Simple language
Simple language is a very new discipline that is still in its early days. Texts in simple language enable people with reading or spelling difficulties to better access information. The recipients of simple language are often very diverse; this heterogeneous group includes people with learning difficulties, visual impairments and mental disabilities as well as people with only little knowledge of German.
In addition to special approaches on the word, sentence and text levels (e.g. special spellings and wordings), content in simple language must also be presented in a certain way. Among others, the amount of information provided on each page, need for additional explanations and selection of suitable images must be considered.
When I prepare texts in simple German, I follow the recommendations of the research centre for simple language (Forschungsstelle Leichte Sprache, FLS) based at the University of Hildesheim. This research centre is the German leader in this field. For more information on simple language, see the research centre website (available only in German):
If desired, test groups can be used to check readers’ comprehension of texts written in simple language.