German reading texts by level
78 texts from A1 to C2, 12 361 words in all, with 308 comprehension questions. Each text shows how much of it is explained in this site’s vocabulary — calculated, not claimed.
A1 (13)
A1 · 96 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Der erste Tag
A first day at a new job, from the alarm clock to the evening.
A1 · 80 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Auf dem Markt
Shopping at a Saturday market, with prices and one small mistake.
A1 · 71 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Meine Familie
A girl introduces her family, one person at a time.
A1 · 87 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Der Schlüssel
A key is missing, and the search goes through every pocket.
A1 · 86 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Im Café
Two friends, a rainy Saturday and an order at the table.
A1 · 73 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Ein Sonntag im Park
A family spends a sunny Sunday in the park — until the weather turns.
A1 · 103 words · 1 min
StoryWork
Lea in der Bäckerei
Lea works in a bakery — her day starts when the city is still asleep.
A1 · 103 words · 1 min
StoryUniversity
Alis erste Woche
Ali is new at university and cannot find his room.
A1 · 100 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Der Hund von Frau Berg
Mr Klein from the second floor takes his neighbour’s dog for a walk — and the dog has its own plan.
A1 · 74 words · 1 min
DialogueUniversity
In der Bibliothek
Two students in the library: one needs a book, the other needs quiet.
A1 · 56 words · 1 min
DialogueEveryday life
Im Bus
Buying a ticket from the bus driver — and getting off at the right stop.
A1 · 70 words · 1 min
MessageEveryday life
Wo bist du?
Two friends want to meet at the cinema — but at which door?
A1 · 54 words · 1 min
EmailWork
Morgen komme ich später
A short email to the boss: a doctor’s appointment in the morning.
A2 (13)
A2 · 90 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Der Umzug
Moving house on a Saturday, with too few hands and a helpful neighbour.
A2 · 97 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Beim Arzt
A cold, a day off work and a long wait at the doctor’s.
A2 · 89 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Der Zug nach Hamburg
A train journey, a missed connection and a conversation on the platform.
A2 · 95 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Überraschung
Two friends plan a party for a third, who must not find out.
A2 · 115 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Das verlorene Handy
A phone goes missing after the cinema and turns up somewhere else.
A2 · 105 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Sprachschule
Two weeks into a German course, and the articles are still the hardest part.
A2 · 140 words · 1 min
StoryWork
Die erste Woche in der Werkstatt
Sven tells his sister about his first week at a car repair shop.
A2 · 140 words · 1 min
StoryUniversity
Der Abend vor der Prüfung
Four students, one exam and a long evening in the library.
A2 · 147 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Omas Geschenk
What do you give a grandmother who says she needs nothing?
A2 · 98 words · 1 min
DialogueUniversity
In der Mensa
Lunch in the university canteen: what is good today, and who has a question?
A2 · 102 words · 1 min
DialogueEveryday life
Die Jacke ist zu klein
Exchanging a jacket in a clothes shop.
A2 · 104 words · 1 min
MessageEveryday life
Kannst du die Blumen gießen?
Before a holiday: who waters the plants and looks after the cat?
A2 · 86 words · 1 min
EmailWork
Urlaub im August
An email to the boss asking for two weeks of holiday.
B1 (14)
B1 · 106 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die neue Stadt
Moving to a new city for work, and slowly starting to feel at home.
B1 · 107 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Das Vorstellungsgespräch
A job interview, from the corridor to the phone call two days later.
B1 · 93 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Das Fahrrad im Flur
A bicycle in the hallway, two notes on the wall and a house that finally talks.
B1 · 112 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Das Rezept der Oma
A recipe that was never written down, and a grandson who tries.
B1 · 114 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Reklamation
A new washing machine, a terrible noise and a morning spent waiting for the technician.
B1 · 127 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Eine Nacht im Zug
A night train to Vienna, a narrow compartment and a stranger with a book.
B1 · 132 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Der Garten im Hof
A grey back yard, one neighbour’s idea and a house that gets to know itself.
B1 · 192 words · 2 min
StoryWork
Eine Null zu viel
A young office worker finds a big mistake on a bill — and has to decide what to do about it.
B1 · 194 words · 2 min
StoryUniversity
Ein Semester am Meer
Clara spends a semester abroad — and the hardest part is not the language.
B1 · 206 words · 2 min
StoryEveryday life
Das Klavier im dritten Stock
A new neighbour plays the piano every evening. A complaint turns into something else.
B1 · 149 words · 1 min
DialogueUniversity
In der Sprechstunde
A student asks her professor for more time for a term paper.
B1 · 154 words · 1 min
DialogueEveryday life
Ein Tisch für acht
A phone call to a restaurant: the reservation gets bigger, and then later.
B1 · 167 words · 1 min
MessageEveryday life
Wer hilft beim Umzug?
A family group chat: Grandpa is moving into a smaller flat, and everyone has to find a job to do.
B1 · 146 words · 1 min
EmailWork
Neue Regeln für die Küche
An office email about the shared kitchen — friendly, but clear.
B2 (14)
B2 · 166 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Von zu Hause arbeiten
Working from home: what one office worker gained, and what she misses.
B2 · 162 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die alte Einkaufsstraße
An old shopping street, its empty shops and an attempt to bring it back to life.
B2 · 160 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Wozu eine Bibliothek?
A town library in an age of screens, seen from its reading room.
B2 · 149 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die autofreie Straße
A street closed to cars for a year, and the people who live and work in it.
B2 · 161 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Wohnungssuche
A student looks for a room in an expensive city, and learns something about himself.
B2 · 149 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Der Dialekt
A northerner starts work in a Bavarian village and does not understand her colleagues.
