This German tutorial will give you a bird's eye view of basic language patterns. Start with reading the grammar notes for a particular pattern. Then study the example sentences. Next, listen to the audio using the synchronized transcript. Listen one more time without looking at the transcript, pausing the audio when necessary. Finally, work on Scrambly puzzles to make sure the pattern and vocabulary are thoroughly understood.

The other important thing is to master the essential words, such as prepositions, link words and pronouns. In English, some verbs combine with adverbs or prepositions, and so change in meaning, for instance 'come' and 'come in'. Such verbs are called phrasal verbs. The nearest equivalent in German is the group of separable verbs, which also consist of two parts: a basic verb plus a prefix (kommen 'come', hereinkommen 'come in', etc.). Link words (and, because, etc.) connect, introduce or explain. In a modern European language there may be more than a quarter of the words we meet on the printed page that are either essential words or pronouns. If we start learning German by committing them to memory and recalling them without prompting, we can avoid wasting a tremendous amount of time.

"Strange to say, people will persist in saying that the principle object of studying a foreign language is to learn to speak it; forgetting that it must be understood before it is spoken. This popular error has given birth to nearly all the methods in vogue." (C. Marcel)

Considering the inner workings and complexities of the process of cognition, the sufficient ease and correctness of communication in a foreign language requires a great amount of effort. Therefore, to achieve our goal, we need to learn to avoid putting unnecessary strain on our attentional and cognitive resources, which, in turn, calls for identifying our learning priorities.

"For the most part, nearly all methods in vogue aim at rapid acquirement of the art of speaking, and of that alone. They break off the chain which connects together the four great objects of a language and resort to processes which are at war with the fundamental principles of language, the laws of our mental organization and the requirements of social intercourse." (C. Marcel)

Listening comprehension indeed may be useful independently of speaking, whereas speaking is useless without being able to understand what is said to us. If we perfectly understand what is said, it will be enough to keep up the conversation or transact business. If we understand the spoken language of the country which we visit, we are enabled form the moment of our arrival, not only to enjoy the company of its inhabitants, but also to improve in speaking, because words and entire phrases are easily retained when the ear distinctly catches and the mind clearly apprehend them. If, on the contrary, we do not clearly comprehend the person who adresses us, all the command of language which we may possess will be unattainable for meaningful communication.

The proficiency in understanding of spoken language can be obtained through working with models. The process of imitating written and spoken patterns lays the foundation for rapidly acquiring the faculty of expressing them spontaneously. Thus, the art of speaking finds infallible elements of success in the practice of reading and listening.

Do not get discouraged if you fail in your first attempts. Let your brain get used to the new challenge. At this point, you have already made the first step toward taming the German Grammar Dragon. It will try and breathe fire at you, but perseverence will prevail and the GGD will submit to your will sooner than you think.

Nothing is well known until it is well understood; and the best way to understand a thing is to put it in practice." (C. Marcel)

Ja, aber Teste holen uns in die Realität zurück! Test how good you are at the German present tense or check out these Vocabulary Tests.

Instead of using rules to put separate words together, native speakers use collocations, or meaningful chunks. For example, English speakers say "strong tea" and "powerful computer" instead of "powerful tea" and "strong computer." Using collocations correctly will make your German sound more natural. Here are some useful collocations, word partners and idioms with Beruf.

In Germany there always seems to be a strong appreciation for the culinary roots. Given many regional differences, it is hard to give even a hint of the variety of traditional German cuisine (deutsche Küche). It takes a lot of ingenuity to create over 1,500 types of sausages, over 600 types of bread and more than 1,200 different types of pastries! How well are you familiar with deutsche Küche? Take this Deutsche Gerichte Quiz to learn about favorites all over Germany.

Although some German idioms can be directly translated into English, many other take time to understand or simply cannot be translated which makes them difficult to learn and understand. Learning an idiom in a relevant and practical sentence will help to remember its meaning easily. But as the old saying goes, "Steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein!" Viel Glück!

Ob eine schwarze Katze Unglück bringt oder nicht, hängt davon ab, ob man ein Mensch ist oder eine Maus. (Unbekannt)

Gefährlich wird es, wenn die Dummen fleißig werden.

Hoffnung ist die Wiese, auf der die Narren grasen.

Je mehr Gesetz, je weniger Recht.

Nur wer gegen den Strom schwimmt, kommt an die Quelle.

Wenn einer sagt, es gehe ihm nicht ums Geld, sondern ums Prinzip, dann geht's ihm ums Geld.

German proverbs - The wit of one, the wisdom of many

Mysteriöse Geheimnisse der Geschichte - Abraham Lincoln (44 min)

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Das britische Empire in Farbe - Zerfall der Kolonialmacht (14 min)

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Piraten - Die größten Freibeuter der Geschichte (41 min)

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Uses of Infinitive | Subordinate Clause of Purpose Subordinate Clause with Damit | Konjunktiv 2 Imperfekt | Konjunktiv 2 Plusquamperfekt | Reported Speech (Present) | Reported Speech (Past) | Conjugation of Common Verbs | Complete List of Irregular Verbs | Practice Grammar Patterns | Listening Comprehension | Idioms & Phrases | Past Perfect Tense | Future Perfect Tense | Overview of German Tenses | Passive Voice


How to Tame the German Grammar Dragon -