Elementary German for daily routines, Perfekt tense, shopping, travel, weather, and describing feelings.
Roughly 6–12 months of study.
A2 German introduces the Perfekt (ich habe gesagt, ich bin gegangen), the past tense used in spoken German, and the dative case (mit dem Auto, bei der Arbeit). Vocabulary doubles to around 1,000 words covering daily routines, transport, weather, body and health, hobbies, and how to describe feelings. Modal verbs (können, müssen, wollen, dürfen) become essential for politeness and possibility.
If you can describe your weekend, ask for directions and follow them, and write a short message about a delay, you're around A2. Most learners reach A2 after 8–12 months of consistent study. Goethe A2 is required for some German residence-permit applications.
A2 is where the case system stops being optional. Don't memorize tables; memorize prepositions with their cases (mit + dative, für + accusative, von + dative) and let the article forms follow. Spaced repetition is best used here for verb past participles (sein/haben + ge…en/t patterns are tricky). Start watching slow-German YouTube channels with German subtitles.