SmarterGerman Review 2024: An Amazing Tool to Learn German

If you are a German learner and have some basic knowledge, I have great news for you. Every time I learn a new language, I make sure to revise it through a different platform. Today, I am here to share another exciting experience I had with the platform, SmarterGerman. This platform is a perfect choice for anyone who wants to improve their German knowledge. You may have many questions regarding it: What is it? How does it work? Is it beneficial? And many more. But don’t worry; I will cover all these doubts in this SmarterGerman review.

This guide covers my experience with it. Read till the end, and I am sure you will love it.

Quick Takeaways

• SmarterGerman is a platform that provides different German courses at different levels. 
• There are lot of special courses to make the language more easy.
• It also has a special course designed to practice for the test needed for German citizenship.
• All the skills are covered – Reading, Writing, Listenning, and Speaking skills.
• There is also a section for private coaching classes.

What is SmarterGerman?

SmarterGerman is a platform that is well-known for teaching German to freshers as well as advanced-level learners. The platform provides courses at different levels from A1 to C1. There is also a special course which is a bundle of all the levels. If you are a fresher I would recommend taking the bundle course. Along with that, there are special courses that helped me to improve my language. Following are some of the special courses that I get on it-

• B1 Exam Preparation 
• German grammar genius
• Tandem training
• Unlock your grammar

Below I have mentioned in brief what yeh special course teach.

Special courses 

Below I have mentioned what you will get in each course one by one-

1. German grammar genius (with Alessio Bona)

As the name suggests, it gives detailed knowledge of German Grammar. There is so much hidden logic behind the grammar rules. They are explained to you to understand the simple and complete grammar. SmarterGerman allowed me to understand the concepts easily. It helped me to remember the rules and know how to apply them. 

2. A1 Exam preparation (with Michael Schmitz)

This course helped us learn how to ace the German A1 level exam. If the course is taken seriously, it increases the chances of passing the exams with good grades in it. Some specific techniques are taught. I have mentioned a few of them-

• Saving the time during the exam
• The ways to pass the exam with knowing less than 1000 words
• Using simple yet effective exam strategies

3. B1 Exam preparation (with Michael Schmitz)

As the name suggests, it is the course to take the B1 exam test properly. It will help to understand how to prepare for the exam efficiently. This gives higher chances to pass the exam and get higher scores. Just like the above course, some tricks are taught in the course-

• Saving the important time of the exam
• Passing the exam even with knowing 1200 words of German. (Yes it is amazing)
• It teaches how to make sense of the questions asked in the exams easily.  

4. Unblock Your German (with Steve Kent)

Struggling to learn German? This course is for you. When I started learning the language, I felt exhausted at any point in time. But I always stayed motivated. Motivation is a factor that can help us in doing anything. Go through this course if you are losing motivation. The course will remove unnecessary stress and give a lot of high motivation. Let me clear one thing, the course is not for positive thinking, but for transforming yourself in a way that learning German is no longer boring for you.

5. Leben in Deutschland (with Maria Alejandra Rodriguez Cordero)

What is the most common reason people learn German? Either they want to study or settle there. If you are not planning to stay in Germany, then skip this course. But if you want to sit here, it is the most crucial course for you. Why? Because it gives practice to Leben in the Deutschland exam.

It is the most crucial exam for those who want to be a permanent resident of Germany or want German citizenship. I was amazed with this program. This is because, before it, no platform talked about this exam. There is a lot of history, culture, law, etc., that is tested within the exam. Take this course and get a step ahead of the others. 

6. Tandem Training (with Alessio Bona)

Tandem is a platform that provides speakers from all over the world. It is like a language exchange program where we can communicate with native speakers and practice a language with them. This course is all related to it. It covers different things related to language exchange partners. Below are a few aspects of the program-

• Finding the right partner
• Scheduling the meeting
• Asking questions and many more

There is a section that shows the importance of native speakers.

Never tried it before? Do it now.

Everyone who plans to start using these programs is confused about when to start. I also had this confusion earlier, but not anymore. From my experience, one thing I know is after learning a few important words, one can start practicing them. It is very common to fail on the first attempt. Take advantage of the course to understand on how to connect with native speakers. 

