Austrian news is written in standard German with Austrian words, so it makes good input for Austrian German. Comprehensible input means learning from German you can mostly understand, and Austria's public broadcaster ORF also writes some of its news in plain German.
These tools help you find Austrian German at your level, or make the German you choose easier to follow. For courses and tutors, see our Austrian German app comparison and our resource guide.
To check the level, read a few sentences. If most have about one new word, keep reading. If you can't tell what's happening, pick something easier.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn German. You learn from German you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes your Austrian German lessons. If a sentence is hard to follow, ask Poppy to explain it.
With Regenerative Review™, words you save show up again in new lessons, so that you can review words in new contexts without having to use flashcards.
When an Austrian page is hard, send Poppy a photo of it, and she explains it line by line. For a whole newspaper, podcast, or show, the tools in Read and Watch Austrian German You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories in Austrian German about things you like.
- Every lesson is written at your level, with Austrian words like Jänner and Erdäpfel.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading. You can also export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- Lessons are read aloud in standard German, not an Austrian accent.
- You can't turn an Austrian book you own into a lesson.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- SprachportalFree live online German courses from A1 to B2 from the Austrian Integration Fund, with practice exercises and downloads on topics from life in Austria.
- Österreich SpiegelA learner's newspaper from the Österreich Institut with real Austrian articles, audio reports, and exercises from A1 to C2. It's a paid subscription, with some free trial pages.
- ReadleStories and news articles in German from A1 to C1, read aloud by German speakers. It teaches German in general, with a free trial before the paid plan.
These tools work with the Austrian articles, shows, and videos you pick yourself.
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to German from its library or bring in your own, such as an ORF article. Its reader highlights the words you haven't met yet and the words you are learning.
- Thousands of hours of German audio with matching transcripts.
- Import YouTube videos, books, and songs as lessons.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Language Reactor
Language Reactor works with German YouTube videos anywhere in the world, including videos from Austrian channels.
- See German subtitles beside a translation on Netflix and YouTube.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
Browser extension
ORF, Austria's public broadcaster, publishes news in Einfache Sprache, or plain German, in three places. It is a good first step into real Austrian news.
| What | Why It Helps | Try It When |
|---|---|---|
| ORF in Einfacher Sprache | New articles every day on news.ORF.at, plus daily news in Teletext | You can read short, simple sentences |
| ORF III news in plain German | Video, audio, and on-screen text on weekdays at 19:25 | You want to hear and read the news together |
| ORF ON | ORF's streaming site with shows, series, news, and archive material | You follow longer scenes |
Use any German course for shared grammar, and the sources above for Austrian words.
Each number is how many languages you can use the app in, including script variants. The Austrian sites above are in German.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 76 | Full list
|
| Sprachportal | — | — |
| Österreich Spiegel | — | — |
| Readle | 23 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
Which Austrian German app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning German, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Sprachportal if you want free German practice about life in Austria, or with a Nicos Weg video from Deutsche Welle if you want a free course that begins at A1.
Will ORF match the Austrian German I learn here?
Mostly. Austrian German is standard German with its own words, so ORF's news uses it. Some Austrians also speak a local dialect at home, so a talk show or a regional program can sound different from the news.
Can I use ORF outside Austria?
Check each service. ORF ON's own page doesn't say where it plays, so try it from your country before you plan around it.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Austrian German (Österreichisches Wörterbuch since 1951; Jänner, Paradeiser, Erdapfel)
- Bubblegum: German (Austria)
- ORF: Einfache Sprache (daily articles on news.ORF.at, ORF III news on weekdays at 19:25, daily Teletext news)
- ORF ON: ORF's video streaming platform
- Sprachportal: free German for Austria from the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF)
- Österreich Spiegel: German-learning newspaper with Austrian media articles
- LingQ: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- LingQ: free and premium plans
- Language Reactor: Chrome Web Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Language Reactor: what the paid plan adds
- Deutsche Welle, Learn German (Nicos Weg, a free video course from A1 to B1)
- DW Learn German: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Readle: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Readle: German course (free trial, then paid plan)
- Bubblegum
- LingQ
- Language Reactor
