General online German courses for everyday German from A1

A general German course follows the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the European scale with six levels from A1 to C2. Goethe-Instituts abroad publish guide values for the number of teaching units it takes to reach each level. A teaching unit lasts 45 minutes, and the values count from zero.

The US Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the State Department's language school, places German in category II. It estimates about 36 weeks and 828 class hours for English speakers to work confidently in German, roughly C1. English and German are both Germanic languages, so many basic words are close relatives, such as house and Haus or water and Wasser.

German pronunciation follows clear rules, and the spelling usually tells you how to say a word. The sounds that need practice are the umlauts ä, ö and ü, the two ch sounds in 'ich' and 'ach', and the r. German w sounds like English v, and z sounds like ts. At the end of a word, b, d and g sound like p, t and k, so 'Hund' (dog) sounds like 'hunt'.

Four grammar topics stay with learners across several levels.

1 Three genders

Every noun has a gender: der Tisch (table), die Lampe (lamp), das Buch (book). Gender follows rules only in part, so you learn each noun with its article.

2 Four cases

The article changes with its role in the sentence, as in 'der Mann' as subject and 'den Mann' as object. These roles are called cases.

3 Verb position

In a main clause the conjugated verb comes second, and in a subordinate clause it moves to the end. Separable verbs split: 'Ich rufe dich morgen an' (I will call you tomorrow).

4 Adjective endings

The ending depends on article, gender and case, as in 'ein guter Wein' and 'mit gutem Wein'. Many learners practise these endings up to B2.

False friends add a further trap. 'Gift' means poison, 'Chef' means boss, 'Handy' means mobile phone and 'also' means so or therefore.

A general course trains listening, reading, writing and speaking along a fixed syllabus. A conversation course usually expects A2, the second of the six CEFR levels, and gives you more speaking time.

People who live in Germany can also join the integration course of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). It combines 600 teaching units of German with a 100-unit orientation course on law, history and culture and ends with the German test for immigrants (DTZ). Approved providers also run it as a live online course with fixed times.

German has an unusually large range of free and subsidised courses. Check them before you pay for a course.

Deutsche Welle is Germany's international public broadcaster. A language exchange pairs you with a German speaker by video call, half the time in German and half in English.

Learn standard German first, even if you plan to move to Switzerland or Austria. All exams use standard German, and an ear for Swiss German or Bavarian comes later, on site.

Children and teenagers can take exams with age-appropriate topics. The Goethe-Institut recommends Fit in Deutsch 1, an A1 exam, from age 10. Fit in Deutsch at A2 and the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 for young people are recommended from age 12, and the B2 youth version from age 15. telc offers telc Deutsch A1 Junior and school versions at A2 and B1.

Online courses for children usually work with shorter sessions than adult courses, with pictures, songs and small groups. Look for a teacher trained in German as a foreign language, a field called DaF (Deutsch als Fremdsprache).

A placement test measures your CEFR level before the course starts. A sample plan of about six hours a week then links the course with daily life.

The two live sessions equal four teaching units. Use them for conversation and correction, because vocabulary and listening work well on your own.