Free German Lessons and Courses
Textbook Courses
Wikibooks: Äußern! Learning the German Language
A comprehensive free German language course from Wikibooks, the open source books collection, in five levels.
Video Lessons
MyGermanClass.com: Lernen Wir Deutsch!
German lessons in in Quicktime (.MOV) video format.
Courses and Exercises
BBC German Steps
German Steps is a beginner's course. It's organised into six topics: Meeting People, Getting Around Berlin, Food and Drink, Taking a Holiday, Making Arrangements, Shops and Services. Each topic consists of 4 units and a revision unit in the form of a challenge to check your knowledge of the language. Going through each unit will take about 20 minutes. You can follow them in sequence or just dip into them. If you already know some German it might be worth starting with these challenges and using them as a fast-track through the early material.
Deutsch Interaktiv
Interactive language exercises for basic and intermediate German knowledge; in German.
Deutsche Internet Chronik German Web Exercises
This project is designed as a digital laboratory manual for German language studies on the World Wide Web. The study materials are grouped around ten interdisciplinary topics which highlight important social, cultural, and political aspects of contemporary German civilization.
Deutsch im Netz
Grammar help, music, comics, puzzles and webexercises to help you learn German, useful for students.
Deutsch Lernen im Internet
Learn German online and for free: 10 German lessons for total beginners and 24 German grammar lessons for advanced learners are complemented by numerous interactive German exercises, an introduction to new German orthography and 2 online German tests to improve and to evaluate your German proficiency.
Fundamentals of German
University of Houston reference grammar of German.
German Electronic Textbook
Short textbook of German covering pronunciation and grammar.
German For Beginners
20 lessons in beginning German, also downloadable as an ebook.
German For Everyone
Seven lessons in beginning German, with audio pronunciations.
German For Travellers
Vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, crossword puzzles, and other learning material for German.
German-Grammar.de
Extensive site with a large textbook of German grammar, downloads of German literature, chatroom, and more.
German Grammar
German grammar from Udo Klinger. In German.
German Language Course for English-Speaking Students
Learning a second language is a great adventure; like traveling in a foreign land. Like traveling, it also requires effort and is sometimes a chore. This course is designed to help the serious student start learning German.
German Language Web Exercises
Comprehensive listing of German language exercises on the internet.
German Online Interactive
Comprehensive listing of German language learning links.
Guide to German Pronunciation
The guide to German pronunciation designed by the German Department of the University of Exeter offers a concise explanation of the different sounds which you will encounter in a German-speaking country. Numerous sound files allow the user to distinguish between similar pairs of words and to overcome the errors most commonly made by English speakers.
GUT - Interactive Activities for German Teachers and Learners
Site is aimed at middle and high school students of German; requires registration, and charges for access during daytime hours, but is otherwise free.
Interaktives Lernprogramm zur Rechtschreibreform
Interactive online program for learning the new German spelling; in German.
Internet Handbook of German Grammar
This site is intended to provide students, readers, and translators of German with a concise and comprehensive reference grammar, one available on the web.
Nancy Thuleen's German Teaching Materials
Below you'll find a list of the vocabulary worksheets I've compiled over the last few years. Feel free to use these as handouts or links for your own teaching, or for your own reference.
Phrasebase German Language Learning Resources
The Phrasebase website is the ultimate environment allowing you to read an German Alphabet based phonetic spelling of common and useful everyday phrases in effort to memorize it and it's meaning. Phrases are accompanyed by sound files allowing you to listen repetitively and repeat out loud to practice pronunciation. And lastly, there are thousands of other members who can help you with your target language. With a live webcam audio/video chatroom, German language exchange pen-pals, French online phrasebook, country information, and language information.
TU Darmstadt's Compendium of Online Exercises
A wide variety of learning exercises based on German topics. In German.
Shea's German Work Page
Large compendium of language exercise links.
Vocabulary Training Exercises
Vocabulary exercises in German (also in French, English, and Spanish).
Wikibooks: Äußern! Learning the German Language
A comprehensive free German language course from Wikibooks, the open source books collection, in five levels.
Language Communities
Polyglot
Polyglot is a non-profit community dedicated to language exchange. Polyglot allows you to find the right person ready to exchange languages with you. You will search for penpals according to age, gender, location, hobbies, etc. Polyglot is fully customizable. You will choose your own icons, styles or post your own Polyglot translations, so that more people speaking your language can become a member.
Speak Any Language Online Community
Speak-Any-Language.com is a web-based, global community dedicated to making the world a smaller place through understanding of languages and cultures. Our Forums area gives each of our users the opportunity to communicate with each other. Our Chat area gives everyone the opportunity practice speaking in the languages of their choice. Best of all, the services on these pages are free.
UniLang Community
The main purpose of the UniLang Community is to provide an online site where people interested in languages can unite, openly discuss, and find resources related to language(s), linguistics and translations. We are an open non-profit organization, meaning that everything on our site is publicly accessible at no cost, and membership is also free and open for everybody. All data, unless otherwise stated, is licensed under an open licence, the UniLang Public License, as opposed to a restrictive copyright.
Other German Resources
1001 Aphorismen
1001 German aphorisms arranged alphabetically according to the topics from Absurd to Zynismus. In German.
German Dictionaries Online
Comprehensive listing of German dictionaries, technical reference, grammars, and other language aids.
German Internet Radio and Online News Radio
Large directory of internet radio programs with conversation and music in a number of different audio formats.
German Newspapers Online
Directory of online German newspapers.
Projekt Gutenberg/Spiegel Online
Site that combines the German newspaper Der Spiegel with the Gutenberg Project's listing of online German literature.
University of Michigan's Literatur & Philosophie Links
Comprehensive listing of links to online texts of German literature, poetry, philosophy, and other writings.