As every Wahlberliner knows, living in the German capital and speaking little or no German is absolutely doable – but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. You may not know your Arsch from your Ellbogen, but boy are you fluent in side-eye and passive-aggressive sighing. If you’ve had enough of the negative vibes and want to make 2025 your year to finally learn German, there are several great podcasts to help you out.
Coffee Break German
The cream of the crop is probably Coffee Break German from the Radio Lingua network, which is structured as a kind of informal 15-minute-long German lesson between a man called Mark (who benefits from a delightful Scottish accent) and a native speaker (either Thomas from Bavaria or, in later episodes, Andrea from Switzerland).
German Stories
German Stories takes a different approach. Rather than a straightforward language lesson, it’s a kind of instructional soap opera: come for the fiendish plot twists, stay for the devilish dative case. Join Paul, a young man unaware he is being steered by the demands of language acquisition, as he loses a precious book belonging to his grandfather, is implicated in a robbery, and introduces us to the phrase “Ich bin doch kein Stalker!” in an episode subtitled ‘Justify actions and reflect on a situation’.
Speaking of Berlin
A lot of German-learning podcasts go heavy on the southern German iconography (think oompa-oompa beer hall music and Bavarian accents), but Speaking of Berlin is a notable exception. Created by Babbel, who have their international HQ in the German capital, Speaking of Berlin offers the disorienting experience of hearing recognisably Berlin stories (growing up in a Plattenbau, learning to be a tattoo artist) told by Berliners who… speak… really… slowly. There’s two versions of each episode available, one with English translations, one without, and transcripts on their website.
News in Slow German
For news podcast junkies and life-hackers, there are some great podcasts offering the expedient twofer of downloading language skills while getting up to speed on current affairs. One such pod is News in Slow German, which comes out weekly and is international in scope. You’ll need intermediate-level German to make sense of this one, although a beginner version is available, and there is an option to pay for an interactive transcript.
Langsam Gesprochene Nachrichten
Langsam Gesprochene Nachrichten from Deutsche Welle comes out daily, and is more Germany-focused than most of its news-covering counterparts. Like News in Slow German, you’ll need to have some footing with the language going in.
Jojo Sucht das Glück
Deutsche Welle also offers a variety of podcasts for learning German, including Jojo Sucht das Glück, in which an ebullient Brazilian student is ground down by interactions with German taxi drivers and the like (sample dialogue: “Could you take a photo of me?” “No. I have been working all day and am very tired”).
Deutsch – Warum Nicht?
Deutsch – Warum Nicht? is another reliable option from the folks at Deutsche Welle featuring a surreal dialogue between a dullard called Andreas and a manic pixie dream girl called ‘Ex’. It’s old-fashioned but useful, as it’s very thoroughly explained and translated, in the kind of cut-glass British accents last heard announcing the end of rationing.
Deutschtrainer
Perhaps the most useful DW offering is the snappy Deutschtrainer, which takes you through the vocab you’ll need for German situations such as getting your Anmeldebestätigung, going to a gynaecologist or requesting apartment repairs. Episode 39, ‘Giving Birth’, is a masterclass in pared-back storytelling: “Sexual intercourse … The pregnancy test is positive … contractions … Caesarean”.
Easy German
On a more casual note, Easy German is a twice-weekly podcast that started life as a school project back in 2006. Hosts Cari and Manuel shoot the breeze about life in Germany, respond to listener questions and discuss the idiosyncrasies of the language. It’s all in German – albeit slow and easy-to-understand German – so not for complete beginners, but this pod feels less like an artificial learning experience and more like a fun show that you’re actually listening to in German, you absolute legend.
Incidentally, some podcast apps, such as Spotify and Apple Podcast, now offer AI-generated transcripts to accompany episodes. Clearly they’re not interactive, like those offered by some language podcasts to their paid members (in other words, they don’t offer clickable translations and vocab trainers), but reading along while listening can be a really helpful aid if you’re learning German on the cheap.
Finally, if these all seem like too much work, you could consider playing any podcast auf Deutsch at bedtime. As a means of learning German this is absolutely useless, but as a sleep aid? Highly effective.
