Get from zero to real communication with tightly packed, crystal clear five-minute German lessons.

Finally understand and speak German without wasting any time or money, and without needing to do any independent study - even if you're not a "natural language learner", or you're not super motivated and the grammar seems daunting! We've got this.

The problem: Learning German involves overwhelming complexity and time commitment.

Not to mention money. And annoyance. And disappointment. Even getting started is a major hurdle. If you feel this way, join the club.

For the sake of argument, let's assume you're in Germany, about to start a new life here (or strongly considering it). You've got a job lined up (or some really good prospects), a solid command of English (all you really need to work), and most of your transition-related hurdles are taken care of. You're excited. But there's this nagging problem that seems like it won't be a quick or easy fix: learning German.

You've heard the stories. You've seen the signs ("Sommerschlussverkauf", "Zugverspätung", "Schlesisches Tor"). You've got a lot on your plate and the amount of effort it would take to even pronounce those words, not to mention putting them into sentences that actual Germans are supposed to derive meaning from... Is it really worth the effort right now? You'll do it another time. And kinda never really do.

Or you're a very motivated person, you've got the apps installed, you're doing your exercises. Maybe you've even gone to a beginner class. At some point you encounter a familiar roadblock: The class is too big, the teacher isn't explaining this well, the teacher is too focused on some slow/distracting students and the class isn't moving forward as quickly as you'd like

Maybe your teacher refuses to speak English, or simply doesn't know how to answer your "why" and "how" questions... Or they teach towards a test that you don't really care about, or focus way too much on homework.

Maybe you have a private teacher but they're not very reliable and you feel ghosted. And your app doesn't really seem to be getting you anywhere, and in any case it's mostly just a game and too much translation. You're not really remembering what you've "learned" a week ago.

And you still don't know exactly why sometimes it's "die Frau" and sometimes it's "der Frau".

Maybe you've tried to learn with AI, and unknowingly internalized fundamentally incorrect rules and explanations that you'll only discover to have been AI-hallucinations many months or even years from now.

All of this is very annoying. It's not an efficient use of your time. Or your money. And with everything else going on you don't have time to do a ton of homework and look at your notes and research every little thing individually online yourself. And even if you do enjoy that and find all the answers you're looking for, you're still not getting the practice you need.

All you want to do is start speaking. Make some German friends, call an electrician, and find out why that train you're on hasn't moved in a while...

The Solution: Introducing the Deutschable Beginner German Course

This is the most simple, straightforward, and at the same time most refined self-paced German course for beginners you'll find online. And it's fun, too! Created by a professional language-teacher trainer with over 20 years of teaching experience, these lessons really pack a punch: Not a single video on this site is longer than five minutes, so you can easily finish a lesson while waiting for the bus. All concepts are explained in crystal clear English, using English as a reference language, so you don't waste your time and understand exactly what's going on. The course is quick, content-loaded, complete, and linear: Move from one lesson to the next without any homework. With this online course you will begin to understand and speak German in no time.

Here’s What You’ll Get When You Sign Up

Once you do the one-time payment on this page, you can begin learning right away - no wait time. You'll receive an email with your user name and password to login anytime. You have complete access to all modules and lessons (completing A1.1+), either as a monthly subscription or a one-time payment for one year of access. And you receive access to any new lessons that are added during this time as well, at no extra charge. If you spend less than 15 minutes a day with this course, you will complete the level within two months. This course was designed as a stand-alone, but you can also use it as a prep course for a language school class, or to accompany or refresh your German skills while you're enrolled in any A1 or A2 German course at a language school. If you don't like it in the first 30 days, get all your money back.

Pause, Restart, Slow Down

The fact that each video lesson is just 5 minutes long makes it easy to casually pick up and progress, like brushing your teeth or putting on your shoes.

Didn't catch something? Rewind, slow down the speed, or pause and think about it at your pace. Or: just keep going - the progressive nature of this course ensures that concepts are re-introduced multiple times along the way.

Benefit from concentrated Knowledge

From the course creator's perspective: "Being limited to 5 minutes even for the most 'complex' topics was at once challenging and incredibly refreshing. Drawing from many years of teaching these topics, it was possible to distill the absolute clearest and most to-the-point way of explaining what's going on, in English.

