- What exactly is Übungszeit?
- A classroom-style website for practicing German across four skills — Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking — at every level from A1 to C1. Helfen, the school's tutor, is with you on every page.
- Do I need an account to try it?
- No. You can browse everything and try the sample set in each section as a guest. A free account opens all Reading and Listening sets, adds daily allowances, and lets Helfen remember your progress and weak spots.
- What are the daily allowances, and what counts against them?
- Each account gets a daily allowance of graded sets, Helfen assists and speaking minutes. Submitting an exercise for grading counts as one set; each question you ask Helfen counts as one assist; speaking minutes count while you talk. Reading, browsing and replaying audio are always free. Your remaining allowance is shown on the Classrooms and Progress pages, and everything resets at midnight (UTC).
- Is this a replacement for a course or an app like Duolingo?
- No — it's the practice they don't give you. Keep learning German however you like; come here to actually use it, across all four skills, and get corrected kindly.
- How does Helfen help?
- Ask Helfen anything from the corner of any page — a word, a rule, a hint — and get a warm answer with examples. When you make a mistake in an exercise, Helfen explains it clearly rather than just marking it wrong. In speaking, you choose whether corrections come live or at the end, and if you drift away from the scenario, Helfen gently steers you back.
- Will this get me a certificate (Goethe, TELC, TestDaF)?
- No. Übungszeit follows the CEFR levels so your practice lines up with how German is taught, but it is not exam preparation and makes no certification promises. It is built to help you understand and absorb the language.
- Where does the content come from?
- We write it all ourselves — every story, exercise and prompt is original to Übungszeit, chosen to be interesting and relatable, because that is how a language actually sticks.
- Where is my data stored, and is my voice recorded?
- Your account and practice history live in the European Union (Frankfurt). Speech recognition runs on EU servers; your speech is transcribed to text and your audio recording is not stored — only the transcript is kept so Helfen can coach you. See the Privacy page for the details.
- What do the paid plans add?
- Scholar ($12/mo) unlocks all Writing sets and raises your daily allowances of graded sets and Helfen assists. Master ($20/mo) adds generous daily Speaking practice on top — real spoken conversation with Helfen. Both keep everything in Free; the free plan remains genuinely useful every day.