Learn German for your trip
Germany first, with notes for Austria and German-speaking Switzerland: cafés, trains and markets.
- 31 modules
- 6 missions
- 1,505 phrases to search, hear and save
- 10 games
Try it free for 14 days.
First Steps comes first, then how German works, food, hotels and getting around, and everyday life. It has 31 modules and six missions.
Real situations, one at a time.
6 missions, each in three stages: Get by, Go further and Like a local. A mission counts as achieved when you know the key language, understand it spoken, say it aloud and handle the conversation.
Missions
Order a coffee in Germany
From your first coffee at the counter to a Saturday queue at the neighbourhood bakery: you can order exactly what you want, understand the server at normal speed and pay the way people do, in German.
Eat out in Germany
From your first table for two to a busy Gasthaus at lunchtime: you can book, order, explain an allergy, fix a problem and pay, in German, and understand the waiter at normal speed.
Stay at a hotel
Check in, get what you need during your stay and sort out problems, understanding what reception tells you, in German.
Get around by train, U-Bahn and bus
Buy the right ticket, get on the right train, U-Bahn or bus, catch what the announcements say and find your way on foot, in German.
Shop in Germany: markets and shops
From your first kilo of tomatoes to a Saturday at the weekly market with the regulars, and from a black jacket in the sales to knowing why the shop is shut on Sunday: you can buy what you want, understand the seller and pay the way people do, in German.
Get help at a pharmacy and in an emergency
From a sunburn on a beach on the Baltic coast to a night at the duty pharmacy with a friend who has a temperature: you can say what is wrong, understand the pharmacist's questions and warnings, and know who to call, in German.
The German you learn, in order.
Every course starts with First Steps, the survival language for your first hour. The tracks after it add to what you can do.
- 1First StepsGuten Tag, bitte, danke, and how to get what you need.
- 2How German worksUnderstand the system behind the phrases
- 3FoodFrom the first Kaffee to the last Zahlen, bitte
- 4Hotels & Getting AroundCheck in, catch the train, find your way, and cope when things go wrong.
- 5EverydayMarket stalls, shop counters, the pharmacy, and the day something goes wrong.
- 31
- modules, each in short lessons
- 997
- words and expressions
- 120
- sentence patterns
- 1,505
- phrases in the phrasebook
German you can use on day one.
These are from the first lessons. In the app each has audio, a note on when to use it, and a way to save it.
Guten Tag, Frau Becker.
Good day, Mrs Becker.
Entschuldigung, Frau Becker…
Excuse me, Mrs Becker…
Wo ist die Toilette?
Where is the toilet?
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
Do you speak English?
Können Sie das wiederholen?
Can you repeat that?
Die Rechnung, bitte.
The bill, please.
Ich möchte einen Kaffee, bitte.
I'd like a coffee, please.
Ich verstehe nicht.
I don't understand.
Three things about German for a traveller.
Du or Sie
German has an informal and a formal "you". The course shows which one fits a hotel desk, a market stall and a friend.
Greetings change by region
Moin is a greeting at any time of day in the north. Grüß Gott and Servus are common in Bavaria and Austria. In Switzerland you will hear Grüezi.
Swiss German is spoken, standard German is written
In German-speaking Switzerland people speak Swiss German and write standard German. The notes explain what that means for a visitor.
Places the course has notes on.
Each note is a habit of that place, so you know what to expect where you are going.
Berlin
Berlin and its neighbourhoods: many languages are heard, and English is common in tourist areas
Bavaria
Munich, Nuremberg and the Alps: Grüß Gott and Servus are common greetings, and Bavarian dialect is heard
Hamburg & the north
Hamburg, Bremen, Kiel and the coast: Moin is a greeting at any time of day
Cologne & the Rhineland
North Rhine-Westphalia: Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn and the Ruhr; Kölsch beer and carnival season
Stuttgart & the Black Forest
Stuttgart, Freiburg, Heidelberg and Lake Constance; a Swabian accent is heard in places
Frankfurt & Hesse
Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Kassel and the Rhine-Main area, with a major airport and rail hub
Saxony
Dresden and Leipzig: a Saxon accent is heard, and standard German is understood everywhere
Elsewhere in Germany
Everywhere else: Thuringia, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, the Palatinate and the rest
Austria
Vienna, Salzburg and Tyrol: Servus and Grüß Gott, Semmel for a bread roll, and the Kaffeehaus tradition
The same app plans the trip you are learning German for.
Takes your phrases offline
Download the travel guide on Wi-Fi. The phrasebook, survival and travel packs, local notes and audio then work with no signal.
Plans the trip too
Put places on days, save the TikToks and reels that gave you ideas, see the stops on a map and share the plan.
Keeps your travel map
Colour in the countries you have been to and the ones you want to go to.
About learning German.
Will it help in Berlin and Munich?
Yes. The missions cover coffee, restaurants, hotels, trains, U-Bahn and bus, markets and the pharmacy, and the notes cover both cities and the regions around them.
I only speak English. Will people answer in German?
In tourist areas and big cities many people will switch to English. A few German phrases still change how the conversation starts, and the missions cover what staff say back to you.
Does it cover Austria and Switzerland?
There are notes for both. The course teaches standard German, which is understood in both countries.
Going somewhere else?
Say your first German phrase in a few minutes.
Create a free account, pick German, and start with the phrases for your first hour.
Try it free for 14 days.