Software Products & Security Labs

LeseDeutsch

Learn to read German: stories by level, tap a word, listen.

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In short

LeseDeutsch is a learning app for German as a foreign language. Short stories are sorted by level from A1 to C2 and shown sentence by sentence with a translation; tapping a word shows its meaning and forms, and every sentence can be read aloud. It also includes a core vocabulary by level and exercises in the format of the telc and Goethe exams. The project is in development; a public test version runs at staging.lesedeutsch.de.

Starting point

German learners need reading material at the right level, and constant help while reading: what does this word mean, what is the plural, how is the sentence pronounced? Usually that means switching back and forth between the text, a dictionary and a translator. What was needed was one place where reading, vocabulary, pronunciation and exam preparation come together.

My role

Concept, content, interface and implementation, developed by me as a personal product project.

Solution

An installable web app (PWA) with three areas: stories, words and exams. Stories can be filtered by level and read sentence by sentence, optionally with the translation shown. Read-aloud uses the German voices available on the device, with sentence navigation and adjustable speed. Word forms and meanings come partly from free dictionaries (Wiktionary, WikDict); automatically imported meanings are marked as not yet reviewed.

Technologies

Key functionality

Stories by level A1–C2 with sentence-by-sentence translation (can be shown or hidden)
Tap a word: meaning and word forms (gender, plural, verb forms)
Sentence-by-sentence read-aloud with device voices, speed 0.75×/1×/1.25×
Core vocabulary by level, filterable by part of speech, with a saved-words list
Original exercises in the format of the telc and Goethe exams (e.g. reading, language elements)
Interface in German, English and Turkish; meanings in Turkish or English, more languages planned
Reading settings: font size, reading width, line spacing, themes (paper, light, night) and focus mode
Installable on the phone as a PWA

Security & performance

Served over HTTPS
Reading, words and exam exercises currently usable without an account
Read-aloud uses the device’s own voices instead of an external speech service
Sources and licences of the dictionary data (CC BY-SA 4.0) are credited in the app

Outcome

Public test version 0.1.0 at staging.lesedeutsch.de
Content (stories, vocabulary, exam exercises) is being expanded continuously

Not officially released yet. User numbers are not stated.