Table of Contents
- What Does A1 Actually Mean?
- Prerequisites: None
- The Plan at a Glance
- Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-4)
- Phase 2: Building Blocks (Weeks 5-8)
- Phase 3: Consolidation (Weeks 9-13)
- Daily Session Structure
- Study Tips for the Long Haul
- Recommended Resources
- What Comes After A1
What Does A1 Actually Mean?
Before diving into the plan, it helps to know exactly what you are aiming for. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) defines A1 as the first level of language proficiency. Here is the official description:
Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce themselves and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know, and things they have. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.
In practical terms, A1 means you can:
- Greet someone and introduce yourself
- Order food and drink
- Ask for and give directions
- Talk about your family, your daily routine, and your hobbies
- Understand simple written notices, forms, and short messages
- Handle basic transactions at a shop, post office, or doctor's office
The Goethe-Institut Start Deutsch 1 exam is the standard A1 certification for German. It tests reading, listening, writing, and speaking. This plan will prepare you for that level, whether or not you choose to take the exam.
Prerequisites: None
A1 is genuinely beginner level. You do not need any prior German knowledge. You do not need to "have an ear for languages." You do not need to have traveled to a German-speaking country. You just need roughly 30 minutes a day and a willingness to show up consistently.
The Plan at a Glance
- Duration: 90 days (13 weeks)
- Daily commitment: 25-35 minutes
- Three phases: Foundation, Building Blocks, Consolidation
- Vocabulary target: ~600 words (the full A1 range)
- Grammar: Introduced gradually, always in context
The plan is designed around a simple principle that Wordo the Tortoise would approve of: consistency over intensity. Thirty minutes every day will get you further than three hours on Sunday. Your brain needs time between sessions to consolidate what it has learned. Respect that process and the results will follow.
Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-4)
The first month is about building your base. You will learn the most essential everyday vocabulary, get comfortable with German pronunciation, and internalize the basic sentence structure. Do not rush this phase. Everything that follows builds on it.
Week 1: Greetings, Numbers, and Pronouns
Vocabulary focus:
- Greetings and farewells: Hallo, Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend, Tschuss, Auf Wiedersehen
- Numbers 1-20
- Basic pronouns: ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie/Sie
- Polite phrases: bitte, danke, Entschuldigung, ja, nein
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: Learn 5-8 new words with visual mnemonics
- 10 min: Listen to pronunciation and repeat out loud
- 10 min: Practice simple self-introductions — Ich heisse... Ich komme aus...
Tip: German pronunciation is more regular than English. Once you learn the rules for sounds like "ch," "sch," "ei," and "ie," you can pronounce almost any word correctly. Spend extra time on these in week one — it pays dividends for months.
Week 2: Family, Colors, and Days of the Week
Vocabulary focus:
- Family members: Mutter, Vater, Bruder, Schwester, Sohn, Tochter, Kind
- Colors: rot, blau, grun, gelb, schwarz, weiss, braun
- Days of the week: Montag through Sonntag
- Months of the year
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New vocabulary with mnemonic images
- 10 min: Review week 1 words (this is where spacing starts to work)
- 10 min: Simple sentences — Mein Bruder heisst... Heute ist Montag.
Week 3: Food, Drink, and Ordering
Vocabulary focus:
- Common foods: Brot, Kase, Wurst, Suppe, Salat, Kuchen
- Drinks: Wasser, Kaffee, Tee, Bier, Wein, Saft
- Restaurant phrases: Ich mochte..., Die Rechnung bitte, Was kostet...?
- Tableware and basic kitchen items
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New food and drink vocabulary
- 10 min: Review all previous words
- 10 min: Role-play ordering at a restaurant (even alone, speaking out loud matters)
Week 4: Weather, Time, and Basic Adjectives
Vocabulary focus:
- Weather: sonnig, regnerisch, kalt, warm, heiss, windig, Schnee
- Telling time: Es ist drei Uhr, halb vier, Viertel nach funf
- Basic adjectives: gross, klein, gut, schlecht, schon, alt, neu, lang, kurz
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New vocabulary
- 10 min: Review previous weeks
- 10 min: Describe the weather and your daily schedule out loud
Phase 1 Grammar Focus
Do not try to memorize grammar tables this month. Instead, absorb these patterns naturally through your vocabulary practice:
- Present tense of sein (to be): Ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist, wir sind...
- Present tense of haben (to have): Ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat, wir haben...
- Basic word order: German main clauses follow Subject-Verb-Object, just like English. Ich trinke Kaffee. (I drink coffee.)
- Gender articles: Start noticing that every German noun has a gender — der (masculine), die (feminine), das (neuter). Always learn the article with the noun. Not "Hund" but "der Hund."
