What you’ll be able to do
The lessons are built around everyday situations, so you get a solid grounding in German you can use anywhere in the German-speaking world.
Hold a first conversation
Greet people, introduce yourself, and talk about where you’re from, your family and your work.
Order food and drink
Order and pay in a café, and check into a hotel.
Get around
Ask for directions, find places in town and travel on public transport.
Cope with emergencies
Explain aches and pains, get help at the pharmacy, and use the phone.
Who’s in the lessons
Thomas presents the course, and Mark takes on the role of the learner: he asks the questions you’d ask and makes the mistakes you’d make, and Thomas explains how the language works as they go.
Kirsten, our Grammar Guru, steps in to explain the grammar, and Julia, our cultural correspondent, reports on life in the German-speaking world.
The idea is that you understand how German fits together, so you can use what you’ve learned for yourself.
Inside every lesson
All 40 lessons follow the same shape, so you always know what to do next, and each video lesson takes around 20 minutes.
What’s included
Pay once and it’s yours for life, on every device you use.
- 40 full lessons Over 20 hours of audio.
- Video lessons With the German on screen.
- Comprehensive lesson notes Grammar, vocabulary and transcripts.
- Interactive quizzes Check your progress as you go.
- Downloads Take the audio and notes offline.
- Lifetime access One payment, no subscription.
Video
The video lesson
Thomas and Mark work through the lesson, with the words and phrases on screen as you go.
Audio
The audio lesson
Download the same lesson to review on a walk, in the car or on the train.
Notes
Lesson notes
Read the transcripts of the dialogues, with grammar explanations, vocabulary and cultural notes in full.
Bonus
Bonus audio
Test your understanding with review, translation challenges and extra vocabulary.
The 40 lessons
The lessons build up to a trip to Austria, with a review at the end of each part.
Part 1 · Lessons 1 to 10
Meeting people
Greet people, say your name, where you’re from and where you live, introduce your family, count to ten and ask for directions around town.
- 1Saying how you are feeling
- 2Saying your name
- 3Saying where you are from
- 4Saying where you live
- 5Introducing family members
- 6Introduction to numbers
- 7Asking for directions
- 8More directions
- 9Saying that you are learning German
- 10End-of-unit review
Part 2 · Lessons 11 to 20
Eating out and getting around
Order in a café, check into a hotel, buy souvenirs, say where things are, travel on public transport and learn three ways to say “when”.
- 11Ordering drinks in a café
- 12Ordering snacks in a café
- 13More on ordering and paying for things in a café
- 14Checking in to a hotel
- 15More numbers
- 16Buying souvenirs
- 17Places in the town and prepositions
- 18“Can you tell me, please…?”, and trains and buses
- 19Travelling on public transport
- 20End-of-unit review
Part 3 · Lessons 21 to 30
Everyday situations
Talk about the weather, describe aches and pains, get help at the pharmacy and on the phone, and talk about yourself, your work and what you like.
- 21Talking about the weather
- 22Aches and pains
- 23At the pharmacy
- 24Using the phone in German
- 25Dealing with emergencies
- 26Talking more about yourself
- 27Talking about work
- 28Saying what you like
- 29A review quiz
- 30Review translation challenge
Part 4 · Lessons 31 to 40
Travelling
Follow Mark as he flies to Austria and puts the German he’s learned into practice, and build your confidence along with him as Thomas helps you both.
- 31Flight to Austria
- 32Arrival in Austria
- 33Mix-up at hotel check-in
- 34Breakfast in the hotel
- 35At the tourist information office
- 36At the shops
- 37Asking for information and relative pronouns
- 38Seeking help at the pharmacy
- 39Review of language in a party setting
- 40Review and talking in the past tense
From learners on the course
“Thank you Mark, Thomas, Kirsten, Julia and Coffee Break German team for a really excellent course! Thoroughly enjoying all of the materials - video, audio, notes, and bonus audio - and learning a tremendous amount. Excited to continue my journey of learning German.”
“High quality across the board. I was already impressed with the podcast format, and hosts. I'm surprised and impressed to find the web interface is so well done, and the formatting of the videos and notes is next level.”
“Definitely I believe the premium Coffee Break German is worth it, especially because the spelling and pronunciation in German are often quite different from English, so it helps to see how the words are actually spelled. The lesson notes and video versions of the podcasts are very helpful and well designed.”
Questions
What’s the difference between the course and the free podcast?
The free podcast is the audio of each lesson. The course adds the video lessons, lesson notes, quizzes and bonus audio, all without ads, so you can see how every word is spelled and study each lesson in depth.
Do I need any German to start?
No. Level 1 is for complete beginners and starts from your very first words. If you’d like a taste first, First Steps is a short free course.
Can I download the materials?
The videos stream online, and the lesson notes and audio download to your device, so you can listen and review wherever you are.
How long do I have access?
For life. Pay once and it’s yours, across all of your devices.
When does it start and finish?
It starts the moment you join and has no end date. It’s self-paced, so you set the timeline.
Can I try it before I buy?
Yes. Start with First Steps, our short free course, and you’ll see how the lessons work before you buy.
Find the course that fits you
Coffee Break German has three levels, from absolute beginner to intermediate. If this one doesn’t feel right, try the level above or below.
Coffee Break German · Level 1
Start speaking German
All 40 lessons come with video, audio and full notes, so you can work through them at your own pace.
$269One payment, yours for life
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