It's like feeling your brain fill up with German like air in a life raft."

Tried and True Methodology

The course draws from many popular teaching methods, wherever appropriate. But the structure of every single one of the lessons is basedon a time-tested concept: A topic is introduced (in the 5 minute video), then it is practiced (in a sophisticated quiz that mimics interacting with the teacher), and can immediately be applied and performed in real life.

The course is expertly designed to ensure that the language you're learning is authentic and useful, and that you develop an incredibly solid foundation on which to expand your German skills.

About Stephan, your teacher.

As a bilingual German/English speaker who grew up in Germany and the US, Stephan  naturally developed a passion for language training and has been teaching those languages since the early 2000s.

He's had every conceivable type of student with every type of strength and weakness. From private lessons with CEOs to online lessons with software engineers, from overfilled classes with school children and college students to business classes for jobseekers - in conference rooms, virtual meeting rooms, even air raid bunkers, Stephan has learned what works and what doesn't when it comes to learning and teaching languages, even while aknowledging that everyone has their own learning style.

Beyond teaching, Stephan has worked for the better part of his career as a professional teacher trainer and language school manager throughout Germany, with a specialization on quality control, train-the-trainer workshops, and developing online courses. He's the co-founder of a popular Berlin language school and the sole proprietor of this site.

Here’s what people are saying about Stephan

Gerard

Berlin

These lessons are absolutely amazing!

Fantastic teacher. This is much more manageable than the online zoom classes, with work and parenthood having fluctuating time requirements this kind of lesson is perfect. My family and I are enjoying your class, and already are recommending it to folks we know moving to Germany.

Nathan

Berlin

Stephan is one of the best language instructors I have come across!

With an intuitive knowledge of individual students' struggles with German and a capacity to explain the structure of the language, in context, that exceeded my expectations ...watching Stephan go through strategies to explain sometimes complicated language structures helped me immensely as an instructor, to say nothing of my growth as a student.

Lori

Munich

These explanations I finally understand!

I'd like to say that I have spent so much money on books, courses, time etc. and these / your explanations I finally understand!!! I think I'll finally be able to pass B1!!! I knew in my integration/immersion class I missed so much of the basics because it wasn't explained in English. I can not thank you enough!!!

Course Modules

These are the core course modules - and more is being created all the time. Check out Module 1 for free right now and see if it fits your learning style (module 2 is free if you're a member of our vocab builder course). Enjoy!

What makes Deutschable different

This is the main thing: Deutschable was created with you in mind. You’re a person who speaks English, and you want to be guided to your ultimate goal of being able to speak and understand German, as quickly as possible. 


You don’t want to “playfully discover the language”, you prefer to be told exactly how everything works, and to be given the tools you need in order to build sentences you can use, right from the beginning. You don’t care about tests or certificates, don’t want to learn from others’ mistakes, aren’t into homework or reading course notes, appreciate clear explanations in English, prefer an analytical and comparative approach to learning about things like grammar and structure. You want to know WHY you're making mistakes, and not just that it's ok to make them.


Mostly: You don’t want to waste your time and money and be caught adrift, or in a constant loop, or waiting for others to catch up - or worrying about catching up to others.


You enjoy small “power bar” type of lessons, loaded with material, rather than to drag the stuff out over an endless period of time.


For a variety of very real reasons, language schools don’t cater to this kind of customer, because they can’t. There are lots of reasons for this, but often it boils down to government subsidies, certificate-focus, tight limitations on what teachers can and can not do, and economic minimums on class sizes.


If you feel like this sounds relatable, definitely give Deutschable a try today. It's a game-changer.

There's even more!

If you decide to enroll in this course, you're taking the first step towards being a fluent German speaker - not only do you completely skip the tedium of absolute beginner live lessons, but you also save a ton of money and become part of something unique.

All the content of a language school course, at a fraction of the price.

If you were to take a standard A1.1 group course in Berlin, it would cost between 220-490EUR, not including course books and registration fees. Deutschable uses a comparable curriculum, allowing you to effortlessly move on to a language school course after completing this one, without paying exorbitant amounts just to get started.

