I've been trying to improve my German for two months now and I'm not sure if I should spend €100 a month on Babbel or just stick with YouTube channels. I've seen that there are teachers who upload pretty good free lessons, but I'm not sure if I'm missing out on the structure that a paid app provides. Has anyone tried both approaches?
Structure matters more than you think, especially after two months: YouTube is great for supplementing, but Babbel or something similar forces you to progress in a structured and consistent way, whereas with random channels it's easy to skip topics or get stuck without knowing where to go next. That said, 100€ a month is quite a lot; try first with a cheaper Babbel subscription or alternatives like Duolingo Plus (way more affordable) to see if that structure makes a difference for you, and keep YouTube in the background to pick up more real vocabulary. Do you already have some basic level or are you starting pretty much from scratch?
A hundred euros a month is pretty steep if you've only been at it for two months, so I'd say it's still too early. The thing with YouTube is it works well if you're disciplined and can put together your own plan (you pick what topics you need, in what order), but if you're still in the "I don't really know where to start" phase, it gets exhausting. Try structured channels for another two or three months, and if you see yourself hitting a plateau or find you need someone to correct your mistakes when you make them, then it's worth paying for something. YouTube's not going anywhere anyway, and neither is Babbel.
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