No. SmarterGerman is all about simplicity. With an All Courses Membership you get access to 10 courses for the price of one. If I had to fiddle with 20 diff. kinds of subscriptions, I’d have to hire someone to deal with this nonsense and you’d pay twice as much. And I understand that 29,90€ / mo might be a lot of money for some which is why I offer generous social discounts that reduce that price to 9,90€ / mo and if the shit really hit the fan even to 1€ / mo. All trust based. I mean why would you lie to me, right?

So: A1 alone costs 29,90€ a month and A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, A1-Exam Prep, B1-Exam Prep, DSH-Exam Prep, Grammar Course and Trandem Training all together cost 29,90€ a month. 

A standard German course in a group anywhere in Germany costs 250€ / mo. And they move on whether you keep up with the group’s speed or not. You need 2-3 months per level and once you are out of school, you can’t reach your teacher for questions anymore.

And in language schools they often speak German which in my 25+ years professional and personal opinion is making learning German a lot more difficult than it should be. I base my opinion on science: https://bilingual-approach.com/

Even in Africa and India a month in such a group costs easily 100€ / mo. So you do the math, okay?

Of course, I understand that €29.90 per month can be a lot of money for some. That’s why I offer generous social discounts — fully trust-based — that reduce the price to €9.90 per month, and if things are really tough, even to €1 per month.

I trust you to be honest — why would you lie to me, right?

If you can’t afford the regular €29.90/month but can manage €9.90/month for a high-quality German course, apply for the Social Discount. It reduces the fee for my All Courses Membership to just €9.90/month.

If even €9.90/month is impossible right now, you can apply for my Scholarship, which brings the price down to €1/month.

Please note that this scholarship is made possible by those who pay more – it’s a community effort. Therefore you’ll be asked to pay this gift forward to others in the future.

The scholarship also comes with a few other reasonable conditions, which I explain in detail on the scholarship page.

If you truly, truly can’t even afford €1/month, don’t give up. Write to me via my homepage, and I’ll make you a personal offer. You might receive free access for as long as you need it – in return, I’ll simply ask you to pay this kindness forward once your situation improves. 

Please understand: I can’t promise access to the scholarship or free plan. These options are reserved for highly motivated and disciplined learners, because they cost both me and the community money. They’re an investment in people who face hardship through no fault of their own — but who are determined to change their lives and help others in turn.

As there are no live classes included, it starts whenever you are ready and ends either when you have achieved your goal or when your access period ends.

All my courses are accessible exclusively through my Membership subscription. As long as you are subscribed you get access to my courses. 

Yes. That’s why it’s called B1 Exam Prep course 😉 BUT it doesn’t teach you the language. It will “only” prep you for the B1 Exam (TELC, ÖSD or Goethe). If you are uncertain what that means make use of the 7-day free trial. Please note that that trial turns into a paid subscription if you don’t cancel it in time.

Jein. Quick technical support is of course provided for free. If you need support with your studying you need an active paid subscription to my Personal Support Membership. If you subscribe to my bundle you’ll get a solid 75%discount so it only costs you 4,90€ / mo instead of 19,90€ / mo. 

While this course contains links to free materials, it is highly recommended that you get one of the practice books I lay out in the course. Additional cost 20€-30€.

No. You need an internet connection.

Yes, of course. The mobile version of the course is beautiful and there is even an app for Android and iOS. Some features like our vocab trainer, the community widget or the dictation tool are not available in the app though. Therefore it’s highly recommended that you use the mobile browser. Ideally however you don’t work on a mobile as mobile phones are simply not made for proper studying. If you have no other choice, so be it but ideally you get your hands on some 100€ laptop and take that. Doesn’t have to be fancy.

Yes of course. But it won’t be a speaking partner for you. It will show you how to prepare for the oral exam and suggest exercises you can do on your own or with free tools.

No. I don’t offer any officially acknowledged certificates as those are a giant bureaucratic hassle and I prefer to keep loving what I’m doing. BUT you can easily sign up for such an exam at Goethe or TELC or ÖSD certified institutes and pay a fine, I mean fee of anything between 120-200 USD and get a nice piece of paper to show to anyone who’s interested.