The Everything German Phrase Book (PDF 다운로드) (2023)

FAQs

Where can I read German books online for free? ›

What is the Onleihe? The Onleihe is our German language eLibrary. More than 35,000 digital media including German language books, audio books, movies, materials for German language learners, magazines and newspapers are available for you to download. Anytime, anywhere, free of charge.

German is rated as a category 2 language and considered to be similar to English. The FSI estimates that German takes approximately 30 weeks, or 750 classroom hours to learn. This study was conducted on a group of language students who spent 25 hours per week in class, and three hours daily on individual practice.

Project Gutenberg is a library of over 70,000 free eBooks

Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online. You will find the world's great literature here, with focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired.

Meet Mondly, the language app helping millions of people worldwide learn German online through free daily lessons. Using rapid language learning techniques, Mondly will teach you the German language quickly, effectively, and in a fun way.

In regular German word order, German follows the rule of Subject - Verb - Object, which means, the subject usually comes first, then the verb describing what the subject is doing, then the object that is being "verbed".

1. Eichhörnchen (Squirrel) Although squirrel is also tough to pronounce in English, it's a classic when it comes to difficult German words to pronounce. Many English speakers struggle, and some even consider this the hardest German word to pronounce.

The German language has 6 CEFR levels – starting with A1 (absolute beginner), and ending with C2 (completely fluent).

Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.

Can I learn German on my own? ›

The short answer is, you can, and with free online resources at your disposal, there's really no reason you can't learn German from home.

Famous for its green owl mascot, Duolingo is the best app to learn German for free. It has an entire course full of lessons that help you learn the basics of the language. It also helps you practice all aspects of communication (speaking, listening, reading, and writing).

Generally, you can study in Germany for free. But there are a few exceptions in which you have to pay tuition fees: Only public universities are tuition-free.

TeKaMoLo is short for the German words temporal, kausal, modal and lokal. The rule basically says that the order of boxes in a German sentence usually is: Te – ka – mo – lo. when – why – how – where.

1. Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung (36) Officially recognised by the Duden - Germany's pre-eminent dictionary - as the longest word in German, Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung is a 36-letter, tongue-tying way of describing a rather, mundane everyday concept: motor vehicle liability insurance.

What is the verb second rule in German? ›

Verb in Second Position

In German, the main verb in a statement is always in second position, no matter how we begin the sentence: Morgen früh lande ich in Frankfurt (Tomorrow morning I will land in Frankfurt). This absolute rule becomes a very powerful tool for you once you begin encountering longer sentences.

Scheiße. One of the most common bad words in German, scheiße, has several creative constructions that mirror the English use of “sh*t.” Oh Scheiße! Oh sh*t!

In German, you can say “Entschuldigung” or use the more informal abbreviation “'Tschuldigung”. The English word “Sorry” works, too. You'll hear it a lot, especially among younger people.

Gesundheit! Bless you! (also: Gesundheit!)

Switzerland

The nation is recognized as the main player in the predominantly German-speaking parts of Europe. On its territory, there are about 5.3 million native German speakers, who make up 64% of Switzerland's population. Switzerland is a peculiar but scenic country that uses four official languages.

While High German is most commonly used throughout Germany today, Low German remains prevalent in several northern regions. All in all, High German and Low German might have many key differences, but they are both still considered to be a part of the German language.

Standard German is most commonly and frequently used in formal as well as informal settings in Austria's capital, Vienna. Here, people of all generations speak Standard German and even those, who slip into their regional dialects will understand the standard variation perfectly fine.

Sumerian can be considered the first language in the world, according to Mondly. The oldest proof of written Sumerian was found on the Kish tablet in today's Iraq, dating back to approximately 3500 BC.

Finally, the “Big Four.” According to the US Department of State, the four most difficult languages to learn are Arabic, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. To become conversational in one of these languages, you'll probably need 1.69 years, spending 2,200 hours in class!

What is the most spoken language in the world? ›

1. English (1,452 million speakers) According to Ethnologue, English is the most-spoken language in the world including native and non-native speakers. Like Latin or Greek at the time, English has become the world's common language.

Fortunately, it's not as difficult as you might think. German has been classified by the Foreign Service Institute as harder to learn than, say, Spanish, Italian or Dutch but easier than most other languages in the world.

Similar to riding a bike, what children have learned at a young age they will never forget. Are teenagers too old to start learning German? You are never too old to learn something new. Most people actually first start learning foreign languages after childhood, and they show that it certainly can be done.

Learners reach C2 at different rates depending on the other factors we'll discuss here, but expect nothing less than three years (and probably several more years). The Goethe Institut says you need to have studied German for at least 750 hours to get to this point.

Learn the sounds first so that you can learn the words later and pronounce them correctly. You can find the alphabet online and hear the right pronunciation of each letter. Pay special attention to the letters with an umlaut (Ä, Ö, Ü), as it completely changes the way a letter is pronounced.

German has a reputation for being pretty challenging for English speakers. There are many factors that make learning it a difficult task – the grammar, pronunciation, and the numerous verb forms just to name a few. But with enough dedication and practice, anyone can learn to speak this challenging language.

According to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute (FSI), you'll need about 750 hours of study to become fluent in German. This means that if you study 12-15 hours a week, you'll be able to speak like a pro in just a year!

Is 1 year enough to learn German? ›

It is estimated that a total of 30 weeks or 750 classroom hours are necessary to learn German. But you could complete those 750 hours in a matter of months or over the course of many years.

One of the best sites for simply reading in German online is LingQ . It allows you to read in German on a ton of topics. There are preloaded lessons on a variety of topics or you can import your own lessons into the system. You can then save vocabulary words from the articles you read and save them for later.

As a result, Z-Library is an illegal website. Though their intentions are good, they make works available that are not legally authorized. Shadow libraries are internet databases that serve as repositories for works that aren't readily available elsewhere.

Borrow books and media

The library is open to the public and use of books and media in the library is free of charge.

Use of the German National Library is free of charge.

Reading books is a fantastic way to improve your German. In fact, it's my favourite way to learn languages! That's why I've created a series of story-based German courses to help you become fluent in German while you enjoy reading fun and entertaining stories.

Z-library has remained accessible through the dark web, but as of Feb. 11, 2023, Z-library announced that the site is back on the regular internet through a new domain name. They are now providing personal subdomains for users, which are protected by their passwords and cannot be accessed by other users.

Is Z-Library illegal in USA? ›

The Z-Library project and its activities are considered illegal in many jurisdictions. While the website seizures reduced the accessibility of the content, it still remains available on the dark web.

The site was first launched in 2009 and saw a surge in popularity last year thanks to social media sites such as TikTok. However, Z-Library was taken down last November after its domain names were seized by US authorities.

Does the certificate/my exam expire? Goethe-Zertifikats A1 through C2 do not expire. Many institutions and employers, however, expect the certificate to be dated not more than two years ago.

This idea that “public libraries are free” sounds very enticing and makes a great soundbite, but it's not true. Public libraries are paid for by their community in order to create services for said community.

It is illegal, yes. “Personal use” only applies to making copies of something you already own. Not acquiring something you do not own. Obviously watching movies and reading books and listening to music is a sort of 'personal use' in common English.

Affordability - The majority of postgraduate education in Germany is free. There are no tuition fees at most German universities. Living costs in Germany are also modest in comparison to other European countries.