13 Best German Audiobooks Perfect for Beginners

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Audiobooks are one of the best tools for language learning. Not only because they are trendy, but they’ll significantly boost your language skills. I always recommend my students and followers to work with audiobooks, especially at the beginning of their language learning journey. If you’re a beginner German learner, I’ve got some great German audiobooks that will help you take your German skills to the next level. Let’s get round to this.

List Of The Best 13 German Audiobooks for Beginners

Here is a list of all the best 13 German audiobooks for beginners:

101 Conversations in Simple German
Short Stories German
Café in Berlin
Ferien in Frankfurt
Karneval in Köln
Momente in München
Ahoi aus Hamburg
Plötzlich in Palermo
Walzer in Wien
Zurück in Zürich
Digital in Dresden
Schalmassel in Stuttgart
German Short Stories for Beginners

Why Are Audiobooks Beneficial For Language Learning?

Audiobooks boost your language skills in several ways. Here are the reasons why audiobooks are so beneficial to us language learners.

you can listen to them any time you want (on the way to work, school, when cooking, doing sports)
learn languages even if you’re doing other activities in your day
boost your listening skills
listening is especially important for beginners (to get familiar with the language)
learn how to pronounce words right at the beginner
ability to understand the language faster
help you to memorize vocabulary effectively

How To Work With Audiobooks To Learn A Language?

It is also important to know how to work with audiobooks so that your language learning is effective. So let’s have a look at how you should approach learning German with audiobooks to be successful.

Here are the steps you should take to learn German with audiobooks:

Listen to one section of the audiobook
Listen to it again and try to catch a few words and meaning of the story
Get a printed version of the audiobook
Highlight words you want to learn from the section
Translate the words you want to learn
Read the section once again and try to understand the whole context
Listen to the audiobook over and over until you understand it very well

Quick Guide For Learning German With Audiobooks

First of all, I recommend you solely listen to the audiobook (may it be a simple dialogue or a short story). After, listen to the same section and try to catch a few German words you can understand. Then, write these words down into your language notebook.

After, take the printed version of the audiobook. Take your time to read the text you listened to and highlight a few words you want to learn. Then, translate these words and learn their meaning. Again, read the text with highlighted words and try to understand the whole context of the story.

Use My Method to Learn German With Audiobooks

Once you’re done, listen to the audiobook section all over again until you feel confident with it. Once you understand it very well and remember your highlighted words, keep listening further.

What I also do is that I listen to one sentence, stop the audio, and read the sentence on my own. This helps me to learn how to pronounce the words right from the beginning. It is very important.

have fun learning a language for travel — *Me having fun listening to German audiobooks when going to a supermarket in Switzerland*

Important Note & Advice For You

*Note that these audiobooks are great for beginners (A2 level). If you’re an absolute beginner and don’t know a word in German, I highly recommend you first go through the basic topics. This article will give you an overview of what to learn in a new language as a beginner. It will give you the foundation for your German learning. Once you go through these basic topics, you can start listening to audiobooks. It will eliminate possible frustration on your language journey.

Without further words, let’s get into the list of the best German audiobooks for beginners. I’ve listened to them from the easiest to the more difficult. In the beginning, I recommend you choose the easiest one with simple dialogues. Or choose some based on your interests. Remember, you have to love your German learning.

1. 101 Conversations In Simple German

Olly Richards, the author of this book, has a great approach to language learning. He says that foreigners don’t speak like your textbook. And that’s why many language learners are unprepared when going abroad where their foreign language is spoken. So he decided to change it and created a great book with simple conversations in German. These conversations are short dialogues from the everyday life of German people. The dialogues use simple vocabulary you would hear in your life in German-speaking countries. It makes it also a lot easier for you as a beginner to understand the sentences.

This audiobook is perfect to start with as a beginner. It will help you understand the German language structure and make you more familiar with the language.

The audiobook contains 101 real-life conversations set in Berlin (the capital of Germany). The conversations come from daily life situations such as shopping, in a cafe, meeting friends, or making arrangements. It will help you to learn over 15,000 in real German.

Every chapter includes English translations and explanations of the German language.

2. Short Stories German

Another great German audiobook, a book originally written by Oly Richards. I recommend listening to this audiobook as the second one from this list. With the first audiobook, you’ll learn the basics of everyday life communication. This audiobook will excite you with its interesting short stories. It also uses simple and everyday life vocabulary. It includes 8 stories with different genres. Some are science fiction, some comedies, thrillers, or romantic stories. It also uses simple grammar that you’ll easily understand and learn as a beginner.

Each story also comes with a bilingual word list and a summary of bold words after each chapter. It also includes a summary of the plot and comprehension questions after each story to double-check whether you’ve understood the story in the right way.

This audiobook will make your German learning a lot more fun. Listen to it and learn new vocabulary. After, repeat listening to the same story when doing other activities. It will help you to memorize the vocabulary easier and faster.

Amazing Series of German Novels With Dino

The next audiobook is a series of audiobooks where the main character, Dino, takes you on an adventure through Central Europe. He travels through several German cities and to Italy and Switzerland and teaches you about German culture, traditions, different dialects, and fun facts. These are one of my favourite audiobook series. They are capturing and will make your German learning super fun and easy.

Why Are Audiobook Series Amazing?

Learning German with audiobook series is great because you have the same character, the same writing style, you know what to expect from the book. You don’t have to look for another audiobook once you finish reading the first one. The other 9 books with Dino are waiting for you. It will also get easier for you to learn the language when you get used to the book’s structure and the language.

