How I Learned German with "Nicos Weg" and Why You Should Too

Quick links

The free series: Nicos Weg by Deutsche Welle, on dw.com/learngerman and on DW's YouTube channels.

My study guides for it, new edition (November 2026):

• A1: Study Before You Watch
• A2: Study Before You Watch
• B1: Study Before You Watch
• All three levels as a bundle (best value)

Update, November 2026: I wrote this post in 2024, when my guide was a simple vocabulary file. Since then I rebuilt it from zero. It is now one page per scene with key phrases, grammar notes, speaking tasks, exercises and an Anki deck. If you already bought the old file, the new edition is in your Gumroad library for free. I explain the new method step by step in How to Learn German with Nicos Weg: Study the Scene Before You Watch It.

Why I started with Nicos Weg

When I moved to Germany, I had books, apps and a lot of good intentions. What I did not have was motivation. Grammar tables don't make you want to come back tomorrow. A story does.

That is how I found Nicos Weg, and it changed the way I learned.

What is Nicos Weg?

Nicos Weg is a free German course from Deutsche Welle (DW), built around a video series. It has three levels, A1, A2 and B1, so you can grow with it from your first words to an intermediate level.

It follows Nico, a young man from Spain who arrives in Germany with nothing. His bag is gone, he doesn't speak German, and he has to deal with the same situations every learner faces: finding a room, ordering food, going to the doctor, opening a bank account, looking for work. Because it is a story, you want to know what happens next. You learn without feeling like you are studying.

The mistake I made first

For the first weeks, I just watched. I pressed play, understood a few words, paused, rewound, looked something up, pressed play again. After ten minutes I switched on English subtitles. From that moment I was not hearing German anymore. I was reading English.

It felt productive. It wasn't. I was watching a lot and keeping very little.

The fix was not more watching. The fix was changing the order: study the important phrases of a scene first, then watch it. When you already know the key words, you stop decoding and start recognising. That is when German stops being noise.

6 rules for learning German with Nicos Weg

These are the rules I wish somebody had told me on day one.

1. One scene at a time, not one episode. A scene is short and has one topic: the taxi, the party, the doctor. That is a perfect learning unit. An entire episode is too much to remember.

2. Learn the key phrases before you watch. Not every word. Only the expressions you will really use. "Wie lange bist du schon in Deutschland?" is worth learning. A random word that appears once is not.

3. Use German subtitles, never English. German subtitles connect what you hear with how it is written. English subtitles let your brain switch off. If a scene is too hard without English, it means you need to prepare it more, not translate it more.

4. Say everything out loud. Your ears and your mouth learn separately. Read the phrases aloud before watching, and repeat a few lines after the actors. It feels silly for one day. Then it feels normal.

5. Repeat after a few days. You forget most new words within a week if you never see them again. Flashcards with spaced repetition, like Anki, bring each word back right before you forget it. Five minutes a day is enough.

6. Talk about yourself, not about Nico. After each scene, use the new phrases for your own life. Nico finds a room? Describe your flat. Nico goes to the doctor? Say what hurts when you are sick. This is the step that turns understanding into speaking.

The fix was not more watching. The fix was changing the order.

Some A2 phrases to start with

Here are a few phrases from the first scenes of Nicos Weg A2. Read them out loud, then watch the beginning of A2 and listen for them.

Did you know them all? Good, then A2 is your level. Did most of them look new? Start with A1.

Why I built a study guide for every scene

Following my own rules took time. For every scene I had to pause, write down the phrases, look them up, sort out what is important, and think of a way to practise. Hours of preparation for a few minutes of video.

So I did it once, properly, for all three levels, and turned it into a guide that other learners can use. That became Study Before You Watch.

Every scene gets one page, in the order you hear it in the film:

• the key expressions with English translations, without filler or repetition
• the key words with the article in colour and the plural
• a short "Good to know" grammar note
• a speaking task about your own life
• a fill-the-gap exercise, with answers at the back
• space for your own notes

Plus an Anki flashcard deck for each level, so rule number 5 happens automatically.

Get the A2 guide or get all three levels and save

Which level is right for you?

A1 is for real beginners. Greetings, numbers, ordering food, finding a room, telling the time, shopping, going to the doctor. 58 scenes, 391 key expressions. **A1 guide, €4.99**

A2 is for when you can survive but want to really talk. Opening a bank account, writing a CV, a job interview, moving flat, celebrations, arguments with friends and family. 80 scenes, 571 key expressions. **A2 guide, €4.99**

B1 is where German becomes life. Training and work, pay slips and insurance, the environment, history, elections, values and opinions. 74 scenes, 537 key expressions. **B1 guide, €4.99**

Not sure, or planning to go all the way to B1? The bundle with all three levels is €9.99 instead of €14.97. That is less than one private German lesson, for 212 scenes of guided study.

Frequently asked questions

Is Nicos Weg free?

Yes. Nicos Weg is a free course by Deutsche Welle. You can watch every level without paying anything on dw.com/learngerman and on DW's YouTube channels.

Can I learn German only with Nicos Weg?

You can get very far with it, especially in listening and everyday phrases. On its own, watching is passive, so add three things: learn the key phrases before each scene, speak out loud, and repeat with flashcards. If you are aiming for an exam, add exam practice too. For the B1 speaking exam, my B1 German Fluency Book is built for exactly that.

Is Nicos Weg good for the A2 exam?

Yes, A2 covers the everyday topics that A2 exams like to use: housing, work, appointments, shopping, health and free time. It does not teach exam formats, so do a few practice tests before the exam as well.

Should I watch Nicos Weg with subtitles?

Use German subtitles, not English ones. German subtitles help you match the sounds with the written words. If you need English to follow a scene, prepare the scene's key phrases first and try again.

How much time should I spend per day?

One scene a day is enough if you do it properly: about 10 minutes to prepare, a few minutes to watch, and 5 minutes of flashcards. Small and every day beats long and once a week.

My advice

Don't binge Nicos Weg like a Netflix series. Take it slowly, one scene at a time, prepared. You will watch less, but you will understand and keep much more.

If you want to skip the hours of preparation, the guides are ready:

A1 · A2 · B1 · All three levels, €9.99

Happy learning, and viel Erfolg!

Study Before You Watch is an unofficial study companion. Nicos Weg is a free course by Deutsche Welle. My guides are not affiliated with or endorsed by DW and contain no video and no full transcripts.