The private teacher experience, but without the cost.

 A private teacher is one of the best ways to learn a language, if they're reliable (and have teaching experience) - but not cheap. Doing the A1.1 level with a decent one-to-one teacher will cost you between 900-1200EUR. The Deutschable course replicates the interactions and activities  and the feedback of a private teacher in the quiz section (remember, conversation practice comes at a higher level), and Stephan is eager to go into any question you might have in each lesson's comment section. 

Join an exclusive community of learners and our growing ecosystem.

Deutschable is steadily growing an enthusiastic community of people like you - who want to learn German without hassle, distractions, wastes of time or high prices. Join smart discussions of the lessons, and benefit from steep discounts on other current and future products (such as level-independent vocabulary builders) just for getting this beginner course - and grow your German beyond your wildest expectations.

Learn at your own pace and budget

You can access the Deutschable German course either through a very affordable monthly subscription that  you can flexibly cancel anytime, or save almost 20% and opt for a non-recurring one-time payment and get 12 months of access. Either way you save!

flexible 

monthly subscription, cancel anytime

5.99

/mo

+VAT (if applicable in your location)

  • Immediate access to all lessons
  • Access to any new lessons added during subscription
  • Full community and teacher support
  • Easy one-click cancellation anytime
  • 30 day 100% money-back guarantee

One Year, No stress

365 days access , non-recurring

59.99

+VAT (if applicable in your location)

  • Immediate access to all lessons
  • Access to any new lessons added during subscription
  • Full community and teacher support
  • Almost 20% savings over subscription model
  • 30 day 100% money-back guarantee

money back
guarantee
100% Satisfaction-Guarantee.

If, for any reason, you don't like this course, you can get a full refund anytime within 30 days after your initial purchase. No matter if you picked the monthly subscription or the 365-day package, you can opt out for any reason in the first month. We want every one of our students to be 100% happy with their course.

FAQ

The place for me to hopefully address any lingering questions or concerns.

Can I get the course for free?

Yes. If you can't afford to pay the €5.99 for the course, I will give you access for free. Send me an email at hello (at) deutschable (dot) com to let me know.

What about speaking? This course has no speaking components, does it?

This course does not include active speaking components. This was a conscious decision. The idea is that this course will help bring you to a level in which you will get much more out of speaking practice than in the very beginning, because it will allow you to have actual meaningful conversations with your friend/(tandem-)partner/in-laws/cute person at the cafe/co-workers, rather than hollow phrases. 

Speaking time is actually a secret problem in language schools, that boils down to simple math: in a 90-minute lesson where the teacher speaks half the time (if you're lucky), your speaking time will be 45 minutes divided by the amount of students (if all student are the same level of extroversion), leaving you with what? Five minutes of speaking? You may also end up speaking in pair or group work, which I always found to be counterproductive and as a teacher I never had my classes do those activities. I could go on and on about that - but suffice it to say here in the Deutschable course you will receive all the pronunciation practice you'll need to understand, and we'll train your brain to effortlessly produce German, even if the mouth isn't always involved as much. 

Obviously, you're highly encouraged to speak along with the lessons whenever your environment allows it :-) Remember also that your goal should always be to be understood first - and having a bit of an accent actually helps Germans understand you better as a learner because they'll be prepared for mistakes. 

Every learner is different. This one-size-fits-all approach isn't for me.

Hey, that's not a question. This isn't Frequently Expressed Sentiments! But all that aside, it's 100% true that this course may not be right for you, and I highly encourage everyone to check out the demo lesson above before making the decision to buy. However, I would also say that, especially for beginners, given the types of relevant topics introduced in various contexts, and the wide variety of teaching styles employed, and the flexibility in terms of learning speed, that this course should be incredibly useful to a huge variety of learner types. And again, consider the alternative: Unless you get a private teacher, you'll end up in a class where the contents and speed will almost certainly conform to a denominator other than you.

I don't think I'm a beginner anymore. I've passed the A1 (or A2) level already.

