German News Reader: questions and answers

German News Reader is a Chrome extension by Language Master that turns any German-language webpage into bilingual text with synced audio. It highlights each sentence as it reads it aloud in German, then plays the English translation, powered by DeepL.

You need a desktop computer running Google Chrome (or a Chromium browser like Edge or Brave) and an active Language Master subscription pass. Mobile browsers and Firefox are not supported.

Visit the German News Reader page on the Chrome Web Store and click "Add to Chrome". Once installed, click Chrome's puzzle-piece icon in your top toolbar and pin the extension so its amber icon remains visible.

Click the puzzle-piece icon in the top-right corner of Chrome, find "German News Reader" in the dropdown list, and click the pushpin icon next to it. The amber "N" icon will now sit permanently on your toolbar.

Click the pinned extension icon in your browser toolbar to open the side panel, enter the email address you used when purchasing your Language Master pass, and press Activate. The extension unlocks immediately.

Navigate to any German news article (e.g. tagesschau.de or spiegel.de), open the German News Reader side panel, and click the round Play button. The reader will automatically extract the article and begin reading.

German News Reader runs on Google Chrome on desktop, and on Chromium-based desktop browsers that support the Chrome side panel API, including Microsoft Edge, Brave, and Opera.

No. German News Reader requires the Chrome side panel API to stay open alongside webpages. Firefox and Safari do not support this side panel architecture, so there are no Firefox or Safari builds.

No. Mobile Chrome on Android and iOS does not allow browser extensions. German News Reader is strictly a desktop product. Your Language Master account works on mobile for courses and web lessons.

No. German News Reader parses rendered HTML text inside browser DOM elements. Text embedded inside PDF viewers, images, or scanned documents cannot be extracted or highlighted.

German News Reader extracts the portion of the article that is currently rendered on your screen. If an article is behind a paywall (such as Spiegel+ or Zeit Digital), you must be logged into that publication to read the full text.

Yes. The extension works on blogs, company pages, Wikipedia articles, government municipal portals, and online magazines — any public webpage containing German text.

All translations are generated through DeepL SE enterprise endpoints. DeepL translates whole sentences in context, preserving idiomatic phrasing, subjunctive moods, and separable verbs accurately.

Hearing the native German first forces your brain to attempt comprehension independently. The immediate English audio serves as instant verification, cementing vocabulary and sentence structure without dictionary switching.

As each sentence begins playback, the extension highlights the exact line in amber and smoothly scrolls the webpage so the active sentence stays centred in your viewport.

Our extraction engine parses semantic HTML tags (like <article> and main body containers), removing banners, sidebar links, cookie overlays, and tracking scripts before audio generation.

Yes. You can adjust playback speed from 0.75x to 1.5x in the side panel settings. Slower speeds are ideal for A2 learners parsing complex verb compounds.

No. German News Reader requires an active internet connection to stream DeepL translations and synthesized audio from our cloud endpoints.

German News Reader is designed for A2 to C1 learners. Complete beginners (A1) should complete basic grammar courses before jumping into native journalism.

We recommend 10 to 15 minutes daily (one complete news article). Consistent daily exposure to native syntax produces far greater retention than occasional long weekend study sessions.

Yes. Goethe and telc reading modules directly test journalistic comprehension. Reading authentic news articles daily builds the reading speed and editorial vocabulary required on the exam clock.

No. German News Reader is a reading and listening tool, not a grammar curriculum. It pairs with structured study to bridge the gap between textbook exercises and native German media.

Start with Tagesschau and Nachrichtenleicht for direct grammatical structure, then graduate to Die Zeit and Der Spiegel once comfortable handling longer compound clauses.

We offer two plans: standalone Chrome Extension Access for $XX/month, or the complete Platinum Access Pass (including the full Language Master course library) for $XX/month.

We do not offer a free trial because every article processed consumes real DeepL translation characters and audio limits. We provide a full money-back guarantee if the tool does not work on your setup.

You can cancel with one click from your Language Master account settings page at any time. Your access will remain fully functional until the end of your prepaid billing period.

Yes. You can upgrade from Chrome Extension Access to the Platinum Access Pass at any time from your account page, paying only the prorated difference.

If the extension fails to function properly on your computer and our support team is unable to fix the issue within 48 hours, we will issue a complete refund promptly.

The extension only reads text on the active tab when you explicitly open the side panel and click Play. Inactive tabs, browser history, bookmarks, and form inputs are never accessed or logged.

No. We use DeepL Enterprise endpoints where queries are processed in-memory and never stored on disk or used to train translation models.

You can request complete account deletion under GDPR at any time by emailing privacy@languagemaster.org. Your stored authentication token and billing profile will be permanently erased.

Read our full plain-language permissions disclosure and formal data processing policy on our Privacy & Permissions page.