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| And why is the article wrong nevertheless ? Because what you state already was stated by people back in 1975. And those who then were 30 years old, now are, due to natural aging, 65 years old ! The reason for this is not that the young do not learn French in school, but A) that the French they learn in school is only of theoretical value and B) that French in most of German speaking Switzerland is exceedingly unpopular among the young. Why the change over the years ? People relax, people on holidays or professional stays abroad find their French suddenly useful, people on excursions to the Romandie find out their French to be miles better than the German of the Romands, etc. I am btw. quite certain that many of those "youngish" Swiss German-speakers you met, when on visit to Geneva suddenly DO speak French, sure not the language of Voltaire, but "Bundes-Franz" but French nevertheless  | |
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If this is the case I can't know it apparently given my age and the fact that I've only been here for less than 1,5 year. I just wanted to add my experience.
Edit: thanks for the link Russkov.