How To Learn German On Your Own - Part 1 I got asked recently how one can learn German on their own. German seems like a really hard language to learn but keep calm, it doesn’t have to be! Of course, there’ll be ups and downs just with every language. But once you got started, you’ll become better and better and in the end you’ll be glad you’ve started. Oh, that joy. Can you feel it? Good. So let’s create a guide on ‘How To Learn German On Your Own’. 1) Listen up, buddy! How do children learn a language? By listening and repeating certain sounds. That should be your first step, too. Maybe you want to watch your favorite movie in German (with German subtitles so you know how the words are written) or listen to an audio book that you have read a long time ago. You do not have to focus much on it. Just listen and let your subconscious get the ‘flow’, the melody of the language. A great resource for more focused listening (that is when you want to understand everything) is Deutsche Welle. 2) Get your pronunciation right. “Phonothek intensiv” is my favorite book. (Unfortunately, I keep referring to it as ‘Phonetik intensiv’. So if you had a lesson with me and couldn’t find it, I probably called it by a wrong name. Please don’t judge - German is really hard, even if it’s your mother tongue. ;-) ) For “Phonothek intensiv” (did I get it right this time?) you need to have a really good understanding of the German language and you shouldn’t be afraid of linguistic words. So, for those of you who are at the beginner’s level, I recommend “The German project”. That is an online ressource which will lead you through German phonemes just fine. A good teacher can also help you with identifying problematic sounds and will lead you through certain exercises. If you have that opportunity, use it! For everyone else: make sure you do not only buy the book, but the CDs as well because otherwise it won’t be much of a help for you.