How to learn German while working full-time?

Learning German while working full-time seems impossible – exhausting, time-consuming, and potentially frustrating. But does it have to be this way?

Because of his practical approach, I again interviewed Michael Schmitz, who has helped hundreds of professionals learn German since 1999. He understands the unique challenges faced by busy working adults and offers proven strategies to make progress despite demanding schedules. Michael shares genuine insights about what actually works – and what doesn’t – when learning German while being busy at work, without sugar-coating the difficulty.

You can directly connect with Michael to ask additional questions and also explore his comprehensive online German learning courses. 

*Disclosure: If you purchase through our link, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. This helps support us in creating great free content.

How many hours should you/can you realistically commit to German when working 40+ hours?

Most language schools offer intensive group classes. That usually means that you spend 3 hours per workday in the classroom and have to do 90 minutes of homework daily on top of that. 

This adds up to approximately 90 hours per month, and you need 2 months per A1, A2 or B1 level. B2 and C1 take 3 months each. All in all, it takes 9 months at this intensity to get from zero to B2, which is the level you should aim at. 

For simplicity’s sake, you will need approximately 900 focused hours of studying (including homework) to get to complete B2 because you’ll always have to consider life getting in the way. But this is only when you study at least an hour per day.

However, if instead you only studied 30 minutes per day, you’d not gain as much momentum, and therefore, your learning might take significantly longer. Learning is not a fully linear process - you cannot simply calculate ‘900 hours divided by 9 hours daily equals 100 days to fluency.’ Learning requires consistent practice over time.

In a nutshell: As a total beginner working full-time 40 hours weekly with studying 1 hour daily plus 1-2 weekend hours (about 30 hours monthly), you might complete A1 in 6-7 months [versus 2 months in intensive classes]. The same is true for A2 and B1. B2 takes 100 hours longer, so altogether: A1 (6.5 months) + A2 (6.5 months) + B1 (6.5 months) + B2 (10 months) = 29 months or 2.5 years, if all goes smoothly. This timeline assumes consistency, though life’s demands often interrupt language learning progress.

What’s the best time of day to study German - before, during, or after work? 

It depends on your energy level. If you are mentally or physically tired after work, that’s not a good time to study. You’d work at half or less capacity, and studying will feel like a drag, which will eat up your motivation in the long run.

Studying German before work is often most effective because your mind is fresh. The problem for some is that they already have to get up pretty early in the morning to get ready for work. And getting up at 5 am in order to study an hour of German requires you to make it a priority. But that would be the most effective out-of-the-box approach.

If you are a Morgenmuffel (morning grouch), then you could go to work and take some rest afterwards to get your head ready for your late study session. Just remember: keep an eye on your fatigue level. When tired, you can not learn German efficiently enough to stay motivated. The quality of your study matters: it’s better to study focused for one hour than tired and unmotivated for two hours.

Studying during work hours might seem practical but typically proves inefficient based on my experience with startups and corporations:

• Your mind might still be dealing with some work tasks or a deadline and, therefore, interfering with the new information coming in.
• You might feel embarrassed speaking German around your colleagues or superiors if they join your course, especially if you are more introverted.
• You might get interrupted by a colleague, your secretary or your boss because they have a question that can’t wait. Every interruption requires a restart and is slowing you down significantly, if not even preventing you from getting things in your head.
• If you miss out on a group class, you fall behind. If it happens once, all fine. But if you miss 2 sessions or more due to a business trip or intensive projects, you won’t be able to catch up.

How about studying during the lunch break?

Well, you are supposed to relax during the break, but even if your boss doesn’t care about this, you usually only have a 30-minute break and need to find an empty meeting room and get your things sorted before you start. You can’t just leave your stuff lying around for the next time. This setup time reduces your actual study minutes, and possibly you would also want to eat something during your break – this probably means you won’t have enough time to do any serious work.

How about only studying during weekends?

Trying is the only one way to find out. 

You’ll certainly learn some German, but research confirms that frequent shorter sessions are more effective than infrequent intensive ones. But if you have no other choice, do whatever you can on the weekend and see how it goes. There’s no minimum amount of time you need to invest to learn some German and every little bit will help. All you need to get in line is your expectation of what can be achieved by this.

If done right, it helps to work a bit more intensively on your German because you’ll make more progress. Progress motivates and ensures that you make it to the finish line. 

But again, if your life doesn’t allow for any other solution, you do what is possible and make the best of it. You can also stop complaining about not being able to speak or understand German and don’t bother with German to begin with. That’s fine with most Germans. Your German proficiency won’t change how certain people perceive you. Focus on your personal reasons for learning rather than others’ approval. It’s that straightforward.

What would be the easiest way to integrate German learning when working?

When working, you spend 8+ hours at work plus commuting. You’ll likely be tired when you get home—don’t underestimate it. Realistically, you only have 2-3 free hours on workdays to learn German, even less with a social life or family.

