-Regeln: DER, DIE, DAS – Jeder kann sie lernen. Die 5 Top-Tipps! (currently only in German)
2. Verb position
- The conjugated verb is in position 2: Heute gehe ich … – Not: Heute ich gehe…
- OR at the end: Ich kann leider nicht kommen, weil ich krank bin. – Not:…, weil ich bin krank.
🔎 Difficulty: The positions are not intuitive. In many other languages, the verb is in a different position, which people often automatically transfer to German.
3. German has separable verbs
- anmachen: Ich mache den Computer an. (I turn the computer on.)
- ausmachen: Ich mache den Computer aus. (I turn the computer off.)
- aufmachen: Ich mache das Fenster auf. (I open the window)
- zumachen: Ich mache das Fenster wieder zu. (I close the window.)
🔎 Difficulty: The verb “machen” has a different meaning with each prefix “an, aus, auf, zu.” And in German, there are many such verbs.
💡 Note: Just because these features are unique doesn’t make German particularly difficult. Every language has such peculiarities. English does too, by the way. I know people who can’t speak English and find it very hard.
Learning German becomes much easier if you follow these 4 things
Learning German becomes much easier if you follow these 4 things
- Consistency BEFORE intensity – short, regular learning sessions are more effective than long but irregular ones.
- Integrate German into your daily life – once you’ve learned a sentence or a word in German, use it immediately in everyday situations. Think about when you can apply what you’ve just learned in conversation. This way, German becomes normal for you and can gradually, but steadily, take root in your brain.
💡 Note: It’s like building muscles. You need to train regularly: better short, consistent sessions than long, intense sessions you only do occasionally. The brain works like a muscle: your “German nerves” grow stronger through regular practice. That’s how German becomes “strong” in your mind.
✅ Learn 2-5 new words every day
Learning 5 new words per day is no big deal – and it’s easier if it’s part of your everyday life. You could start with words related to food.
Write down products in German on your next supermarket visit (e.g., pasta, cheese, meat). Take photos and say the words aloud in connection with the photos. Say them while cooking and eating with someone. Once you feel more confident, make short sentences with the words.
✅ Avoid writing the English translation next to the German word
Always keep your focus on German.
Cover the English translation while learning. Only check it to verify. Even then: don’t say the English word aloud. 🌱 If you do, you override the German, which is just starting to grow in your mind like a small plant.
💡 Important: Say the German word aloud, don’t just read it silently.
✅ Speak German at least once a day
The more you practice speaking, the easier it becomes – guaranteed! So: speak German at least once a day to someone. You overcome the hurdle by practicing. Promise!
Wondering how to do this if you don’t know the language yet? My tip: start on day 1 with the simple greeting “Hallo, wie geht’s?” On the next day, try to say something else. And on the day after, say something new again.
💡 Conclusion: Always actively use what you’ve learned. That’s what “speaking” really means! If you don’t actively speak, you only learn German passively. Then spontaneous conversations will always be difficult, and the learning process takes longer.
✅ Don’t understand? Perfect, now learning begins!
If you could understand it, you wouldn’t need to learn it, right?
So don’t get discouraged if you don’t understand something. You DON’T have to understand it in order to learn it later. That’s how learning works.
Step 1: If you don’t understand something: don’t panic! Ask for clarification. You can say “Wie bitte?” If you still don’t understand, ask the person to write it down. Then you can translate it.
Step 2: You can also ask the person to SHOW you what they mean (e.g., with pantomime or objects). If you still don’t understand, you can also do nothing. Understanding will come. If not immediately, then a little later. Even if it’s hard to accept that you don’t understand something, the world doesn’t end. In such a situation, you could simply respond: “Sorry, I don’t understand you. But that’s okay.”
Step 3: If the person also speaks English or your mother tongue, they might translate it. The important thing is to always come back to German. Write the sentence down, read it repeatedly. Don’t read the English sentence.
⚠️ WARNING! You will quickly get used to translating and want the other person to always translate everything immediately. That keeps you in your comfort zone, which is easy for your brain and your nerves, because your German nerves lie down and go to sleep. You may feel comfortable, but your German… well, it won’t progress. English will always dominate your mind.
We feel more comfortable when something is easy. That’s normal. But comfort for the brain is like stagnation. Nothing happens. No new connections, no growth. Your brain needs challenges to stay alert and flexible.
Studies show that challenging your brain actively benefits your mental health. The Frankfurter Rundschau ran an article „Forscher entwickeln Anti-Alzheimer Programm für zu Hause“ (Researchers Develop Anti-Alzheimer Program for Home Use). It explains that mental activity can be a real protective factor.
And you know what? Learning a foreign language is ideal for that. You challenge your brain, build new structures, and keep it flexible. So it’s not just learning German – it’s also brain training.
These 4 tools help you if you want to learn German
There’s a lot of material for learning German. How can you find the best for you? Here are my top tips
1. Extradeutsch
The YouTube soap shows everyday life in a funny way and plays with clichés. Easy enjoyment from beginner level. Enjoy!
- Extradeutsch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6khA8eZaD4
2. Deutschtrainer / Nicos Weg
On the Deutsche Welle websites, there’s a wealth of online materials you can use – whether on the train or on the couch as a German snack. Fun and time-filling:
- Deutsche Welle Deutschtrainer: https://learngerman.dw.com/en/deutschtrainer/c-56705009
- Deutsche Welle Nicos Weg: https://learngerman.dw.com/de/nicos-weg/c-365196
3. Grammar
The book titled Grammar sounds dry at first. I still recommend it because grammar is the framework of a language. Learn it correctly from the beginning, and you save yourself a lot of work at higher levels:
- Grammatik leicht: https://shop.hueber.de/de/reihen-und-lehrwerke/deutsch-grammatik-leicht.html
- Grammatik aktiv: https://www.cornelsen.de/reihen/grammatik-aktiv-deutsch-als-fremdsprache-120002420000
4. Lieder
If you like music, definitely use this helpful tool to learn German. There are many German bands and musicians. Music and language are processed in many areas of the brain. That means your brain is highly active when you combine both. Listen to a song multiple times with the lyrics, sing along, memorize the text.
- Kabarettist, Chanson: Bodo Wartke
- Rock / Punk-Rock: die Toten Hosen
- Pop: Mark Forster
- Pop, Rap, R&B: Namika
And of course, there’s much more.
💡 Important: Choose the music you like best.
Is German really difficult to learn? My personal assessment
German has its peculiarities, yes. But every language does. I don’t find German difficult to learn.
Some languages are harder to learn and speak. 4 examples:
- In English, only about 10% of words are pronounced as they are written. For many, that’s a real hurdle.
- Italian has 5 past tenses, Spanish and French have 4. German has only 3.
- Russian has 6 cases, Finnish 15. German has only 4.
💡 My tip: Accept German as it is. It makes learning much easier. And you can learn these tricky German articles. Promise 💚!
How to learn the articles: Deutsche Artikel-Regeln: DER, DIE, DAS. Jeder kann sie lernen. Die 5 Top-Tipps! (Currently only in German) Mit Artikel-Test!
Learn German now in Frankfurt am Main
If you feel: “Yes, I want to actively learn German, practice regularly, and really challenge my brain,” the next step is clear.
At SprachPassion – your language Institute in Frankfurt am Main – you can do exactly that. Our courses adapt to your daily life – whether in the morning, evening, or intensive over several days.
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