Is Nicos Weg Worth It? A Real Review for A1 → B1 German

If you've searched for "how to learn German" anywhere on the internet — Reddit, YouTube, language-learning blogs, ChatGPT — you've been told to watch Nicos Weg. It's free, it's produced by Deutsche Welle, and it claims to take you from zero German to B1 in three seasons. The recommendations are everywhere, but the actual honest reviews of whether the course is good for learners are not.

This is one. We've watched the full series, we've talked to LangTrak users at every level who used it, and we'll tell you straight: where Nicos Weg shines, where it falls short, and how to actually use it.

What Is Nicos Weg?

Nicos Weg ("Nico's Way") is Deutsche Welle's flagship beginner-to-intermediate German course, structured as a 100+ episode telenovela. Nico is a young man from Spain who arrives in Germany without speaking the language. You follow his story — finding a place to live, meeting people, looking for work, falling in love, navigating bureaucracy — across three full seasons that progress from A1 to B1 on the CEFR scale.

Each episode is 3 to 5 minutes long, with optional German and translated subtitles. It's available free on YouTube, on DW's Learn German website, and on the DW Learn German app — no signup, no paywall, no upsell.

It's also accessible on LangTrak, which means you can watch episodes with vocabulary tracking and pair them with our German AI Tutor. More on that below.

▶ Watch the full A1 "Nicos Weg" film on LangTrak →

The Strengths: Why Everyone Recommends It

1. The structure is exceptional

Most "learn German on YouTube" advice is "watch this channel and figure it out." Nicos Weg gives you a linear curriculum: episode 1 → episode 2 → episode 3. You're not deciding what to watch next; the series is. For beginners, that removes the single biggest reason people quit — decision fatigue.

2. It's a story, not a textbook

The vocabulary you learn from Nicos Weg sticks because you remember the scene it appeared in. You don't remember the word Kühlschrank (fridge) because you wrote it down — you remember it because Nico had to figure out how to ask his roommate where the milk was. Comprehensible input plus emotional context is how vocabulary actually transfers into long-term memory.

3. The production quality is professional

Nicos Weg is shot like a real TV drama. Real locations, multiple cameras, scripted but natural dialogue. Compare it to the typical "absolute beginner" YouTube video — a teacher in front of a whiteboard — and the difference in engagement is enormous.

4. The level progression is honest

Season 1 (A1) is genuinely accessible to a brand-new learner. Season 2 (A2) ramps up at a pace that matches how A2 actually feels. Season 3 (B1) introduces longer dialogues, idiomatic phrasing, and abstract topics that mirror what B1 actually requires. Not every "A1 to B1" course manages this.

5. It's completely free

Forever. No premium tier. DW is publicly funded and this is part of their mission. You can spend zero euros and reach B1 with this course.

The Weaknesses: What Nicos Weg Won't Do for You

1. It's input only — there's no speaking practice

This is the single biggest gap. Nicos Weg gets you understanding German. It does not get you speaking German. You can finish all three seasons and still freeze when a German waiter asks you something. The course was designed for self-study, not for output practice.

2. The acting style takes adjustment

Nicos Weg is performed in a slightly theatrical, slow-speech style designed to be comprehensible. It's not how Germans actually talk to each other in cafés. Some learners find the pacing patronising after a few episodes; others find it exactly right. You'll know within five episodes which camp you're in.

3. There's no built-in vocabulary review

DW's exercises on their website help, but the YouTube versions of the episodes don't prompt you to revisit vocabulary later. Without spaced repetition or some kind of tracking tool, words you saw in episode 8 won't come back into your active memory by episode 40.

4. The story can feel dated

The first season was produced years ago, and while DW has updated some material, the cultural references and aesthetic feel late-2010s. This is a minor complaint, but if you're sensitive to production polish, you'll notice.

Episode Level Mapping: Where to Start, Where to Stop

Here's the practical guide most "recommend Nicos Weg" posts skip.

