German with Laura Avis 264

During the academic year 1970-1971, I took an elementary German class. The textbook we used at the time was Moderne deutsche Sprachlehre by F. Alan DuVal and others. And, I must say nothing seemed to stay with me. I pretty much got through the course by brute force! To make a long story short, in 2014 I retired from teaching mathematics for engineering students, and I signed up on DuoLingo to develop some Spanish skills. Well, one thing lead to another and I began to practice German as a Spanish speaker. It wasn't long before I needed to remember basic German grammar. While doing a Google search, I found Laura's introductory video. I was immediately attracted to her approach! At this point, I have finished her German Foundations series of lectures and quizzes. What impresses me most is how Laura has developed an incredibly logical presentation of German gender, sentence structure using her concept of "slots", and subject - direct object - indirect object as it relates to German cases. Another thing that stands out in my mind is Laura's teaching style. She uses a kind of forward-backward approach. That is, when she is presenting a new topic, she consistently reviews and relates what went before to the new topic at hand. For example, when she is talking about determiner declensions she will often review noun gender, all of which is a way to reinforce the logical structure she is teaching throughout the course! All I can say is, "I wish this course was available when I took German back in the early 70's!" Bottom line: I highly recommend Laura's German course!

So far so good. I love the one to one teaching, which you don't get with Duolingo. Everything is clearly explained, but I haven't had as much time to devote to the lessons as I would like.
I am looking forward to learning more.

I have been using the online "German Foundations" course since Sept 2025 and am nearing the end of the 3rd Module. So far my experience has been very positive - the information seems to be sinking in! This course lays the foundations of German grammar, the philosophy being to learn the basic rules which apply to most situations (exceptions are covered in a more advanced course). The emphasis is on grammar - to me, if words are bricks then grammar is the mortar that holds everything together.

The videos are quite short so you don't feel overloaded. There are quizzes & drills for testing yourself. Resource books are available in downloadable PDFs. You can go at your own speed & there is the facility to submit questions which are answered by a member of Laura's team - as a student you get to see the questions & answers with each video.

At 65yrs, I knew I couldn't learn in the same way that I did when I was at school (memorising word lists, verb tables, etc). This course presents information in a way that I can process.

Although I have some experience learning French, Spanish, Latin & a little Dutch (all a long time ago), this is my first serious attempt at learning German. Before purchasing "German Foundations", I tried out Laura's free, short taster course called "Unlocking German Grammar" - this is what made me think it would be worth purchasing the longer course. So I suggest you give that a try first to see for yourself.

German with Laura is a game changer in understanding German grammar. German foundations 1 cover the very important basics (A1-A2) and German foundations 2 the more complex stuff (B+). She managed to connect the dots and handles all the information together by organised topics and charts. Learning German is not easy for many, and this course is a great help. I really recommend it for anyone who is fluent in english and is leaning German, is it a good investment on yourself.

A step-by-step, logical, unconventional approach that leads to a strong foundation in the German case system without all the frustration of learning it the traditional way.

Amazing… Laura makes the grammar so easy to understand, and from there all the pieces start falling in place. Best German grammar instruction I have seen, including 2 years University courses, self-study and community ed.

perfecto,todo muy bien

Laura from German with Laura makes learning German so much fun and understandable! I looked forward to her lessons and appreciated that she had us do lots of practice exercises of the material. Thank you, Laura, for sharing your gift of teaching with us!!

I've been going through Laura's German Fundamentals course for the last month or so. My German is now at a B1 level, but I sorely lack the grammar to sound like an educated and fluent German speaker. The entire time I've been learning German, I've been struggling to internalize the genders and the plurals. Laura's systems for understanding and correctly using these grammar basics are phenomenal. The gender hierarchy makes it all so easy to figure out. I would highly recommend this course to any German learner at any level who is still struggling with basic grammar.

Before I found Laura's courses, I had almost given up on learning German. I was completely overwhelmed by the complex grammar, and other software apps just made me feel lost and frustrated. Laura changed that entirely. She explains everything, from declensions to verb conjugations, in such a clear and logical way that it finally just clicked for me. She also provides her own very helpful resources, such as her Gender Hierarchy Table for learning German noun genders and her All-In-One Declension Table. These resources help students internalize and remember (instead of memorizing) some difficult concepts of German grammar. I made more progress with her courses than with any other tool I've tried. If you are serious about finally mastering German grammar foundations, her classes are an excellent investment.

