If you’re brand new to Germany and feeling a little lost when it comes to the language, our Beginner German Courses are the perfect place to start! The teams of our language schools in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich will help you out!
It’s quite common to feel out of place when you first arrive in Germany and experience the language for the very first time. Simple tasks like buying groceries or asking for directions can be quite complicated. Taking a German course for beginners to learn the basics can really go a long way towards helping you adapt to Germany and feel more at home!
Whether you want to order food at a restaurant, discuss your interests with friends, or even just introduce yourself to new people, a Beginner German Course is a huge step in developing the necessary skills to make the most out of your time in Germany.
Language learning always begins by building a solid foundation. This foundation comes in the form of expanding your vocabulary, learning grammatical structures, and combining the two.
In your very first month you’ll learn useful words such as the alphabet, numbers, colours, terms relating to family members, transport and shopping, telling time, the days of the week and months of the year. You’ll also develop practical skills like how to ask questions, discover how to conjugate verbs, and learn how to arrange sentences. You’ll learn personal pronouns so that you can introduce yourself, not to mention the plural form for nouns, and more!
If you continue classes for a few more months, you’ll study useful concepts that will really help you begin to converse with other Berliners. You’ll discover prepositions of time and place and begin learning new cases for speaking (the Akkusativ and Dativ case). You’ll learn how to express yourself with modal verbs (want, should, must) and even get an introduction to the past tense forms of the all important “to have” and “to be” verbs. Your overall vocabulary will expand to include such things as the names of body parts, clothing, standard household items, the weather, and holidays!
With a little bit of practice, by the end of the first couple of months of study, you’ll be ready for most everyday situations!
With so many German schools in Berlin it can be more than a little daunting to choose just one. So why speakeasy? Easy:
Teaching method
We focus on an interactive, conversation-based learning experience. Your class is made up of both printed material and class activities, resulting in a diversified & practical lesson. Not to mention, our teachers are native speakers who are excited to share their language with you!
The right sized groups
With an average class size of 8- 10 people and a maximum of 14, our classes are large enough that you’ll have plenty of diverse partners to practice with, but not so large that you become just another face in the crowd. You’ll have more than enough one-on-one interactions with your teacher while also making connections with likeminded individuals in Berlin.
Great Location
We’re located in Berlin’s retro district of Friedrichshain. The area is known for being hip and artsy; full of cafes, bars, clubs, yoga studios, even a bouldering gym. It’s the perfect place to explore or chill with friends either before or after class.
It’s also extremely well connected to public transit with multiple trainlines – U1, U3, S5, S7, S9, S75, M10 - all within a 5-minute walk so you can easily reach us no matter where you live!
Community events
There’s no better way to learn the language than to just jump into it by having discussions with friends. To that end, speakeasy hosts monthly community events to give students a chance to meet outside of class, make new connections, and practice their German. Community events can be anything from a night at a pub, to a trip to a museum, to a tour of the East Side Gallery right next door to the school!
Variable course lengths
Not sure yet how long you’re staying in Berlin? Or does your schedule vary? speakeasy offers courses on a monthly basis which allows you to take time off if you need, or to reenrol and continue with your studies.
Compact Courses
speakeasy offers compact, 3-week German beginner courses. These compact courses cover all the material you need to build a foundation at a quicker rate and for a reduced cost. This way, you can really jumpstart your German abilities and improve your experience sooner!
We offer a variety of Beginner German Courses at various times and intensities so there’s sure to be something that fits your schedule.
If you’re looking for a quick way to grasp the basics but still want time to explore Berlin and the surrounding area, try our Intensive German Course which runs from Monday to Thursday leaving you with a nice long weekend to experience the city.
Perhaps you want to deep-dive into the language. You can add a Friday Conversation Class onto the above Intensive course to give you that highly effective extra bit of practice speaking. This is known as our Super-Intensive German Course and is a perfect way to immerse yourself!
Or maybe you are working during the day. No worries! We have Evening Classes twice a week (either Monday & Wednesday or Tuesday & Thursday) which can give you a much needed boost in your German skills and help you to impress your employer!
We pride ourselves on offering a great value for all our courses and a straightforward payment structure with no hidden registration fees! Besides your course, yo only pay for what you need, e.g. your books. The best part is that we offer huge discounts if you sign up for multiple months at once!
Find out more about the prices for our courses by checking out our price chart.
All our German beginner courses adhere to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The CEFR is a framework to describe the language abilities of learners across Europe by placing them into several categories (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1).
If you’ve never studied German before or you only know a few words, then you definitely want to begin with A1.1. If you have already learned a little bit, such as basic grammatical structures, then you can use our Language Placement Test to determine which course level is right for you.
Check out our summary of course contents to see how fast you can progress!
Once you know your level, you can choose your course and sign up with our course configurator.