Vocabulary milestone: ~200 words
Phase 2: Building Blocks (Weeks 5-8)
With the foundation in place, you now start building practical competence. The topics get more specific, the sentences get longer, and grammar starts to play a bigger role. You should feel your comprehension growing week by week.
Week 5: Shopping, Clothing, and Numbers to 100
Vocabulary focus:
- Clothing: Hemd, Hose, Kleid, Schuhe, Jacke, Mantel, Hut
- Shopping phrases: Wie viel kostet das?, Haben Sie...?, Ich suche...
- Numbers 20-100 (and how to form compound numbers — einundzwanzig, zweiunddreissig)
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New vocabulary
- 10 min: Review (focus on any words from Phase 1 that feel shaky)
- 10 min: Practice shopping dialogues
Tip: German numbers above 20 are spoken "backwards" compared to English: 21 is einundzwanzig (one-and-twenty). This trips up every beginner. Practice counting out loud until the pattern feels natural.
Week 6: Directions, Transportation, and Prepositions
Vocabulary focus:
- Directions: links, rechts, geradeaus, die Kreuzung, die Ampel
- Transportation: Bus, Bahn, Zug, Fahrrad, Auto, Flugzeug, Haltestelle
- Prepositions of place: in, auf, an, neben, zwischen, vor, hinter
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New vocabulary with mnemonic images
- 10 min: Review
- 10 min: Describe a route from your home to work or school, using the new prepositions
Week 7: Daily Routines and Separable Verbs
Vocabulary focus:
- Daily activities: aufstehen, fruhstucken, arbeiten, einkaufen, kochen, schlafen
- Time expressions: morgens, mittags, abends, nachts, um... Uhr
- Common separable verbs: aufstehen, einkaufen, anfangen, aufhoren, mitkommen
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New vocabulary
- 10 min: Review
- 10 min: Write or speak about your typical day from morning to night
Grammar spotlight: Separable verbs. These are one of the quirkiest features of German. The verb aufstehen (to get up) splits in a main clause: Ich stehe um 7 Uhr auf. (I get up at 7 o'clock.) The prefix goes to the end. It feels strange at first but becomes second nature with practice.
Week 8: Hobbies, Sports, and Expressing Opinions
Vocabulary focus:
- Hobbies: lesen, schwimmen, wandern, kochen, Musik horen, Fussball spielen
- Opinion phrases: Ich finde... gut/schlecht/langweilig/interessant
- Frequency: immer, oft, manchmal, selten, nie
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New vocabulary
- 10 min: Review (at this point, you should have a solid review routine)
- 10 min: Talk about what you enjoy and how often you do it
Phase 2 Grammar Focus
This month introduces two grammar concepts that are essential for A1:
- Accusative case: When a noun is the direct object of a sentence, the masculine article changes from der to den. Ich sehe den Hund. (I see the dog.) Feminine, neuter, and plural articles stay the same. Focus on masculine nouns first — that is where the visible change happens.
- Basic modal verbs: konnen (can), mussen (must), mochten (would like). These are used constantly in everyday German. Ich kann schwimmen. Ich muss arbeiten. Ich mochte einen Kaffee.
Vocabulary milestone: ~400 words
Phase 3: Consolidation (Weeks 9-13)
The final phase covers the remaining A1 topics and, crucially, gives you time to consolidate everything. Many learners skip consolidation and rush to A2. Do not make that mistake. A solid A1 foundation makes A2 dramatically easier.
Weeks 9-10: Health, Body, and Making Appointments
Vocabulary focus:
- Body parts: Kopf, Arm, Bein, Hand, Fuss, Auge, Ohr, Mund, Nase
- Health phrases: Ich habe Kopfschmerzen, Mir ist schlecht, Ich brauche einen Termin
- At the doctor: der Arzt, die Apotheke, das Rezept, das Medikament
- Making appointments: days, times, confirmation phrases
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New vocabulary
- 10 min: Review across all previous weeks
- 10 min: Role-play making a doctor's appointment
Weeks 11-12: Home, Living, and Describing Spaces
Vocabulary focus:
- Rooms: Kuche, Schlafzimmer, Wohnzimmer, Badezimmer, Flur, Balkon
- Furniture: Tisch, Stuhl, Bett, Schrank, Sofa, Lampe, Regal
- Describing your home: Meine Wohnung hat drei Zimmer. Die Kuche ist klein.
- Neighborhood: Supermarkt, Park, Schule, Kirche, Krankenhaus
Daily practice (30 min):
- 10 min: New vocabulary
- 10 min: Review
- 10 min: Write a short description of your home or dream apartment
Week 13: Review, Gaps, and Mock Practice
This final week is pure consolidation. No new vocabulary. Instead:
Day 1-2: Full vocabulary review. Go through all ~600 words. Identify any that still feel unstable and focus your visual mnemonic practice on those.
