Have found the most definitive answer to Twain's opinion of the German language to be the article that appears in Rasmussen's _Mark Twain A to Z_. There is a rather lengthy entry on this topic. (In fact, I have found that the _A to Z_ volume appears to answer about 95% of most Twain questions that I could have dreamed up to submit to this forum.) One other source for Twain and German that I recall is Clara's book _My Husband, Gabrilowitsch_. A view straight from someone within the family-- don't have the passage in front of me or I'd post it. Barb