Part of my motivation was that she once said how much she missed being able to speak in her own language (she's been in U.S. for 2-3 years). I know it will probably always be easier for her to speak to me in English, but I wanted to make a gesture by trying to learn her language. I also thought it would be nice if she could speak to her friends/family in a more comfortable language for them, with me at least semi-understanding their conversation.

I didn't speak to her about it because I wanted to surprise her.

If I learnt High German well, then is Swiss German something I'd eventually just pick up with assimilation? I didn't realize that the languages were so distinct.

Thanks again for all this.