Even minimum language proficiency prepares you for dynamic professional experiences, allowing you to maneuver through international circles with comparative ease. Following is a list of the best online German courses, included for their economic value, extensiveness, critical acclaim and convenience.
Learning new languages stimulates your brain and keeps it young. Multilingual abilities are also highly valued in an array of professions, such as business, politics, communications and science. Plus, language certifications look fantastic on your resume.
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1. Learn German with Rosetta Stone
Learn German with Rosetta Stone is one of the best online German courses. Rosetta Stone immerses you completely, exposing you exclusively to your chosen foreign language. By repeatedly matching imagery and words, you build new skills, a working vocabulary and sentences. Eventually you learn to conduct simple conversations, providing this format meshes with your unique learning style.
Once available in a CD-ROM format only, Rosetta Stone is now mobile. For a fee, you can study Rosetta Stone’s German course on your phone, tablet or laptop without need of CD-ROM software. Rosetta Stone’S new mobile friendly language courses are the five-time winner of the PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award for Best Language Learning Software.
Here’s why the Learn German by Rosetta Stone may be the best online German course:
- Access to all levels immediately.
- Available on any device
- Lessons available for download to continue studies offline.
- Phrasebook provides fast, easy-to-learn, concise phrases for every situation.
- Accent training technology helps you sound authentic.
- Live tutoring with native speakers available for an additional fee.
Website: RosettaStone.com.
Certificate: No.
Exam: No.
Cost: Price points as of 2017 are $59 for three months, $89 for six months, $139 for 12 months or $189 for 24 months.
2. Learn German with Babbel
Similar to Rosetta Stone, Babbel teaches German through total exposure to images and sounds. Babbel only offers beginning and intermediate courses, which means you’ll have to switch platforms at some point.
Luckily, Babbel enriches its elementary German courses with special courses devoted to:
- Business German.
- Grammar.
- Reading.
- Writing.
- Listening.
- Speaking.
- Example sentences.
- German traditions.
Learn German with Babbel also offers the following advantages:
- Babbel has an app for both iOS and Android platforms.
- In the in-app lesson format is condensed into 10- to 15-minute increments, albeit with a nifty speech recognition tool that helps you fine tune your pronunciation and intonation.
- Babbel is the winner of the Microsoft Innovate 4 Society award for its contributions to private education.
- Fans of Babbel consider it the best online German course, period.
Website: Babbel.com.
Certification: Babbel offers certificates for each successfully completed course.
Exam: No exams, but a review manager prompts you to study weaker skills based on in-assignment assessments.
Cost: One-month, three-month, six-month and yearly subscriptions are available for $12.95, $8.95, $7.45 and $6.95, respectively. Registration and first lessons in every course, in every language, are free. Repeat courses and lessons as needed
3. Learn German with the Pimsleur Method
Pimsleur uses the Pimsleur Method to teach languages. Pimsleur is a proven method that reinforces your short and long term recall of words and concepts, facilitating deep learning of a new language in less time.
Pimsleur’s German courses are not online/interactive per se. Instead, you download digital courses and complete them on your own time. Past customers rave on social media about Pimsleur’s efficacy.
When you register and pay to download digital courses, you also receive a mobile Pimsleur app. The app serves as a course interface and tracks your progress across devices.
Here’s why we love the Learn German with The Pimsleur Method course:
- It is available in a five-level block, single levels or units of five lessons.
- Each lesson is less than 30 minutes, making this the best online German course for the typically over-scheduled millennial.
- The price to download courses is significantly cheaper than earlier CD-ROM versions, since you’re not paying for packaging.
Website: Pimsleur.com.
Certification: No.
Exam: No exams, but lesson reviews are common.
Cost: Purchase the first five levels for $550, single levels for $120 or five-lesson units for $22. First lesson is free.
4. Learn German Online with Duolingo
Duolingo is a member-moderated online language school that emphasizes brevity and thoroughness, teaching you to speak German in as little as five minutes a day. Lessons transpire like a game, with vibrant graphics and characters. Duolingo tailors lessons to your learning style, so that you learn and review quickly.
Duolingo offers you immediate feedback after exercises, replete with grades and rewards to incentivize the process. Duolingo’s mobile app lets you switch easily between a variety of devices. A unique Duolingo Incubator gives you access to personalized German lessons from fellow Duolingo users who are advanced or accomplished native speakers.
Here’s why Learn German Online by Duolingo is great for people who like laid back, uncomplicated, occasional language instruction:
- You can set casual, regular, serious or insane goals that correspond to 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes of daily instruction.
- The helpful discussion forums expose you to native speakers, fellow students, tips, tricks, FAQS and troubleshooting solutions.
- Duolingo Labs let you explore new language learning tools that are still in beta stages.
Website: Duolingo.com.
Certification: No.
Exam: No.
Placement Test: Yes. Take a placement test, or jump into the basics.
Cost: Duolingo is compeltely free, but you must create a profile to save your progress.
5. Online German Course by Deutsch Akademie
Deatsch Akademie presents itself as the most comprehensive online German grammar trainer in the world. The website offers roughly 800 hours of interactive audio courses and 20,000 different vocabulary and grammar exercises.
The Online German Course by Deutsch Akademie has made it on our list because:
- The Android and iOS apps let you tackle your lessons anywhere.
- For fast-track and advanced learners there are intensive courses.
- The entire service is free, and you don’t even have to create a profile.
- In the forums, actual German teachers who contribute to the website make themselves available to answer questions and give support.
Website: DeutschAkademie.de.
Certification: Yes (Zertifikat Deutsch).
Exam: Yes.
Cost: Completely free.
Summing Up
With so many options to choose from, finding the best best online German course for your learning needs and budget is easy. Some are free, whereas others offer package options at various price points. Have you used any of the online German courses we reviewed? Tell us about your experiences.
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