André Klein's Blog

Introducing Cards & New Documentation Site

After launching our Reader app just a few weeks ago, I’m happy to announce the arrival of another tool to make learning (and remembering!) German words and phrases a whole lot easier.

Introducing Cards

Cards is our brand-new flashcard app—free to use, globally accessible, and runs straight in your web browser.

Want to dive right in? Use the button below to load some sample decks from my recent book, Easy German Dialogues:

Study Now

Cards features a clean, minimalist design, works seamlessly on a...

Introducing Reader

I’m excited to introduce a brand-new way to read our German learning books—directly from your library, no downloads or third-party apps required. Just log in to your account, pick a book, click “Read Now” and start reading instantly in your browser.

Prefer your usual ebook app? That still works too. This is simply an additional, more convenient option—especially useful when you’re on a different device or just want to skip the whole EPUB juggling act.

I built Reader from scratch, using the late...

German Adverbs: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners

So, you’ve decided to tackle German adverbs—good choice. These little words are everywhere, slipping into sentences to explain when, where, how, and to what extent things happen. Want to say you really love chocolate? Or that you’ll finally hit the gym tomorrow? Adverbs make it happen.

In this guide, we’ll break down the basics, throw in a handy cheat sheet, and even test your skills with some interactive exercises. Let’s make German adverbs your new best friends.

Ready? Los geht’s! (Let’s go!)...

NEW: A Fantasy Chat Story For German Learners

Since the launch of German Chat Stories last year I’ve been toying around with various ideas and genres that might fit this format.

One idea that has been kicking around in the back of my mind for a while was to do something in the fantasy genre. It came with some interesting implications. If knights and sorcerers used instant messaging apps, what would they talk about? And what “technology” would they use to facilitate these chats?

Well, you can find out for yourselves in my latest story “Die ...

Best Browser Extensions to Translate German Words and Phrases Instantly

Most browsers these days come with built-in machine translation features, so that when you browse a site in a language different than your own you can easily translate everything with one click.

This is great if you just need to look something up quickly, but for language learners, I feel this feature is often less than helpful, because you skip the text-comprehension process entirely, don’t get to use previously learned vocabulary or acquire new words and phrases.

So how can we use digital Ger...

NEW: Introducing German Chat Stories For Beginners & Beyond

Storytelling can be a powerful way to learn a new language. You easily pick up new words from context, get a natural feel for the rhythm and most importantly, it’s a lot of fun. For a couple of years now, I’ve been experimenting with taking this simple but powerful method my books are based on and adapting it into more interactive and shorter formats.

The first iteration of this idea was the Schlaflose Sarah story which is told in a chat-like format where learners can unfold the story one messa...

NEW: Walzer in Wien TalkingBook + Free Demo

Good news everyone! There’s a new TalkingBook edition for Walzer in Wien, episode 7 of the Dino lernt Deutsch series, with completely remastered audio narration.

As usual I’ve also added this TalkingBook to the Walzer in Wien ebook and audio bundle, and the Dino Complete Series Bundle, so if you purchased either of these bundles from our store in the past you get automatic access.

What Is A TalkingBook?

Learning a language is a process with many moving parts. There’s speaking practice, reading ...

Die Küchenuhr – Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947)

Introduction

“Die Küchenuhr” (The Kitchen Clock), first published in 1947, is a popular short story by the renowned German writer Wolfgang Borchert (1921-1947), known for his powerful works that capture the profound impact of war on individuals and society. Borchert himself was deeply affected by his experiences as a soldier in World War II and used his writing to express the disillusionment and suffering of his times.

This short story is perhaps one of the most famous examples of the Trümmerli...

New Release: Sturm auf Sylt Audiobook (MP3)

I know many of you have been waiting for this, so I’m very happy to announce that the audiobook for Dino lernt Deutsch, episode 12: Sturm auf Sylt is finally here!

Get Audiobook

Like all Dino lernt Deutsch audiobooks, this one comes in high quality MP3* format, to enjoy on any device or app you prefer, without limitations, walled gardens and other shenanigans. (Apple Books and Audible editions will follow soon.)

(If you don’t have the ebook yet, there’s also a bunch of new bundle offers.)

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*Di...

4 Ways How Reading In German Can Improve Your Speaking Proficiency

Reading German novels or short stories can be a great way to increase your vocabulary and see grammatical structures in action. There’s no pressure to parse things quickly. You can take your time with each sentence or paragraph until you feel confident you’ve understood everything.

But is reading foreign language “comprehensible input” only helpful for improving your passive (comprehension) skills, or can it actually improve your active (production) skills?

While there are good studies [1] [2] ...