That's great! It is likely that this course won't contain much new information. You will probably have heard many of the these concepts before. But if you feel like you could use a refresher, or if there are things that are still unclear and haven't quite clicked, or could use a dose of more vocabulary, this might be the perfect way to do it - as opposed to having to go back to class, hiring an expensive private teacher, or puzzling over your old course books. It's worth noting that the grammar elements schools teach in A2 are the "trickiest" and most important for learning to speak and understand German - the concepts of the higher levels are mostly just fancy, so it's worth ensuring that you have a firm grounding in the A levels, if nothing else. (If you're unsure about your level, consider taking a placement test to find out)

I'm an extrovert. I like making friends and working together with people to learn German. I don't think this course is for me.

I think this is a good argument not to take this course, at least not on its own. You might benefit from first doing this course before starting a class, then breezing through it, or using this course as an addition, to augment what you're learning in school (I like to think this: When going on a trip, rather than having a spare tire in your car, it's like having a mountain bike hooked to the back, along for the ride and allowing you a completely different way of exploring the landscape on your trip.)

The grammar is so hard. I am too intimidated to learn German.

This is one of those myths that no one really benefits from, except perhaps language schools who want to stretch out their incessant dancing-around-the-grammar-bush routine and keep charging you for it, or people who have mastered German and want to gloat about it. The thing is this: You can actually speak German and be perfectly understood without using German grammar at all. I'm serious, you can just use German words and use them like you would in an English sentence. Not only will you be understood just fine (and I know many people like this), you'll even be completely correct a lot of the time.

Number two is that no one expects foreigners to have perfect sentences. If you have even a trace of an accent, Germans just see incorrect grammar as part of the package and don't bat an eye. So you don't have to stress out about it.

But the most important point is this: The grammar is not actually hard, and in the allegedly most challenging topics I make a strong case that your brain already knows how to do it all, and has been doing so since you were a baby. In this course you'll drop all your apprehensions and get to actually see language from a mind-blowing new perspective - including English.

I feel like there's a fog over my brain sometimes, I can't even watch good tv shows if they require thinking. Is this a problem?

I do think this is an issue that's not acknowledged enough and that I think many people can relate to. I believe that, in the way I designed this course, it's an advantage: I want the brain to be relaxed, and on autopilot for these lessons. Through repetition and exposure, you'll absorb the language - and I also believe that when it comes to information, you will likely receive a spark and snap into attention as things finally click and fall into place and you feel the fog lifting. I think this course is unique in this regard: While it does need your eyeballs to be open, and for you not to multitask, in of itself, it doesn't require you to be hyperfocused from the get-go. 

I do need to add the caveat that if you're very tired or in a brain-fog, you might need to watch the videos more than once for the initial information to sink in. But that's the nice thing about a video course with a long access period: Watch the vids as often as you need!

Can't I learn all this from a book?

A long time ago, when I was super motivated and books were totally a thing, I excitedly tried to learn Russian from one. Then, a few weeks later, I actually had an opportunity to go to Russia and was thrilled to try out what I learned. I asked an old lady where the bus was. Simple enough, right? "Gdye avtobus?" She had literally NO clue at all what I was trying to say. Not even close.

Now I know that my pronunciation was so bad that I might as well have been speaking Welsh to her. Specifically, the emphasis was on the wrong syllable and I added an extra letter between "g" and "d"... anyway, the point of the story is that out of Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing, "listening" is absolutely important if you actually want to communicate with people. And there's no way books can do that. As supplements they can be great, of course.

Will I receive a certificate at the end of the course?

No. Self-paced courses can't be certified because it's almost impossible to prove that the person whose name is on the certificate is actually the person who took the course. Beware of anyone offering certificates for self-study online courses - they are likely a scam and those certificates are unlikely to be accepted in Germany.

Can't I just find all this information in blogs, forums and articles around the internet for free?

It's super important when deciding how to learn German to know that language proficiency is a skill, and NOT knowledge. In other words, even if you had all "information" about the language downloaded into your brain and readily available, it will be an incredible grind to transform that into actual real-time communication. What you need is not information, but guidance and practice. All three of which you will get in this course - allowing you to communicate freely and effortlessly.

