EDIT 2021: There aren’t as many free features as they were when I wrote this post, but it’s still worth checking Yabla out.
This post contains affiliate links to Yabla. It means I’ll get a few pence if you buy anything – at no extra cost to you.
The lovely people of Yabla invited me to try out their site which I am very happily doing at the moment and I’d like to tell you about it, too.
If you are a visitor to my blog, you know that I love to find free online resources for you. This one isn’t free but what they have on offer is well worth paying for, and some videos are free.
First of all, it isn’t a German course with structured lessons, instead it’s an ever growing collection of original German short videos and some made specifically for a German topic, currently nearly 1000 of them. And this is an ideal website for anybody, from beginners to advanced who wants to practice their German but not always with their textbook or other structured activities.
As you can see on the left hand side of the picture, there is a variety of types of videos for you to chose and if you look at the video snippets you can see whether they are for beginners or more difficult.
Each video offers a range of things for you to do. You can –
- watch it and read the German transcript and the English translation
- watch it without the transcript and/ or translation
- highlight any words you don’t know, which opens a German-English dictionary
- those unknown words can be turned into flashcards for extra practice
- press the ‘slow’ button and listen to the speaker at a slightly slower pace
- play a game at the end of the video to see whether you understood everything
I hope these screen shots are giving you some ideas how these videos work, but don’t just take my word for it!
If you go to Yabla you can try out a few sample videos for free.
Also, thanks to the lovely people from Yabla, the first 20 people who leave a comment on this post will get one month free access to all videos! (Edit: None left)
If you then like what you see and want to subscribe, the current costs are $9.95 (about £6.20 at the moment) per month (or cheaper if you pay for 6 or twelve months). How quickly do you spend that sort of money on other non-essential things? The link on this page and on the widget on the right is an affiliate link, which means if you decide to subscribe and click through that link, I will earn a little bit of money. It won’t affect the cost of your subscription and it won’t allow me to stop working – so we’re both safe 😉
EDIT May 2019: Yabla’s videos now have an extra feature – Scribe. Click on the ‘games’ menu, then ‘Scribe’ and select a set. You can then practise your listening and type what you hear. The following video shows how it work (even if it is for the Spanish videos)
Moin Angelika, I tried to leave a comment about this at 0550 this morning but don’t think it submitted as I got an “invalid token” message. Anyway, I tried this site out yesterday, and it looks really useful. I am sure it will help me with listening exercises especially, even though the videos for missing words play rather fast, so I am keen to try it out. Tschüss Chris
PS Cannot see any other comments, so not sure if this page is displaying properly.
Hi Chris, thanks for trying again. Yes, there was a problem this morning which I only just spotted. Hopefully it’s all working again now …
Yes, everything is working again, phew!
Always on the look out for authentic listening material – especially when it’s free! Would love a free trial.
Thanks!
You’re going to love it, Bethan! I’ll pass it on to Yabla tomorrow and then wait for an email from them
I learn about Yabla of this publication. Now I will try it.
That’s great, Penko, I’m sure you will like it. I’m just about to email Yabla and will let them know about you, too.
I have previously visited the Yabla site, and found it very useful. It is a fun way to improve listening skills, with plenty of variety in the choice of videos. I like the way you can use it to do something constructive when you only have small amounts of time available!
Gisela
Thanks, Gisela, I’ll pass your name on, too.
i would love to try yabla for free! it sounds fantastic!
Brilliant! I’ll pass your details on.
Thank you for recommending this site Angelika. Its good fun, and easy to use. I would like to try it for a month.
That’s great, Mark. I’ve just passed your details on.
Hello Angelika
Yabbla sounds interesting , I would love a free trial
Great, I’ll pass it on!
I’d love to have more help with my German.
Fantastic, I’ll pass your details on, too!
Hello Angelika,
Thankyou for all the useful information on your blog, I am finding it so helpful 🙂 I would love a free trial please (if there are any still available?)
Many thanks,
Victoria
Thanks, Victoria,
There are still some left. I’ll pass your details on, although, as it’s he weekend, you may not hear from Yabla until next week.
I have recently discovered your website and am really enjoying the links to interesting sites to help with my German learning. I have looked at Yabla and would love to try it out!
Thank you, Kate,
I’m glad I can help with your German learning.
I have passed on your details but as I said before, you may not hear from Yabla for a few days.
Enjoy the videos when you do!
I have had a look at the site and agree with the point made by Gisela – the site is useful in that you can fill spare moments (sitting on the toilet?!) by watching the short videos and learn something at the same time. The videos also provide a good insight into popular German culture in that they are aktuell. The clips are of the popular culture itself, which is a much more meaningful way to learn. It means that you can engage in the popular culture rather than read/hear about it third hand. I thought that the choice of videos were good but limited. I could not see the menu to the left with the various topics and I could not exit from the short list of films and could not even access the home page. Maybe this was due to the fact that I was looking at free videos and so perhaps the site is restricted to paid up users only. I found that the dictionary function did not always work as well. It failed to provide any translation of certain terms. Unfortunately, I did not manage to read your post in term to be one of the first 20 readers to get a month’s free trial 🙁 .
Hi Anna,
You’re not too late and you will hear from Yabla next week. yes, the site is restricted to paid members and there are only a few free videos. Interesting, what you say about the dictionary. I haven’t noticed that yet, but I haven’t really used it, apart from when I checked it for this post. I will try it out a bit more.
In the meantime, enjoy watching all the videos once you get your free trial!
This looks great. If there are any trials left, I would love to have one.
Yes, there are! I’ll pass your details on, Craig. Look out for an email from Yabla in the next few days!
Hi Angelika – Yabla looks great and would really like to try it out if the free trial is still available.
Thanks
Roberta
Yes, there are still free trials., Roberta. You should hear from Yabla soon.
Hello Angelika,
Am I too late?
I’d love to have more help with my German.
Yabla seems very interesting. Thans for your help for free trial.
No, you’re not too late. I’ll pass on your details and you should hear from Yabla soon.
Hello there angelika ,
Am I too late. I am interested in Italian language.please let me know if it’s possible to have free access for a month.
Thanks.
If Italian is not possible German would be also okey
Hi Kazi,
I’ve passed your details on.
I would much like to try this for german. Still possible ? Thank you!
Hi Leandre,
There are still 5 places left, so I’ll pass your details on to Yabla.
Me! Me! Me, please. I have been studying German on my own for about 1 1/2 year for professional reasons and this spring I decided to be decisive – by end of June I want to have a decent conversation in German. Yabla will help me a lot.
Thanks
Brilliant and well done for managing to study on your own, Sergio.
I have passed your details on to Yabla. You will hear from them soon.
Hi. i would like to have a free account. 🙂
thx
Hi Esmaeil,
I’ve passed your details on, too. You will hear from Yabla soon.
Hi Angelika
Are there any free trials left? Would love to give Yabla a go!
Thanks!
Yes, there are still two left (well, now only one as you’re getting one 😉 )
I’ll pass your details on to Yabla, but i don’t know whether they will read it over the weekend, so you may have to wait a few days.
Hi Angelika
If there is still a free slot left, I would be up for trying it out.
Thanks!
Yes, there is one free slot left and you’ve got it 🙂