Vocabulary Learning Advice and Tools
- Strategien zum Vokabellernen
- Flashcard Sites:
- A flashcard program is most effective if you quickly form a simple sentence with each word that comes up. Here are some ideas for doing that!
- Research suggests that the most efficient way to study vocabulary (or other factual information) for long-term retention is via spaced repetition. The goal is to try to review an item just before you are likely to forget it. Look for this capability in a good flashcard site!
- Quizlet: Quizlet has eliminated most options to study your own flashcards effectively for free, and has a habit of eliminating useful functions (including spaced repetition!!) even from the paid version without consulting users ==> other options may be better. BUT their database does include translations and audio for a large set of core vocabulary, and you may find some useful flashcard sets created by other users. Some of these may be available to study for free.
- Seedlang This language learning app accompanying the Easy German video channel includes flashcards using spaced repetition. Freemium model; here is the pricing page. Highly recommended.
- Anki Free for Android, $25 for the iPhone app. VERY customizable, and uses spaced repetition ==> worth looking at if you’re interested in making flashcards suited to your particular learning preferences. It’s easy to customize the app, and easy to add images, audio etc. to the cards. Create your own study sets, or find existing ones.
- Other possibilities to explore:
- LearnWithOliver (see “Miscellaneous German Vocabulary Learning Sites” below)
- Cram Make 3-sided cards; the 3rd side is a “hint.” According to a user comment in the “Flip, Flip, Flip” article (see below), “it’s got a nice feature called Cram Mode that is very useful for spaced repetion work.”
- Brainscape Rate difficulty of cards on a scale from 1 to 5 as you work through them; the program shows you more difficult cards more often.
- Chegg Flashcards [1/14/24 the flashcard function was being updated and not available] Study in flashcard or multiple choice mode. Make your own cards, or browse a large database of shared sets. There seem to be few or no limitations on the free version.
Memrise.com Listed here only for teachers who remember how useful this site was in the past: it no longer offers the ability to create mnemonics to accompany cards, and has been made essentially unusable.
- Other lists of flashcard sites/apps:
Vocabulary Lists for University of Michigan Courses [including some exercises & worksheets]
- Deutsch 101 & 102 (NEW). This link takes you to the vocabulary documents. See the top of this page for the link to the associated Quizlet class.
- OLD Deutsch 101, 102 & 103 This page includes links to the video lectures for German 101/102/103 (left-hand column), to exercises and worksheets on the chapter grammar (center column), and to vocabulary handouts (associated with the textbook Vorsprung), exercises and worksheets (right-hand column).
- Deutsch 221/231 The link takes you to the Quizlet page for Deutsch 221/231
- Deutsch 232 Sections:
- Deutsch 325 & 326 (German for Engineering I & II)
Lists of Most Frequent German Words
- The Deutsch 101/102 vocabulary linked above includes the 1,000 most frequent German words, but not in order. It also includes about 200 items useful for students learning German in an American university context.
- German 221/231 Kernwortschatz [=”Core vocabulary”] Only visible for University of Michigan students. The Quizlet sets for this list are openly accessible.
- OLD Gateway Vocabulary List for German 221/231 Downloadable Word Document
- Includes the 100 most frequent (mf) nouns, the 100 mf strong verbs, the 100 mf weak verbs, the 100 mf adjectives, the 100 mf adverbs, the mf prepositions, the mf conjunctions, a few of the mf collocations (word groupings), a few of the mf abbreviations, and some usage information.
- Gateway Test A practice test on the above list, which you can take anytime. Each time the test loads, you will see a different set of 100 questions. Viel Spaß!
- Based on the Frequency Dictionary of German (see below)
- Older list of the most frequent German words (these 200 or so words make up 1/3 to 1/2 of most German texts!)
- List of the 500 Most Frequent German Words Based on the Frequency Dictionary of German
- A Frequency Dictionary of German, by Randall L. Jones and Erwin Tschirner. Lists the 4,000 most frequent German words in order, and alphabetically in the index. An example sentence is given for each word.
- about.com’s list of the 100 most frequent German words Includes some annotations, and links to some related lists.
- Easy German: 100 Words You Should Know When Coming to Germany
Miscellaneous Vocabulary Lists by Topic
German Vocabulary Learning Sites
- LearnWithOliver Offers both Words of the Day and Sentences of the Day. The flashcards include audio and example sentences, and an option to make your own notes (e.g. mnemonics for the word). They use spaced repetition (see the “flashcard” section above for an explanation). The “Text Analyzer” allows you to enter a German text and then hover over words in the text to see a translation and access the flashcard for that word if it’s in the site’s database. You can also create a set of flashcards to study based on the text. You can sign up to receive daily practice emails. Another great feature: “Practice Sentences“: click and you will see a random (useful) sentence, then (after a pause), its translation, then the next sentence, etc.
- deutschlernerblog: Wortschatz – Deutsch lernen Vocabulary learning resources organized by CEFR levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). Alles auf Deutsch – kein Englisch! Note their series on “Die 200 wichtigsten deutschen Adjektive,” “Die schönsten deutschen Wörter,” “Redewendungen und Umgangssprache – Deutschquiz,” etc.! The site includes some great lists and activities, but is also cluttered with promising-looking links leading nowhere (typically, the word “Datenschutz” appears in tiny font above sets of buttons leading nowhere). Click carefully!
- languageguide.org Focused mostly on nouns. Choose a category of words, roll your mouse over the images to see and hear the German, and take some simple tests to practice the words.
- Word of the Day Sites:
- GermanPod Word of the Day Sign up for a daily email, or scroll down the page to see today’s entry. A calendar gives you access to all previous entries.
- Transparent Language Word of the Day
- Duden Wort des Tages Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the word. This German page selects a distinctive German word daily; it seems to be intended for advanced learners of German and native speakers, but the words chosen can be of interest for learners at all levels. If the definition seems unclear, enter it and the word into a translator to see if you’re interested in learning the word!
German Words in Other Languages