Learn Polish for German speakers
Polish stories at your level, with German translations on every word. Built for the cross-border lives between Berlin and Warsaw — and everywhere in between.
Free to start · no card · your first story in 10 seconds
What German speakers already know
Polish has borrowed extensively from German throughout shared history — ratusz (Rathaus), burmistrz (Bürgermeister), szlaban (Schlagbaum), kuchnia (Küche), kelner (Kellner), grunt (Grund) — so German speakers recognize hundreds of Polish words instantly. Both share the Latin alphabet, both have grammatical gender, both have cases. The conceptual structures align even when the vocabulary doesn't.
The friction points
- Polish has 7 grammatical cases vs German's 4 — more endings to learn, but no articles to worry about (Polish drops them entirely).
- Verb aspect (perfective vs imperfective) is a feature German doesn't have — you internalize it by reading, not by rules.
- Polish stress is fixed on the penultimate syllable (predictable), but consonant clusters (sz, cz, ż, ź, szcz, dż) are dense.
- Word order is very flexible in Polish (information carried by case endings), which is the opposite of German's strict patterns.
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 Polish 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.
Lubię chodzić do kawiarni i czytać tam książki.
Ich gehe gerne ins Café und lese dort Bücher.
Kawiarnia (café) — recognizable Latin root. No article in Polish, just the noun.
Gdyby było ładniej, poszlibyśmy na spacer do parku.
Wenn das Wetter schöner wäre, würden wir im Park spazieren gehen.
Gdyby + conditional — Polish's compact way of expressing the German wenn... wäre... würden construction.
Why German speakers pick up Polish
Germany has a Polish minority of over two million, and German engineers, students, and partners regularly need Polish for life in Wrocław, Poznań, or Kraków — or simply to talk to their in-laws. School Polish plus immersion gets most German learners to A2; reading short generated stories at exactly the right level is the cleanest path to B1+.
Read → tap → save → repeat
- Tell Newt what you care aboutPick a topic (cycling, history, coffee, indie games — anything). Newt writes you a short Polish 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 Polish?
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 Polish 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 Polish 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 Polish?
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 Polish tonight
Pick a topic, your first story lands in 10 seconds. Free to start, no card.