This page features an ever-expanding number of free German listening activities for students of all ability levels. Each audio activity includes a link to an audio file, as well as a worksheet, often as a complete-the-blank listening activity. Some of these German listening activities are designed for a specific vocabulary or grammar unit that is used in the text/lyrics.
Although most of the songs are available for free on youtube (sometimes with video, sometimes with lyrics), I strongly encourage you to download the files that are available from the artists for a small fee, particularly if you plan to use the audio in your classroom. Unfortunately, as I found out, mp3 downloads are NOT available on Amazon.de for users outside Germany, Switzerland, or Austria. You are able to purchase complete CDs, but not mp3 files. Amazon.com has SOME of the German mp3 files, but not all. As a result, youtube may be your only option for some of the audio. Audio files for literary text readings are from or and are free.
If you are looking for the lyrics to a specific song, has a huge collection of lyrics to both German and English songs.
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The following German listening activities are suitable for classroom or individual use. Many of them can be used even by beginner-level students for German listening practice.
- Color: "Green, green, green are all my clothes." Children's song. German suitable for very early beginners. ,
- Sports / Football (Bayern club song). on youtube.
— Wetter: , (Wetter-Lied, song # 5 on the X Album)
- Der Struwwelpeter (by Heinrich Hoffmann):,
— Grimm’s Fairy Tales: . Also check out my “Rumpelstilzchen” listening activity for the simple past tense (, ).
— Chocolate Chip Cookies: for Wiseguys song. at youtube.
— “Die Tür” (Kurt Tucholsky): listening activity for modals/infinitives (, )
— Comparative/superlative: (Kai Niemman’s song “Im Osten”, great for comparative adjectives). .
— Verbs used as nouns: (song from the movie “7 Zwerge” with the German comedian Otto Waalkes). on youtube.
- School: / (techno Smurf song "No School")
— Rotkäppchen: listening activity with focus on the dative case: ; listening activity with focus on simple past verbs: .
— : very easy listening activity for conjugation of modal verbs. From Rolf Zuckowski’s musical “Der Kleine Tag”, a wonderful musical that is very usable in a German classroom. A version of the song is available on ,
— (Erster Streich): Easy listening activity. Fill in words from a word list as you listen to an . If you experience problems with the audio file, an alternate reading is available at . The recording for the first chapter starts at 1:20 min (64 kbp file). Additional (1. Streich only). A story about the from Deutsche Welle’s Top Thema (mp3 available).
- "Dog and Cat": easy listening activity for dative prepositions. /
- Clothes: "" (The Smurfs). Easy listening and vocab activity. ,
— Freizeit 1: listen to and . Very short and easy. Freizeit 2: listen to and . Very short and easy.
—Einkaufen auf dem Wochenmarkt: easy . Listen to the the audio file and fill in the blanks in the .
— “Rapunzel”: of the Grimm fairy tale with (intermediate to advanced level).
— “Unbewohnt” by Herbert Grönemeyer:easy listening activity for Grönemeyer song, focus on “furniture/living” vocab. /
— Das Haus von Katrin: listening activity with online comprehension exercise. The comprehension exercise is multiple choice. You must get all of the possibilities correct for each question to score 100%. /
- "Budgie and sparrows": song by Gerhard Schöne, a call for tolerance and acceptance. Audio / video links: / / / (colloquial vocab).
— “?” Short audio stories with some activities, from Deutsche Welle. Audio download and pdf text available. German only.
- "We will win" (Digimon). for future tense /.
— “Die Both Shatters” von Karl May: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (time references are to the downloaded media player version).
— Familie. Open the . Then listen to the and fill in the missing words.
— “Sonne” by Rammstein. Very early audio activity (Einführung B of Kontakte). . .
— Studium. Very easy listening activity. ; .
— Weihnachten: ; . — : German music videos, available with German and English lyrics and some teaching activities. Some of the videos are suitable for specific grammar issues (e.g., “Gib mir nur ein Wort” by Wir sind Helden can be used as an introduction to basic verb endings in the present tense). Many of these videos, however, would be more appropriate for at least second-semester German classes.
— Deutsche Welle News: Great resource for Intermediat-level and up. Deutsche Welle has a each day that is read extra-slowly and is great for German listening practice because it also comes with the actual text to read along. On the same page, you also find an extensive glossary of terms commonly used in the news. Another (texts and audio for relatively short and very well “simplified” news items; very usable resource, even for mid- to advanced-level beginners).
— : a very large site with many German podcasts, available in a slow and a normal-speed version. Additional study materials like texts and vocabulary can be downloaded for a nominal charge. A subscription is also available.
—Goethe Institut has two complete audio language courses ( and ) and a large number of with available pdf texts.
— : Lots of German podcasts, mostly short interviews, on many different topics (politics, culture etc.). No activities specifically for German students, but great listening practice for advanced German students.
— : audios/videos of lots of German children’s songs with lyrics. No specific activities right now. I’ll try to work on that.