Deutsch Happen - Learning German Online

Learn German online with lessons, vocabulary, videos, and other interesting information about Germany.

Apps that you can use to help you learn German.

With mobile phones these days, you can get apps so easily. Just a click and a download, and voila, you can get a new app on your phone. We will go over some popular apps that you can use to help improve your German. While apps cannot replace the quality of instruction you receive from an actual native speaker or a professional teacher, it is a good way to improve your German at times when you don't have a native speaker teaching you.

We recommend that even if you are using apps to help yourself learn German, that you are still learning German from a native speaker. Nothing can replace a native speaker, especially a trained native speaker that is a professional and that can correct your pronunciation and grammar from day 1. Even if you learn from apps, your pronunciation and grammar will not be entirely accurate because the app has limited abilities to correct your pronunciation and grammar. People are native speakers of their language because from childhood, they are taught their language by their parents. And then their family, friends, and people in their community, who are also native speakers, continue to reinforce and guide them to improve upon their native language. Thus, apps are a compliment to help you learn German but they should not be your primary substitute to learn German.
With that said, these are our favorite apps to learn German with:

1. Rosetta Stone


Rosetta Stone has been on the market for ages. It is a great app to learn beginner German with. It uses pictures and exercises to help you learn German. It's also an intuitive app in that once you start using it, you will pick up some basic German phrases and words very quickly. While Rosetta Stone was originally released for the PC, it is now available for tablet and mobile devices as well. It comes with a lot of modules and lessons so in terms of volume of lessons that you can take, there are definitely a lot that you can learn from. There are lessons where you can practice your pronuciation, speaking, listening, reading, and grammar. Rosetta Stone runs on a subscription based model.

2. Duo Lingo


Duo Lingo is another great app to learn German with. It also uses images to help you learn German words and phrases. There are also translations from German to English, multiple choice questions, and even video games to help you learn vocabulary. When you succeed, you are given an app based currency which you can use to unlock other features so that you can continue to learn. You can practice the basics and phrases, and then move on to other subjects and expand your vocabulary and your sentence structure from there. There are lessons where you can translate the language to English, and also lessons where you can translate the English to the language you are studying. There is a free version of Duolingo but if you decide to download the lessons, there is a charge associated with it. Duo Lingo also uses an algorithm to track your learning and the algorithm will make certain customizations to your learning as you continue to learn.

3. Memrise


Memrise is also a good app to practice with. It uses a flashcard like approach to help you remember vocabulary. But it will also bring back past vocabulary that you have learned, such that the repetition will help you to remember the vocabulary. The best part is, if you think you are about to forget the words that you learned, Memrise will bring up those words again so that the repitition will help you to remember those words. Memrise also uses animated pictures to help you learn words. And the courses are designed by the community through crowdsourcing. Because the courses are designed by the community though, the quality of the courses may vary. Some courses will be of higher quality because much of the community spent the time behind this course to make it good. Other courses with little backing from the community may be of lower quality.

4. Babbel


Babble is a good application if you want to practice your vocabulary. It has pictures that accompany the vocabulary so that you can associate the visual representation with the actual word you are learning. Also with the picture is an audio recording of the pronunciation of the word so that you can listen to and learn from the pronunciation. You are also shown a picture and then asked to spell the word out that you learned, ensuring that you can remember how to spell the word that you recently learned. Then you are given sentences with an empty spot for the vocabulary and you can pick the vocabulary that you recently learned, so that you know how to use this vocabulary in various sentences. The Babbel app loads very fast and it is very lightweight so if you just want a simple app that you can use to practice your vocabulary, this is a good app to download. It runs on a subscription model so if you want to download further lessons, you will have to subscribe as a member.

5. Busuu


Busuu has a large community that is involved in developing lessons on the platform. Busuu boasts that they have tens of millions people on their network. The app has lessons where you can memorize the vocabulary as you listen to the pronunciation and you can read the spelling of the vocabulary. There is also a listening part where you can choose the correct option as you listen to the phrase in German. As you go through the learning, you may also get "tips" which help to enhance your learning of German. Upon completion of a lesson, you will also see a screen with a percentage which denotes your progress. There are lesson dialogues for new words and phrases, a lesson for practicing your writing, and a review of lessons upon completion of the lesson. Busuu is free to use but if you want additional features, then you can upgrade to a Pro account which uses a subscription based model.

6. Anki


Anki is an app based on flashcards. The word "Anki" means memorization in Japanese. In general, Anki flashcards can be used for a variety of subjects, not just for learning German. But if Anki flashcards are used to learn German, it's an excellent tool. Anki will also repeat words after you have learned them before, to enforce repitition which will help you to remember the words. The downside with Anki is that it is primarily used to study vocabulary. If you want to focus on grammar, pronunciation, and more complex phrases, Anki may not be as good as the other apps that have already been mentioned. But if you just want to focus on vocabulary, Anki is a decent app. Anki uses a "deck" system where a deck represents a deck of flashcards. If you decide to use Anki to boost your vocabulary, you can download "decks" of vocabulary generated by other users so that you can immediately practice vocabulary lessons that others have generated. Alternatively, you can create your own deck of vocabulary and practice the words that you have chosen. Anki is free to use on the web and the Android version is also free, but the IOS Anki app costs $24.99 USD.

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