April 4, 2026
Guten Tag or Guten Scam?
Show HN: I built a small app for FSI German Course
Diplomat German gets a glow-up—fans cheer, skeptics smell AI and demand receipts
TLDR: DeTawk, a new web app built on the U.S. diplomats’ FSI German course, launched with Unit 1 free and €5/month for more. Commenters love the no-frills web approach but slam “AI-smelling” copy and bold claims, demanding proof that drills translate into real-world speaking.
Hacker News is spicier than a currywurst today: DeTawk, a web app built on the 1960s Foreign Service Institute German course used to train U.S. diplomats, just dropped. Unit 1 is free, full access is €5/month, and the pitch is blunt: no streaks, no gimmicks, just drills. One early fan cheered, “thanks for not making it a mobile app!” while others dug the old-school, listen-and-repeat grind. But the honeymoon ended fast.
Top critique: the landing page “has very strong LLM-generated smell,” said one user, accusing the sales copy of sounding ChatGPT-y—awkward for a product selling rigor over vibes. Then came the method wars. A veteran voice claimed FSI grads can “read the newspaper” but “cannot order food,” arguing the drill-heavy path creates press-conference German, not street German. And when the page flexed as the “only German course that actually produces speakers,” the crowd pounced. Skeptics laughed and demanded sources, with one calling it “sounds like a scam.” Meanwhile, Duolingo caught strays—its streaks roasted as engagement bait—not learning. The real split is discipline vs. delight: can “boring in the best way” beat neon owls and leaderboards? Beta’s open, the roadmap’s growing, and the comments are already louder than a Berlin club at 2 a.m.
Key Points
- •DeTawk is a German-learning app built on the 24-unit FSI German course; Unit 1 is live and free to start.
- •Subscription costs €5/month to unlock all content; the app is in open beta with no credit card required for Unit 1.
- •The program emphasizes an audio-first, audio-lingual approach with substitution, variation, translation, and response drills.
- •Current content includes Basic Sentences, Pronunciation and Grammar notes, multiple drill types, Conversation Practice, Situations, and a Finder List; free sections include native audio and flashcards.
- •FSI estimates ~750 hours to B2/C1 proficiency; the app is usable on phones but not yet fully optimized for mobile, with improvements on the roadmap.