A lot of people think that it is just a dialect of German, but in fact the difference is far greater than that. Many people mistakenly think that Swiss German is to German what American English is to British English, but nothing could be farther from the truth - the difference is so considerable that Germans will hardly understand a word when they visit.

If you've learned high German you'll be able to slowly figure out some elements of Swiss german from listening to it. It depends how much you are exposed to it. It took me about 18 months before I could follow other conversations, and that was after I was fluent in high German. It takes German natives a couple of months from what I understand. Now don't forget that Swiss German also changes considerably from area to area (and an area in this country is not very big) so you may get used to Zurich, but you'll have trouble elsewhere. The Swiss are used to hiding in their mountains - I think they like it that way

This is a pretty big step to take just to impress someone. I hope you are prepared for the sheer frustration and hard work which is to follow...