I discovered the Guardian Weekly in the library of the translator and interpreter institute in Antwerp, Belgium where I studied English and German in the 1980s. From the different magazines and journals I read on a regular basis in the context of my language studies, the GW is the one that stayed. I managed to read it faithfully while I went on to study law, far less so when I started working as a young lawyer, combined with being a young mum as of the mid-1990s.
Through my work, I am in touch with people from all over Europe, communicating in four different languages on a daily basis. This, plus the window on the world provided by the Weekly, helps me to feel very international even though I only leave Europe when on holiday or, as now, accompanying my husband on a sabbatical at New York University.
I have recently become a Guardian member, having taken up the habit of reading the Guardian App on my tablet. But being able to follow what is happening by the minute for me still doesn’t beat reading the selection put together in the Weekly.
I used to read front to back, but having learned of alternative GW reading habits, I now often find myself reading the back cover first, then moving to Oliver Burkeman and someone’s real thoughts and checking who is this week’s fellow GW reader. Keep up the good work!
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