Learn German

Start at the alphabet

The German on-ramp is written by hand, not generated, and it is 482 cards long. Every card is spoken in a recorded German voice, and what you get right is scheduled for review rather than shown again at random.

• 30letters
• 10digits
• 22pronunciation rules
• 300core words
• 60everyday phrases
• 60sentences

Three of the pronunciation cards, exactly as the on-ramp teaches them:

• Hund — a b, d or g at the END of a word hardens to p, t, k — Hund is said “hunt”, not “hund”gelb — yellow
• ch (a, o, u) — after a, o or u the ch is a hard rasp from the back of the throat, as in Scottish “loch”Nacht — night
• ch (e, i, ä, ö, ü) — after e, i or an umlaut it is a completely different sound — a soft hiss at the front, like the h in “huge”rechts — right (the side)

Your first German phrases

The first phrase and sentence cards of the on-ramp, each spoken in a recorded voice:

• Wie geht es dir? vee GAYT es DEER — how are you? (informal)
• Mir geht es gut, danke. meer GAYT es GOOT, DAN-ke — I’m fine, thank you
• Wie heißt du? vee HYSST doo — what is your name?
• Ich bin Student. ikh bin shtu-DENT — I am a student.
• Ich heiße Thomas. ikh HY-se TOH-mas — My name is Thomas.

What German actually costs a beginner

The early costs are three, and all three are sounds. A b, d or g at the end of a word hardens — Hund is said "hunt" — which is invisible in the spelling. The letter pair ch is two completely different sounds depending on the vowel in front of it. And ei and ie are the pair that everybody reverses, until somebody tells you to say the name of the second letter. After that come the cases, which nothing can make quick, and which the Path meets a station at a time rather than all at once.