Kat Johnson '24 | Learning German on Instagram

 

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        Are you looking for interesting ways to learn about German culture and language? Instagram could be the untapped resource for you to check out next. With a variety of dedicated language learning accounts, German blogs, and travel and life vlogs, Instagram has many unique options to check out that can help teach you a few new things in a simple way. Here are some of my favorite accounts that I use to learn more about German culture and language that you should check out!

German Language Tips

While there are numerous accounts on Instagram dedicated to helping you study German, some of my favorites include @de.learn and @dw_deutschlernen. Both post daily content with tips and interesting new things you might not know about German. I love the helpful posts from @de.learn, which include topics such as teaching slang, colloquial phrases, and common synonyms . Their content helps me to improve my German skills to sound more like a native speaker. One of my favorite kinds of posts from @dw_deutschlernen is their quizzes, allowing you to test yourself on your German knowledge of tricky topics. They also post slow spoken audio messages, perfect for anyone wanting to improve their listening skills. Both accounts have lots of helpful content and I would recommend exploring them! 

German Blogs

Depending on your personal interests, there are thousands of German accounts that exist and could be another resource for you in improving your German. One account I follow is @wunderblumen, a home décor account from a creator in Germany. While the account is not aimed at an English audience, the long German captions on the posts help me to learn new words and phrases that I might not normally hear in a school setting. I definitely recommend looking for German blogs on topics that interest you, to help you learn more specific vocabulary on topics you like. 

Experiences in Germany

Some of my favorite accounts for funny German content come from non-Germans living in Germany recounting their experiences and language mishaps while living there. Two accounts I like are @uyenthininh and @zacxcviii. Uyen and Zac are both foreigners living in Germany, from Vietnam and the US respectively, and post funny, TikTok-style videos (in English) talking about their culture shocks and things they wish they knew. The videos are both hilarious and informative, teaching all the tips you need to know if you travel to Germany. 

The accounts I mentioned are just a small sample of the content available on Instagram that you can use as a resource to improve your German. I encourage you to check out the ones I suggested, as well as to look for more accounts that also interest you. And of course if you are a William & Mary student, I recommend you also follow @germanstudieswm and @die.zeitung.wm to stay up to date with us!