\documentclass{article}
%\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage[pdftex,active,tightpage]{preview}

\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}
\begin{preview}

\newlength{\alignsize}
\setlength{\alignsize}{0.5cm}
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\tikzstyle{english}=[minimum height=\alignsize, anchor = south west, node distance=\alignsize, text width =3cm, inner sep = 0pt, outer sep = 0pt]
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\node[english] (e2) [below of = e1] {declare};
\node[english] (e3) [below of = e2]  {resumed};
\node[english] (e4) [below of = e3]  {the};
\node[english] (e5) [below of = e4]  {session};
\node[english] (e6) [below of = e5]  {of};
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\node[english] (e8) [below of = e7]  {european};
\node[english] (e9) [below of = e8]  {parliament};
\node[english] (e10) [below of = e9]  {adjourned};
\node[english] (e11) [below of = e10]  {on};
\node[english] (e12) [below of = e11]  {thursday};
\node[english] (e13) [below of = e12]  {,};
\node[english] (e14) [below of = e13]  {28};
\node[english] (e15) [below of = e14]  {march};
\node[english] (e16) [below of = e15]  {1996};
\node[english] (e17) [below of = e16]  {.};
\node[foreign] (f1) at (0,23.5*\alignsize) {ich};
\node[foreign] (f2) [below of = f1] {erkl\"are};
\node[foreign] (f3) [below of = f2] {die};
\node[foreign] (f4) [below of = f3] {am};
\node[foreign] (f5) [below of = f4] {donnerstag};
\node[foreign] (f6) [below of = f5] {,};
\node[foreign] (f7) [below of = f6] {den};
\node[foreign] (f8) [below of = f7] {28.};
\node[foreign] (f9) [below of = f8] {marz};
\node[foreign] (f10) [below of = f9] {1996};
\node[foreign] (f11) [below of = f10] {unterbrochene};
\node[foreign] (f12) [below of = f11] {sitzungsperiode};
\node[foreign] (f13) [below of = f12] {des};
\node[foreign] (f14) [below of = f13] {Europ\"aischen};
\node[foreign] (f15) [below of = f14] {parlaments};
\node[foreign] (f16) [below of = f15] {f\"ur};
\node[foreign] (f17) [below of = f16] {wiederaufgenommen};
\node[foreign] (f18) [below of = f17] {.};
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{preview}
\end{document}
