Learn German for Free from Spanish at PBC Languages
German for Spanish speakers: small classes with native teachers plus 1-to-1 exchanges, half German half Spanish, at PBC Languages.
Create your free accountNo card needed. Exchanges between members are always free.
If you speak Spanish from Spain, German pronunciation is where most people trip up first. The umlauts ü and ö don't exist in Spanish, so words like 'für' or 'schön' come out flat until your mouth learns the new shape. The 'ch' sound splits in two depending on the letter before it (the soft one in 'ich', the throaty one in 'Bach'), and Spanish speakers tend to flatten both into a single 'j'. Add to that the 'z', which in German is always /ts/ (as in 'Zeit'), never the Spanish 'z' or 'c', and combinations like 'sp' and 'st' at the start of a word, which turn into 'schp' and 'scht' ('Stadt' sounds like 'Schtadt').
Grammar is where the calques from Spanish do real damage. Gender doesn't map at all: 'el sol' is masculine in Spanish but 'die Sonne' is feminine in German, and there's no pattern to memorize your way around it. Cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) mean articles change depending on the role of the word in the sentence, something Spanish simply doesn't have, so 'der Mann' becomes 'den Mann' or 'dem Mann' and it feels arbitrary at first. Word order is the other trap: German sends the conjugated verb to second position and pushes the rest to the end of the clause ('Ich habe gestern ein Buch gekauft'), which clashes with how Spanish strings a sentence together.
What moves fast: once you get comfortable with compound nouns, German stops feeling foreign and starts feeling logical. 'Handschuh' (hand + shoe = glove) or 'Kühlschrank' (cool + cupboard = fridge) show you the pattern, and after a dozen examples you start guessing new words correctly. Spelling is also phonetic and consistent, so once you learn the rules you can read almost anything out loud correctly, unlike English. This is exactly where combining a small class with a native teacher (for the grammar and the sounds you can't self-correct) with 1-to-1 exchanges (for the sentence rhythm you only get by talking) makes the difference: half an hour in German, half an hour in Spanish, every session.
Words you will actually hear
| Here | Elsewhere | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| das Gymnasium | gimnasio | 'Gymnasium' is secondary school (like a Spanish 'instituto'), not a gym. For 'gimnasio' in German you say 'das Fitnessstudio'. |
| eventuell | eventual | 'Eventuell' means 'possibly, maybe', not 'temporary' or 'occasional' like the Spanish 'eventual'. A contract that's 'eventual' in Spanish is 'befristet' in German. |
| der Termin | término | 'Termin' means appointment or deadline, not 'término' (term, end). 'Tengo un término' doesn't exist in German; 'tengo una cita' is 'Ich habe einen Termin'. |
| die Rente | renta | 'Rente' is a pension, not rental income. 'Renta' in the sense of income is 'Einkommen'; in the sense of rent paid is 'Miete'. |
| der Chef | chef | 'Chef' is your boss, not a cook. A restaurant chef in German is 'der Koch' or 'die Köchin'. |
| das Formular | fórmula | 'Formular' is a form you fill out (tax form, application), not a mathematical or chemical formula, which is 'die Formel'. |
| die Konkurrenz | concurrencia | 'Konkurrenz' means competition or business rivals, not turnout or attendance at an event, which is 'die Beteiligung' or 'der Andrang'. |
| aktuell | actual | This one actually helps: 'aktuell' means current or up to date, just like the Spanish 'actual'. No trap here, use it with confidence. |
| die Firma | firma | 'Firma' means company or business, close to one Spanish sense of 'firma' (a business's name), but it never means signature. For that, use 'die Unterschrift'. |
| der Moment | momento | Direct cognate, same meaning and use as the Spanish 'momento'. One less word to learn from scratch. |
Classes coming up
Times in your own time zone. This list changes every day.
Exchanges looking for a partner
How it works here
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Sign up and say your level
Two minutes. If you do not know your level, we place you in the first class.
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Pick a class or an exchange
Classes are led by a native teacher. An exchange is with another member: half the time in their language, half in yours.
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Join by video, nothing to install
From your phone or your computer. If you cannot make it, cancel and get your place back.
Questions about this
How long does it take a Spanish speaker to hold a conversation in German?
With one small group class a week plus regular 1-to-1 exchanges, most people reach a basic conversational level (A2-B1) in eight to twelve months. The exchanges matter more than people expect: grammar you learn in class only sticks once you've used it live with a native who corrects you on the spot.
Is the exchange with native German speakers really free?
Yes. The 1-to-1 exchange runs on reciprocity, not payment: you get thirty minutes in German and give thirty minutes back in Spanish to the same person. No fee, no catch, just two people trading time and language.
What level of German do I need to start?
Group classes with a native teacher start from zero (A1), so you don't need any prior German. For 1-to-1 exchanges, having at least a basic A2 helps you sustain thirty minutes of conversation, but many partners are happy to go slow with true beginners since they remember being there themselves.
How exactly is the hour split between German and Spanish in the exchange?
Thirty minutes in German, thirty minutes in Spanish, with a clear switch in between so neither language eats into the other's time. Most pairs agree beforehand on a topic or two to keep both halves useful instead of drifting into small talk in whichever language is easier.
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