Best Online German Classes

Lingoda offers plans for small group classes (maximum five students), as well as one-on-one sessions. Its numerous classes will appeal to a wide range of students with varying abilities.  

Lingoda’s goal is to combine instruction with interaction. Its instructors encourage participation and real-time Q&A in German. This immersive format offers its students the opportunity to converse and communicate with others, which has been proven to be pivotal when learning a new language. 

Choosing classes is simple: Each class has a title, comprehension level, description, and instructor bio. This helps new students find exactly what they need to develop their educational plan. Prices for classes vary depending on the monthly plan you select. Plans range from four 60-minute classes ($79) up to forty 60-minute classes ($839) per month. No matter what your schedule and overall goals are, Lingoda has a plan that will work for you.

Rosetta Stone is a highly structured language learning program. Its software is user-friendly and self-paced in nature. The program advertises that its users will be able to both speak, and read in German after only a few short months.

Rosetta Stone prides itself on its immersive approach to instruction. The only time that a student’s native language is used is in the setting and navigation menus. Everything else will be in German in an effort to increase comprehension rapidly.  

While the software does not house a placement test, it does allow its users to jump around until they find that they are appropriately challenged. 

Rosetta Stone has subscriptions for three months ($35.97), one year ($170), two years ($249), and a lifetime plan ($299). Plans that are one year or longer also receive access to all the language programs that Rosetta Stone offers.

The Babbel language app has been downloaded more than 10 million times, which speaks to its popularity and effectiveness. Its easy-to-navigate interface makes it effortless for students to jump in and learn German at any time from anywhere.

Learning German can be overwhelming, but Babbel has created an app that simplifies the process. Through the use of varied learning tactics, Babbel keeps you engaged and progressing. The app focuses mainly on vocabulary. Each vocabulary word is instructed in a myriad of ways; spelling activities, audibly through a speaker, and spoken by the student into the voice-recognizing software to check and correct pronunciation.   

Babbel's plans range from monthly ($13.95), to yearly (which breaks down to $6.95 per month), or there is also a lifetime plan ($249). The lifetime plan also gives you access to all 14 languages that Babbel offers. This price point, paired with the app’s content, has made Babbel an extremely popular app to learn German. 

This app’s bonus materials are what make it stand out from its competitors. These features include podcasts, games, and live-tutoring sessions. It also offers cultural materials designed to get you familiarized with Germany prior to travel.

The Cultured Kid is a subscription-based program with a curriculum designed to teach children German through interactive videos, games, reading materials, and downloads/printables. It has one all-inclusive plan that is $39 per month. 

The Cultured Kid is designed to appeal to your child’s interests. Its developmentally-appropriate program appeals to its targeted age (2-year-olds to 8-year-olds) with engaging play-based lessons, immersive videos, and musical activities. 

This child-centered program includes 18 lesson bundles with each subscription. Each bundle houses four weeks of content, assuming five days of participation per week. It has a simple and fun curriculum designed to make learning fun and interactive for children. 

The Cultured Kid has a seven-day money-back guarantee so that you can explore without the risk of losing money if it is not the right fit for you.

LiveLingua is a web-based language program that pairs students with fluent-speaking teachers. This one-on-one format lends itself to a more custom approach, catering to different learning styles, levels of comprehension, and rates of progress. This scaffolded approach makes it a great choice for teens who wish to learn German.

Some language apps require their students to select and set up their own learning program from a catalog of lessons and materials. This may be difficult for teens who are accustomed to the curriculum developed by teachers.per With LiveLingua, everything is custom assembled for the student by the instructor- making it a great choice for teens. 

With LiveLingua, you pay for your classes by the hour, and if you pay for multiple classes at once, the price is reduced. The hourly costs range from $29.99-$35 based on the number of hours or classes you buy. 

Each hourly German class with Live Lingua typically includes conversations held in only German, and reading and writing exercises. Each lesson is geared to track and measurable student progress, with language certifications as an ultimate goal.  

Live Lingua offers a 30-day, no-risk, free trial for all new users. After completing a basic survey, Live Lingua pairs you with a trial instructor. If you opt in to this free trial, they do not even require you to enter any credit card information.

FluentU is a self-paced program that primarily uses videos to teach the German language through immersion exposure to real-world dialogue, rather than formal instruction. Users claim that the immersive videos, audio clips, and flashcards give them a greater understanding of the practical application of the German language. 

If you are looking for a straightforward, at-home German class, FluentU might be the program for you. You can easily select your courses and materials, and track your progress all through the easy-to-use dashboard. 

FluentU offers a variety of foreign language courses, but boasts of its array and variety of content available, specifically for its German learners. Currently, they have 1,024 German videos, nine sets of flashcards, and close to 50 audio samples and clips. All of this content is designed to get its German students speaking conversationally quickly. 

FluentU offers a 14-day free trial to audit and explore its extensive catalog of German courses and supplemental material. The free trial is followed by either a monthly ($29.99) or annual ($239.99) subscription. 

The Berlitz method is a more natural approach to language instruction. In a Berlitz class, you will hear no English spoken; all you will hear and speak is German. This practice closely resembles learning the German language as it would be taught in the native country. This uncompromising approach will demand its learners to adapt to the native norms of the language, making it good for fast learners.

If you are in search of a comprehensive and challenging German class, Berlitz is a great option. It offers a variety of instruction modalities, making it a great fit for an intermediate or advanced student, and any schedule. 

Berlitz offers teaching methods varying from online self-study, private and group lessons, and their Total Immersion Method. The costs for these programs range from $299 to $3,990 for the Total Immersion Method, which guarantees basic German ability in only one week. 

Berlitz is a great choice for anyone looking for a German class that will give you a taste of being a native German speaker. Whether you have time to learn over the course of a few months through its self-paced program, or you need to learn rapidly through its Total Immersion Method, Berlitz is a competitive option.

You can learn and practice German through DeutschAkademie at no cost. The free resources include German exercises, online textbooks, an audio course, over 150 different German grammar topics, and the Dativ Akkusativ trainer program that offers over 25,000 free exercises.

As free options go, DeutschAkademie is a great choice. Its German courses are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR") for grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. It is considered a highly useful tool by its users that instructs how to speak, read, write and practice grammar—all in German. 

The course options are divided into three main levels (A, B, or C) and includes more than 25,000 exercises in grammar and vocabulary.

Another helpful tool that the DeutschAkademie boasts is its free “help” feature. Here, you can live chat with a German teacher and get answers to any question you may have. 

Overall, DeutschAkademie is a resourceful, and comprehensive free option for any German learner.