Tag Archives: apps

Free applications for learning German

You can learn German and any other foreign language on your phone or tablet with these applications. They are suitable for both Android and iOS. Learning this way is fun, comfortable and practical (you can start the apps while waiting in the line, in the traffic jam etc.). And what is most important it’s completely free. Of course, if you wish you may install them on your desktop. Try out each of them and see which you like most. Enjoy!

Deutschtrainer A1 (by Goethe Institut) – in 10 sections (one section for each topic) you can learn everyday German at the A1 level. The app is based on dialogues and learning words and structures. It’s inspired by text books and Goethe Institut exams at the A1 level.

DeutschAkademie – enables you to practice German according to your Level (A1, A2, B1, B2 or C1), practice some German grammar topics or just repeat some exercises from your German grammar book. This app contains 20,000 German grammar exercises. 

Busuu – offers a free and a premium version. You can choose your level. The free version includes flashcards, writing exercises and corrections from native speakers. The premium version includes an extra travel course, mobile apps with offline mode, quizzes and official certificates, grammar exercises, vocabulary trainer and full access to 12 different language courses.

 Duolingo – is also a very popular app. maybe the most popular of them all. You should try it out and decide whether you will continue using it or not.

Verstehen Sie Deutsch? – there is a version app for iPhone and Android. It’s basically a quiz. You’ll find questions on more than 1000 different German expressions and particularly beautiful or odd words in this fun quiz. Do you know the correct answer?

Useful tools for teachers

Planet Schule – find useful videos to various topics that you can download and use for your classes.

Bitly – shorten long links.

Wixcreate your website for free. If you need an example click here.

Alexa – if you want to check the ranking of your blog / web site.

Fotobabble – create talking photos and slideshows. This site is easy to use. All you need to do is to upload a photo, record your voice and share with your audience.

Twitter – see what’s happening right now enables you to find as many example-sentences as you like for any word. All you need to do is to navigate to the above link and enter the word in the box and press the Search button. Test it right now, you’ll be delighted!

Pocket – put anything in “pocket” and view it later. Put articles, videos or pretty much anything into Pocket. Save directly from your browser or from apps like Twitter, Flipboard, Pulse and Zite. If it’s in Pocket, it’s on your phone, tablet or computer. You don’t even need an Internet connection.

Das Bild des Anderen – international e-mail project of Goethe Institute. You can find pen friends for your students here. This is NOT for native speakers from Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

e-twinning – find for your students native learners as pen friends. e-twinning is actually a community for schools in Europe. It offers a platform for staff (teachers, head teachers, librarians, etc.), working in a school in one of the European countries involved, to communicate, collaborate, develop projects, share and, in short, feel and be part of the most exciting learning community in Europe.

Unterrichtsmaterial – False money for playing purposes. If you navigate to this page you will be able to download euro banknotes for playing purposes – for example if you wish to give them to your students so that they can pretend that they are buying things in a supermarket.

Drucke selbst – create and print out certificates for playing purposes. Chose the model that you like most, personalise it and save as a PDF file which you can then print out afterwards and use in classes as a gift for learners who were the best in some exercises or games.

Pinterest – pin your posts. This web page enables you to create boards with the things that you find interesting. It could be very useful in classes if you wish to save some pictures that the students have taken.

Audacity – create your own podcasts. This is a free, open source, cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds. Audacity is available for Windows, Mac, GNU/Linux and other operating systems.

Wordle – create beautiful “word clouds”. You can create a beautiful word could with words that you and your students collect and insert into this online application. You don’t need to register. Just make sure that Java is set properly on your device. Wordle can be used during brain storming or at any other point during the class. Word clouds can be printed out or you can save it as a picture on your device.

Mahara – your e-portfolio. This is a fully featured web application to build your electronic portfolio. You can create journals, blogs, upload files, embed third-party (social media) resources from the web and collaborate with other users in groups.

Etherpad – your multi-player editor allows you to edit documents collaboratively in real-time, much like a live multi-player editor that runs in your browser. Write articles, press releases, to-do lists, etc. together with your friends, fellow students or colleagues, all working on the same document at the same time.

Evernote – store anything in one place. Make and manage notes, files and photos. Create flashcards for storing of words, phrases, photos, videos and audio recordings. For example, if your students participated in a photo-rally, their photos can be stored and presented in Evernote.

Answer Garden – ask your students anything and get feedback in no time.

Pixabay – free images and videos. Many free high resolution pictures van be found here. Buy them a coffee in order to support their work.

Padlet – your virtual pin board. Collect and present the work of your students in one place. Furthermore they can post their work by themselves on a shared pin board. Click here to register.

Kidblog – learners write blogs. This is a place for  your students  where they can write their blogs. Find out how you could integrate blog writing in to your classes.

Blogger – teachers write blogs. This platform enables you to write your own blog. For more information on how to use this page click here. You can even earn money by writing a blog.

Speak with a native speaker – this applies to German or any other foreign language. There are at least 3 platforms for this: TandemWeSpeke and ConversationExchange.

Online flashcards – Days of Deutsch provides you generously with numerous photo-flashcards.

Colouring pictures – free for download. This is where you can find numerous  already made and ready to be used colouring pictures that can be downloaded. However, if you wish to create your own colouring pictures, click here.

Cliparts – free for download. This is a page with numerous clip arts which you could use for example  for creating Dobble cards (playing cards). For more information on creating Dobble cards and other exercises for your students click here.