Best German Language Courses

If you don't want to sign up for German classes with pressure to do your homework and fixed lesson times, the most convenient way for you to study the German language is to buy a language course and follow it at your own speed, in the comfort of your own home, at whatever time fits in with your own time schedule.

Here is a selection of language courses and language software to help you to learn German. Two of the language courses are in depth, and other one will just help you to learn the German basics, but, with the help of a German dictionary, this would probably be sufficient for you to get by on holiday, talking to the local people, finding your way around, and buying food and necessities.

If you seriously want to learn German, you do need to devote a regular amount of time to it, and I would recommend at least an hour a day, or several hours a week, in order to give you time to build up your knowledge and linguistic skill. There are language courses which help you to learn the language fast, and even some which say you can learn it in ten days.

My own feeling is that, if you were to completely immerse yourself in the German language for a short but concentrated period, you would learn enough to get by at a superficial level, but really it takes longer than a few days to learn the language thoroughly.

I'm showing you several different German courses here, but this page would be too long if I were to include even more language programs, so if you can't see the language courses you were looking for, you can just point and click on any of the items shown below and you will be transported to the Amazon.com website, where you can browse for the language course of your choice

A little about me - I have been to Germany and Austria, travelling with a small German phrase book, nothing more heavy. I was able to understand and to speak a bit with reasonable pronunciation, because I learned Afrikaans when I was at school in South Africa.

Afrikaans is derived from the Dutch language spoken by the Boers (farmers) who were the first white settlers there. Dutch is, in turn derived mainly from German, and is known as a Germanic language.

English, too, is partly a Germanic language, but has many other sources as well, even Icelandic, and certainly French and Latin, as well as Gaelic, which itself is no doubt derived from French Gallic and Gaul, which was occupied by the Romans.

Metropolis, German Movie Poster, 1926

Buy This at Allposters.com

(Fritz Lange was also responsible for

the film "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" -

I saw it on TV recently and it was brilliant)

Now for the German Language Courses:

Think how wonderful it would be to be able to read the great German philosophers in their own language:

- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) Critique of Pure Reason,

- Karl Marx (1818-1883) Das Kapital,

- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

- Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)

and you'll be able to understand German opera without having to resort to translation:

- The Magic Flute by Mozart

- Fidelio by Beethoven

- Tannhäuser and Lohengrin by Wagner

- Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss

1. Kraftwerk - The Model

2. Kraftwerk - Das Model

3. Elvis Presley - Wooden Heart/Mussi Den (sung half in English, half in German)

4.Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 - 1 hour

5. Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata - 14 minutes

6. Beethoven - 5th Symphony - 7 minutes

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Josef Karl

Buy This at Allposters.com

Take the poll on the right to compare readers' reasons for learning German and find out why they want to learn German - Let's see what you all say

The following languages are Germanic, which means that they derive quite a lot of their grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary from the German:

- English

- Scottish

- Dutch

- Flemish

- Afrikaans

- Norwegian

- Danish

- Swedish

- Icelandic

There is a more detailed article about Germanic Languages on Wikipedia.

Many languages speak of Germania although the Germans call the country Deutschland. Germania was a Province of the Roman Empire, and was conquered and occupied by the Romans round about the time of Julius Caesar.

Some Famous German Philosophers:

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), philosopher

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), philosopher

Karl Marx (1818-1883), philosopher and sociologist

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), early existentialist philosopher

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), philosopher

Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), philosopher, political economist

Erich Fromm (1900-1980)

Bruno Bauer (1809-1882), political theorist and philosopher

Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), philosopher, political economist

Ernst Tugendhat (born 1930), philosopher

Some Famous German Writers:

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), playwright, poet

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), author, poet

Brothers Grimm, famous collectors of fairy tales

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), author

Thomas Mann (1875-1955), author (brother of Heinrich Mann)

Famous Actors, Directors and Stars of Media:

Horst Buchholz (1933-2003), actor

Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992), actress

Heidi Klum (born 1973), model and actress

Hildegard Knef (1925-2002), actress, singer, writer

Lilli Palmer, (1914-1986) actress

Romy Schneider, actress

Claudia Schiffer (born 1970), actress and supermodel

Werner Herzog (born 1942), film director

Fritz Lang (1890-1976), film director

Wim Wenders (born 1945), film director

Famous German Musicians and Singers:

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), composer, son of J. S. Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), composer

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), composer

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), composer

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759), composer, opera composer

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), composer

Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), composer

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007), modern composer

Richard Strauss (1864-1949), composer, opera composer

Richard Wagner (1813-1883), composer

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), composer

Kurt Weill (1900-1950), composer (Threepenny Opera, "September Song")

Karl Richter (1926-1981), composer

German Artists:

Max Ernst (1891-1976), surrealist painter

Walter Gropius (1883-1969), architect

Hans Holbein the Elder (c. 1465-1524), painter

Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497-1543), illustrator, painter

This is part of a list derived from research on Wikipedia, where you can find a huge list of the famous.

Some Zazzle Designs representing Germany

You Can Get this poster on Zazzle:

Johann Sebastian Bach c.1715 Poster by bridgemanart

On Zazzle you can choose the product you want, and then either choose a design from the many hundreds on their website, or add your own design - so anything you buy is completely personalized - it's brilliant, and such fun for personalized presents as well

And you can get this German Shepherd Dog design on a Mug

The wording can be personalized or even removed by you, and you can get the same design on a mug, a button, a bumper sticker, or even a card
German Shepherd Puppy Mugs by corbisimages

Tell us what languages you speak, what languages you would like to speak, whether anyone in your family is completely bi-lingual, or even what you had for breakfast.......

Communication is the name of the game!