Learn German by reading

Why German makes more sense on the page

German is known for its cases, three genders and verbs that wait until the end of the sentence. You can memorise the tables, but you only get used to them by meeting them again and again in real sentences. Reading gives you that repetition without it feeling like a drill.

Reading also takes the fear out of long words. Handschuh, Krankenhaus and Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung look alarming until you notice they are built from pieces you already know: hand and shoe, sick and house. After a few stories, you start taking them apart without thinking.

German reading, level by level

Beginner · A1–A2

Everyday dialogues like Hallo! and Mein Morgenablauf, scenes inspired by Friends and The Simpsons, and short grammar notes on topics such as the Akkusativ or sentences with weil.

Intermediate · B1

Summaries of Die Psychologie des Geldes and 12 Regeln für das Leben, retellings of Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen and Der Teufel trägt Prada, and a weekly news digest in German.

Upper-intermediate and above · B2+

Unabridged books: Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach’s Krambambuli, under 4,000 words and a good first classic, Kafka’s Die Verwandlung and Kipling’s Das Dschungelbuch in German. And, fittingly, Mark Twain’s Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache — his famous complaint about German, in German.

German level test

New to German? Start here

A1–A2German short stories for beginners Fairy-tale adventures and retold classics, ten to twenty minutes each.A1–B1German books for beginners Books retold for beginners, then short unabridged classics.

Reading German in Lingard

Tap a word to see what it means in this sentence. In German that matters, because a small prefix changes everything: ankommen, bekommen and verkommen are three different verbs. If a long sentence loses you, translate it as a whole, then read it again in German.

You can listen to the text while you read and save the words you want to keep. Nouns are worth learning together with der, die or das; saved words come back in short, spaced reviews until they stick.

Browse the catalog

Every title here is also in the Lingard app. Pick a CEFR level to see only what matches your reading.

All German booksA2B1B2C1