B2 · 150 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Reparieren statt wegwerfen
Once a month a library room turns into a workshop for broken things.
B2 · 227 words · 2 min
StoryWork
Die Frage nach dem Warum
A young trainee keeps asking “why?” — and finds out that a whole department has been doing something useless for years.
B2 · 218 words · 2 min
StoryUniversity
Vier Namen auf dem Titelblatt
A group project at university: three people work, one does not — and the question is what to do about it.
B2 · 228 words · 2 min
StoryEveryday life
Der Garten auf dem Parkplatz
A grey car park becomes a neighbourhood garden — slowly, and not without arguments.
B2 · 198 words · 2 min
DialogueUniversity
Das Zimmer in der Wohngemeinschaft
A student comes to look at a room in a shared flat — and the flat is looking at her too.
B2 · 179 words · 1 min
DialogueEveryday life
Auf dem Bürgeramt
Registering a new address — and the one document that is missing.
B2 · 171 words · 1 min
MessageEveryday life
Vierzig Jahre verheiratet
Three siblings secretly plan a party for their parents’ wedding anniversary — and disagree about almost everything.
B2 · 147 words · 1 min
EmailWork
Reklamation: Lieferung vom 3. März
A business email to a supplier: twelve chairs ordered, four damaged — and a clear request.
C1 (13)
C1 · 187 words · 2 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Sprache der Ämter
Why letters from the authorities read the way they do, and what happens when a town tries to change them.
C1 · 149 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Was Durchschnitte verschweigen
An average, a percentage and the question a number does not answer.
C1 · 158 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Das Gedächtnis
Why remembering something clearly is not the same as remembering it correctly.
C1 · 172 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Stille
Noise that nobody notices any more, and the cities that have started to map their quiet places.
C1 · 174 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Pünktlichkeit
A German prejudice examined: when being on time is polite, and when it is not.
C1 · 153 words · 1 min
StoryEveryday life
Der Wert der Langeweile
A feeling with a bad reputation, and what it may be good for.
C1 · 304 words · 3 min
StoryWork
Der letzte Tag im Büro
After twelve years, a team leader hands in her notice — and on her last day, she finally understands why.
C1 · 269 words · 2 min
StoryUniversity
Ein Jahr mit einer Frage
A student spends a year on her final thesis and learns that the hardest part is not the answer but the question.
C1 · 276 words · 2 min
StoryEveryday life
Samstags in der Ausgabe
A retired teacher volunteers at a food distribution point and has to rethink what helping means.
C1 · 225 words · 2 min
DialogueUniversity
Soll ich das Studium abbrechen?
A student talks to her older brother about giving up her degree for an apprenticeship.
C1 · 230 words · 2 min
DialogueEveryday life
Das Gespräch mit der Lehrerin
A father meets his son’s teacher because the boy’s marks have suddenly dropped.
C1 · 201 words · 2 min
MessageEveryday life
Die Mieterhöhung
Tenants in one building compare their letters about a rent increase — and decide to answer together.
C1 · 231 words · 2 min
EmailWork
Arbeiten von zu Hause: die neuen Regeln
A department head explains new rules for working from home — and why some of them are not up for discussion.
C2 (11)
C2 · 187 words · 2 min
StoryEveryday life
Das Unübersetzbare
Words that seem to have no translation, and what they actually prove.
C2 · 205 words · 2 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Kunst des Streichens
On revising a text: why cutting is hard, and why cutting everything is no better.
C2 · 188 words · 2 min
StoryEveryday life
Lob des Zweifels
Doubt as a weakness in a debate and as a method in science — and where it stops being useful.
C2 · 197 words · 2 min
StoryEveryday life
Die Höflichkeit der Umwege
Why a polite request is phrased as a question, and why more politeness is not always more polite.
C2 · 330 words · 3 min
StoryWork
Was zwischen den Sprachen bleibt
A translator of contracts discovers that one word can be worth more than a whole page.
C2 · 364 words · 3 min
StoryUniversity
Die Fußnote
A doctoral student finds an error in the work of a famous professor — and has to decide whether to say so.
C2 · 308 words · 3 min
StoryEveryday life
Das Haus am Ende der Straße
Three grandchildren clear out their grandmother’s house before it is sold — and find more than furniture.
C2 · 253 words · 2 min
DialogueUniversity
Ein Ergebnis, das keines ist
Two researchers argue about whether a failed experiment is worth publishing.
C2 · 237 words · 2 min
DialogueEveryday life
Über das Älterwerden
A young woman and her grandmother talk about getting older — and about what changes less than one expects.
C2 · 230 words · 2 min
MessageEveryday life
Der Lesekreis und das Ende
A book club argues in its group chat about a novel whose ending leaves everything open.
C2 · 208 words · 2 min
EmailWork
Absage mit Dank
A candidate turns down a job offer she had wanted for months — and explains why without burning any bridges.
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Learning words one at a time and practising grammar one point at a time is work on separate parts. A text is the first thing that needs both at once — and the only exercise where nobody tells you which rule is being tested.
What makes a graded text is a number: how much of it you already know at your level. If it is too low, reading turns into looking things up. Here that number is calculated for every text against this site’s vocabulary and shown with the text — together with the level that follows from it, next to the level on the label.
Every text is written for this site. Click a word to look it up without leaving the page.
What is measured here — and what is not
Coverage tells you about this site’s vocabulary, not about the text. If a text stands at 96 %, four words in a hundred are not explained anywhere here; they are then in the glossary next to the text.
The measured level can be below the stated one, and that is intentional. A set of minutes made up of perfectly ordinary words can be a very hard text — what makes it hard is the sentences they sit in. That is why the average sentence length is shown alongside.
Whether a text is good is measured by nobody here. That is for the reader to decide.