Review: Spoken German with Susanne Richter

In February 2019, I decided to learn some basic German to get me through an upcoming business trip to Munich and Berlin. It was perfect timing when Susanne reached out to me through Instagram, to see if i was interested in testing out her new course!

At the time of writing this, I’m working on the last lesson of the course, and I am really impressed. Overall this German course is very well-structured, and each lesson is relatively short, so even if I only have fifteen minutes I can squeeze in some study (I’m generally pretty busy, so short and manageable chunks are crucial for any sustainable study plan).

It is very satisfying to see the completed lessons turn grey!

Now that I’m at the end of Susanne’s course, I signed up to meet with a tutor to see how far it had gotten me. Right from the start, we were speaking in German.

After the first few minutes of chatting, he said: “I can’t believe you can understand me after just a few weeks of online study!”

I think this is because Susanne’s course really emphasizes 1) speaking (so…even though I often did this at coffee shops, I would just put on a headset so people thought I was talking on the phone and not just…speaking German to myself 🙂 ) and 2) repetition (the course has a lot of built-in repetition so that you’re not likely to forget what you just learned).

Pros: Well-organized, easy to stay motivated, can do the course from anywhere and whenever it is convenient for you (while taking the course I was living in Malaysia, logging on from cafes all over Penang and Malacca!) Also, Susanne has a very soothing voice…her lessons are oddly very calming!

Cons: At USD $275 it is on the expensive side when compared to free and freemium learning tools. But the free and freemium tools will not be as well-structured or provide nearly as much content. Considering the value and the convenience, I would say that it is definitely worth it if you are too busy to enroll in a university course, but want the same level of instruction.

Susanne’s Spoken German course is now available to the general public, you can purchase it here. By the way, for full disclosure, Susanne offered me the course for free in exchange for a (truthful) review, but the purchase link above is not an affiliate link. I am recommending and promoting the course solely based on my own very positive experience.

I’ll be posting my German learning updates on Instagram and YouTube. If you’re learning German, come follow along!