Learning German Without a German Teacher: DIY Approaches Reviewed

For anyone studying the German language on their own, the benefits of a German-language news site are obvious. It’s an interesting way to improve your reading comprehension. It enlarges your vocabulary, deepens your understanding of current events in German-speaking countries and, often, offers a different perspective on the United States’ influence in the world. Unless you are an advanced student, though, reading the news can be prohibitively difficult, particularly if the vocabulary is unfamiliar or too specialized. Or, maybe, the topic of an article is too obscure to divine its gist. Fortunately, there are several alternatives to mainstream news sites that can give the ambitious novice the confidence and tools they need to tackle more challenging fare as they progress. One of the best is at  www.nachrichtenleicht.de Nachrichtenleicht  is offered by Germany’s Deutschlandfunk, a state-supported radio broadcaster with a web component. It’s the first of many...