Free A1 German course: elementary

A1 turns words into conversations. It covers the accusative and dative, separable and modal verbs, the Perfekt for talking about what you did, and everyday situations like ordering food, shopping and asking the way.

32 grammar lessons, 6 graded stories, flashcards and an AI conversation partner, all free. Plan on roughly 80 hours of study for this level (80 in total from zero, by an approximate CEFR estimate that isn't specific to German).

What you'll be able to do

• Listening: I can understand slow, clear questions about myself, my family and where I live.
• Listening: I can catch numbers, prices and times when people speak slowly.
• Reading: I can read short messages, a menu and simple notices (Heute Ruhetag).
• Reading: I can follow a very simple story with familiar words.
• Speaking: I can order at a bakery or café, buy things and ask the way with simple phrases (Ich hätte gern…).
• Speaking: I can talk about my day, my family and what I like (Ich spiele gern…) in short sentences.
• Speaking: I can make simple plans (Hast du am Samstag Zeit?) and suggest a time to meet.
• Writing: I can write a short postcard or a simple WhatsApp-style message.

What you'll learn

Learning A1 German with AI

At A1 you can role-play ordering food in a Biergarten, checking into a hotel or asking the way to the U-Bahn with the AI partner, and ask it to explain any mistake in plain English. The AI also explains any wrong answer in a lesson, in plain English. It's included free, with a daily allowance; like any AI it can make mistakes, so the lessons remain the reference. More about learning German with AI.

All 32 A1 grammar lessons

Free to read here. In the app, each one is taught in short steps with audio, practised, and brought back for review.

1. The accusative: den, einen, keinen
2. Accusative pronouns: mich, dich, ihn
3. Possessives: mein, dein, sein, ihr…
4. Stem-changing verbs: sprechen, lesen, fahren
5. Separable verbs: anrufen, aufstehen
6. Modal verbs: können, müssen, wollen, dürfen, sollen
7. Wishes and likes: möchte, gern, lieber
8. The imperative: Komm!, Kommt!, Kommen Sie!
9. There is, there are: es gibt
10. Knowing: wissen or kennen?
11. Time first: Heute gehe ich …
12. Prepositions with the accusative: durch, für, gegen, ohne, um
13. Prepositions with the dative: aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu
14. The dative: dem, der, den
15. Dative pronouns: mir, dir, ihm
16. Joining sentences: und, aber, oder, denn, sondern
17. Adjectives after sein: Das Haus ist groß
18. Big numbers, prices and dates
19. Telling the time: 18.30 Uhr and halb sieben
20. Family, people and compound nouns
21. In a café or restaurant
22. Shopping and prices
23. Asking the way
24. Talking about the past: the Perfekt with haben
25. The Perfekt with sein: ich bin gefahren
26. Participles without ge-, and eingekauft
27. war and hatte: the past of sein and haben
28. Friendly little words: mal, doch, ja
29. Where nicht goes: nicht mehr, noch nicht, nie
30. Which and what kind: welcher, was für ein
31. Weather and seasons
32. Comparing: größer als, so groß wie

Reading at A1

• Pläne für Samstag: Sophie and Leon plan a Saturday in Munich: the market, the English Garden and a beer garden. But the weather has other plans.
• Die Woche von Emre: Emre is a nurse in Berlin. He talks about his shifts, his German course and his Sundays at Tempelhofer Feld.
• Die neue Wohnung: Lena moves into an old flat in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Behind a kitchen drawer she finds a small green key, and her old neighbour turns pale when she sees it.
• Ein WG-Zimmer in Köln: Paul from Kassel needs a room in Cologne. He visits a shared flat (a WG) in Ehrenfeld and has a lot of questions.
• Tür Nummer drei: Lena and her friend Jonas go down to the courtyard at midnight. Behind door three, lots of clocks are ticking, but the clockmaker's has been closed for years.
• Ein Monat in Zürich: Julia from Hamburg spends a month working in Zurich. Swiss usage in the story: Grüezi (hello), Velo (bike), merci (thanks), and ss instead of ß in Swiss spelling.

Questions