7. Easy Reader B1 (by SmarterGerman)

It is a course that is more like storytelling. The story is about Gorgi and a cat “MILK”. One day Gorgi mistakenly lost the balance and got on Milk. The story is all about what happened after it, their bonding, challenges, etc. I am sure you will really like the story. It is because the story is heartwarming and is short in nature. There are over 900 words in the story at the B1 level. The course also has audio narrations that can be downloaded at any time.

Pricing of SmarterGerman

The pricing of SmarterGerman depends upon the course or the service chosen. If you want to get the basic course, the prices are based on two types-

• Fully – $429
• Monthly for 3 months – $149 per month

However, if you want to take the bundles, the prices are at discounted rates. Below is the table that represents the cost for the bundles-

Type of Bundle	Full amount	Monthly for 3 months	Monthly for 6 months
Beginner – A1, A2, and B1	$869	$299 per month	$154 per month
Intermediate – A2, B1, and B2	$869	$299 per month	$154 per month
Advanced – B1, B2, and C1	$869	$299 per month	$154 per month
Expert – A1 – B2	$999	$343 per month	$175 per month

The prices of the special courses are mentioned below-

Special courses	Pricing
German grammar genius	$249
B1 Exam Preparation	$249
B1 Exam Preparation	$249
Unblock Your German	$99
Leben in Deutschland	$29
Tandem Training	$39
Easy Reader B1	$90.90

Note: Some special courses have monthly fees also. But the cost to pay is different depending upon the course.

There is also private coaching given by Michael. The price is €500 per month for 4 classes, 45 minutes each. 

Does SmarterGerman provide a free trial?

Yes, Smartergerman provides a free trial for one month. It means that everything under the course is free to use. In fact, there is no compulsion to add the details of the card on it.

Course structure

All the courses are created similarly. There are 60 lessons in each of the courses divided into 12 different parts. Further, I have added how the lessons are created-

Lessons

Remember: Without completing all the parts of the lesson, we can not shift to the next lesson.

Each lesson is made up of different sections. To make it easy, I have discussed a few of them-

a. Learning vocab

Vocabulary is the base of the language. Without knowing the vocabulary, no language can be taught on it. This part is all about teaching us great vocabulary. In this section, there is a video showing the most common words and phrases, I encountered in the whole lesson. In addition to that, there are a lot of things that are covered, like how to use the vocabulary, how many words one should learn, etc.

b. Reading 

Just like other platforms, the next thing after teaching vocabulary is the reading practice. As I go along with the lesson, the text becomes harder and longer. You may find difficulty in reading it first. When I started reading it, there were a lot of sentences that were hard for me. If this happens to you, mark the unknown words. It will show the current knowledge of the language.

After this, there is a text showing the meaning of the passage. In most of the passages, the content used is funny. Of course in the German passage, you may be unable to understand the content. But in the English translation, you are definitely going to laugh a lot. To make it more interesting, start imagining visuals of it. 

In the next stage, read the text without the right translations. Try to get those visuals back in your mind. It is the easiest way to remember the lines easily. After all of it, there is again the reading practice of the text but with an audio file. There is a listening exercise in the lesson that I will discuss later. But in this reading exercise, listening along with reading the lessons can give the correct pronunciation level. If you are finding it tough to match the audio with the text, just adjust the speed of the recording. 

c. Reading analysis

This is a section where the host will come and teach you line by line. If you have already achieved the beginner level, skip it. But if not make sure to get the advantage of it. One thing is sure Michael, the host is a good teacher. The way he had broken down the content was superb. I was able to guess how many words are from English and some spelling changes make it look like German.

There was a simple suggestion that I still remember, remove the ending and figure out the words. It may be difficult to understand, but later on, it becomes easy. There are tricks added to it to show how easy the language is. The spirit of the host in teaching the language is commendable.

d. Active listening 

Active listening is an easier and simpler exercise. The text that was covered in the previous exercises, is again covered in this exercise. This is because you will be familiar with the content. However, in my case, even after getting familiar, there were some points, that I didn’t know much about. I think it was very common for most of the people. This is the reason that keeps the pause option in it. The first time, I paused the video again and again to understand the meaning of the word I forgot.

