In this post, you will find 16 resources with German articles to read and German reading texts for beginners that helped me improve my German significantly. I experienced that reading as much as possible is essential as it helps understand the sentence structure, grammar, and language better.
Not all of the available resources online are suitable for beginners. So I made sure to add only those that help you make significant progress. In addition, I also provided you with a list of books that I loved to read that are pretty easy to understand.
Key takeaways
- This article offers an overview of various free online sources and books you can buy that I can recommend reading based on my own experience.
- The progress I made thanks to many of that resources was significant.
- Some news platforms offer German news with an audio track native Germans read.
- In addition, you can also find a considerable amount of literature available online for free that you can either download or read online.
- I list here the best websites and books I worked with over the years when I started my German learning journey.
#1 News in Slow German
Short decription of News in Slow German
News in Slow German is an excellent source of German articles for beginners. It offers the latest topics and news you can read and listen to. All texts are read by German natives in prolonged and easy-to-understand speech.
Why is News in Slow German a good resource for German articles to read
- Latest topics and news
- Updated daily
- Great source to listen to and read German
- For beginners and intermediate
#2 German.net
Short decription of German.net
German.net offers many short texts and passages suitable for German levels A1, A2, B1, and B2. Below each text, you can answer a few questions so that you get a better understanding of how well you understood the content of the text.
Why is German.net a good resource?
- Very well classified text based on the CEFR rating
- Provides a “quiz” at the bottom of each text to help you evaluate your reading comprehension
#3 The German Project
Short decription of The German Project
It’s never a bad idea to start reading children’s books to learn a new language. On The German Project website, you can find free kids stories translated into German and spoken by a native German speaker.
Why should you read the articles on The German Project?
- Offers English translations for each paragraph of a German text
- Excellent audio quality, almost like a professionally produced audiobook
- The German Project also provides beautifully animated videos
#4 Onleihe by the Goethe Institut
Short decription of Onleihe by Goethe Institut
Goethe Institut offers ebooks, audiobooks, videos, papers, magazines, and music to rent for free. You can rent all media for up to 14 days in a row. If you haven’t finished reading your book within that timeframe, you can rent it out again.
Why is Onleihe a good resource for German articles ?
- Contemporary books and other media to rent for free
- Resources for kids and adults
- School books and support material is also available
#5 nachrichtenleicht
Short decription of nachrichtenleicht
A news website maintained by Deutschlandfunk that publishes easy-to-read news articles almost daily. The German texts to read are also read by native german speakers so that you can improve your listening comprehension.
Why should beginners read nachrichtenleicht?
- News articles are rewritten in easy German
- Good for listening comprehension
#6 Wikipedia
Short decription of Wikipedia
For sure, you already know about Wikipedia. It’s a free online encyclopedia that is also available in German. You will find almost all the information in English and German on that website.
Why should you read the German articles on Wikipedia?
- Most of the time well-researched encyclopedia
- It has a massive amount of content available in German
- Excellent for learning more about specific topics in German
#7 Hurraki
Short decription of Hurraki
Hurraki is based on the same platform as Wikipedia. It offers explanations for German words that are very specific, like “Bananenrepublik,” which means you talk about a corrupt country or state in German.
Why is Hurraki a good resource?
- Explanation of words in easy German
- A comprehensive database of special German terms and words
#8 Spiegel.de
Short decription of Der Spiegel
As soon as you at least reached an intermediate B1 or B2 level in German, you might consider reading one of Germany’s significant magazines called “Der Spiegel”. The magazine also has an accompanying site in English available here, and you will find much German news translated into English as well.
Why I consider Der Spiegel a good resource?
- Well-researched news magazine available online
- Offers a good amount of articles in English in addition to German ones.
#9 Logo
Short decription of Logo
Logo is a kids and youth TV channel operated by the public German TV channel ZDF. It covers many topics of public interest in more accessible language and with lots of pictures. They use elementary vocabulary, which makes this website good for German learners at a beginner’s level of either A1 or A2.
Why should someone read the articles on Logo?
- Explains the news with pictures, videos, and in pared-down terms
- It’s easier to understand than nachrichtenleicht.de
#10 Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe
Short decription of Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe
Sometimes you have to look at unusual places for more resources. The FNR or Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe published a few childrens books for free. They can be found on their website and downloaded for free. Some stories are available as books online. Here, German natives do read the stories out loud.
Why recommends FNR?
- Kids-friendly short stories – mostly illustrated
- Easy to understand
- Topics around renewable raw materials are covered
#11 Kinatschu Magazine by Bundesamt für Naturschutz
Short decription of Kinatschu Magazine
Another very unusual place to look for easy-to-read books for beginners is the website of the Bundesamt für Naturschutz. Since the content is for kids, the German is quite simple and easy to understand. You can find nine different illustrated magazines as downloadable PDF files on their website for free.
Why do beginners read Kinatschu Magazine for its German articles?
- Great content for kids
- Easy to read and understand
#12 Märchen (fairytales) in Leichter Sprache by NDR
Short decription of Märchen in Leichter Sprache
“Leichte Sprache “or Simplified Language is a simplified form of German and thus an instrument for accessibility. The public TV and Radio Station NDR published 12 well-known fairytales in simplified German.
Why should you read your kids Märchen in Leichter Sprache?
- Easy to understand
- An audio version is included
- Please remember that simplified German does not use the correct writing of longer words.
#13 Conversational German Dialogues: Over 100 German Conversations and Short Stories
Short decription of Conversational German Dialogues
Conversational German Dialogues as a book offers well-written German reading texts that help you understand conversational German even better. You can get the book here*, on Amazon. See also link below.
Why is the Conversational German Dialogues Book a good resource for German articles?
- Both language versions, German and English, are facing each other so that you can cross-read
- Good conversational training for everyday situations
- Easy to understand and suitable for A1 – B1 levels
- Available as Kindle and paperback book
#14 Learn out Live
Short decription of Learn out Live
There are nine free bilingual German-English Books available online at learnoutlive.com. Those classic literature books are available online, including an audio version read by a non-native German speaker.
Why Learn out Live?
- Great classic books in a bilingual version available for free
- Audi version for German and English is included
#15 English Short Stories for Beginners
You can buy the book here:
Short decription of Englisch Kurzgeschichten
This book is originally for people who know German and want to learn English at a basic level. It includes 11 short stories about Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective in London. It’s convenient and easy to read. Of course, if you are familiar with English, you can use that book* the other way round.
Why is Englisch Kurzgeschichten a good read?
- Easy to read and understand
- Uses basic German as the original purpose is to help you learn English
#16 True Love – a bilingual novel
Short decription of True Love*
This book is written explicitly for Beginners at a language level A2. It begins in German, then switches to English as soon as the protagonist arrives in London and goes back and forth between both languages.
Why should one read True Love for its German text?
- Uses “code-switching” or “Sprachwechsel” to help you learn German if you already understand English
- The reading difficulty increases over time in this book
- It’s a love story and might be more interesting to read for some readers
Conclusion
I hope I can provide you with enough resources and texts to read in German in the future! Many of them are not free, difficult to read, or of not very high quality. Finding good German articles to read for beginners is sometimes not that easy.
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* The links that are marked in this way are affiliate links and indicate that we receive a small commission if you decide to buy the products or services offered by our partner sites. But for you, it won’t cost anything extra.
