Read books in German. Tap any word.
Learn German by reading · Deutsch
German rewards readers. The long compound nouns and verbs that wait until the end of the sentence are hard to drill and easy to absorb once you see enough of them. Nufa lets you read real German books and tap any word for a translation, so the sentence never has to defeat you.
Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt.Ungeziefer
vermin
Kafka chose a word with no fixed shape — not “beetle”, not “insect”, just something unclean. Translators have argued over it for a century, which is a good reason to read it in German.
Why reading works for German
- German novels are narrated in the Präteritum — erwachte, fand, war — a tense spoken German leans on far less. Reading is where it becomes automatic.
- Compound nouns are easier to break apart on the page, where you can tap the whole word or a piece of it.
- Word order — verbs at the end, separable prefixes drifting away from their stems — only becomes natural after thousands of real sentences.
How Nufa reads
- Bring any book. Import your own EPUB or PDF in German — it is parsed on your phone and never uploaded — or download a public-domain classic from the built-in catalogue.
- Tap to translate. Tap a word or select a phrase. The translation appears over the page and goes away when you read on.
- Ask for an explanation. When a sentence won’t yield, tap Explain for the grammar, the idiom or the cultural reference behind it.
- Keep the words that matter. Saved vocabulary keeps the sentence you found it in. Review it when you like — there are no streaks and no daily goals.
A starter shelf in German
Public-domain classics, roughly easiest first.
- Kinder- und Hausmärchen — Brüder Grimm. Short, repetitive, ideal for a first book.
- Die Verwandlung — Franz Kafka. Plain sentences, strange story. Very finishable.
- Effi Briest — Theodor Fontane. A full novel once you're ready for one.
Start reading
Nufa is free to download on Android. The whole reader is free, with 10 translations and 10 explanations a day; paid plans raise the daily limits. See pricing.