A 30-day German reading plan

How does the 30-day German plan work?

Every day is one chapter of a real series from the Contos German library, listed by its English title. Read it with the 15-minute routine: review yesterday's cards, read the chapter twice, save the phrases that stopped you, write one sentence about what happened. The plan rests on three rules:

1. One chapter a day is the whole task. The A1 chapters on this route are 123 to 213 words long; reading one properly takes minutes, not an evening.
2. Every seventh day is a reread. Going back brings recent words round again before they fade, the kind of repeated meeting Paul Nation says words learned from reading depend on.
3. Step up on day 22, not before. By then you will have read 18 A1 chapters and seen the core of beginner German many times over.

The route below is free, because it uses chapters 1 and 2 of each series. Every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, so if one story grabs you, the Premium version at the end of this page lets you follow it instead of moving on.

Days 1–14: which A1 German stories do you start with?

The first fortnight samples six A1 series across mystery, romance, family, sci-fi and crime. Trying several genres early helps you find the kind of story you will actually want to keep reading.

Day 1 opens the flagship: a Berlin flatshare, a rent letter marked WICHTIG (important), and a new flatmate nobody has met. After that come a dog-sitter, a dog owner and a folded note on a park bench, a family in Wertheim planning surprises behind Oma Hildegard's back, a cheap flat with a sealed cellar door, a light across the courtyard that blinks a woman's name, and a lost wallet that comes back with 100 euros more in it.

Days 15–30: how do you step up to A2 German?

Week 3 adds three more A1 series, including a romantic comedy that begins with a text message sent to the wrong Marco. Day 21 is a reread of the flatshare story's first two chapters, because on day 22 you meet the same flat again, written at A2.

Rereading a story you know at the next level is the gentlest way up. Both versions of chapter 1 end with the same door, the moment the new flatmate arrives:

The A2 chapter runs to 224 words against 146 at A1, but you already know Lena, Jonas, Ayşe and Herr Krause, so your attention goes to the new German rather than the plot. The last three A2 series move out of Berlin: a second-hand bookshop in Hamburg, a village choir that has lost its key, and a bakery where someone corrects the recipe book overnight.

What if you want to finish a whole series?

Chapters 3 onwards of every series need Contos Premium. With it, you can trade the sampling for whole stories. One Premium version of the month:

• Days 1–8: all 8 A1 chapters of The Flatshare on Bergmannstraße.
• Days 9–14: one complete six-chapter A1 series of your choice.
• Days 15–21: a second complete A1 series, rereading on day 21.
• Days 22–30: the A2 flatshare story, 8 chapters, with a review on day 30.

Free or Premium, check your known words at the end. Contos moves you to A2 at 500 known words; if you are not there yet, another A1 series is better practice than forcing the step. For what comes next, see how to learn German by reading and how many German words you need.