How to Use

Learning German on German From Day One is simple: follow each day's instructions carefully. The most crucial part of your learning will always be input: reading, listening, watching, and absorbing as much German as you can, consistently.

First, Learn How German Sounds

German is written in the Latin alphabet, with four extra letters (ä, ö, ü and ß) and a few letter groups. Its spelling is fairly regular: once you know what the letters stand for, you can read most words aloud, even ones you've never seen. Take a few minutes with this before Day 1.

These are the letters that surprise English speakers:

Vowels are long or short, and it changes the word. A vowel is long when it is doubled (Tee, tea), followed by h (fahren, to drive) or before a single consonant (Tag); it is usually short before two consonants, especially a doubled one (Bett, bed). So Staat (state) and Stadt (town), or Miete (rent) and Mitte (middle), sound different. An h after a vowel is silent: it only makes the vowel long.

Every noun starts with a capital letter, wherever it is in the sentence: der Hund, das Haus, die Freundin. The polite Sie (you) has a capital too, which tells it apart from sie (she, they).

Most words are stressed on the first syllable: Vater, arbeiten. The prefixes be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer- and ent- are never stressed, so the stress moves to what follows: bezahlen (to pay), verstehen. Many words from other languages are stressed at the end: Musik, Hotel, Universität.

A good free place to see more: Omniglot: German language, alphabets and pronunciation. You don't need to know any rules by heart. Once you can sound out a word slowly, you're ready.

Why Input Matters Most

Traditional language learning tries to make you speak before you're ready, forcing you to memorize grammar rules or drill vocabulary out of context.

But when you're pushed to speak too early, you're often just guessing, making mistakes, and creating bad habits. Instead, our method emphasizes constant exposure to natural, understandable German, similar to how children learn their first language.

Required Reading: Input - what it is and why you need it

Daily Lessons: How to Use Them

Each day's lesson comes with clear instructions: simply follow along step by step. If you've comfortably finished a day's content, it's perfectly fine to continue to the next lesson. But don't rush, and take breaks if you're tired. Enjoying the process is crucial; if you don't, burnout is inevitable.

Using a Lesson Page

Every lesson is one short conversation: the situation under the title, then each line in German with its English translation. These settings help as you go:

• Hide English covers the translations with soft bars so you can test yourself. Tap a covered line to peek at it.
• Word hints: point at a German word (or tap it) to see which English words it means, and the other way round. With Hide English on, it uncovers just that word.

Audio recordings are on the way. When a lesson gets its recording, its page will play the whole dialogue or any single line, repeat lines, slow them down, and offer a listen-only mode.

On a computer, the keyboard works too: E hides or shows the English, and the ← → arrows go to the previous or next day.

When you've finished a lesson, press Mark as done. Your progress is saved in your browser (no sign-up), and the course page and the menu then show where you left off. If you spot a mistake in a line, press the small flag next to it to tell us.

Du or Sie? Part of Every Lesson

German has two ways of talking to someone. Family, friends, children and most young people say du to each other, as in Hast du Zeit? ("Do you have time?"), and ihr to a group of them. Strangers, customers and staff, and adults who don't know each other well use the polite Sie, for one person or many: Haben Sie Zeit? Get it wrong and you sound rude, or oddly stiff.

German doesn't show who is talking in its verbs, but it often does in its nouns: a man says Ich bin Lehrer ("I'm a teacher") and a woman Ich bin Lehrerin. You don't need to study the rules. Each lesson's situation says who the speakers are and how they know each other, and across the course you meet every combination: women and men, children and teenagers, parents and grandparents, bosses, customers and old friends. Notice how they speak to each other, and the right forms will start to feel natural, the same way they do for Germans.

Maximizing Your Input

Your goal is simple: get as much input as possible. This doesn't mean just focused study; it means immersing yourself in German as often as you can, even passively. Listen to German podcasts, YouTube videos, films or series while you walk, exercise, cook, or commute.

AJATT famously emphasizes this: passive listening helps your brain get accustomed to German sounds, making the language feel natural over time. In our resources section, you'll find podcasts and channels to keep your input levels high.

Enjoy the Process and Avoid Burnout

Learning a language should be enjoyable. If you're feeling exhausted, slow down. Remember, this isn't just about learning German; it's about getting used to German. Meeting German every day, even passively, makes it part of your daily life. Eventually, it becomes natural, comfortable, and even part of your identity.

If you consistently engage with the language through input, you'll soon find yourself thinking in German. When you've had enough exposure, the desire to speak will naturally emerge, and you won't need to force it. It'll come as naturally as breathing.

Don't Give Up: We're Always Here

Learning German is a journey, not a race. If life gets in the way and you take a break, that's fine. We'll always be here. Simply come back whenever you're ready, pick up exactly where you left off, and keep going.

Trust the process, keep reading and listening, keep reviewing, and above all, enjoy yourself. German will become a natural part of your life before you know it.

If this free course has helped you in your German journey, please consider supporting the project. It's a one-person effort, and even small contributions help keep it running and free for everyone.