Based on my experience, you’ll likely spend about an hour on German after work. Don’t aim for more. If you have the energy to study longer, great! But learners often set too ambitious goals, forgetting that their bodies and brains also need rest.

If you aim for 3 hours but only manage 90 minutes, you’ll feel like a failure. But if you aim for 1 hour and spontaneously add 30 minutes? You’ll feel like an overachiever.

In short: Aim for less, complete that, and then check if you feel like adding more time.

What many learners do is spend a few more hours on their German on weekends, which is good. Learning a language needs focus and depth for lasting success. But you don’t need to spend 8 hours on Sunday making up for the week.

Aim for 2 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, and allow yourself to skip 2 weekend days per month to avoid feeling too constrained. Your motivation drops significantly when learning feels like an obligation rather than a choice. Working with your natural motivation is more effective than fighting against it.

How about in-house German lessons or speaking with my German colleagues? 

In my experience, company-sponsored German lessons (both individual and group) typically yield limited results. Workplace environments present several challenges for language learning - time constraints, interruptions, and work priorities often interfere with consistent study.

Supportive colleagues that will help you with pronounciation or vocabulary when you can’t find the right words might seem like a nice idea, but in practice, this rarely happens consistently. This type of support generally only becomes practical once you reach the B2 level. Time and clarity are too precious at work, and you probably know how easy it is to be misunderstood even in your native language, let alone a foreign one.

The most important thing is managing your expectations. It will take many months, if not years, before you feel comfortable with your German and the German spoken around you. That’s not a problem at all. What becomes frustrating is expecting to feel comfortable within half a year. That won’t happen. If you’re clear about this from the start, you’ll enjoy the journey much more because it won’t feel like a drag.

I just moved to Germany. Work/life is crazy. How can I study German?

If you’re still adjusting after moving abroad, adding German lessons to ones to-do list would challenge anyone. Studying always demands focus and concentration.

When you are tired after work, you won’t learn at full capacity and will invest too much time for too little outcome - that’s just frustrating.

As mentioned earlier, the optimal time to study is before work, when your mind is still fresh and empty. You might need to wake up an hour earlier, though. That’s where you’ll quickly realize how important learning German really is to you.

If your life is chaotic at the moment and making such a sacrifice seems impossible, I suggest first sorting out things more important than studying German.

Once you find more peace of mind, return to your desk and make a plan. Planning helps establish the learning routine you need to reach your goal.

In my experience, those juggling busy lives typically learn some German but rarely progress beyond the B1 level. This barrier isn’t about ability but about having enough mental and emotional bandwidth.

The good news: there’s no reason to feel bad about this. You can’t control all aspects of life anyway.

You don’t have to learn any German just because you live here. As long as you manage, you’ll be fine. Maybe you need a B1 certificate, which is doable if you focus on the exam with professional guidance like my B1 exam prep course, but otherwise, many expatriates manage without advanced German skills in daily life

Of course, life would be more satisfying if you spoke or understood German at B2 level (B1 won’t feel comfortable enough yet), but reaching this level requires consistent dedication and time investment.

Say I study hard on the weekend, but I am busy on the weekdays. What tips can you give me to retain/maintain the knowledge in the best way possible?

Here are three practical ways to maintain your German skills during busy weekdays:

First, write emails in German no matter your level. Then run them through DeepL Write and learn from your mistakes. You won’t get everything right away so focus on one mistake at a time. The least interesting mistakes are those where you simply misspelt a word. Don’t bother too much with those. What’s more important is the verb position and the verb ending. When you get those right 90% of the time, you’ll get a German’s attention, guaranteed. Nothing is more annoying than hearing “Heute ich bin müde.” instead of “Heute bin ich müde”. This is also good advice for your exams. Always check for verb position and verb ending. The rules for those are pretty simple. Of course, don’t send out any emails in German at work before you are able to catch your own mistakes. Nobody is expecting emails in German from non-German speakers.

Second, listen to German content like Radio Tatort or Deutschlandfunk Kultur and avoid stations with frequent music or advertisements. It doesn’t have to be on full volume and you don’t have to understand much either. This is called “passive listening”. It’s said that it fine-tunes your brain for the sing-song of the German language which might later help you to distinguish words from each other and improve your pronunciation. Unfortunately, there’s no direct scientific evidence of this yet, but there’s not really any harm as you will only do it in places where you couldn’t do any focused work to begin with.

Third, take notes of interesting words and phrases or grammar that get your attention. Even I still write down interesting words in my notes app in German when I hear them. That might not always be possible, but when it is, do so. You can then look up that word or phrase later at home or during a break. My latest entry is the phrase “Das ist doch alles Käse (=cheese).” meaning “That’s all nonsense.”  

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