Listening trainer: understand German
Ten short listening tasks per round — slow or normal speed.
Listening closely helps you speak.
Listening trainer
Or practise one thing
Read along shows the text with every task straight away. Good for tuning in; answers then do not count, because it is no longer a listening test.
Good to know
Without sound or with hearing loss
Every task has a “Show text” button, and the “Read along” switch always shows the text. Everything works from the keyboard: Tab to the buttons, digits for the answers, Enter to go on.
What happens in a round?
Ten short tasks per round: recognise a word, hear the gap in a sentence, find the stressed syllable, tell two similar sounds apart, follow a dialogue. You decide when something plays — and whether slowly or at normal speed.
Why in small steps?
Listening to a new language means recognising sounds first, then where words begin and end, then the meaning. The trainer practises these steps one by one — and together in the mixed round. Feedback comes at once, so your ear learns what made the difference.
Why practise slowly?
At the start, a slower speed demonstrably helps understanding. Feel free to hear a task twice, slowly first and then at normal speed: the goal is normal speed, but the way there can be slow.
Where do the voices come from?
First, speech generated in advance by this website plays. Where there is no file for it, your browser speaks with its own voices — and switches between them, because words heard from many voices are easier to recognise later. These are not recordings of real speakers, and nothing plays unless you press a button.
Example sentences
A1 Kannst du bitte das Fenster aufmachen?Can you open the window, please?
A1 Die Schule fängt um acht an.School starts at eight.
A2 Sie hat hohes Fieber.She has a high temperature.
A2 Wir steigen an der nächsten Station aus.We are getting off at the next stop.
B1 Frischkäse reift gar nicht.Fresh cheese does not ripen at all.
B1 Die Dialoge in dem Film sind sehr gut.The dialogue in the film is very good.
B2 Das Orchester probt seit Wochen.The orchestra has been rehearsing for weeks.
B2 Der Zweck rechtfertigt hier nichts.The end justifies nothing here.
C1 Die Instandhaltung hat eigene Leute.Servicing has its own staff.
C1 Dank der Doppelbedienung kann der Fahrlehrer jederzeit selbst bremsen.Thanks to the dual controls, the instructor can brake himself at any moment.
C2 Die Wälzkolbenpumpe sitzt zwischen Vorpumpe und Kammer und erhöht das Saugvermögen.The Roots pump sits between the backing pump and the chamber and raises the pumping speed.
C2 Die Frist ist fruchtlos verstrichen; der Betrieb hat sich nicht einmal gemeldet.The deadline passed without anything happening; the firm didn’t even get in touch.