Learn German by reading what you love
Otto swaps a share of the words you read into German: on any website, in books and in podcasts. You still follow everything, and the German you understand grows a little every day, without setting aside time to study.
The same sentence at all seven levels
This is the sentence Otto uses to show its levels, taken straight from the app. At A few words only the most common words are German; at Confident the sentence takes German word order too; at Native it is all German.
Der city council wird repair die old bridge diesen winter, und der mayor promised dass pedestrians und cyclists können still cross die footbridge.
Der city council wird repair die old bridge diesen winter, und der mayor promised dass pedestrians und cyclists können weiterhin cross die footbridge.
Der Stadtrat wird repair die alte bridge diesen Winter, und der mayor promised dass pedestrians und cyclists können weiterhin cross die footbridge.
Der Stadtrat wird reparieren die alte Brücke diesen Winter, und der mayor versprach dass pedestrians und cyclists können weiterhin überqueren die footbridge.
Der Stadtrat wird die alte Brücke diesen Winter reparieren, und der Bürgermeister versprach dass Fußgänger und cyclists die footbridge weiterhin überqueren können.
Der Stadtrat wird die alte Brücke diesen Winter reparieren, und der Bürgermeister versprach dass Fußgänger und Radfahrer die footbridge weiterhin überqueren können.
Der Stadtrat wird die alte Brücke diesen Winter reparieren, und der Bürgermeister versprach, dass Fußgänger und Radfahrer die Fußgängerbrücke weiterhin überqueren können.
The most common words come first
A few hundred words make up most of what anyone reads, so that is where Otto starts. In this sentence, the first German you would meet is:
How you learn German with Otto
- Pick your level. Start with a few everyday words, or most of the page.
- Read as you normally would. A book in the app, a podcast, or any website in Chrome, Safari or the app's own browser.
- Tap any word you don't know. See what it means and hear it. Save it with one tap.
- Practise and move up. Short games in Learn use the words you saved, and as you learn more, Otto shows you more German.
A German grammar course, A1 to C1
Otto teaches German grammar in 102 short topics, each with a clear explanation and exercises, practised with the words you have met yourself. A few of them:
Everything you read, in German at your level
Any website
News, blogs, Wikipedia, recipes: Otto weaves German into the page in Chrome, in Safari and in the app.
Books and podcasts
A library of classic books, and podcasts in which some of the words you hear are German, both at your level.
Your word bank
Every word you save goes to Learn, where quick games bring it back until it sticks.
Your tutor
Working with a tutor? They can set your reading and see the words you looked up.
Questions
Can you learn German just by reading?
Reading things you can mostly understand, with a few new words each time, is one of the best-supported ways to build vocabulary. Otto keeps your reading at that point, and pairs it with short practice games for the German words you save.
What level of German do I need to start?
None. At the first level Otto swaps only a handful of the most common words into German, and it adds more as you learn them, all the way to reading entirely in German.
Is Otto free?
Yes. Everything Otto does is free, with a daily limit. Otto Pro (£3.99 a month) lets you read five times more and work with a tutor; Otto Max (£9.99 a month) five times more again.
Where does Otto work?
On iPhone, iPad and Mac, and as an extension for Chrome and Safari, so it works on the websites you already read.