LanguageExplain Like I'm 5Intermediate
German: Beyond the Basics course icon

German: Beyond the Basics

Like Duolingo, but for German: Beyond the Basics. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

54 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free during early access · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Benni the Bear
German: Beyond the Basics
with Benni the Bear
54
Levels
4
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in German: Beyond the Basics

  • The verb feels incomplete to a listener
  • Each person has a specific matching pronoun
  • The listener expects you to name an object like a car or a dog
  • The word 'sich' covers all third-person subjects
  • How forgetting the reflexive pronoun changes the meaning
  • Choosing the correct 'self' word based on the subject
  • The pronoun 'sich' signals the action returns to the subject
  • The subject 'Ich' requires the matching 'mich' to complete the thought
  • Without 'sich', the action would be directed at someone else
  • The verb 'vorstellen' requires a pronoun to mean 'to introduce oneself'
  • Daily routines like sitting down or getting dressed often use reflexive pronouns
  • Actions done to others do not use reflexive pronouns
  • Identifying if an action is directed back at the speaker
  • Distinguishing between reflexive and non-reflexive actions
  • Applying the reflexive pronoun in a social context
  • Adding 'mich' shifts the action from an external object to your own body
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives German: Beyond the Basics the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

The Mirror Action Words

If you say 'Ich wasche' without a reflexive pronoun, how does it sound to a German friend?

Get it right to open this lesson and 53 more in the app.

Course map

Where German: Beyond the Basics takes you

Move past simple sentences and start expressing yourself with nuance. Master the flow of natural conversation by conquering cases and reflexive actions.

  1. 1

    Expressing Daily Routines

    • Actions You Do to Yourself
    • Describing Your Morning Habits
    • When the Action Stays with the Subject
    • Talking About Shared Activities
  2. 2

    Navigating People and Objects

    • Giving and Taking: The Indirect Object
    • Small Words That Change the Case
    • Choosing Between Movement and Location
    • Expressing Ownership and Relationships
    • Common Phrases That Require the Dative
    • Placing Items in a Room Correctly
  3. 3

    Polishing Your Descriptions

    • Matching Adjectives to the Noun
    • Describing People with Specific Details
    • Comparing Things and Expressing Preferences
  4. 4

    Connecting Complex Thoughts

    • Using 'Because' and 'That' to Build Sentences
    • Talking About the Past with Precision
    • Expressing Wishes and Polite Requests
    • Word Order in Multi-Part Sentences
    • Using Time Expressions Naturally

4 sections · 18 units · 54 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
Explain Like I'm 5

German: Beyond the Basics is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

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Start German: Beyond the Basics today.

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