Teach yourself German without losing your way
The problem with self-study is not a shortage of material — the internet is full of it. The problem is not knowing what to study first, what next, and how much is enough. This page gives you a concrete plan using what Frog-Job already has.
A concrete plan
What a week of self-study looks like
Four short sessions during the week work better than one long one at the weekend. This is the rhythm most self-directed learners can keep up over time.
New vocabulary
Work through one topic in the vocabulary book. Read each word aloud with the video so you remember the pronunciation too, not just the spelling.
Vocabulary book + videos
The grammar of the topic
Learn the structure that goes with the topic, do the exercises in the book, then write 5 sentences of your own using the words from session 1.
Grammar book
Listen and repeat
Watch a short video on the same topic. Hear a sentence, pause, say it back. Say it out loud, not in your head.
YouTube Frog-Job
Revise last week
Go back to last week’s topic instead of learning something new. This is the session most often skipped, and the one that decides whether any of it sticks.
Book + your own notes
Self-study cannot train your speaking You can build vocabulary, grammar and reading very well on your own with books. But nobody corrects your pronunciation or phrasing. Many self-directed learners work up to A2 and then add a few one-to-one lessons purely for speaking practice — cheaper than taking the whole course with a teacher.
If you are training or working in a restaurant or hotel Keep the four-session rhythm above, but replace session 1 with a group of topics from the trong specialist dictionary. Learning exactly the words you heard on shift that day sticks far faster than learning general vocabulary.
Straight talking
Self-study does not suit everyone
It is the cheapest route, and also the one most people abandon. Read the two columns below and judge for yourself before buying a book.
Self-study works if you
- Have taught yourself something through to the end before It need not be a language. What matters is knowing you can keep a habit going.
- Have too irregular a schedule for a class Shift work, young children or constant moves — self-study is the most workable option.
- Are on a tight budget right now Buying a book once costs far less than monthly fees, and it lasts.
- Are already in a class and want extra revision Books used alongside a class usually work better than either on its own.
Think twice if you
- Face a tight application deadline Progress is hard to control on your own. With a deadline, exam preparation with a teacher is the safer bet.
- Need to speak, not just understand This is the biggest limit of self-study. With nobody listening and correcting, speaking barely moves.
- Tend to drop off when nobody reminds you Be honest with yourself on this one. Group class has a fixed timetable that keeps you going.
- Have never learnt a foreign language A1 is when bad habits form most easily — pronunciation learnt wrong at the start is very hard to fix later.
The platform
Frog-Job books are not PDFs sent by email
Each one is an online reading course inside your account. Buy it and it opens immediately; there is nothing to wait for.
Student area
After payment the book is unlocked straight away in your Frog-Job account and you can reread it at any time within the access period.
- Read it on a phone, tablet or computer; you only need to log in
- The content is split into lessons, and you return to exactly where you left off
- Video lessons sit inside the matching lesson; there is nothing to hunt for elsewhere
- The books are read online only, with no download and no printing — the copyright is protected
The parts still being built
This is a plan, not something on sale. Frog-Job only releases things when they are properly finished, and does not promise a date in advance.
- Self-marking exercises after every lesson
- A detailed week-by-week progress tracker
- A plan that suggests the next lesson based on what you have covered
Frequently asked questions
Before you start
For reading, listening and vocabulary, yes. For speaking and writing it is hard, because the exam is marked against criteria you cannot judge yourself, and pronunciation errors formed in self-study are very hard to spot alone. Many people work up to A2–B1 on their own and then take exam preparation with a teacher for the final stage — cheaper and safer at once.
20–30 minutes a session, four times a week, is the rhythm most self-directed learners can keep up. Three hours on Sunday and nothing all week leaves almost nothing behind — the brain needs to meet a word many times at intervals, not once for a long stretch.
Complete beginners: the A1 grammar book first, because without a grammar foundation even vocabulary is hard to turn into sentences. Those who have been through A1: the Mein Deutsch vocabulary set lasts longer, because it runs all the way to B2. Those training or working in a restaurant, hotel or kitchen: specialist dictionary is the one you will use daily on shift. If you are unsure, ask Frog-Job, there is no charge and nothing to buy.
Yes, and many people do exactly that: study the knowledge alone, then buy a few one-to-one lessons for speaking practice or before an exam. The books you have bought are still used in class; nothing is wasted.
Yes. Both grammar books, A1 and A2, have exercises after every chapter, with the answers reached by a QR code printed in the book, so you can mark your own work without anyone checking. The A2 book also has a full four-part mock exam in the real format, to measure yourself before booking an exam. The vocabulary book comes with example sentences and pronunciation videos so you can check your own reading.
Right inside your Frog-Job account, not as a file sent by email. After payment the book appears in the student area and can be reopened at any time on a phone, tablet or computer. The books are read online only, with no download and no printing.
No date yet — Frog-Job wants them properly finished before releasing them rather than promising in advance. When they are ready, this page will be updated straight away. In the meantime, the exercises printed in the grammar books and the A2 mock exam are enough to test yourself with.
The next step
Start your self-study with the Frog-Job books
Watch a few lessons on the YouTube channel to see whether the way things are explained suits you, and only then decide to buy.
