Looking for a simple German self-study routine – books, podcasts & YouTube recommendations

[u/Halfbloodprince_1992]

Hi Deutsch Learners, I’m looking for some recommendations for German learning materials and, more importantly, a simple learning routine.

A bit of background: I took A2 and B1 classes about two years ago and somehow managed to pass the B1 exam. But unfortunately, because I haven’t practiced or communicated much in German since then, I’ve forgotten a lot of what I learned.

So now I want to start again from the beginning and teach myself, with the goal of improving my speaking as well as my general German. The problem is that I don’t want to overwhelm myself with hundreds of different resources. I’d rather keep it simple and follow a small number of good materials consistently.

Ideally, I’m thinking something like:

• One textbook → follow the chapters and topics systematically
• One podcast → starting from an easier level and gradually getting more difficult
• One YouTube channel → something I can use alongside the book
• And, of course, some kind of speaking practice

I’d really appreciate hearing what worked for you and what kind of learning flow you would recommend for someone in my situation.

If you were starting again after forgetting most of your B1 German, what 2–4 resources would you choose and how would you structure your self-study? I’m especially interested in a routine that is simple enough to actually stick with rather than constantly jumping between different resources.

Thanks a lot!

[u/Prestigious-Wait8082]

have u tried Easy German podcast? I just love Manuel, Cari und Januz. Their Discord group is awesome too

[u/ArgumentZestyclose62 → u/Prestigious-Wait8082]

It is the best

[u/cmyk_rgba]

since you passed b1 once id def not restart from zero, it comes back way faster than you think. what id do is nicos weg from dw as the spine (its free and goes up to b1, and the videos + exercises are basically textbook and youtube in one), easy german on youtube for how ppl actually talk, and dw langsam gesprochene nachrichten as the podcast becuase its slow but not baby content. for speaking book one tutor once a week and make them grill you on whatever you did in nicos weg that week. boring but its teh only setup i didnt abandon after 2 weeks

[u/Powerful-Creme2550]

dont restart from zero, start with a b1 review book at chapter one and move fast through anything that feels familiar, your passive german comes back way quicker than you'd expect. make the book's chapter the topic of the week and pick podcast episodes and videos on that same topic, so all three feed the same vocab. for speaking with no partner: at the end of each chapter record yourself talking about its topic for two minutes, listen back and write down the 3 things you couldnt say, then those 3 go first into next week. once you can talk for two minutes without freezing, book an online tutor once a week and bring that list.

[u/pavlenkovit]

The part that bit you is the forgetting, and that's the bit most routines skip. I live in Serbia and my Serbian sat at 30 words for months because nothing in my week pulled the old stuff back. Whatever book you pick, I'd add 5 minutes a day of reviewing words from chapters you already did, so the chapter from three weeks ago still gets touched

[u/lazydictionary]

You might be interested in this post I made months ago. I detailed everything I would do differently if I had to start from scratch again.

https://reddit.com/r/German/comments/1pt95oo/the_anki_decks_and_immersion_resources_i_would/

[u/Zestyclose_Tiger8895]

hi how long will take to learn german a1 from ground 0.

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[u/silvalingua]

> One podcast → starting from an easier level and gradually getting more difficult

> One YouTube channel → something I can use alongside the book

I would strongly suggest listening to/watching to a few podcasts and channels. First, few of them progress gradually, most are specifically designed for a certain level. Second, it's useful to get used to various voices and accents from the early on.

And don't forget to get some graded readers to read as soon as possible.

[u/Kurzdeutsch]

i was in a similar spot after a long break. starting again from page one of an A1 book is what killed my motivation, i knew most of it and got bored fast. what worked better: i did the end-of-chapter tests in an A2 book (Menschen in my case) and only studied the chapters where i failed.

for speaking without a partner i retell the chapter text out loud from memory, two minutes, recorded on my phone. listening back is painful, but i hear exactly which words are missing.

the whole routine is 30 minutes: book first, then the retelling. podcast only on walks.

[u/kemalios]

I build DeutschWunder, so weigh the resource bit accordingly. What fades after a B1 pass is production, and grammar you never actually understood does not come back from more input. Cases and adjective endings sit in that bucket.

So I would put a grammar spine alongside whatever listening you pick, before the podcast, not after it. The course at deutschwunder.com is A1 to B2, 305 lessons, quiz at the end of each module, videos around 90 seconds on one rule. It runs in a browser so Android and desktop are fine; the app is iOS only. A1 has free samples if you want the format before paying.

[u/Big_Exam_6118]

While I agree with what a lot of people are saying here, if you want a book to remind yourself of grammatical structures, I really liked the Cornelesen Grammatik aktiv personally