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We all know intuitively that the internet spans the global community, yet we live in our linguistic ghettos even as we talk to someone a continent away.
Often a story breaks in a place like France or Japan, and we rush to their newspapers to read about it, only to be frustrated because rusty school-level French can't cope with the sophisticated prose of Le Monde. Google's translate feature is terrible, so we make do with versions of the story in the English press, which are often inaccurate (it takes just one British or American journalist to make a mistake with their translation, and every language-challenged journalist will blindly copy what they wrote).
However, a growing number of foreign newspapers are making available translated versions of their papers, and what's more, employing proper translators to produce them. This page lists the English versions of these foreign newspapers
Often a story breaks in a place like France or Japan, and we rush to their newspapers to read about it, only to be frustrated because rusty school-level French can't cope with the sophisticated prose of Le Monde. Google's translate feature is terrible, so we make do with versions of the story in the English press, which are often inaccurate (it takes just one British or American journalist to make a mistake with their translation, and every language-challenged journalist will blindly copy what they wrote).
However, a growing number of foreign newspapers are making available translated versions of their papers, and what's more, employing proper translators to produce them. This page lists the English versions of these foreign newspapers
German Newspapers
* Bild is a German daily tabloid, which is the best selling newspaper in Europe, and the seventh largest circulation paper in the world. It leans towards the populist centre-right. They have an English version of the Bild. To see the German version, click here.
* Der Spiegel is a German weekly magazine (Der Spiegel means "The Mirror"). It leans slightly centre-right and has a reputation for campaigning and investigative journalism. Here is the link for the English version of De Spiegel. If you fancy trying the German version, click here.
* Deutche Welle is Germany's international broadcaster (a bit like a German version of the BBC World Service). Their website supports a large number of languages. Here is the English version of Deutche Welle. The site offers a lot more than news - for instance they have German language learning modules on their site for those who wish to learn.
* Sign and Sight is the English version of the German cultural magazine Perlentaucher
* Expatica Germany is an online newspaper for expats in Germany, which is written in English. It covers the daily German headlines plus includes articles relevant to expats in Germany.
* Der Spiegel is a German weekly magazine (Der Spiegel means "The Mirror"). It leans slightly centre-right and has a reputation for campaigning and investigative journalism. Here is the link for the English version of De Spiegel. If you fancy trying the German version, click here.
* Deutche Welle is Germany's international broadcaster (a bit like a German version of the BBC World Service). Their website supports a large number of languages. Here is the English version of Deutche Welle. The site offers a lot more than news - for instance they have German language learning modules on their site for those who wish to learn.
* Sign and Sight is the English version of the German cultural magazine Perlentaucher
* Expatica Germany is an online newspaper for expats in Germany, which is written in English. It covers the daily German headlines plus includes articles relevant to expats in Germany.
Japanese newspapers
* Yomuiri Shimbun is a daily Japanese newspaper based in Tokyo. They publish an english version The Daily Yomuiri. If you can read Japanese characters, you might like to try Yomuiri Shimbun in it's original Japanese.
* Asahi Shimbun is the second-largest circulation daily paper in Japan, also based in Tokyo. The have an online English version. You can also visit the Japanese paper here.
* Mainichi Shimbun is the third-largest circualtion daily in Japan. You can read the online English version and view the Japanese version here.
* Asahi Shimbun is the second-largest circulation daily paper in Japan, also based in Tokyo. The have an online English version. You can also visit the Japanese paper here.
* Mainichi Shimbun is the third-largest circualtion daily in Japan. You can read the online English version and view the Japanese version here.
French Newspapers
* Le Monde diplomatique is a French monthly magazine (not to be confused with Le Monde the daily newspaper) that leans towards the centre-left. It is part of the Le Monde stable.. Here is the English version of Le Monde Diplomatique. If you wish to see how fluent your French is, you can visit the French version of Le Monde diplomatique. They also have editions in German, Spanish and Italian amongst other languages.
* Expatica France is an online newspaper for Expats in France, and naturally you can read Expatica in English. It not only covers the daily French headlines, but also stories relevant to expats living in France.
* Alas Le Monde, Liberation and Le Figaro do not come in English (or any other language versions apart from French).
* Expatica France is an online newspaper for Expats in France, and naturally you can read Expatica in English. It not only covers the daily French headlines, but also stories relevant to expats living in France.
* Alas Le Monde, Liberation and Le Figaro do not come in English (or any other language versions apart from French).
Italian newspapers
* Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper based in Milan. It's "centre-left" only in the sense that it doesn't support Berlusconi's far-right government (right wing publications in other countries would thus be "left" in Italy). Here's the English version of Corriere della Sera
Spanish Newspapers
* El Pais is Spain's largest circulation daily paper. The produce a PDF English version in conjunction with the International Herald Tribune. To read the online paper in Spanish click El Pais.
* Expatica Spain has an online newspaper in English for expats living in Spain. It covers daily Spanish headlines as well as articles relevant to expats in Spain.
* Expatica Spain has an online newspaper in English for expats living in Spain. It covers daily Spanish headlines as well as articles relevant to expats in Spain.
Dutch Newspapers
NRC Handelsblad is a daily evening newspaper published in Amsterdam. ,
Expatica Netherlands is the online newspaper in English for expats living in the Netherlands. It covers Dutch headlines and news as well as having features for expats in the Netherlands.
Expatica Netherlands is the online newspaper in English for expats living in the Netherlands. It covers Dutch headlines and news as well as having features for expats in the Netherlands.
Belgian newspapers
Expatica Belgium is a free online newspaper in English for expats in Belgium. It features news headlines from Belgium as well as articles and information on expat living in Belgium.
Swiss Newspapers
Expatica Switzerland is a free online newspaper in English for expats in Switzerland. It features news headlines from Switzerland as well as articles and information on expat living in there.
The Swisster is a daily Swiss newspaper in English that is affiliated with the newspaper Tribune de Geneve.
The Swisster is a daily Swiss newspaper in English that is affiliated with the newspaper Tribune de Geneve.
Learning languages
If reading the above newspapers has inspired you to learn the languages themselves, here are some language courses to get you started.
When learning languages, practice is everything. Try reading the newspapers listed above in their original languages, and check your progress by comparing to the translated editions.
When learning languages, practice is everything. Try reading the newspapers listed above in their original languages, and check your progress by comparing to the translated editions.
French 101 (Learn to Speak French with The Travel Linguist)
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 12/09/2009) 
German 101 (Learn to Speak German with The Travel Linguist)
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 12/09/2009)
Italian 101 (Learn to Speak Italian with The Travel Linguist)
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 12/09/2009)
Japanese 101 (Learn to Speak Japanese with The Travel Linguist)
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 12/09/2009)
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