Day 3-4: Grammar check. Can you conjugate sein, haben, and the modal verbs without hesitation? Can you use accusative correctly with masculine nouns? Can you form a sentence with a separable verb? Practice the weak spots.
Day 5-6: Practice all four skills.
- Reading: Find a simple German text (children's news sites like Logo! from ZDF are perfect) and see how much you understand.
- Listening: Play a short German audio clip and write down what you hear.
- Writing: Write 5-10 sentences about yourself, your family, your daily routine, and your hobbies.
- Speaking: Record yourself introducing yourself and describing your day. Listen back. You will be surprised how much you can say.
Day 7: Rest. You have earned it.
Phase 3 Grammar Focus
- Dative basics: The dative case appears when something is an indirect object or after certain prepositions (mit, von, aus, bei, zu). At A1, you just need to recognize it and use it in common fixed phrases: mit dem Bus, zu Hause, bei mir.
- Perfect tense introduction: German uses the perfect tense (Ich habe gegessen — I have eaten) much more than the simple past in everyday speech. Learn the pattern: haben/sein + past participle. Focus on the 20 most common verbs first.
Vocabulary milestone: ~600 words (full A1 range)
Daily Session Structure
Here is a template you can use throughout the 90 days. Adjust it to fit your schedule, but try to keep all three components:
-
Review first (10 min): Start every session by reviewing words from previous days and weeks. This is where spaced repetition does its work. Words you know well will come back easily. Words that are fading will require effort — and that effort is exactly what strengthens the memory.
-
New material (10 min): Learn 5-8 new words. Use visual mnemonics to create strong initial associations. Say each word out loud. Look at the mnemonic image and let the scene anchor the meaning.
-
Active practice (10 min): Use your words in context. Speak out loud, write simple sentences, or role-play a scenario. This moves vocabulary from passive recognition to active use.
Study Tips for the Long Haul
Consistency beats intensity. Your brain consolidates memories during sleep and during the gaps between study sessions. Thirty minutes daily gives your brain 13 overnight consolidation cycles per phase. Three hours every Sunday gives it far fewer, and the long gaps between sessions let the forgetting curve do its damage.
Learn articles with nouns. This is the single most important German-specific habit. Never learn "Tisch" — learn "der Tisch." If you skip this now, you will spend months fixing it later. Some learners color-code genders in their notes (blue for masculine, red for feminine, green for neuter). Find what works for you.
Speak out loud every day. Even if you are alone. Even if you feel silly. Language is a physical skill — your mouth, tongue, and vocal cords need practice forming German sounds. Reading silently does not train these muscles.
Do not compare yourself to others. Some people will reach A1 in 60 days. Some will need 120. Both are fine. Language learning is not a race. Wordo the Tortoise does not care about your pace — only that you keep going.
Celebrate small wins. The first time you understand a German sign, the first time you catch a word in a German song, the first time you successfully order a Kaffee mit Milch — these moments matter. Notice them.
Recommended Resources
A mix of free resources will serve you better than any single paid course:
- WordoCards (free): Visual mnemonic flashcards for German A1 vocabulary. Every word comes with a purpose-designed image to help it stick, plus native-speaker audio. Start with the German-English A1 deck.
- Deutsche Welle — Nicos Weg: A free video course that follows a character through everyday German situations. Excellent for listening practice and contextual learning.
- Coffee Break German (podcast): Short, clear episodes perfect for your commute or a walk.
- Goethe-Institut Practice Materials: The Goethe-Institut website offers free sample exams for Start Deutsch 1. Use these in Week 13 to gauge your readiness.
- Easy German (YouTube): Street interviews with German speakers, with both German and English subtitles. Great for hearing natural spoken German at various speeds.
You do not need to use all of these. Pick two or three that you enjoy and rotate as needed. The best resource is the one you will actually use.
What Comes After A1
Congratulations — if you have followed this plan, you now have a genuine A1 foundation in German. You can handle basic social interactions, understand simple texts, and express your everyday needs. That is a real achievement.
A2 builds directly on everything you have learned. The topics expand (travel, work, media, future plans), the grammar deepens (more prepositions, comparative forms, subordinate clauses), and conversations get longer and more natural. The vocabulary target for A2 is roughly 1,200 words — but you already know 600 of them.
The transition from A1 to A2 is where many learners give up, not because it is harder, but because the early excitement of learning from zero has faded. This is where patience matters most. Trust the process, keep your daily sessions going, and the progress will continue.
WordoCards offers A2 German vocabulary with the same visual mnemonic approach, so you can carry your study habits straight into the next level.
Take it at your own pace. Wordo the Tortoise will be there the whole way.