• Season 1 — A1 (Episodes 1 to ~36): Start here if you know zero German. By the end of season 1 you'll have working A1 vocabulary, present tense, basic question forms, and survival phrases. Watch the full A1 Nicos Weg film on LangTrak →.
• Season 2 — A2 (Episodes ~37 to ~72): Modal verbs, past tense (Perfekt), comparative structures, more complex everyday topics like work and relationships. Comfortable if you already have a small A1 base. Watch the full A2 Nicos Weg film on LangTrak →.
• Season 3 — B1 (Episodes ~73 to ~104): Subjunctive II, Passive voice, longer abstract dialogues, opinion expressions. Honest B1 territory — don't skip ahead.

If you're already mid-A2 from another resource, you can probably skim seasons 1 and 2 (watch one episode every few to confirm you understand) and slow down for season 3.

How to Actually Use Nicos Weg (5 Practical Tips)

1. Watch each episode twice. First pass: no subtitles or German subtitles only — let your brain work. Second pass: with native-language subtitles to confirm what you understood. The "second pass" is where the vocabulary actually consolidates.
2. Don't binge. One to three episodes per day, every day, beats fifteen episodes on Saturday. Spaced exposure is how language acquisition works.
3. Use a tracker. You need to know which episode you're on, what you've understood, and what vocabulary keeps stumping you. A notebook works. LangTrak does it automatically.
4. Pair it with output practice. This is the biggest one. After each episode, spend five minutes describing what happened — out loud, in German — to yourself, a friend, or an AI tutor. Without this step, you'll plateau at "understanding lots, saying nothing."
5. Combine with one other resource. Nicos Weg is great as a spine but lacks variety. Pair it with Natürlich German for pure comprehensible input — try the Felix At School pre-beginner story on slow days — or pick a CI-focused channel from our five German CI channels guide.

Nicos Weg vs The Alternatives

Course	Format	Level Range	Speaking Practice	Cost	Best For
Nicos Weg	Episodic story (3–5 min)	A1 → B1	None	Free	Structured beginners who want a linear curriculum
Extra auf Deutsch	Sitcom (~25 min)	A2 → B1	None	Free	Learners who already have A1 and want comedy-style immersion
Easy German	Street interviews	A2 → C1	None	Free	Building authentic listening at A2 and above
Jojo sucht das Glück	Vlog series	B1 → B2	None	Free	Intermediate learners ready for personal-narrative content
Dreaming German (Natürlich German)	CI storytelling	A1 → A2	None	Free	Absolute beginners who want pure input from day one

The honest takeaway: Nicos Weg is the best free structured A1-to-B1 course on the internet, but it works far better when you pair it with output practice and a tracking tool.

How to Watch Nicos Weg on LangTrak

Nicos Weg episodes are available on LangTrak, which adds three things YouTube alone can't:

1. Automatic progress tracking — you see exactly which episodes you've watched, how much total German immersion you've accumulated, and where you left off.
2. Vocabulary capture — the words that appear in your Nicos Weg episodes become available to practice with the German AI Tutor.
3. Speaking practice paired with the episode — finish an episode, then ask the German AI Tutor to roleplay the scene with you in German. This is the missing speaking-practice layer Nicos Weg doesn't include.

▶ Watch Nicos Weg (A1) on LangTrak →  ·  Watch Nicos Weg (A2) →

Final Verdict

Yes, Nicos Weg is worth your time — with two important caveats.

It's the best free structured introduction to German you'll find. The story format, level progression, and professional production make it more engaging than 95% of beginner German content on YouTube. If you finish all three seasons, you'll have a genuine B1 foundation.

But Nicos Weg by itself will leave you understanding far more than you can say. To actually use the German you're learning, you need a second layer — speaking practice, ideally daily — that the course doesn't include. That's the layer LangTrak is built to add.

For more recommendations on YouTube channels that pair well with Nicos Weg, see our best YouTube channels for A1 German learners and the broader best YouTube channels for learning German in 2026.

Ready to actually use the German you're learning? Start with Nicos Weg on LangTrak and finish each episode by speaking it out loud with our German AI Tutor.

Start with the German AI Tutor on LangTrak →