It is not always an obvious language to learn if you are keen to become bilingual or speak a new language. Part of the reason for this is that German is not a commonly spoken language outside of Germany and a few countries that neighbor Germany. So unless a person has a specific need to learn it, other languages like Spanish, Mandarin and even French seem to be more attractive. With this said, if you work in a field that may take you to Germany or other countries like Switzerland or Austria then it would be a definite advantage to learn German. Such fields include software development, car manufacturing and banking and finance.

Indeed, jobs in the financial sector, particularly for the software engineering side of the sector are often advertised in places like Zurich. It is often a prerequisite of applying for the job that you have some understanding of German. Even if this is not a requirement of the job, if you plan to stay in a German speaking country for work, you will have a much more enjoyable time if you can communicated with the locals. another reason why you might be interested in speaking German is because of your family tree. Maybe your family hailed from Germany and maybe you still have long lost relatives that you ant to catch up with. Speaking German will obviously make this task easier.

If this is your motivation then you need a good learn German program to get you started. And with all the resources on the Internet and in software products, learning German has never been easier or more convenient. There are online tutorials, games to learn German, audio programs or podcasts, and other didactic tools to use. Heres a quick outline of the things you can find.

German Language Games And Other Resources

Language games are good idea if you need to practice your vocabulary. They are primarily focusing on your written abilities but knowing a word can also help your spoken skills too. Traditional games like hangman, crosswords and flash card games a great fun. You can find many on the internet just by searching. Look a bit harder and you can find more complex games that help your comprehension too. These are games that give you puzzles or clue like scenarios to solve.

Some deeper browsing of the internet will dig up other mediums for learning. So you will find many audio and audio visual means by which you can learn German. Audio is obviously useful as that’s the primary skill you are interested in. Look out for free podcasts that you can listen to on the go.

If you learn better with video then look at German videos on video sharing sites like youtube. There are thousands of videos on just about any subject you can think of. Some may even come with subtitles if you are new to the language.

Alternatives You Pay For

There are plenty of courses that you can pay for to help you learn German. The major advantage of a paid course is that it gives you more structure to your learning. This helps you to focus. the fact that you paid money also helps to motivate and focus your efforts. The major players in learn German courses are Rosetta Stone, Rocket German, Michel Thomas and Pimsleur. Each has it’s own style and focuses on certain language skills. For instance Michel Thomas and Pimsleur are mainly concerned with the student speaking the language. They don’t bother with writing and reading. Rosetta Stone is a unique immersion approach that tries to simulate the way a baby learns a language. Rocket German is a mixture of the others.

I think Michel Thomas is great for vacation learning. You get up to speed pretty quickly but the depth and vocabulary is pretty limited. Rocket German, Pimsleur and Michel Thomas come on CD’s so you can use them pretty much anywhere whenever the mood takes you. Rosetta Stone is a software program so you need a computer and headphones.