Learn German

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin with horse-drawn carriages, a colour print from around 1900

German Mentors is a new home for learning German. It is being built right now; the words further down are already yours to play with.

A1 to C2 in six levels

Long words, short pieces

German glues short words together: a glove is a hand‑shoe, a light bulb a glow‑pear. Learn the pieces and the long words read themselves.

A page of the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493, set in early German type with woodcut portraits — Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493

A pair of embroidered leather gloves from the seventeenth century

Build a word

der Handschuh: a hand‑shoe, so a glove.

The last piece says what the thing is and brings its gender with it: der Schuh, so der Handschuh; die Kröte, so die Schildkröte; das Tier, so das Faultier. And every noun starts with a capital letter, however long it grows.

Six levels, A1 to C2

German courses and exams across Europe climb the same ladder, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Each rung has its own Goethe exam.

The six CEFR levels of German, what you can do at each, and its Goethe exam
Level	Name	You can	Exam
Basic user
A1	Beginner	introduce yourself and ask simple questions	Start Deutsch 1
A2	Elementary	run everyday errands and talk about home	Goethe A2
Independent user
B1	Intermediate	travel, tell what happened, give reasons	Goethe B1
B2	Upper intermediate	talk with native speakers with some ease	Goethe B2
Proficient user
C1	Advanced	study and work in German, read long texts	Goethe C1
C2	Mastery	understand nearly everything, say it exactly	Goethe C2, GDS

Spoken in six countries

Café Bauer on Unter den Linden in Berlin, with trams and walkers, a colour print from around 1900 — Unter den Linden, Berlin, around 1900

Market umbrellas filling the Naschmarkt in Vienna, a colour print from around 1895 — Naschmarkt, Vienna, around 1895

The Tonhalle concert hall in Zürich with its towers and gardens, a colour print from around 1900 — Tonhalle, Zürich, around 1900

German is an official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Belgium, and the most spoken first language in the European Union.