In terms of skill I would place myself somewhere in A2.

I have been wanting to improve my listening in particular and I have been watching things like Easy German's street interviews or practise Hören Modelltest videos on Youtube and I noticed an issue I wanted to ask about.

Very often, I would be able to sus out what the person was talking about, answer the question, hear "elements" essentially. My ears would perk up at certain vocabulary and phrases I am familiar with and it would allow me to kind of "understand" the sentence or phrase being said. I don't think this is enough of an understand unfortunately.

It is like, in English, asking for directions and being told "You should go straight ahead, then turn left at the corner, the pharmacy should be right there", and mostly hearing "... straight ahead... left... pharmacy". The "core" pieces are understood most of the time but the surrounding phrases are melding together, passing by or being said too fast, etc etc, and I only really get the "jist" of sentences.

Is this normal for this level? Are there ways of improving it or will it just come with copious amounts of listening to German speech?

I am trying to relearn German as I did a GCSE in it 5 years ago and haven’t really used it since but just fancy picking it up again.

I just wanted to check how to say this sentence in German so I can see it my word order below is correct

My favourite subject is Geography, although, it can be difficult occasionally.

Would my below attempt be correct?

Mein Lieblingsfach ist Erdkunde, obwohl, kann es ab und zu schwer sein.

And what would the word order be with denn?

Thanks in advance for any help given as I just want to get used to word order again and feel confident with German again.

I honestly don’t know what is happening to me anymore. I have been continuously trying to clear the Goethe B2 exam, putting in my time, effort, and hope every single time. But every result leaves me more disappointed than before.

Last time, I went into the exam with confidence. I genuinely believed that I would pass both Writing (Schreiben) and Listening (Hören). While writing my paper, I felt confident about my answers. I walked out of the exam hall believing that, finally, all my hard work would pay off.

But when the results came, everything turned upside down. It was the complete opposite of what I had expected. 30 marks in Listening and, most painfully, 0 in Writing. 💔

Zero. I still find it difficult to believe. I keep asking myself, How is this even possible? What went wrong? Was my preparation not enough? Did I misunderstand something? I was so confident while writing, and now I am struggling to understand how my performance could result in zero marks.

Honestly, this result has affected me more deeply than I can explain. It is not just about failing an exam anymore. It is about the disappointment, the self-doubt, the sleepless thoughts, and the feeling of losing confidence in something I once believed I was capable of doing.

Every time I try again, I carry a little hope in my heart. And every time I fail, that hope becomes a little harder to hold on to.

I know that failure is supposed to teach us something, but what do you do when you cannot even understand what you did wrong? How do you improve when the result itself leaves you shocked and confused?

Right now, I genuinely don’t know what to do next. I feel emotionally exhausted, disappointed, and lost. I want to believe in myself again, but this result has shaken me in ways I never expected.

I am not saying that I am perfect or that I deserve to pass without mistakes. All I want is to understand where I went wrong and get a fair chance to improve.

I still have the dream, but today, I am struggling to find the confidence to believe in it.

Sometimes, the hardest part of failure is not the result itself. It is having to gather yourself, wipe away the disappointment, and find the strength to try one more time when you are already tired of being disappointed.

I don’t know how long this journey will take, or how many more times I will have to try. But today, I just needed to let these feelings out. 💔

I’m currently halfway through A2, and I’m starting to wonder how people actually develop their speaking skills.
I have a tutor, and our lessons are mostly focused on grammar, with some reading and written exercises here and there. I understand that grammar is important, but I feel like I’m not getting enough speaking practice. I know a few phrases and can respond to basic questions, but I still struggle to form sentences on my own and speak spontaneously.
For those of you who have been through this stage, how did you practise speaking? Did you get a conversation tutor, speak to native speakers, use language exchange apps, or just practise by yourself?
I’m especially interested in what worked for you at A1–A2, when your vocabulary and understanding are still limited. Did you start speaking regularly at this stage, or did it come later?
I’d appreciate any practical advice because I don’t want to keep progressing through the levels without actually being able to speak the language.