Ugh, I'm not even that passionate about learning German or really NEED it. It just feels like the appropriate thing to do.

In my experience, this is a common sentiment, especially for expats living in Berlin, whose friends and coworkers all speak English, and live in place where English is spoken in every venue they like to go to. But at some point people realize that it's limiting and also a bit embarassing, especially as they settle in and the years start going by. No matter what your (lack of) motivation level is, with Deutschable I aim to make learning fun, not a slog. Not only do I aim to take the fear out of it, but also the boredom - it's a cool language that allows you a whole new level of expression, and a whole new dimension of interacting with your environment. With Deutschable, this process is effortless, quick, fun, and if I did my job right, will ignite a curiosity, and maybe even a passion for German in you that will sustain a healthy appetite for further learning. It'll be an exciting feeling of growth and allow you to step out of your comfort zone ("The Ring" in Berlin).

I need to pass the Goethe/TELC/TestDaF or high school test. Will this course help?

This course is quite consciously NOT designed for test-takers. It does not include test-taking strategies or address the specific question-types of German tests. The Deutschable course is made for people who want to use the language for communication. That having been said, this course WILL improve your German and give you an excellent understanding of the structures that are likely being tested for, as well as a very broad range of vocabulary. You will likely find that this course will be immensely helpful for your test, but I can't guarantee it. My personal advice for these formal tests is: Make sure you take a course that goes up to (or, better yet, beyond) the level that the test is for (for example, TestDaF tests at a much higher level of proficiency than the scope of the Deutschable course) and then get a book with practice tests for this specific tests (with an answer section, of course).

I want to be able to ask my teacher questions if I am struggling with something. Is there a way to do that here?

Yes, each lesson has a comment section in which students can talk to each other and the teacher (me) and ask questions and discuss the topic of the lesson.

Do I have to be a native speaker of English to benefit from this course?

No, you don't have to be a native speaker. But you do have to know English, since this is the reference language of the course.

Is this really the best way to learn a language?

It's not the best way to learn a language for everyone, but it might be the best way for YOU. It certainly is the best way for me, and I really hope that more courses for other things like this pop up in the future so that I can benefit from them as well. This course here is literally the kind of course I would have always wished for myself.

There are hundreds of beautiful ways to learn a language, and many of them work really well for some people but not for others. So try this out and see if this works for you and finally puts a stop to playing Angry Birds or pacing around the room, imagining how amazing everything would be if you could learn German.

Which level(s) does this course cover?

In its current state of development (40+ lessons, July 2024), this course includes (and exceeds) all contents typically taught in A1.1 (CEFR) level German courses. In other words, after finishing this course, you're well set-up to skip level A1.1 and join an A1.2 course at a language school. It is the development plan for Deutschable to include all topics from levels A1+A2 by Q1 2025. By registering for this course, you automatically receive instant access to all additional lessons that may be created in the future during your one-year access period. No additional money will be charged beyond your initial one-time payment (or initial monthly subscription price), even if the course price steadily increases as new lessons are added.

Boost Your German Vocabulary. No matter your level.

Download our free ebook "Essential German Toolkit: The Most Frequently Used 1000 Nouns in German" and get started today.

A Personal Note from me.

Hi, this is Stephan. I'm the teacher of this course and the creator of this site (and pretty much everything that's on it). For me, Deutschable is not just a product of my 20+ years of teaching and course creation experience, but it is also my passion and my entire professional focus.

Every part of this has been thought about, adjusted countless times, and ultimately approved by me, in the firm hope and belief that this course will really help a lot of people learn German, and will be a complete game changer for a few of those.

In a nutshell: I designed every part of this to be exactly how I would love to learn a language. 

I know that every student is different, and everyone has their own learning style, and I completely understand if this is not for you. But if you are not sure whether it is, I strongly recommend going for the subscription model, try out all the lessons, and if you don't like it, get your complete refund. I'd rather give a hundred refunds to people who tried but decided they didn't like it, than have one undecided person move past an opportunity to finally start learning German the right way.

Thank you for reading this far and hopefully see you in class!

Stephan

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