These days more than ever, our eyes are on the news. Finding reliable sources is so essential for keeping up to date with politics, following the weather and the environment, and learning about society and culture.

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As we know from a previous lesson, die Nachricht can mean "the message," but also refers to the news. Note that "the news" is singular in English, but plural in German.

Die Nachrichten über den Krieg in der Ukraine seien schwer zu ertragen.

The news about the war in Ukraine is hard to bear.

Caption 21, Private Hilfe auf dem Bahnsteig: Berliner helfen Ukrainern

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Many people get their news from newspapers, whether in print or online. Some German newspapers include Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and Süddeutsche Zeitung. There are also political magazines like Der Spiegel with articles on current events.

Ich hab Zeitung gelesen und mich in den Artikel vertieft.

I was reading the newspaper, immersing myself in the article.

Caption 8, O du fröhliche: Flashmob in der Straßenbahn

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Du schaust eine Zeitschrift an oder eine Zeitung und dann gibt es Anzeige für ein Auto, Anzeige für ein Parfüm.

You are looking at a magazine or a newspaper and then there is an ad for a car, an ad for a perfume.

Captions 10-11, Deutschkurs in Tübingen: Was braucht der Mensch?

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Ha, traurig, was manche Leute für eine Schlagzeile tun.

Ha, sad what some people do for a headline.

Caption 58, Lerchenberg: Hitlers Hundeführer

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Of course, many people also get their news from television or radio. The word die Sendung can be used to describe either a television show or a radio broadcast. A news show can be referred to as die Nachrichtensendung.

Hallo, hallo. Ich bin der Moderator dieser Sendung.

Hello, hello. I'm the host of this show.

Caption 27, Lerchenberg: Du bist, was du isst

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Whether you read or listen to your news is not as important as making sure the source of the news is reliable: 

Das sagte Merkel am Donnerstag. [Quelle]

That's what Merkel said on Thursday. [Source]

Caption 6, Angela Merkel: Solidarität der Generationen in Coronakrise

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Further Learning
Keep an eye on the series Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten and visit Yabla German for an overview of current events. 

In English, we have the words "simple," "easy," "difficult," and "hard." German similarly has its own adjectives with nuanced meanings. You have likely seen einfach used both as an adjective most often meaning either "simple," "basic," or "easy," and also as an adverb meaning "simply," "basically," or "just." 

Im Grunde ist es also ganz einfach.

So basically it's quite simple.

Caption 34, Deutsch mit Eylin: Doppellaute

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Natürlich kann man auch einfach nur spazieren gehen.

Of course, one can also simply just go for a walk.

Caption 10, Berlin: Eva im Viktoriapark

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The adjective schwierig can also mean "tricky" more than truly hard or difficult. 

Und es ist schwierig, diese Dinge anzusprechen.

And it is difficult to talk about things.

Caption 37, Die Wohngemeinschaft: Probleme

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You may have noticed that the same adjectives used to describe weight apply to ease and difficulty. The adjective leicht  also means "light" (again, this is in terms of weight, not in terms of color, which would be hell). The adjective schwer has a whole host of meanings, including "heavy," "difficult," "severe," "grave," and "arduous." 

Sie bleiben gerne in der Deckung umgestürzter Bäume, wo sie der Hecht nicht so leicht erwischt.

They like to stay under the cover of fallen trees, where the pike can't catch them so easily.

Captions 17-18, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten

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„Nichts leichter als das“, antwortete Frederick.

"Nothing easier than that!" answered Frederick.

Caption 4, Piggeldy und Frederick: Aufräumen

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Die können sich noch an andere schwere Zeiten erinnern.

They can still remember other difficult times.

Caption 11, Angela Merkel: Solidarität der Generationen in Coronakrise

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Clueso lässt sich immer noch schwer einordnen.

Clueso still remains difficult to categorize.

Caption 41, Clueso: ist endlich erwachsen

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Sie sehen als Erste die Kranken und wie schwer manche Verläufe der Infektion sind.

You are the first to see the sick and how severe some courses of the infection are.

Captions 6-7, Coronavirus: Fernsehansprache von Angela Merkel

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There's one more word that should be mentioned, which is the adjective simpel. Be careful: this word does mean "simple," but is also used negatively to express that something is simplistic or limited. 

Es ist eigentlich ganz simpel.

It is actually very simple.

Caption 34, Deutschkurs in Tübingen: Verben der 2. Kategorie

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Further Learning
When you see one of these adjectives in a sentence on Yabla German, ask yourself whether one of the others could be swapped in. Sometimes something will be either leicht, einfach, or simpel, but not all three, and the same goes for schwierig and schwer.