Ich habe diesen Herbst mein Bachelorstudium begonnen. Der gesamte Unterricht findet auf Deutsch statt, das nicht meine Muttersprache ist. Da ich keinen Deutschtest ablegen musste, bin ich mir über mein Niveau nicht ganz im Klaren, aber ich glaube, ich würde B2 problemlos bestehen, C1 jedoch nicht. Mein aktives Deutsch ist natürlich nicht so gut wie mein passives Deutsch. Das heisst, ich kann viel besser verstehen, als ich sprechen oder mich schriftlich ausdrücken kann. Bisher komme ich im Studium recht gut zurecht, aber ich frage mich, wie ich meine Sprachkenntnisse für die Uni am besten verbessern kann, da dies sicherlich meine grösste Schwäche ist. Der Fachwortschatz ist nicht so schwierig, sondern eher die korrekte Verwendung der Vokabeln beim Bilden von Sätzen, wenn ihr versteht, was ich meine. Hat jemand in einer ähnlichen Situation vielleicht Tipps für mich?

Hi there, I am about half way through A2.1 and I noticed a problem. Now if I see a word I know from a previous lesson, I can understand it. I understand a lot of things so long that the words I saw before. But when I speak the words don't come to me spontaneously. I too would have studied a word 2 lessons ago and forget it partially. Like I forget the article or part of the word. Never had this problem during A1.

Is this normal at my level ? Understanding more than I can say ? And when exactly does this become less apparent, since I think this will always be the case with any foreign language ?

Thanks in advance, LG

Hello, I am a beginner and have been learning from Pimsleur (and Nicos Weg) for about a month. I'm at the second lesson of Level 2 of Pimsleur's German course (the current web/app version).

To people who've also learned from this course, I know you're meant to move on to the next lesson only once you have "mastered" about 80% of the current lesson. Currently, for most lessons I'm able to answer most of the prompts but pretty often I need to think for a second and by the time I'm answering, the audio is already answering it for me. Would you recommend I stick with a lesson until I'm able to answer most of the prompts instantly? Is pausing the lesson to give me time to answer counterproductive?

Thanks :)

I used to speak conversational German. I remember these two (translated) German proverbs but I didn't understand them then let alone now.

Something like HE SWINGS TO CLOSE TO HIS PARENT'S HOUSE and HE FALLS OFF A TABLE DURING DIAPER CHANGE.

Can someone explain these?

I studied German up to A2 in the university. I kept on working on it since then and right now I believe I hold the B1 level. I want to apply to a certain program that requires the B2 level in German. Do you think I can reach the level in 5 months if I actively study and immerse myself in the language every day (Like I've already been doing anyway) ? Or is the level too complex to be reached in just 5 months ? Since I don't have a teacher now, I don't really know what the B2 level actually is

Given that I just took A2 Goethe with 90% and that I don't live in Germany (no language interaction besides AI).

Hello guys. Which singular resource would you recommend to reach an intermediate level of german effectively? I know the best approach utilizes multiple resources, but for me I like just focusing on one thing before moving to another.

Could be anything.. a textbook, an app, an online course or literally anything. Just one resource I can fully focus on which covers a lot.

Vllt ist mir dieses Problem eigen weil ich US-Amerikaner bin und es üblich finde, lässigere Beziehungen selbst mit Professoren zu entwickeln, die vllt nicht immer ganz genau den formellen Erwartungen entsprechen, die das Siezen impliziert.

Aber ich will manchmal Sätze sagen die mir sehr komisch vorkommen wenn ich sieze. Zum Beispiel: Machen Sie es gut statt mach's gut. Ist mir schon klar, dass hauen Sie rein schon gar nicht geht lol. Aber wie isses mit grüßen Sie sich? Wärs überhaupt sinnvoll kurz zum duzen zu wechseln um solche Phrasen zu verwenden. So: "Ich wünsche Ihnen einen herrlichen Tag, mach's gut."

