How should I start learning German?

Ideally by taking classes from a good teacher.

If that's not possible, you can go online and take courses from Duolingo, bbc.co.uk/languages or Deutsche Welle.

On youtube there's zdeutsch, and for advanced people informative videos by "don't trust the rabbit"

With a little luck you can watch german movies with good subtitles in your native language


I don't recommend total immersion for beginners. Most people will not be willing to talk to you in baby-speak.

You can start at Memrise or Duolingo. Both are great for an absolute beginner.

Try Duolingo to get you started

Of course the standard answer to learning a second language is by total immersion in that second language and its attending culture. That means moving to the country where that language is spoken if you can.

Many if not most Germans speak English as it's the major commercial language in Europe now. So you can get by initially with your English while you concurrently absorb the German through speaking, reading, and hearing the language as you go about your daily routine in the German shops and stores. And keep in mind you are there to learn the spoken language as the natives speak it; so don't spend much time in studying the formal language.

EX: The definite articles (der, die, das) and where to use them give even the Germans fits. So in speaking they avoid having to choose one or the other, they use "da" for all the definite articles. Instead of "das buch," they'd say "da buch" or instead of "die zeitung," they'd go for "da zeitung" for example.

But most of us can't afford to move to another country to learn its language. So we cannot immerse ourselves, but we can at least wade knee deep in the language and culture through language courses and programs. Find and use an interactive language training program that you can run on your computer. There are a bunch out there; do some reviews analysis and pick out the best one. Then set aside an hour or two each day to use it. [See source.]

Also subscribe to a German newspaper that you can get by mail in the US. If you can find one that is filled with pictures that the text talks to that would be the best because it give you visual reinforcement for what the text is saying. Speaking of which, comic books in German are also excellent because you get the pictures and the language of the text is the spoken language, not the formal language.

You need a teacher to get started.
Somebody to properly demonstrate the sounds and the spelling.
After you learn some basics, you can then teach yourself, but a native speaker to converse with is much better.

Viel Glück!

Why German? There are many languages that are far more useful in today's world.

Here are some good choices : https://www.omniglot.com/books/language/german.htm#courses