burgfräulein
I got as far as the letter O with German flashcards, and then I freaked out and revolted. I can't learn any more words out of context—they just rattle around my brain like coins in a dryer. From now on I will read newspapers in German and learn P through Z incidentally.
They tell me Die Zeit is the best, although it's more like an in-depth weekly and the sentence structure is a step up from your typical paper, even if it isn't Adorno. There's a deeply strange article on Condoleeza Rice here. You knew that she is the first person Bush sees in the morning and the last at night, but did you know that she has her own little guest house (Gästehäuschen) at the Crawford ranch, that she and the president watch football and work out and pray together, that they are hardly apart except when she has to go to her chamber orchestra rehearsal? Babelfish is probably inadequate for Die Zeit, but this coming week, as a) language practice and b) in order to fulfill this site's pledge to Bring More Germany to You, I'll be doing some inadequate translations. Peeved Germans are better than peeved me.
