GermanPod101 – The Basic Facts
What is GermanPod101? German Pod is an online/downloadable MP3-based German language course
How does GermanPod101 work? German Pod uses audio and visual-based language learning with course notes to teach you German easily, quickly and in a fun and enjoyable way.
How much is GermanPod101? German Pod is subscription-based, with two levels:
Basic Level $4/month
Premium Level: $10/month
What’s the guarantee with GermanPod101? German Pod comes with a 60 day money back guarantee
Best aspect of GermanPod101: German Pod teaches you conversational German using lively and topical themes
Want to learn German with GermanPod101?
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE DIRECT FROM www.GermanPod101.com
What’s Best About GermanPod101
- German Pod is a fun and lively course with fresh, topical material
- German Pod is online and downloadable, so no software installation required
- German Pod lets you learn on the move
- German Pod’s monthly subscription system means small initial outlay and high flexibility
- German Pod comes at a very low price
What’s Not So Good About GermanPod101
- You have to print out all PDFs yourself if you want “in the hand” printed course material.
- German Pod is weak on teaching you reading and writing skills
GermanPod101 is Especially Good
- If you like lively, topical German course material
- If you want to concentrate more on understanding German speech and speaking German
- If you’re on a budget
GermanPod101 in Detail
GermanPod101 is a purely online-based German course (with downloadable course elements) which has been around since 2005.
As their website proudly announces, GermanPod101 and it’s associated courses have now clocked up some 200 million downloads. So presumably they must be doing something right.
German Pod teaches you German using daily downloadable German podcast lessons. Each German lesson is based on a different topic and this keeps the language learning interesting.
German Pod has two levels of German lessons: Basic and Premium, for newbies and intermediate students respectively.
The course comes with a wide variety of teaching material but it’s mostly audio based. It’s sold via a monthly subscription.
The core of this approach is a radio talk-show style format which is fun, lively and entertaining. Some of the teaching material is also presented as videocasts. At the same time German Pod gets you speaking German right from the first lesson.
GermanPod101 enables you to study German at your own pace. You can listen to the lessons streamed directly from the GermanPod website.
Alternatively you can download the lessons – audio and video – from the online Learning Center and load them onto your computer and IPod/MP3 or MP4-player.
German Pod lesson transcripts and lesson notes are provided in PDF format. There are detailed German grammar explanations for each lesson. You can also review and drill your German vocabulary using the Interactive Flashcards. These also include audio segments.
There are also audio-enabled content quizzes, grammar quizzes, and vocabulary quizzes for you to test yourself.
GermanPod101 Basic Level
The Basic Level of German Pod is for beginners in German.
It gives you immediate around-the-clock access to the complete library of audio podcast and videocast lessons for your level. You can refer back to previous lessons at any time and as often as you want.
You also have access to the Community Forum, which contains all the comments posted by other German students of GermanPod101.
The PDF lesson notes provide detailed information about each lesson to reinforce what you hear in the podcasts. They include the dialogue transcripts and translation, vocabulary and grammar explanations.
GermanPod101 Premium Level
The Premium Level of GermanPod101 includes all the material of the basic level, together with a number of additional features.
Each Premium Level podcast contains an audio review of the vocabulary and phrases introduced in each lesson to help with perfecting pronunciation.
There are also Videocasts called Video Vocab which use visual cues to help widen vocabulary.
German Pod Premium includes Bonus Audio Tracks to demonstrate to you the colloquial German that people in Germany use in everyday situations. There are also dialogue audio tracks that quickly recap only the lesson dialogue in a few minutes as opposed to going through the full lesson.
The Premium version of German Pod allows you to compare the German and English transcripts side-by-side. You can also listen to a single line of the lesson dialogue over and over again to perfect your comprehension and pronunciation.
German Pod Premium Level also provides an “Easy Grammar Accuracy Checker” which looks at the grammar involved in the lesson dialogue in more depth.
Finally, the Premium version of GermanPod also provides a useful voice recorder function so you can compare your pronunciation with that of the teachers.
My Opinion of GermanPod101
GermanPod101 is an innovative and up-to-date method of learning to speak and understand German.
Since German Pod is an online downloadable course, there’s no complicated software to install, configure or understand. This is a big plus and German Pod has been the main innovator here. It’s now the direction in which the rest of the language course industry is now starting to move.
GermanPod101 makes for a fresh and lively way of learning German. The German language podcasts and videocasts are presented in an animated and interesting style and this helps greatly with the learning process.
Plus the themes used in the lessons are mostly topical, particularly at German Pod’s Premium level. All this helps to keep your level of interest and motivation high.
One thing I feel that German Pod isn’t so hot on is reading and writing skills.
Exercises are provided for reading and writing practice, but the emphasis of the course is mainly on learning to understand and speak German. So reading and writing German gets a little neglected with this course in comparison with some others.
German Pod’s Community Forum is a great resource. You can ask questions, answer questions, or just read the comments about the lessons from other students. This enables you to learn from the real-life experiences of other students of GermanPod101
Another very good thing about GermanPod101 is the price and mode of payment.
GermanPod101 uses a monthly subscription model. The monthly price of German Pod is low and the subscription system gives you a lot of flexibility.
Plus, you can quit German Pod at any time you wish.
Or you can just take a break for a month or two, or for however long you want. You can return to study GermanPod again later on, just as you wish.
And GermanPod101 is ideal if you’re looking for an online downloadable German course that’s easy to use and which doesn’t involve installing and navigating complex software.
To sum up, GermanPod101 is a excellently produced, flexible and easy to use German language course that comes at a very low cost.
Want to learn German with GermanPod101?
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE DIRECT FROM www.GermanPod101.com
