How Lena reads German books

A short comic about the Kurzdeutsch reader

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Lena in an armchair with a German book and a cup of tea, smiling.
Finally, I'm reading a German book to build my vocabulary!
A book page, a hand underlining words in pencil.
Hmm… One page — ten new words.
Late evening, Lena typing flashcards on a laptop under a desk lamp, a clock on the wall.
Oh, a German word has so many parts! Article, plural, verb forms, meaning… and I need an example sentence too. An hour later — only six words.
Lena sitting at a table, chin in hand, the book closed and pushed aside.
One page, one hour. I'll never finish this book.
Lena at a table with her phone, smiling as she hears about Kurzdeutsch.
Then a friend told me about Kurzdeutsch: it reads your own texts with you.
Lena holding her phone with both hands, smiling.
In the app: on the main screen (Today), tap Reading.
Lena holding her phone with both hands, smiling.
Then, on the Reading screen, tap Your texts.
Lena photographing the open book with her phone.
Now tap Take a photo and snap the page.
Lena on the sofa, smiling, reading on her phone.
A moment later the app has turned my photo into text. Now I read it right on my phone.
Lena reading on her phone, lying on the sofa.
Tap a word to translate it.
Lena on the sofa tapping words on her phone.
Double-tap a word to mark it as new.
Lena on the sofa, frowning at a sentence on her phone.
Long-press selects a sentence.
Lena on the sofa typing on her phone.
Try your own translation, then tap Check.
Lena with a finger on her chin and a light bulb above her head.
Oh, my translation is not quite right! “Trägt” also means “carries”. Of course!
Lena reading an explanation on her phone.
Tap Explain: AI breaks the sentence down.
Lena on the sofa, puzzled, mouth open, pointing at her phone.
Still unclear? Tap ? to ask a question.
Lena on the sofa, raising a finger, phone in hand.
Page done! I tap Finish to see my new words.
Lena on the sofa tapping a button on her phone.
Tap Make cards (10). They go into my own deck, and I can start practicing them today.
Lena looking at her phone in surprise.
A minute later: wow! A picture for the example, and it reads it aloud, so I hear the pronunciation. Everything in one card!
Next time I'll tap + to add the next page to the same text.
Lena in a café with a slice of apple cake, a coffee and her book, smiling at her phone.
Now I really enjoy reading! And I can order the Apfelkuchen in German!

Tap a screen to enlarge

Illustrations are AI-generated. App screens are real screenshots.

Watch the video (2 min, English)

Guide

How the reader works

Everything from the comic, step by step, with real screens from the app. Tap a screen to enlarge it.

Invite-only beta

The reader is open by invitation to the first 50 or so people. Request access in the app, signed in to your Kurzdeutsch account — I'll email you when you're in.

Request access

Your texts

Your texts is where you read German of your own choosing: a page of a book, the subtitles of a video or any text you paste. You translate it sentence by sentence and turn the words you don't know into cards.

To get there, tap Reading on the main screen (Today), then Your texts. If there is no lesson text in today's plan, Reading opens Your texts directly.

Below the buttons you find Ready-made texts, short stories to start with, and My pages, your own texts. Each one opens where you left off. Long-press a text to rename or delete it.

The reader works with a Kurzdeutsch account. It is an invite-only beta for now.

Four ways to add a text

  • Take a photo: photograph a page of a book. The page is read on our server, usually in about a minute. It has to be German and sharp enough to read; if not, the app asks you to take the photo closer.
  • Import a photo: pick photos from your gallery, several at once. They become one text.
  • YouTube link: paste a link and the app takes the video's German subtitles. A video without German subtitles won't work, and a very long one is cut.
  • Paste text: paste a German text and give it a title if you like.

Long texts are split into pages of about 300 words.

Tap a word: its translation

Tap any word and its translation appears right above it. Translations come in your translation language, the one you set in the app settings.

Double-tap: mark a new word

Double-tap a word you don't know. It gets a dotted underline. Double-tap it again to remove the mark. Marks are kept on this device.

Long-press: choose a sentence

Long-press the text to choose a part, usually one sentence. It turns white, and the buttons under the text work on it:

  • Check: type or dictate your own translation, then tap Check. You get a verdict (Correct, The meaning is not quite right, or The meaning is lost), a good translation and notes on what to fix.
  • Explain: a breakdown of the sentence: its translation, the verb, the cases and why the words take their form.
  • ?: ask your own question about the passage, like "Why einen, not ein?". You can ask again after the answer.

Clear: start the sentence over

Clear takes the grade, the explanation and the questions off the chosen part, so you can try it again. The translation you typed stays.

Finish, then Make cards

When you are done with a page, tap Finish at the top. You see Unknown words: every word you marked, with its meaning, all ticked. Untick the ones you don't need and tap Make cards (N).

Each card gets its own example sentence, a picture and audio, so you hear how the word is pronounced.

Your own deck, practised the same day

The cards go into your deck My words. The new words join today's training right away, in Forward translation (German to your language). Reverse translation (your language to German) starts on a later day.

+: add the next page

Next time, tap + under the text and take a photo of the next page. It is added to the same text. In a text from YouTube there is no +; that button opens the video at the place you are reading instead.

Daily limits and your own key

During the beta, AI features are on us within daily limits. Add your own OpenAI or Anthropic key and word hints, Check, Explain and ? run on it: you pick the model and pay the provider directly. Photos of pages stay on us within the daily limits.

Words already in our catalogue become cards for free. On top of that, your first 10 brand-new words are on us. After that, new words need your own OpenAI key: it pays for the picture, while we keep the picture model fixed so all cards look the same.

To add a key, open Your texts and tap ⚙ Reading settings, then Your own key. Paste the key and tap Check key. The key stays on your device, and you choose among the models of its provider.

How much is left today shows in the app: the word-hint counter on Your texts and the card counter on Unknown words. There is also a shared daily budget for everyone. When it runs out, the reader says so, and it works again the next day.