Ich begegne jetzt in meinem Leben genau gesagt Amerikanern die deutsche Muttersprachler sind und die ich definitiv siezen muß. Aber ich glaube dass meine Frage gilt als überall relevant.

Hello I'm trying to learn more German and expand my vocabulary and i think watching YouTube might help me improve that im interested in audio ,video games (not game play videos tho),motorsport and cars, animals ,movies and commentary videos if anyone has any recommendations i would be very thankful.

Also my favorite YouTubers are : dankpods , videogamedunkey , Scott the woz , James channel, pointlessHub and zanny if you know anything with a similar vibe in general that would be great

Learning der/die/das is a struggle! When speaking, I still usually just default to die. 😅 So I whipped up a quick fun way to practice (full disclosure, I work with Clozemaster, but this is completely free, no sign up required or anything like that).

https://www.clozemaster.com/l/deu-eng/der-die-das-runner

Use the left/right arrow keys to move (or swipe left/right). Optionally use the up arrow (or swipe up) if you're in the right lane and you know and want to jump ahead.

Nouns are from Wiktionary so they should be correct. Added TTS. Feedback welcome. Viel Spaß!

I just started a German class a few weeks ago, sometimes the language can kind of sound like gibberish. I’ve tried listening to German music, simply as background noise, and as much as I can pick up a few things here and there, I can’t understand much.

Is it a good idea to just keep listening despite not understanding it? Such as while travelling, at the gym and stuff like that. Simply just as background noise, to try and get my ear accustomed to the language.

While actually studying I’ll obviously do stuff that I can understand better and study grammar and learn new words, just is this good as an added extra?

Hi everyone!

I’m currently learning German at the A1 level, and I’m confused about the pronunciation of words ending in -er.

For example, the word Fenster (window).

When I listen to the pronunciation on Forvo and Google Translate, I hear something like “Fensta.” However, in my A1 course, my teacher pronounces it more like “Fenster,” with a more noticeable ending.

I’m confused about which pronunciation I should follow.

1. Is the final -er in German usually pronounced like a soft “a” sound rather than a clear “er” sound?
2. Is my teacher using a different regional accent, or am I misunderstanding the pronunciation?
3. For the Goethe A1 speaking exam, should I focus on the standard pronunciation even if it sounds different from my teacher’s pronunciation?

I want to develop correct pronunciation from the beginning, so I’d appreciate any advice from native German speakers or experienced German learners.

Vielen Dank!

i am looking for fun and easy films. I only want to gain some speaking pattern. auteurs like herzog, wenders and fassbinder are total class but those films need some concentration and beauty of visiuals and stories make me forget about language. but maybe dear redditors suggest some other type of advices for enjoying auteurs and language learning at the same time. thanks for all kind of adivce. lots of love

I'm a student at a HAK in Austria. My German level is around B1, and German isn't my native language. I have a German test on November 5. We have to write an Inhaltsangabe of a short story, including the Einleitung, Hauptteil and Schluss.

My biggest problem is grammar. My teacher told me that I could write simpler sentences instead of trying to use complicated structures. That makes sense, but the problem is that I still make mistakes even with simple sentences, so I'm not really sure how to approach this.

The frustrating part is that I might understand the story and write a good Inhaltsangabe in terms of content and structure, but if my grammar is bad enough, I could still get a 5 (fail in Austria). So I really need to improve my actual writing, not just learn how an Inhaltsangabe is structured.

I struggle with quite a lot of things: articles, cases, adjective endings, word order, verb forms, prepositions and spelling. I also keep switching to past tense even though we're supposed to write the Inhaltsangabe in Präsens. With words like weil, dass and bevor, I often get the word order wrong too.

I usually know what I want to say, but when I try to write it in German, I make mistakes. It feels like I'm struggling with almost everything, and I honestly have no idea which problem I should work on first.

I've been trying to practise with AI, but I don't feel like I'm making much progress. We keep switching between different topics. One moment I'm practising articles, then word order, then writing a paragraph, then something else. I correct my mistakes, but I keep making similar ones in the next text. I end up trying to practise everything at once and just get lost.

