[hansvm]

I might. I hardly know anything about the German language though right now. Do you have a rough sense of how much I'd need to study to be able to supplement with automatic tools and do something useful with German sources (50hrs, 500, ...)?

[zxexz]

Probably closer to 50 than 500, assuming you've done something similar before and you have "native" proficiency with another germanic language. Honestly, just read the Dover First German Reader, watch a few TV shows end to end with captions a couple times, turning them off and on and rewinding whenever. Read some german-language forums, and watch some German language talks. That won't get you anywhere near conversational proficiency nor develop any speaking skills, but more than enough to get great value out of written text and a lot of talks, especially with some tools to help.