Yes, no problem at all! You can join our Book Club at any time. All the previous discussions and tasks will be available for you to catch up at your own pace.

The Easy German Book Club is a seven-week online program where we dive into one of our favorite books with you. The aim is to improve our German language skills through reading, discussion, and writing tasks related to the book. It's also an opportunity to engage with fellow learners and enjoy literature together.

To join the Book Club, you'll need to become a member of Easy German in any membership level for the duration of the Book Club. Once you're a member, you'll get access to our Discord server, where our discussions and writing tasks will be conducted.

To receive the additional bonus podcast episodes, you'll need to sign up for the Podcast Membership level or higher.

To participate in the weekly conversation sessions on Zoom, you'll need to sign up for the Conversation Membership.

We're reading "Kindergeschichten" by Peter Bichsel, a collection of seven short stories. Despite the title, it's actually a book that's equally enjoyable for children and adults.

You can get the book in various formats such as paperback, e-book, and audiobook. It may be available at your local or online bookstore.

Internationally, availability of the e-book varies. Thanks to an agreement with the publisher, we were able to offer the e-book directly through our website for a limited time when the Book Club started.

Please note that it’s not possible to buy the e-book through our website anymore.

E-books can be read on a variety of devices including e-readers, tablets, smartphones, and computers. You'll need an e-reader app for this. Popular ones include Kindle, Apple Books, Google Play Books, and Calibre.

Once you've purchased the e-book, you'll download an EPUB file and open it using your chosen e-reader app.

Membership is necessary as it helps us run and support the Book Club. This includes managing the Discord community, providing weekly tasks, producing additional podcast episodes for certain membership tiers, and coordinating Zoom calls. It also helps us continue creating quality content for everyone in the Easy German community.

The cost of the book depends on the format and where you purchase it. If you buy the e-book from our website, you can check the price here.

The cost of the Easy German membership depends on the membership level you select.

If you’re already an Easy German member, there is no additional cost for you apart from the book.

Absolutely! We offer a monthly subscription option that you can cancel at any time. This allows you to participate in the Book Club and also experience other benefits of being an Easy German member for a month or two.

Discord is a free chat app that you can use on your computer and phone. We use it to communicate and chat with our members. To join, you'll need to link your Patreon account to your Discord account — it takes less than 5 minutes and we have a tutorial on how to do this here.

Once you're in, you'll see a variety of text channels where you can chat about everything from everyday life to philosophical topics in German.

You'll also see a section called "Book Club" — this is where we'll facilitate our chapter discussions and writing tasks.

Yes! The Book Club is open to learners of all levels. You may find the process most useful and enjoyable if you posses an A2 level or higher, but you’re welcome to participate at any level.

The vocabulary in the short stories is relatively accessible. And even if you don't understand every word of the book or discussions: Just try to follow along as best you can — it will still be a great opportunity to improve your German.

Definitely. Our Book Club is conducted online, so you can participate from anywhere in the world. All you need is a phone or computer with internet access and your own copy of the book.

Each week involves reading a short story, participating in a forum discussion, and completing a writing task.

The reading should only take about 15-30 minutes, even if you pause often to look up new words.

You can spend as much or as little time as you like on the discussions and the writing task, but we recommend investing at least 30 minutes per week on these tasks to get the most benefit from the program.

The discussions are conducted in a forum on Discord. After reading each week's story, members can share their thoughts, ask questions, or respond to others' insights about the story. The atmosphere is friendly and open, with everyone encouraged to participate as much or as little as they feel comfortable.

Each week, we provide a writing task related to the story we've read. The tasks vary and might involve writing a brief summary, giving a personal response, or creatively continuing the story. These tasks are designed to help transition your passive reading into active language use and deepen your understanding of the text.

Yes, part of the learning process is sharing your work and receiving feedback from your peers. After completing each writing task, you can post it on Discord. Other members can then provide constructive comments, creating an interactive and collaborative learning experience.

Note that the Easy German team cannot provide individual feedback on your writing or correct specific mistakes as part of the Book Club. If this is important to you, consider working with a tutor or tandem partner who can help you correct the writing you produce while participating in the Book Club.

If you’re in the Podcast Membership or a higher membership level, you will receive a bonus podcast episode in your private podcast feed every Thursday, including an interactive transcript and our vocab helper. Here's a tutorial on how to subscribe to your private podcast feed.

These bonus episodes provide further insights into the week's story, with discussions between Janusz and Manuel about their thoughts and feelings about the stories (as well as many digressions into other topics). Each episode is between 10 and 20 minutes long and will be released in addition to our regular Easy German podcast episodes.

→ Listen to the announcement episode!

If you're a Conversation Member, you're invited to an additional weekly Zoom call for the duration of the Book Club.

The call takes place every Friday at 3 p.m. CEST (see your local timezone here). You'll find the Zoom link to join on Discord.

During the calls, we discuss the week's short story in more depth, and you have a chance to practice your spoken German in a friendly and supportive environment. Depending on the size of the group, we'll split into smaller breakout rooms, so everyone gets a chance to share their thoughts.

Don't worry: We never put anyone on the spot and you can always switch to English if you're missing a word.

If you are already a member and want to upgrade your membership to access additional benefits like bonus podcast episodes or Zoom calls, you can do so through the membership settings on Patreon.

That's completely fine. The Book Club is self-paced, so if you miss a week or fall behind, you can always catch up later. The important thing is to enjoy the process and learn at a pace that's comfortable for you.

Perhaps! Please let us know how you found the experience and if you have any ideas for future improvements. You can also suggest books that might be a good choice for future editions of the program.

If you have a question that we didn't cover in these FAQs, feel free to reach out to us through our contact form or ask in the Discord community. We're here to help!