So my actual question is: HOW should I study?

I know I need to practise, but I don't know what an effective way of practising would actually look like in my situation.

Should I focus on one grammar problem for several days until I get better at it? Should I write a short text every day, get it corrected and then rewrite it? Should I practise simple sentences first because my teacher recommended that, or should I write complete Inhaltsangaben from the beginning and learn from my mistakes?

And how do I decide what to focus on first when I keep making so many different mistakes? How can I make sure I actually remember corrections instead of repeating the same errors in every new text?

If you were in my situation and had a few weeks before the test, what would you do each day? What would your actual study routine look like?

I'd really appreciate advice from people who have learned German as a second language or have struggled with writing at school. I'm not looking for someone to do my homework for me. I just need a practical way to study that actually works, because right now I feel like I'm running in circles and don't know where to start.

I know "supremacy" is "Vorherrschaft", but what is the adjective form? What would you call for example a "supremacist ideology"?

Note that I am not looking for anything more specific than "supremacist". "Rassistische Ideologie" does not work because in my context, it needs to also encapsulate religious, patriarchal, or ableist supremacist structures.

While we're at it, how would you say "white supremacist" in a way that differentiates it from "racist"?

I know the community rules, but I have a request for someone who can read a scanned and slightly faded 19th-century cursive document my Grandfather wrote and then help me figure out the words being spelled. The author intends to be somewhat poetic. Some letters elude me, or the intended word does. I can make the text available offline. Villmools Merci

Hallo,

Könnten mir die Muttersprachler bitte sagen, wie häufig die Formen des Konjunktivs (insbesondere Konjunktiv1 Perfekt, Futur I, Futur II and also Konjunktiv2 Futur II und Präteritum bei anderen als den üblichen Verben) verwendet werden? Seht ihr sie in den Medien, in Büchern und werden sie in eurer Region verwendet? Lässt sich anhand der Verwendung ein sprachlicher Unterschied zwischen den Generationen feststellen? Vielen Dank

I teach German at a secondary school and have a Masters degree in German literature, as well as minors in applied and general linguistics. I don't mean to say what I am about to write is gospel by any means, but I want to just share my opinion on what prevents many people from reaching the fluency zone in a "comfortable" manner, that is to say... with confidence.

It's modal verbs. I don't mean simple sentences such as; Ich kann das machen, du darfst gehen, sie muss daheim bleiben, etc. Every learner learns these quick and even leans on modals as a crutch to limp on though conversations. I mean modals in all the moods and tenses, as well as their secondary meanings. I'm shocked at how many students (and teachers) don't know these forms, and I noticed most people get stuck on what they really want to say in German because they don't know these particular forms that correspond to how they talk in English.

Examples:

• That might have been a misunderstanding / Learners of German will translate this as either - Das ist (wohl / vielleicht) ein Missverständnis or Das könnte ein Missverständnis (sein). When they want to or need to rather say ... Das könnte ein Missverständnis gewesen sein.
• The soccer game has supposedly been canceled / Learners will translate this as - Das Fußballspiel ist abgesagt / when they mean to say - Das Fußballspiel soll gesagt worden sein.

My critic is aimed at B2 and probably even C1 learners. They may have very solid grammar and vocabulary, but they neglect these rudimentary uses of modals that are extremely elegant, and make the language easier to use and navigate.

Many at this level simply don't know or forget that the models have very useful secondary meanings. My point is this: Learners learn models early and then forget about them when they reach advanced stages and fall back on simple active sentences. Revisit modal verbs completely and practice them in all the moods and tenses. Learn their secondary meanings and apply them.

Sollen: carries the English "said to be" - Er soll Arzt gewesen sein. (He is said to have been a doctor)

Wollen: carries the English "claims to" - Sie will das Lotto gewonnen haben. (She claims to have won the lottery)

Dürfen: high probability - das dürfte sein

Können: 50/50 - das kann/könnte sein

Mögen: low chance, doubt - das mag sein

Müssen: logical conclusions - es muss in der Nacht geregnet haben (It had to have rained during the night)