Reading

1. I always think it’s a really good idea to try and match up your German learning with your own personal interests. So, if you’re interested in dance or football or music or whatever, try to find an online version of a magazine that you will read for pleasure. Once you’ve found the online version, you will often find it you can download full individual issues via an app. Actually getting a paper copy is quite fun too.
2. Reading the news will never do you any harm – see the section on the German press for possible newspapers, but Deutsche Welle, Das Erste (TV) and ZDF (TV) websites will also have plenty. One of my favourite is Euronews which comes in seven or eight languages, but I couldn’t get to work this morning.
3. Simplified books. Versions of German classics, rewritten in simpler language, are absolutely fine for speedy reading – the more you read, the more you cover, the more will go in.
4. It’s quite a good idea to read in German a book that you’ve read in English, as you already have an idea of plot and character. Actually reading the German alongside the English is a pretty good idea as well.
5. Don’t feel that you have to read “serious” books, but do so if you wish to.

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