GermanPod101 has carved a name for itself in the German language learning community with its combination of audio and video learning. You can even go to YouTube to watch some of their free language tutorials.
After hearing about all the hype, I decided to try it out for myself. Here’s what the process looked like and what I thought of the program.
Overview
Name: GermanPod101
Description: Innovative Language's German learning program.
Languages offered: German.
Offer price: Some free content; monthly subscription from $8/month up to $47/month
GermanPod101 has an impressive amount of authentic German material, and can take you through all stages of learning German. However, its shortcomings mean it can’t be used alone and should be supplemented, especially for speaking and writing practice.
User friendliness - 8/10
8/10
Delivers on promises - 9/10
9/10
Authenticity - 9/10
9/10
Value for price - 4/10
4/10
Pros
Relies on authentic written and spoken native German content
Has a huge amount of learning material
Flashcards and word banks help retain new vocabulary
I signed up for the free trial of GermanPod101, and I was immediately offered a $1 plan. This plan would give me all the premium features of the $10 per month plan for the special one-time offer of $1.
Right off the bat, I was impressed. This is a great way to have new users try the full extent of the program for a month at a lower entry point.
The next screen opened up into the actual GermanPod101 program. First, I was asked for my level of German. Even though I have already studied German before, I chose the “Absolute Beginner” option to try it out. Most people looking for a German course are at the beginner stage, so I figured this level would be the most useful to try out.
Immediately, my dashboard was populated with options for “pathways.” I chose the “Level 1 German” pathway, but there were more than a dozen other options, including options like “3-Minute German” and “Essential German for Emergencies.”
How Do GermanPod101 Lessons Work?
In the “Level 1 German” pathway, I completed multiple lessons as part of my trial.
Most of the lessons follow the same format. Each starts with an audio or video in German revolving around a topic. This topic can be self-introductions, asking for help, the alphabet or any other beginner topic imaginable. I noticed right off the bat that many of these videos were also available on YouTube.
Next, some of the audio clips and videos come with a line-by-line transcript in German, an English translation and voice recording tools for you to try actually speaking German for yourself. This corresponds to all the German spoken in the video—often the conversations—but not the English preamble in the beginning and end.
There is then a list of vocabulary with audio that can be slowed down. This list usually includes all the German used in the video, and the words tend not to repeat too much from video to video.
This is followed by lesson notes that include a short tutorial on German grammar basics, vocabulary usage and cultural notes related to the lesson. These notes are particularly helpful for understanding why something is being said a certain way and how to navigate German’s formal and informal language.
Each lesson also comes with a practice component such as a multiple-choice test or a written assessment. These are only available to premium users. I got to try them out through my $1 trial, and they were pretty standard activities where you had to fill in the correct German word.
Lastly, there is a complete transcript of the entire video or audio at the end of the lesson.
Main Features of GermanPod101
Authentic German Audio and Video
A big draw to GermanPod101 is the fact that native German speech is central to its language learning platform. All of GermanPod101’s audio and video lessons include authentic German from native speakers.
These native speakers are also German teachers, so they are good at explaining German in a way that can be easily understood and retained.
GermanPod101’s grammar and vocabulary explanations are also given in a mix of German and English. This is a great way to hear the native German you need, but also to get quick usage notes in English.
As you progress through GermanPod101—and you inevitably leave the beginner pathways—German explanations become more prevalent.
With authenticity comes actual usage. The lessons don’t just include German speech, but they have German as it is actually used by native speakers.
It includes slang, informal language and regional variations. That is often lacking from other German courses and textbooks, so it is a nice touch.
Plenty of Content and Learning Paths
Choice is big in GermanPod101. The program offers five levels of German proficiency. These levels include German pathways (courses) based on a level and range from Absolute Beginner to Advanced. This means that GermanPod101 is apt to teach and support you at all levels of your German journey.
As previously mentioned, each course has a variety of pathways to choose from. These include general courses for the level such as simply “Level 1 German,” as well as courses related to specific skills such as speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar. You can switch your pathway at any time, and you can even work on multiple pathways concurrently.
In addition to leveled lessons related to a specific skill, there are courses that focus on different types of German such as medical, business and academic German.
There are literally thousands of lessons.
Vocabulary Building Tools
In addition to its base course offerings, GermanPod101 offers a number of tools to support vocabulary building in tandem with its lessons.
With a free lifetime account, users get access to vocabulary lists, a word of the day service, a German dictionary as well as the 100 most common words and German key phrases. These are fantastic for learning the most common and useful words in the German language, especially at the beginning of their journeys.
Premium users get a couple more features to enhance their learning. These users can select words from the “Vocabulary” section of lessons to create and review flashcards.
Furthermore, premium users also have access to a word bank and a list of the 2,000 most common German words.
How Much Does GermanPod101 Cost?
As you have probably guessed, there are different price points to GermanPod101 that give you varying levels of access to the program.
The bottom-tiered membership is the Free Lifetime Account. This allows you to have an account with GermanPod101, but it is quite limited. Users with this account get new weekly lessons, the first three lessons for each pathway and the free vocabulary-building features mentioned above.
The next tier is a Basic subscription that starts at $4 a month. This subscription level gives you access to all the lessons and the same vocabulary-building tools as the free lifetime account.
