The Cost of Learning German
A recent study puts the language in the Top 10 most expensive to learn fluently
Does it take $51,000 to become fluent in German?
That’s the claim that landed in my inbox and captured my attention last week. According to an analysis produced by the online learning platform, The Internet of Learning, German ranks 10th on its list of the most expensive languages for English-speakers to learn.
According to IOL, the most expensive language to learn is Korean, with an estimated cost to go from ‘beginner to working proficiency’ of $130,820. The most affordable language to learn, according to the IOL list, was Romanian, with an estimated cost to achieve fluency of just $14,270.
As the press release distributed by the company states, the figures were calculated using published instructional time estimates from the U.S. Department of State (average hours of instruction needed to become fluent*) multiplied by the average cost per hour for an online tutor or instructor in the respective language on the learning platform Preply.
Not the most scientific of methodologies, but it’s an interesting way of looking at the issue. I don’t think anyone is exclusively hiring private tutors to go from zero to fluent. So that cost estimate seems very high.
But to be honest, I had never considered quantifying language learning in terms of how cost-effective it is.
Like most people, I study languages because I want to or because I have to. I’m lucky in that studying languages is something I enjoy, but my choice of language has always been driven by necessity not cost to learn.
I studied Korean when I moved to Seoul with my husband just after we got married. I wouldn’t say I was surprised that Korean is listed as the most expensive for English speakers.
No easy languages
For me, Korean was difficult to learn because it uses a different alphabet, not Roman letters like English and German, and because it is a SOV language (subject, object, verb) with the verb always coming at the end of the sentence.
English and German sentence structure is (mostly) SVO. Korean also has seven levels of formality, though I think only four are commonly used in practice. Korean verb endings change based on tense and formality, and there are some nouns that are only used in more formal contexts and have a more informal counterpart.
I would have thought that Mandarin would take longer to learn because it is a tonal language, where Korean is not. And Korean has a phonetic alphabet that is easier for a non-native speaker to learn than simplified written Mandarin.
But I’ve never tried to learn Mandarin, so maybe it isn’t as hard as it seems!
I’m studying German now both because I need it for everyday life and because we want to apply for permanent residency next year. The State Department considers German a Category II language, which takes the average person 36 weeks (approximately 900 class hours) to learn.
In some ways, it is easier for native speakers of English to learn because both languages share the same alphabet and have a common ancestor language - so many words are very similar.
But the genders and cases thing is really a bear. All German nouns have one of three genders (feminine, masculine, neuter) and the gender determines the articles that you use with them, as well as how those articles are “declined” in different parts of speech (the different German “cases” - nominative, accusative, dative and genitive).
I’ve been studying German for a little over two years now. I haven’t taken an official test, but I would put myself at an informal B1 level. [Edit: I’ve taken several online and one in-person placement tests that also put me at B1, and the last one a few months ago. So I do have some basis for awarding myself this achievement.]
I started just informally doing Duolingo in the months before we moved here. Then, I moved on to adding some formal class instruction and online classes after the move. I’ve never totalled up the amount of money spent before, so I decided to do a tally.
Learning Method (in order of date started) + Cost
Duolingo (Super - Family Plan) subscription - this is shared by our family of four. Individual Super plans are $12.99* per month or $59.99 per year.$119.00/year for two years
Your Daily German membership - Website and regular emails with text-based lessons and quizzes. $40/year for two years
Happy German/Learn German with Anja - A2 Online course, “Deutschland, ich bin da!” 10-week, self-paced video course.$347.00 - one-time fee
SpeakEasy Berlin - B1-B2 four-week intensive class at a language institute.$324.86 one-time fee
Seedlang Pro subscription - 19.99 per month. I have subscribed to the premium version for six months.$19.99/month for six months (current)
Easy German - Podcast membership. YouTube channel and podcast. A membership through Patreon grants access to interactive worksheets linked to the videos, and transcripts of the podcast episodes.$95.76/per year for 1 year.
Total cost to go from A0 to B1 + $1,205.56**
*Amounts have all been converted to U.S. dollars. When I first subscribed to Duolingo and Your Daily German we were still in the States. Our subscriptions are now in euros, but I kept the same currency in this table to be consistent.+I also use a lot of free resources to study and practice German - watching YouTube videos in German, watching German TV shows on Netflix, ARD and YouTube, and listening to German podcasts and music.
**B1 is definitely not fluent. It is sufficient to get you through most day-to-day interactions and to understand most of what people say to you (for example in doctors’ offices, government offices, public announcements, etc.) To go from B1 to C1/C2, which is considered fluent/native speaker level, would maybe double the cost.
Seeing it all laid out like that does lend a new perspective. If you had asked me to pay $1,500 to study German a year ago. I don’t think I'd have said yes.
But in just under two years of part-time, mostly informal study, I now have a decent command of basic German and for nowhere near $51,000 or even close to it. I don’t even think it would take me $10,000 total to get to C2 (if my brain would do that.)
If I had been able to do a formal program, like an official integration class at one of the Volkhochschulen, I might have spent a bit more money (I think a semester class runs about 300 - 400 EUR) but my language skills would be more advanced.
Can’t you just learn by immersion?
I get this question a lot from people who think that just living in another country for a certain period of time should magically impart fluency. In my experience, this is a myth. For one, a lot of people in Germany (and many other countries) speak English, and they will switch to English to speak with you, if they can.
