Many German learners stall in the same place. Every German noun takes der, die, or das, which all mean "the", and that word changes again with the noun's job in the sentence. Learners study tables of these forms and still cannot follow two friends ordering coffee at a bakery. Forms learned from tables don't turn into understanding on their own. Comprehensible input is the fix: you spend the same study time on German where you already know almost every word, so the few new ones explain themselves.
What Comprehensible Input Looks Like
Each row below is a sentence. The gray bars are words you already know, and the purple bar is the one that is new.
About one new word per sentence.
At this difficulty you keep reading, because everything around the new word tells you what it means. You work it out yourself, and a word learned that way stays with you far longer than one memorized from a list.
Your Roadmap by Level
Bubblegum sorts every lesson into six levels, and each level is described by a sentence about the learner. Find the sentence that sounds like you, and the row tells you what to read and what to do.
- Level 1
I'm just starting out or know only a few words.
Read short dialogues that come with audio and a translation, and save the three words you look up most often. Nicos Weg, a free video course from Deutsche Welle, starts from the beginning too.
Level 1 lessons about food and greetings - Level 2
I can handle simple exchanges.
Read dialogues about topics you care about with the translation hidden, and watch Super Easy German, the slower street-interview videos from Easy German.
Level 2 lessons about food and greetings - Level 3
I follow conversations on familiar topics.
Follow the day's news in plain German on Nachrichtenleicht or tagesschau in Einfacher Sprache, and listen to each lesson once more without reading along.
Level 3 lessons about food and greetings - Level 4
I understand most content but miss some nuance.
Listen to the Easy German Podcast, where the hosts explain words and expressions as they talk, and watch German series such as Dark with German subtitles.
Level 4 lessons about food and greetings - Level 5
I read complex topics but rare words slow me down.
Watch series and the regular tagesschau news without subtitles, and look up only the words that block the story.
- Level 6
I read at near-native level.
Read novels and the news for their own sake.
Level 6 lessons about food and greetings
Move up a level when the current one starts to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line.
Try It on a Real Lesson
The lesson below comes from Bubblegum, where Poppy, your AI tutor, writes German lessons at your level. You can read it here just as you would in the app. Read it at all three levels and notice which one you can follow while still looking up a few words.
One Situation, Three Levels
From Bubblegum’s guide Ordering Food, Drinks, and Greeting People in Daily Life. It works here the way it works inside Bubblegum.
I can handle simple exchanges.
At the Office
Anna and Lukas meet in the office.
Good morning, Lukas! You're here much earlier today.
Good morning, Anna! I'm just organizing these books and papers.
That's nice, the coffee tastes better today too.
True, let's get started!
Frequently Asked Questions About Comprehensible Input
Do I need to learn the cases first?
No. German has four cases, and each one can change the small word in front of a noun. In Der Hund schläft (The dog is sleeping), the dog is der Hund, and in Ich sehe den Hund (I see the dog), it is den Hund. You learn which form goes where by meeting each one many times in sentences you understand.
Is watching German TV comprehensible input?
From Level 4 with German subtitles, yes. Before that, a children's show is easier to follow, such as Die Sendung mit der Maus from WDR, which explains everyday things in short films.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
The German lessons on this site are also free and need no account.
