Jakub's story (Survival German)

At beginner level A1, the Goethe-Institut word list has about 650 words, and about half of them should be part of your active vocabulary. BlaueZebra goes further on purpose. The core comes from the official word list of the Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer, published by the Goethe-Institut and telc. On top of it we add words that are not on that exam list but that you need in specific everyday situations: girocard, Pfand, Rundfunkbeitrag, Steuer-ID. Every word is chosen on purpose.

Start with Chapter 0. It gives you the sentences you need on day one, the numbers, the clock and the first grammar, before any real situation begins. From there the chapters follow your first year in order: the registration office, the doctor, the first day at work, opening a bank account, finding an apartment. Each scene is a short dialogue and one worksheet, about 15 minutes of your day. Read the dialogue, print the worksheet and fill it in by hand. Tomorrow do the next scene.

The BlaueZebra course is built specifically for working expats who have limited time and need German for real-life situations. It is free, situation-based, and follows one continuous path from arrival in Germany to feeling at home there. Vocabulary is translated into English, Spanish, Russian and Turkish in every scene. There is no app to download, and you do not need an account.

About seven months at one scene a day. At four scenes a day you finish in under two months. You can do each scene on the bus, during a break, or before bed. The course is designed for people who work full-time and cannot commit two or three hours a day to a traditional language class.

You do not need the word Heuschrecke. You need the words that come up at the registration office, at the Hausarzt, at the supermarket, at work, on the phone with your family, when something goes wrong. The BlaueZebra course covers exactly these situations, one chapter per situation.

Think of BlaueZebra as a gateway. It gets you through your first year: the Anmeldung, the Krankenkasse, your first day at work. If you later want an exam certificate for a visa or a job, a structured course such as Nicos Weg, a language school or the Goethe-Institut is the right next step, and you'll walk in far ahead of zero.

Because that is how immersion works. The worksheet, the instructions, the exercises and the grammar explanations are all in German, with one exception: the vocabulary table shows translations in English, Spanish, Russian and Turkish. The website is different. You can switch it to your own language at any time, so you always understand what to do. From the first lesson, your eyes start getting used to German. You do not learn to swim by reading about water.

The focus is practical vocabulary. Chapter 26, Grammatik-Wortschatz, also introduces basic grammar through articles, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions and word order in context.

Apps like Duolingo are good for a daily habit. Here each scene is a conversation you will have in Germany, at the Bürgeramt or the doctor’s.

You’ll have the German that carries you through the bank, the doctor and your first weeks at work, and a solid foundation for the telc B1 exam. Our free course recommendations are on the Further learning page.

I’m Stefan Banas, a Slovak expat living in Germany. I left everything behind in Slovakia and moved to Germany to start from zero. I know what it means to stand at the Bürgeramt and not be able to say what you need. This course exists because of that moment.