Learn English for German speakers
English stories at your level, with German translations on every tap. Built for the gap between Schulenglisch and actually-thinking-in-English fluency.
Free to start · no card · your first story in 10 seconds
What German speakers already know
English and German share a common Germanic ancestor — core vocabulary maps almost perfectly (Hand / hand, Wasser / water, Bruder / brother, Milch / milk). Latin alphabet plus a few cognates lost to umlauts. Most Germans grow up with English-language pop culture, gaming, and software — passive exposure is already substantial.
The friction points
- Articles (a / an / the) overlap with German but with different rules — "life is hard" without article vs "das Leben ist hart" with one.
- 12 English tenses vs German's leaner system — present perfect continuous and conditional perfect feel unfamiliar.
- Phrasal verbs (give up, put up with, look forward to) are new — German uses prefixed verbs differently.
- Pronunciation: TH, R, and vowel reductions don't exist in German; English spelling is famously inconsistent.
False friends to know first
Words that look familiar but mean something else. The first ones to learn so you don't embarrass yourself.
What English looks like in Newt
Generated by Newt at the level you set. Tap any word for an instant German translation, definition, and pronunciation — no leaving the page.
She's been studying English for almost ten years.
Sie lernt seit fast zehn Jahren Englisch.
Present perfect continuous (has been studying) — German uses simple present + seit, which is why this form trips even advanced speakers.
Could you let me know when you've arrived?
Könntest du mir Bescheid geben, wenn du angekommen bist?
Let me know — the natural English equivalent of "Bescheid geben" that's surprisingly tricky to recall in conversation.
Why German speakers pick up English
German engineers, scientists, designers, and entrepreneurs are everywhere in international tech and science — and English is the operating language of all of it. The plateau is usually B2 "good enough for meetings" — and the next jump to C1 reading fluency comes almost entirely from input volume. Newt is built to make that volume frictionless.
Read → tap → save → repeat
- Tell Newt what you care aboutPick a topic (cycling, history, coffee, indie games — anything). Newt writes you a short English story around it at your level.
- Tap any word for instant translationTap a word — Newt shows the German translation, definition, and pronunciation in a popup. No page-switching.
- Save the ones you don't know yetSaved words land in your vocabulary list with the sentence you met them in — context comes free.
- Newt reuses them in your next storyEach new story tries to fold in 2-3 words you recently saved, so you meet them again in fresh context. That's how vocabulary actually sticks.
- Spaced repetition catches what slippedA short daily review session brings back words the algorithm thinks you're about to forget. Same idea as Anki, except you never had to build the deck.
Common questions
How is this different from Duolingo for English?
Duolingo teaches isolated phrases in a fixed curriculum. Newt generates short stories from topics you actually care about, at your current level, with every word tappable for an instant German translation. Words you save come back automatically in future stories — that's the part that makes vocabulary stick.
How is this different from asking ChatGPT to write me a English text?
ChatGPT can write you a story, but it forgets everything between sessions. It doesn't know which words you already learned, doesn't space them out for review, and doesn't quietly weave your saved words into the next story. Newt does all of that — it's a closed loop, not a one-shot prompt.
What level of English do I need to start?
Any. Newt supports A1 (complete beginner) through C1 (advanced). At A1 you'll get short, very simple texts with high-frequency vocabulary; at B2+ you'll get nuanced articles and stories. The system calibrates as you tap and save words.
Is it free?
Yes — there's a free plan with 3 fresh AI texts every day, no card required to sign up. Premium lifts the daily cap and lets you study multiple languages at once; you can upgrade anytime.
How long until I can read a real book in English?
Realistic timeline for German speakers: 4-8 months of consistent daily reading (15-30 min) to read a young-adult novel comfortably, 12+ months to read literary fiction. The single biggest predictor is hours of input — Newt's job is to make those hours easy to start.
Start reading English tonight
Pick a topic, your first story lands in 10 seconds. Free to start, no card.