I thought, on the second time, I would not required to pause it. Unfortunately, I did that but at a low pace. At the end of this exercise, I could Listen to the text without stopping it in between. Some parts may be hard to understand. Listen to them again and again without taking any stress. After that, there is an exercise where I have to answer MCQs regarding the text.

e. Dictation practice

The next section is the way to help develop all the skills-

• Listening
• Reading
• Writing
• Grammar

Start with listening to the audio from the latest lessons. There is a whole set of instructions given by the host. Below is a screenshot of it-

Don’t write all the sentences together. It works exactly like the listening exercise. As soon as you reach a higher level, there is a long and difficult text. But why is this so? As a beginner, it is tough to understand everything. Thus, reading long texts in starting can be confusing. There is also a tip section given by him. I am adding these tips below to make you understand more-

When I started writing, it was easy for me to play or pause the audio. I could also adjust the speed of it. There are two special features: Hotkeys and Special German characters. It makes it easy to understand the mistakes of it. The hardest part of this language is to understand the sounds. There are three rounds to practice. In most of the other courses, they ask for 80-95% accuracy in the lessons. But thanks to SmarterGerman, I did not have to worry about it. It allowed me to practice more. 

f. Grammar practice

This course works absolutely stunningly. It not only provides the basic course but grammar too. Most of the online platforms fail to provide it. It is because they believe it does not help in conversations. But trust me this is a myth. Without knowing the basics, how can you form a sentence? When I was learning grammar, I found it to be quite boring. But with time I am loving it. It is the aspect that helped me to save a lot of my time. Each lesson is 15-20 minutes long. The starting part, the video, is short for 2-6 minutes.

These videos come along with explanations of each of them. However, the videos are not updated with the time. There is also a YouTube channel of the host. After knowing the grammar points, there is a section to practice it through Multiple choice questions. 

g. Preaching 

In this section, the person remembers the grammar structure by practicing speaking sentences. There is a proper structure, explanations, and examples for each grammatical exercise. To follow the whole concept, start with writing on the paper, notecard, etc. Try to use Alexa, to assist you in preaching.

Remember the gender to start the main exercise. Once you know the gender and remember the words, start creating your own sentences. After that, make sure to speak up comfortably. The host recommends following this technique twice a day and using speech notes. It is the platform that translates the things that I speak louder. This is the best and easiest way to get the right translation. Make sure to record the sentences to hear your speech. 

h. Writing section

In this section, I had to start writing short texts i.e. 40-word text to start with. As far as I go along with the course, I had to make them long. Start by writing on a topic of your choice. The host himself has a lot of options for us. But if something excites you more, write about it. Start by writing the draft in the mother tongue. Make sure to simplify the text. After that, translate it into German without using the dictionary. However, if you don’t know the translated words in German, write it in English only. When everything is done, go back and check the meaning of the words in the dictionary. 

Don’t rush into correcting things. Try to check the grammar, meanings, etc., and then go back. In most of the courses, I found correcting the mistakes on the spot. However, this is not the case for SmarterGerman. Here, the host asks to see the corrections but does not instantly correct them in the test. Take some time and go back. It will help in understanding if you know the content or not.

i. Interactive Exercises

These exercises are the fill-in-gaps exercise or Cloze exercise. This exercise will test the knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure. These exercises made me think a lot of things and also interact with the language. The cloze tests are hard exercises, which is why there is always a hint in the gap.

There is a blue “i” in the circle at each gap. It can be both translation and circumscription. To check the score, click on ‘Submit tool’. It will see whether the answers are correct or not. If the answers are correct, it’s great. But if not, there is no need to retake them. The only aim of SmarterGerman is to get comfortable with the language. 

are two more exercises that are unlocked at higher lessons-

j. Secretary Technique 

This is a great way of improving the pronunciation level. In this technique, I have to choose a topic on which I can talk for 2 minutes. After that, I had to give 10 keywords on which I wanted to talk next. It’s like the preaching exercise but for speaking purposes. Once, I was done, I had to go through the transcripts. You can also record yourself using an extra tool. If you have done it, try to listen to the recording.

