General German

1. Import into Anki

Getting your deck into Anki takes about 60 seconds.

1. Open Anki on your computer or phone
2. Go to File > Import (desktop) or tap the + button (mobile)
3. Select the .apkg file you downloaded from Lemon Squeezy

The deck will appear in your collection with all sub-decks, audio files, and tags intact. No extra setup needed.

2. Recommended settings

Anki's defaults work, but these adjustments will give you better results with this deck:

• New cards per day: 10-15. This builds recognition quickly without overwhelming your review pile.
• Maximum reviews per day: 200. The default of 200 is fine. If your daily reviews regularly exceed 150, reduce new cards for a few days.
• Learning steps: 1m 10m. Anki's default. Leave it.

To change these: click the gear icon next to the deck name, then "Options."

3. How the three card types work

Every word in this deck generates three cards. Each tests a different skill:

• Recognition (German to English). You see the word in German and produce the meaning. This is the easiest card type and builds passive vocabulary.
• Production (English to German). You see the English meaning and produce the German word. Harder, but this is what you need for speaking.
• Cloze (fill in the blank). You see a real sentence with one word missing. This tests whether you can use the word in context.

Feeling overwhelmed? Suspend the Production cards for the first week. Focus on Recognition and Cloze. Add Production back once your daily reviews feel manageable. To suspend: select cards in the browser, right-click, "Toggle Suspend."

4. Where to start

This deck covers 42 conversational themes across CEFR levels A1 through B2 in Hochdeutsch (standard German).

• Moving to Germany. "Greetings," "Getting Around," "Shopping," and "At the Office" should be your first themes. Add "Bureaucracy" early. German bureaucracy (Burgeramt, Anmeldung, Auslanderbehorde) has vocabulary you will not find in any casual learning app.
• Preparing for an exam (Goethe A1-B2). The CEFR sub-decks align with Goethe-Institut exam levels. Study the level you are targeting plus one level below for reinforcement. The exam tests both vocabulary breadth and grammatical accuracy, and the cards cover both.
• Starting German from scratch. Start with A1 and 10 new cards per day. German has a reputation for being difficult, but the grammar is logical once you see the patterns. The articles (der/die/das) are hard to guess, which is exactly why flashcard-based drilling works. Repetition is the only reliable way to internalize grammatical gender.

Realistic timeline

German takes English speakers about 750 hours to reach B2 (US State Department estimate). This deck accelerates the vocabulary portion. At 10-15 new cards per day.

• Week 1-2. Greetings, numbers, basic questions. You can introduce yourself and handle very simple exchanges.
• Week 3-4. Ordering food, shopping, simple directions. Tourist-level survival.
• Month 2-3. Daily conversations, appointments, describing problems. You can handle routine interactions with patient speakers.
• Month 4-6. Confident in most daily situations. You can follow German news headlines and participate in casual social conversations.

Tips for German learners

German has unique challenges that this deck is designed to address.

• Articles and grammatical gender. There is no reliable rule for which nouns are der, die, or das. Native speakers internalize them through repetition, and that is exactly what this deck provides. Every noun card shows its article. Study them as a unit. After 200-300 nouns, you will start developing an intuition for patterns (e.g., most words ending in -ung are feminine).
• Compound words. German is famous for long compound words. They look intimidating but they are just smaller words stuck together. Krankenhaus = Kranken (sick) + Haus (house) = hospital. The deck teaches the component words at lower levels, so by the time you see the compounds at B1-B2, you can decode them.
• Integration exam preparation (B1). The B1 integration exam (Deutsch-Test fur Zuwanderer) is required for permanent residence in Germany. Focus on A2-B1 sub-decks and the 'Bureaucracy,' 'Daily Life,' and 'Work' themes. The exam tests practical, everyday German, not academic or literary language.

Your first 10 phrases

These will get you through your first interactions in Germany.

• Entschuldigung. 'Excuse me.' Works for getting attention, apologizing, and squeezing past people.
• Sprechen Sie Englisch?. 'Do you speak English?' Your safety net. But try German first.
• Ich hatte gerne.... 'I would like...' Polite way to order anything.
• Wo ist...?. 'Where is...?' Add any destination. Essential navigation.
• Das verstehe ich nicht. 'I don't understand that.' Honest and respected by native speakers.

The "Again" button is your friend

When Anki shows you a card and you don't know the answer, hit Again. Not "Hard." Not "Good." Again.

Spaced repetition works best when you're honest about what you don't know. Cards you mark "Again" come back sooner. Cards you know well space out further. The algorithm adjusts to you. Trust it.

Audio on every card

Every card has native speaker audio. On desktop, audio plays automatically when the card appears. On mobile, tap the speaker icon.

Tip: listen to the audio BEFORE reading the text. Train your ear first, then confirm with your eyes. This builds listening comprehension faster than reading alone.

Lifetime updates

Your purchase includes free updates for the life of the product. When we add new cards, fix audio, or improve translations, you can re-download the latest version from Lemon Squeezy at no extra cost.

We announce updates via email. Keep an eye on your inbox.

Need help?

Reply to any Eidetic email or reach out at hello@eidetic.cards. We read everything and respond fast.