Each edition has 10 short stories for beginners set in a different city. Depending on the city, Dino takes you on an adventure and explains interesting things about cuisine, traditions, work in Germany, and a lot more. Since each story is set in a different city and country, it gives you insights into different German dialects (Austrian and Swiss German).

I particularly love these audiobooks since it makes you feel like you’re Dino, experiencing the cultural shock first arriving in Germany as a foreigner who has to face all circumstances and different German dialects. You’ll learn various facts about Germany and other German-speaking countries and forget that you’re even learning German.

Here is a list of all audiobooks included in the series with Dino:

The books also use simple vocabulary that you’ll understand as a beginner. The language is friendly and easy to process. Short dialogues are set in the everyday life of each city in various situations such as cafes, shops, jobs, travelling, and more.

Let’s have a look at what each of these audiobooks is all about so that you can choose the one you’re interested in.

3. Café in Berlin

You’ll experience life in the capital city of Germany through the eyes of an expat who just moved to the city. This guy is from Sicily, so the German urban life, business meetings, and the language itself come completely new and even strange. Learn about Berlin city and its people with Dino and learn German with him on the way.

4. Ferien in Frankfurt

Dino appears in Frankfurt am Main in the second edition, surrounded by European institutions and banks, cider pubs, and nightclubs. He goes on a holiday to Frankfurt and questions his life, thinking about what to do next. See if he feels happy as a Sicilian living in the German culture.

5. Karneval in Köln

Dino now makes his way down to Cologne, the German capital of carnival and the beautiful Cologne Cathedral. He is trying to find some accommodation with his empty wallet and organize his life. Until he finds a gig that seems to take him down the easy road. However, he finds himself in the middle of the crazy German carnival and has to handle the situation.

6. Momente in München

Dino travels down to the capital of Bavaria, Munich, and quickly finds out that people speak quite a different German dialect here. Nevertheless, he manages to find a job in one of the best locations and finally seems to settle down. He is happy and settled in his everyday life until a new person comes into his life, and he is overwhelmed by the world’s largest funfair.

7. Ahoi aus Hamburg

In the next edition, Dino makes his way up north to the second largest German city, Hamburg. He finds a beautiful apartment that looks too good to be true. And, of course, it is a catch. Soon he has to deal with crazy neighbors and an odd dialect again.

8. Plötzlich in Palermo

Dino finally finds an excuse to escape from his crazy life in Germany and travels back to his hometown, Palermo. He attends the wedding of his brother and celebrates in a big style.

9. Walzer in Wien

The next edition takes Dino to a different country. He appears in the capital of Austria, Vienna. His girlfriend Elisabeth gets a perfect job in Vienna, but she has to travel a lot, so Dino is left behind. Again, he has to tackle with a completely different German dialect and struggles a bit. Until he finds someone who elevates him and gives him some prestige. You’ll learn a lot about Viennese coffee culture, local cuisine, and Viennese dialect in this edition.

10. Züruck in Zürich

Dino and Elisabeth are off to Switzerland and visit their family while grasping some fresh air and stunning views of the Swiss mountains. During the cruise on Lake Zürich, Dino learns something interesting about Elisabeth’s family. On the way, yet he again struggles with a new Swiss dialect and tries to understand the people around him. You’ll learn about local customs, dialect, and culture.

11. Digital in Dresden

Dino lands a perfect office job in Dresden with a great salary and promotion opportunities in this edition. He is fascinated by the beautiful city of Dresden and its baroque-style architecture and loves his life there. Until he stumbles upon some angry citizens and is in a small problem.

12. Schlamassel in Stuttgart

In the last edition of these stories, Dino and Elisabeth are invited to attend a prestigious event in Germany’s 6. largest city. However, they find themselves in a strange quest looking for help while they wander through Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Wüttenberg in Germany.

13. German Short Stories for Beginners

This book contains 20 easy-to-understand stories for any beginner. Each story uses day-to-day and simple vocabulary, which you’ll need to learn the basics in German. Each story also comes with a list of the most useful German vocabulary you can remember to boost your German skills. It also includes a summary of questions in German for you to double-check whether you’ve understood the story.

The dialogues in this audiobook are entertaining and will help you learn real German as spoken in Germany.

Get Audible For German Audiobooks

I’ve been using Audible for listening to audiobooks for over a year now. It’s one of the best audiobook platforms with thousands of choices.

If you want to try my method of learning the German language using one of these audiobooks, sign up today for free. You’ll get 1 month of a free trial, including 1 free German audiobook.

So check it out; it’s completely free.

Get 1 Trial Month + 1 Free German Audiobook

More Tips On German Learning

These are the 13 best German audiobooks for beginners. Take some that are the most interesting to you. You’ll learn different German dialects, and have a lot of fun with them.

If you need more resources for your German learning journey, go to my language resources page. Pick some German podcasts for more listening (I recommend CoffeBreak German). If you want to read a book, check out the best foreign language books for beginners. Also, get some German magazines, which is one of the best materials to learn a language from. As a beginner, I also highly recommend you incorporate language apps into your learning process. They help you to learn vocabulary in context and work with voice recognition to improve your pronunciation.

Also, check out my article about the best way to learn German vocabulary.

If you need some ideas for how to learn vocabulary fast, read my article about it. Check out my language blog for more inspiration on effective German learning.

Let me know which audiobook you chose in the comments below and whether you like it.

Get Free Language Travel Notebook

Get a language travel notebook for free that will help you to learn vocabulary easily and effectively. You can write down all words you want to remember when listening to audiobooks. It will keep you on track with the new vocabulary. You’ll also get motivational quotes, and it will guide you throughout the process of learning vocabulary. Get it now for free.

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