by Erin McGann
Updated on January 8, 2024
The best 5 instagram accounts to learn German
Instagram is not the first place you would think to check for language learning tips, but it’s a great platform for some quick tips because you get some text with a visual aid, and some accounts even do Reels with little videos as well. Think of it as adding a little language learning to your mindless scrolling time. Erin is back with her best instagram accounts to learn German.
1. Deutsche Welle
2. German with Frau Flamm
3. Germanium Online
4. Fisnik Qadraku
5. Luzi & Johannes
From the folks that brought you Meet the Germans and langsame Nachrichten (slowly spoken news in German)! Deutsche Welle is a publicly funded broadcaster in Germany, and part of their mandate is providing language learning resources in German. Expect a bit of German culture and history with your grammar quizzes. Recent posts include a photo tour of Düsseldorf, vocabulary words, and a fill-in-the-blank question. The level varies quite a bit from post to post, so if you’re beyond A1 level, this one will still be interesting.
Frau Flamm is originally Dutch, but her German is excellent. I like her videos because she speaks very slowly and clearly. Her posts are all about terms that can be challenging, like prepositions
Illustrated with toys, and handy phrases you might actually say in conversation, sprinkled with silly memes about learning German that you feel clever for understanding. This account is great for those at level A1 through to B1.
Lia has made-up telephone conversations with herself in some of her posts on Germanium Online, which sounds weirder than it is. It’s actually quite useful to hear some of those common interjections in context by a native speaker, at a slower speed. She also addresses common German phrases, like Hand aufs Herz (hand on heart), kalte Füße bekommen (to get cold feet about something), and der Hamsterkauf (to buy lots of things to stockpile). She also does a good job of explaining different meanings for the same phrase like ‘umfahren’ (to drive around, but also to run over), and ‘das passt mir nicht’ (this doesn’t fit me (clothes), but also this doesn’t suit me (I don’t like it!)). This account is best for A2-B1/B2.
This account features beautifully laid out images that teach you a few vocabulary words, or illustrate a concept in a few slides. I like how he sometimes incorporate video of politicians speaking from the news, but only a sentence at a time. He uses these snippets to illustrate the specific usage of one word or phrase, underlining it in the German and showing how it relates to the English translation. It’s really effective for German learners at all levels, and a very clever way to get us all listening to real content.
If you’re a visual learner, these guys have Luzi & Johannes for you! You get a talking head, text (with the English translation quite small underneath), and photos. I think this is a great format for Instagram, because it’s quick, but full of visual impact. I really appreciate the small English translation text as well, because sometimes when it’s as big as the German text, I feel like I’m not really doing the work of trying to understand the German. This account is appropriate for all levels, and it’s quite clear what the subject matter of each post is, so if you feel like you know it already, no need to watch! If you check out their Stories, it’s organised by level and separated into grammar and vocabulary.
Remember, language learning is all about working on your skills consistently and often, so a little German inserted into your social media feeds is a great way to keep the wheels turning.