Learning german with laura is a game changer imo. It was very easy to learn. The explanations were clear. I am currently taking a german class simulataneously with lauras and I can say that the grammar learning is incomparable to the german classes I take. If i hadn't taken lauras class I would be very much lost in my class.
Definitely think its worth it if you are serious about learning german.

I had tried several other apps and packages but found the approaches too scattered, leaving me unable to understand how to create a German sentence on my own. The first Foundations course of German With Laura gave me the systematic, memorizable patterns that I was looking for in order to really get a foothold in the language. I am now buying the second Foundations course to continue my progress, and I feel very confident that I am now on the right track towards competence in speaking, listening comprehension, reading and writing German.

I was skeptical but I’m so glad I signed up for German with Laura! Her approach helped clear up some things that were confusing me and holding me back from learning. I love her systems- really clear and straightforward! My German has improved significantly from taking her course.

Laura Bennett is an excellent German teacher. Her German Foundations course helped me learn difficult concepts such as German declensions, cases, noun genders and much more. Laura has created unique tables and pathway charts to help identifying patterns and tie the grammar together in an unforgettable way. The material is presented in modules with plenty of drills to reinforce each topic. This is a fantastic online course that exceeds in both price and quality to what is offered by my community college.

I had zero knowledge of German when I started "German with Laura" and it was really, really helpfull, so feel confident to do this course if you are like me.

Much has been said about how difficult german grammar is and how there is no rhyme or reason to a lot of it. Laura's courses very clearly and simply teach that there IS rhyme AND reason to german grammar. Her courses are the ONLY courses I've come across that have demystified german grammar. I have made leaps and bounds in my understanding and comprehending german sentence structure, cases, etc. since taking Laura's courses. I can't wait for her next course to become available as the further along I go the more fun learning german becomes. I can't recommend German with Laura high enough. 6 stars!!!???

Excellent training. I wish I had found Laura much earlier. My german self-learning was like a rudderless ship. Now I have structure AND a knowledgable resource to bounce questions to. So thankful for Laura & her excellent training program.

I returned from a short vacation in Germany and was frustrated that I was unable to have a simple conversation in German, despite my using a popular app before my trip. I could use the phrases I learned on the language app but not have an actual simple conversation. I am returning for a longer vacation in 2026 and am determined I will be conversant at a basic level.

So, I bought a few books on learning German. UGH! This approach was not going to work for me either. One of the books had pages and pages of words & charts to simply memorize.

I found German with Laura online via researching various options. I went through some of her free online explanations and realized this is exactly where I needed to begin my journey.

I have finished her Foundation 1 course and am amazed at her excellent teaching method, her wonderful charts and pathways for learning the complex aspects of German grammar, and how much fun she makes this learning process.

The accompanying course material is also very good. The exercises in the workbook are well-suited to progressive learning by tying in what you have learned in prior modules. Laura has some great tutors available in a Q & A/Discussions tab so if you get stuck, you can post a question and get a clarification. These discussions are archived so you can go through prior questions/answers as well.

I plan to go back through the entire Foundation 1 course and re-do all of the workbook exercises. I will then go on to take Laura's Foundation 2 course as I can see she will build on the knowledge I have gained from Foundation 1.

The course is very much worth your time and money if you want to learn how to have a basic conversation in German by first beginning with German grammar. German grammar is complicated, but Laura makes learning it fun and approaches topics using short presentations vs long lectures. When I reached the end of Foundations 1, I was surprised how much I had learned while enjoying the lessons. I am looking forward to Foundations 2!

I love Laura's courses! She explains everything so well, she has really smart ways of making things make sense. I had a lot of "aha" moments. I truly believe she is one of the best German teachers out there. So so smart and talented! Laura, you are amazing!

Before I found Laura's resources, my German learning felt like a constant uphill battle. I was using all the typical tools—apps, various online resources—but was left feeling like I was just memorizing endless lists of rules without ever truly understanding the language. It was incredibly discouraging, and my motivation was at an all-time low.
Finding her YouTube channel and then her free course was a complete turning point. What makes Laura's method so different and powerful is that she builds your intuition for the language from the ground up. For the first time, I wasn't just learning what to say, but I was finally understanding why it's said that way. Complex topics that once seemed impossible, like the logic behind the case system, started to feel natural and logical.
I'm writing this review for anyone who feels stuck like I did. This course gave me something invaluable: genuine hope and the motivation to keep going. It has completely revitalized my German-learning journey, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.