If they can’t, they will just not talk to you. That’s especially true here. Don’t expect people to be patient with your crappy German and talk to you more slowly, or let you look something up on a translation app.
The only way to “pick up” another language is to go to school or work in that language and even then you would still need to study it on your own. Learning it the way ‘kids learn it’ only works up to a point. People aren’t going to be willing to talk to you like you’re a three-year-old for long.
Also, there’s a world of difference between knowing enough German to go shopping or take the train, and being able to draft a resume and go on a job interview.
What works for another may not work for you
Learning another language is difficult - especially if you start learning as an adult. And different people will learn better using different methods - some people like using lots of flashcards. Some do well with language apps. Others prefer to learn by listening to a lot of media in the target language and doing instructional videos or class instruction. Most people will need a variety of methods, used consistently, to see progress.
There are four key elements - speaking, listening, reading and writing - that you need to practice in the target language. And, you need someone to correct you when you practice and get it wrong.
And there are tons of free resources you can use, if you don’t have $1,000 let alone $50,000 to spend.
You can watch free videos online, check out books and other media from your library, and look for people in your community who might be willing to be a “language partner” and help you learn. (In Germany, you may be able to find a ‘Sprachpartner’ who will talk with you in German, in return for letting them practice their English with you.)
The most important thing is to choose what works for you and keep at it. Decide you’ll spend an hour a day, or even just 20 minutes a day - whatever you can commit to - and just keep going. It may take a long time to make progress - but one day you will be surprised to see just how much you have learned.
My Recs for the Best Apps and Channels for Learning German
Really the best way to learn a language quickly, in my opinion, is to take a certified intensive immersion course like the ones offered at Goethe Institute or the German Volkshochschulen (like a public community college). At these courses, you will usually attend five days a week for several hours a day - often four or more. And getting to a fluent level can take around a year. It’s a lot. And not everyone has the time to dedicate to an intensive course like that. A lot of people are working and need to study at night or in their free time.
Here are my mini-reviews of the different language-learning apps, channels and websites that I’ve used on my journey from zero German to B1(ish).
Duolingo - Duo gets a lot of hate and not everyone learns well with its gamified interface. I really like it. (I currently have an 841-day streak!) Its spaced repetition method is particularly suited to my learning style. It’s definitely not enough to just use by itself. I like to use it for regular quick practice of basic concepts. It gradually introduces new vocabulary and grammar and then has you practice over and over until you remember them. Paying for the Super tier lets you regularly track and practice your mistakes and gives you ‘unlimited hearts’ so you can keep going on the app as long as you want.
Your Daily German - Emmanuel does the best job I’ve seen of explaining German grammatical concepts in a way that is easy to understand. And his lessons consist of German the way that it is really spoken, not in overly contrived textbook scenarios. He also writes in a very humorous and engaging tone, so the lessons aren’t boring or tedious.
Happy German/Learn German with Anja - Many people know Anja Winter from her popular Youtube channel, “Learn German with Anja.” Her Happy German Academy offers dedicated online German classes. She is a Goethe Institute-certified DaF (Deutsch als Fremdsprache/German as a Foreign Language) instructor. Her teaching method is centered around teaching German in “chunks” of common phrases in realistic contexts. The video lessons come in the form of a fictional TV show, with worksheets and interactive lessons that reinforce the vocabulary and grammar from each episode.
This class really helped my listening ability and ability to understand spoken German.
SpeakEasy Berlin - This has been my one and only in-person language institute class, so far. I did two four-week “intensive” courses at the B1 level (so, B1.1. and B1.2). The classes met four days a week for two-and-a-half hours each day. The class was very good in that it was completely taught in German, no English. There were a couple of other English-speaking students in my class, but most of the other students were from other countries and our only common language was German. So, we all had to speak German “on the fly.”
The drawback is that each level is only four weeks long, so you don’t really cover all the material that you would need to in order to really be able to pass a test to get a level certificate. You need to do a lot of work outside class and on your own to practice and reinforce the things that are taught in class.
Easy German and Seedlang Pro - Easy German is another popular YouTube channel from the Easy Languages media company. Their tagline is “Learning German from the Streets” and their videos feature street interviews in German on a variety of topics.
Each video features subtitles in both German and English (and you may be able to get subtitles in other languages) and a Patreon membership will also get you interactive exercises and transcripts of the video topics.
They have partnered with the language app Seedlang to offer tailored video content. The Seedlang language lessons are more in-depth than those offered by Duolingo, for example. But, in my experience, the app interface is a little more complex and harder to navigate.
On the plus side, you have the ability to tailor your lessons in Seedlang. You can do the lessons in Stories, but also choose to do targeted practice in Vocabulary by choosing Nouns, Verbs, Numbers, etc. The app lets you set custom filters that govern what content is presented in the different exercises. And, you can choose what items that you need to review, instead of the app choosing what to show you.
This does make using the app more complicated, however. When I was new to learning German, I was easily frustrated because verb tenses I hadn’t learned yet would show up in my practice lessons. And they would be mixed in with content that I knew. I don’t learn well by just repeated memorization without the proper context. (One of the reasons I don’t really like apps like DuoCards and Memrise.) Once I learned how to use the content filters, I liked Seedlang a lot more.
Do you have a favorite app, channel or method for learning German? Let me know by leaving a comment or sending a message.
As always, have a great Monday!
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