The Premium subscription starts at $10 a month, and it gives you access to additional language lessons, flashcards with Spaced Repetition System technology, word frequency lists and more study tools. This seems to be the most comprehensive and useful plan, in my opinion.
Lastly, there is the Premium Plus plan. This gives you everything from the Premium plan as well as a professional assessment, a personalized learning plan and one-on-one instruction. It starts at $23 a month.
Pros of GermanPod101
Authentic German content
For starters, the reliance on authentic written and spoken native German content is superb. Frankly, you cannot master German unless you are using native content to learn. In this way, GermanPod101 is fantastic. There are native German speakers as well as native German teachers. This is invaluable to learners.
Tons of German lessons and learning materials
Closely related to my first highlight is the endless supply of lessons and learning materials. I honestly believe that it would take a lifetime to do every single lesson in GermanPod101. That is an amazing wealth of material. Not only does this offer a lot of German to learn, but it also makes GermanPod101 accessible to all learners. You will definitely find something to interest you!
High-quality vocabulary reinforcement tools
GermanPod101 also has some awesome features to reinforce vocabulary skills. Not only does the program have useful vocabulary lists for users, but the power of Spaced Repetition System flashcards is unmatched.
Cons of GermanPod101
Despite GermanPod101’s highlights, there are definitely some drawbacks.
Not many grammar exercises
The first is GermanPod101’s lack of substantial grammar exercises. While there are tutorials for grammar, there really are no meaningful exercises. Most exercises within the GermanPod101 learning program are focused on vocabulary usage, and these tend to be in the multiple-choice format. These can be tedious, and I do not personally believe these provide a great way to master new vocabulary or grammar topics.
Not much writing or speaking practice
There is also a lack of ability to practice spontaneous written and spoken German. While there is authentic German to read and listen to, there really are no opportunities to write or speak German.
No support network
Further, even when you are given a chance to write in German, there is no support network to help learners improve.
It is worth noting, however, that there is a comment section in each lesson. Users do write in German there—and sometimes representatives from GermanPod101 respond—but that is it.
In my opinion, it is crucial to write and speak German spontaneously to master the language, and there are just no opportunities for that in the program.
Premium Plus membership is overhyped
To be honest, the Premium Plus plan seems a little lackluster. The personalized learning plan is simply a suggestion from a tutor about what lessons to complete to meet certain goals, and the one-on-one instruction is chat-based messages with a tutor with an evaluation of an audio recording of you speaking German.
There are multiple reviews from other Premium Plus users of other Pod101 courses online, and many suggest that this plan is not worth it.
Lingoda is an online language school. If you were thinking about signing up for the Premium Plus membership of GermanPod101 because of the tutoring feature but need something more in-depth, I’d recommend Lingoda instead.
You can choose to take group classes or private one-on-one classes, but the group classes are the most popular. They’re very small groups with no more than five students, and classes are available to take 24/7.
The classes follow a premade, expertly crafted curriculum that follows CEFR levels. For German, you can take classes from levels A1 to C1.
Watch authentic media to simultaneously immerse yourself in the German language and build an understanding of the German culture.
By using real-life videos, the content is kept fresh and current. Topics cover a lot of ground as you can see here:
Vocabulary and phrases are learned with the help of interactive subtitles and full transcripts.
Hovering over or tapping on any word in the subtitles will automatically pause the video and instantly display its meaning. Interesting words you don’t know yet can be added to a to-learn list for later.
For every lesson, a list of vocabulary is provided for easy reference and bolstered with plenty of examples of how each word is used in a sentence.
Your existing knowledge is tested with the help of adaptive quizzes in which words are learned in context.
To keep things fresh, FluentU keeps track of the words you’re learning and recommends further lessons and videos based on what you've already studied.
This way, you have a truly personalized learning experience.
Babbel is a language learning app that follows a conversation-based curriculum. The lessons are centered on a topic and aim to teach you the most useful words so you can start speaking German in real life fast.
There are five courses offered that take you from level A1 to B2, and each level has smaller courses underneath it. You can also choose courses by topic. For example, there are four grammar courses, two listening and speaking courses, nine business German courses, three “Specials” courses and more.
Babbel also offers a live tutoring service where you can book private classes. Like Lingoda, you choose the class based on the topic being taught—so even though they’re private sessions, they still follow the Babbel CEFR curriculum.
The Verdict: Is GermanPod101 Worth It?
Despite some of GermanPod101’s drawbacks, I can safely say that yes, GermanPod101 is worth it.
But only if you’re aware of the product’s limitations.
As previously mentioned, the amount of authentic German content on offer is unmatched and can teach you a lot of German. It’s entirely plausible to start with GermanPod101 as a beginner and continue to use it through all stages of learning German.
In light of its shortcomings, I do recommend seeking supplementary materials for speaking and writing practice. This can mean getting a tutor, a language exchange partner or even a way to complete writing and speaking exercises on your own.
However, I’m not sure if I can recommend GermanPod101’s Premium Plus plan. While it sounds good on paper, it seems slightly misleading and not worth the extra money. I would put that money toward an actual German tutor, especially if it is the one-on-one lessons that you’re really after.
