Hi Oldhand

It`s not the Swiss German that`s the problem but High German. I thought my children were reasonably fluent in both until the decision on where they would go for Secondary School. We then discovered, rather too late, that they still didn`t have enough depth of vocabulary and understanding of grammar in their High German. If a child goes through the Swiss system here their German needs to be as good as a first language. Perhaps it`s better for the children who arrive later as they learn High German first.