However, it is an optional thing. Thus, don’t do it on a regular basis. Go through them and check their mistakes. Correct the mistakes in the same manner that you did in the writing stage. It is the best way to improve a lot of things regarding Germany. 

h. Oral Dictation 

This is almost similar to the written dictation practice. To take full advantage of this feature, start by taking 2 to 3 sentences from the current text. Just listen to one sentence or a part of it. Just pause the lesson and repeat what you have heard. Try to repeat it once or twice before moving ahead. This technique is also known as Shadowing. I have used it to learn Norwegian. 

Make sure to copy the speaker. If possible, try to record yourself and compare it with the original audio. Check if the pronunciation is correct or not. 

In each of the exercises, there is something extra added by Michael. He makes sure to give some extra knowledge at every stage of the platform. There is a lot of advice added to the content. There are articles, videos, etc on different topics. 

Additionally, he created a separate Memrise course to help you learn vocabulary. Unfortunately, due to the latest update on Memrise, the deck has been removed.

There are some additional tabs within the course – My coach and community. Community is the one where I was allowed to create the topics of my choice. On the other hand, the second tab was Your Instructor. It has nothing much in it. Just the name and picture of the author.

Private coaching 

Michael Schmitz has been teaching German for the last 20 years. The classes are taken live through one-on-one sessions. He also provides WhatsApp support between 9 am to 8 pm according to the Berline timezone. The plan of the course is clear and created depending on your needs. There is no way of getting rid of the homework. Below is the statement added on the platform-

I won’t accept “I couldn’t do my homework” more than once.

This shows how strict he is with his work. Generally, there are 1 to 2 classes in a week through Zoom app. All the hard and serious matters are taken in one-on-one sessions. However, there is no conversation practice. The only thing he will do to improve the conversation is by listening you. According to him, conversation practice can be done on the other apps freely. His main goal will be to correct your speaking skills and fix the mistakes you are making. 

Note: There is no money-back guarantee or exam passing guarantee. However, if you are not liking the classes, you can stop taking them and get a refund for the leftover classes. To apply for these classes, all you have to do is message him in the terminated app or email him regarding the goal. The email is provided on the platform itself. 

SmarterGerman Review: My honest opinion 

The experience I had with this platform was amazing. There are a lot of learning platforms that I have tried. However, the way this platform teaches the course is commendable. I think the credit should be given to Michael, the owner of it. Unlike many other platforms, I could check where I stand. The lessons are hard but have a lot of things in it.

They are a complete package. Anyone who wants to learn German can take advantage of the course. The way it has different sections for each aspect shows how the goal is kept in mind of teaching the lessons. However, if you are on a tight budget, it may not be an option for you.

Below is the table that shows the advantages and disadvantages of the platform-

Pros	Cons
The approach used is not only to help German but also to improve the language learning journey.	It is a costly program
It practices reading, writing, speaking, and listening exercises.	The course is created keeping beginners in mind,
The course keeps on getting hard you move forward
Many additional courses helped in other important aspects of the learning language
There is a one-month free trial

Alternatives for SmarterGerman

Yes, it is a great platform to learn the language. But is pricey. Therefore, I am sharing a few apps that are really good for learning German and are less costly-

1. Duolingo

If you are a beginner, I have great news for you. This is a free app and provides a lot of easy content. The courses are divided into different sections. Each section is a club of units that have a set of lessons in it. The platform follows a gamified approach making it an engaging way to learn the language. It is my favorite place to learn a new language. 

2. HelloTalk

I have already discussed Tandem, the app that is used to practice conversation with native speakers. HelloTalk is the exact alternative for it. It allows me to connect with native speakers through chats, classes, etc. I could also make friends from Germany.

3. Lingolia

If you are a grammar person like me, Lingolia is a perfect choice for you. No other platform gave me this amount of grammatical knowledge. If you are someone who wants to learn the basics behind the structure of sentences, you must try this platform. 

Conclusion

SmarterGerman is one of the best platforms for learning German. It gave me a wonderful experience in practicing German skills. The platform was created by an amazing teacher, Michael. There are many courses based on your level of understanding. Michael also provides one-on-one personal coaching for students willing to take online sessions. The lessons in each course are a combination of different aspects of the language. Though it is a great tool for learning, the prices are quite high. Therefore, if you have a tight budget, make sure to check some alternatives.

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