Mark Twain
Easy30 min read
Learn German
Learn German with classic stories
Read the world’s great stories in German with English beside them, paragraph by paragraph, and hear every page read aloud. Easy, Medium and Challenging books, 200,000+ classics in 25 languages, and chapter 1 of every book free.
- Real classics, never shortened
- Hear both languages
- Tap a paragraph to check it
Easy German stories
Short books in clear, everyday sentences.
Rudyard Kipling
Easy3 h 30 min read
E. Nesbit
Easy4 h 10 min read
Yevgeny Zamyatin
Easy4 h 20 min read
Oscar Wilde
Easy1 h read
H. G. Wells
Easy3 h 20 min read
J. M. Barrie
Easy3 h 10 min read
Lewis Carroll
Easy2 h read
Anna Sewell
Easy4 h read
Carlo Collodi
Easy2 h 40 min read
Stephen Crane
Easy3 h 10 min read
Michel Millot
Easy2 h 40 min read
Medium German reading
Full novels at a steady pace.
Jane Austen
Medium10 h 50 min read
Mary Shelley
Medium5 h read
Mark Twain
Medium2 h 50 min read
Elizabeth von Arnim
Medium5 h 20 min read
William Shakespeare
Medium1 h 50 min read
Molière
Medium1 h 30 min read
Kenneth Grahame
Medium4 h read
Jules Verne
Medium5 h 30 min read
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Medium4 h 50 min read
Walter Scott
Medium5 h 40 min read
Lewis Carroll
Medium1 h 50 min read
Jane Austen
Medium8 h 30 min read
Challenging German reading
Long or richly written classics.
Herman Melville
Challenging14 h 30 min read
Elizabeth Gaskell
Challenging4 h 50 min read
Tobias Smollett
Challenging10 h 10 min read
Henry Fielding
Challenging22 h 50 min read
Charles Dickens
Challenging20 h 10 min read
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Challenging13 h 50 min read
George Eliot
Challenging21 h 40 min read
Petronius Arbiter
Challenging6 h 20 min read
Louisa May Alcott
Challenging13 h 10 min read
Henri Bergson
Challenging2 h 30 min read
Tobias Smollett
Challenging10 h 20 min read
Tobias Smollett
Challenging12 h 50 min read
The method
How to learn German with the classics
Reading real books with the translation beside you builds vocabulary in context, and hearing them read aloud trains your ear at the same time.
- Pick a book at your level.Start with an Easy story, ideally one you already know.
- Read side by side.German on one side, English on the other, paragraph by paragraph.
- Listen as you read.Hear the German read aloud, and slow it down when you need to.
- Check, don’t translate.Read a paragraph in German first, then look across or tap it.
- Read a little every day.Ten minutes a day takes you through a short book in a few weeks.
Why learners read with us
- Any two of 25 languagesGerman beside English, or beside any other of our 25 languages.
- Hear every pageEvery book is an audiobook too, in both of your languages.
- Real books, never shortenedThe complete classics, from short fairy tales to great novels.
- Read, listen, printeBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost, large print too.
Questions learners ask
What level are these books?
Most classics read at an intermediate level. We sort every book as Easy, Medium or Challenging by its sentences and its length, so you can start where you are comfortable.
Can I hear the German read aloud?
Yes. Every book is also an audiobook, in German and in English. Listen while you read, slow it down, or listen on its own.
How does side-by-side reading work?
Each paragraph sits next to its translation, so your eyes move straight across. On a phone you read one language and tap a paragraph to see the other.
Can I read German beside a language other than English?
Yes. Choose any two of our 25 languages, on any book.
Is chapter 1 really free?
Yes. The beginning of every book, up to the end of chapter 1, is free to read and to hear, with no sign-up.
What does it cost after that?
You start free, with free gifts. After that, your first year is 50% off: USD 0.14 a day, then USD 0.27 a day after that, never raised. It renews every year, and you can cancel anytime. Print and large print are at cost.
Read and hear every book in German
200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, in 25 languages, side by side in any two, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Household access for the whole family.
Read freeNothing to pay today. Renews every year.