30-Day Beginner to Conversational German Plan
This plan focuses on speaking, listening, reading, and writing each day to build your German skills.
Daily Structure
Daily Structure (30-60 mins total)
- Speaking (10-15 min) - Practice aloud or with apps/tandem partners
- Listening (10-15 min) - German audio, slow podcasts, or YouTube
- Reading (10 min) - Short texts, dialogues, or stories
- Writing (10 min) - Short entries, dialogues, or messages
Week 1: Survival German
Day 1: Alphabet + pronunciation + 'Hallo, Ich heiße...'
Day 2: Greetings, polite phrases, 'du' vs 'Sie'
Day 3: Numbers 1-20, days, months
Day 4: Asking 'Wie geht's?', answers, small talk
Day 5: Articles (der/die/das), simple nouns
Day 6: Basic sentence structure: Subject + Verb
Day 7: Review + speak about yourself
Week 2: Foundation Grammar & Vocabulary
Day 8: Present tense verbs: 'sein', 'haben'
Day 9: Everyday verbs: essen, trinken, gehen, wohnen
Day 10: Daily routines vocabulary
Day 11: 'Ich mag...' vs 'Ich möchte...'
Day 12: Forming questions: Wo?, Was?, Wer?, Wann?
Day 13: Reading: short story or article
Day 14: Record yourself talking about your day
Week 3: Real-life Scenarios
Day 15: At a restaurant: food vocabulary, ordering
Day 16: Shopping & prices
Day 17: Directions: links, rechts, geradeaus
Day 18: Transport: Bahnhof, U-Bahn, Fahrkarte
Day 19: Health & emergencies: Ich brauche Hilfe...
Day 20: Dialogue roleplay: write and act out
Day 21: Record a 1-min daily routine in German
Week 4: Bring It All Together
Day 22: Past tense: 'ich bin gegangen', 'ich habe gegessen'
Day 23: Speaking practice with a tandem partner
Day 24: Reading: children's story or news at Nachrichtenleicht.de
Day 25: Listening: German music or a podcast
Day 26: Writing: email or message to a friend
Day 27: Speaking challenge: Talk 2 min about your family
Day 28: Review vocab & grammar weak points
Day 29: Roleplay conversation (e.g. meet someone new)
Day 30: Final challenge: record a 2-3 min monologue
Tips
- Speak out loud every day, even alone
- Listen actively (pause and repeat, mimic tone)
- Use sticky notes to label objects around you
- Keep a daily mini-journal in German (1-3 sentences)
- Practice with a language partner on HelloTalk or Tandem
