Calling all English speaking expatriates…

How long have you been living in Switzerland?

Do you still use more English than German with your day-to-day tasks? If your answer is yes, read on…

We’re all aware of the reasons why… almost everyone in the world can, at least to some extent, speak English. That makes such things like international travel so easy for us, but to integrate in a country where English is not the national language… then it gets complicated.

My mother-tongue is also English and I know how difficult it can be to learn High-German in Switzerland (where the nationals would rather speak to you in either English or Swiss German).

But I have good news for you… when I came to Switzerland 3 years ago, I couldn’t speak a word of German (except for, maybe, “Danke” and “Gesundheit”). 3 years later, both my High-German and Swiss German (Züritüütsch – Zürich Deutsch) are fluent. I hardly ever speak English anymore – I have been totally accepted by the Swiss community as a person who, although a foreigner, communicates in Swiss German.

I would like to help my fellow English speaking allies achieve this same success – namely, true integration in Switzerland. I am a CELTA qualified English teacher (and German to English translator), and have been teaching English in Switzerland for almost 2 years now, so have the necessary training, know-how and experience to successfully and dynamically teach languages.

My newest educational project is teaching both High-German and Swiss German to English speaking expatriates…

Course overview:
1.“Bridging the gap between High-German and Swiss German 1” (best suited to those who have very little to no knowledge of High-German).

2.“Bridging the gap between High-German and Swiss German 2” (for those with an approximate A1/A2 level in High-German).


Bridging the gap between High-German and Swiss German 1 (Beginners)
Small class (minimum 2, maximum 6 students).

6 month semi-intensive course (4 hours per week, split into 2 hours per day – every Tuesday for 2 hours and every Thursday for 2 hours, for example – with a two-week break corresponding with the national school holidays in Switzerland).

The first 4 months focusing on High-German (with the main emphasis on conversation/speaking, but also time spent on grammar, reading, writing and naturally listening exercises).

A short “progress test” every 5th lesson, to ensure students are keeping up with the pace of the course and, for me, to highlight common problem areas worthy of repetition in future lessons.

The final 2 months bridging the gap between High-German and Swiss German. (Again, with the main emphasis on speaking, but also sufficient time spent on pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. I do have some reading material written in Swiss German which we would also make use of).

You would begin at Level A1, and emerge with a B1/B2 level in both High-German and Swiss German.

The classes would take place in Wädenswil (Canton Zürich), unless an interested party has sufficient, quiet, well-lit and well-equipped office space in Zürich which we could use for free.

For those who are interested, field trips (at a small additional cost) to several wineries in Switzerland could also be organised, together with the occasional dinner with my Swiss husband, family and friends (providing you with multiple opportunities outside the classroom to practice your High- and Swiss German).


Bridging the gap between High-German and Swiss German 2 (A1/A2 level)
Small class (minimum 2, maximum 6 students).

4 month semi-intensive course (4 hours per week, split into 2 hours per day – every Tuesday for 2 hours and Thursday for 2 hours, for example – with a two-week break corresponding with the national school holidays in Switzerland).

The first 2 months focusing on High-German (with the main emphasis on conversation/speaking, but also time spent on grammar, reading, writing and naturally listening exercises).

The final 2 months bridging the gap between High-German and Swiss German. (Again, with the main emphasis on speaking, but also sufficient time spent on pronunciation, vocabulary grammar and listening exercises. I do have some reading material written in Swiss German which we would also make use of).

You would begin at Level A1/A2, and emerge with a B2 level in both High-German and Swiss German.

The classes would take place in Wädenswil (Canton Zürich), unless an interested party has sufficient, quiet, well-lit and well-equipped office space in Zürich which we could use for free.

For those who are interested, field trips (at a small additional cost) to several wineries in Switzerland could also be organised, together with the occasional dinner with my Swiss husband, family and friends (providing you with multiple opportunities outside the classroom to practice your High- and Swiss German).


My idea is especially unique, in that it incorporates the learning of both High-German and Swiss German in the one course. No other language school in Switzerland offers this. Although I am not mother-tongue German (or Swiss), as a fellow English speaker I can share with you my plethora of tips on how to bridge the gap between English and German. As we all know, it is not worth it just learning Swiss German – only learning Swiss German means you are unable to read or write (amongst other things), and these are two very important and essential life skills. The only way to really, successfully learn Swiss German is to have a sound knowledge of High-German first (although that may sound nonsensical, it is fact). It is possible to learn both languages in Switzerland – and I would really like to help you achieve this success.

To obtain a course prospectus/for more information, please contact me per PM. For those who are interested, spread the word and see if you can also find other people who would like to take part in either of these courses. I am totally flexible with respect to which days of the week and at what time the course could take place (mornings, afternoons and evenings are all fine for me). A minimum of 2 students (maximum of 6) is required to get either course off the ground, and the more people that take part, the lower the course fees per person will be.

Here’s hoping I’ve inspired you – thanks for taking the time to read this essay! Really looking forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,
Lianne
www.liannefatzer.ch

Price list here for those wondering: http://www.liannefatzer.ch/en/langua...s/9-price-list

I don't see any fixed course prices, only hourly prices... is this correct?

If 1 hour is 40 CHF for adults then providing there are 4 hours a week for 4 months would that not be a total course price of: 64 * 40 = 2560 CHF?

Bellingua is 115CHF per week for a 16 week course, which equals 1840 CHF... much cheaper if my calculations are correct, and Bellingua has an excellent reputation.

OF course if this was FREE otherwise it wouldn't have been in the commercial section?

I see Richdog has now added the prices but I think you summed up the ability to speak Swiss German in paragraph 17 or was it 18 when you said 'My Swiss husband'.

Its a little easier to feel confident checking your grammar with a husband than it is with the man in the post office. Well done anyway and the classes look great.

Hi everyone and sorry for the confusion regarding the costs of the course. In hindsight, I shouldn't have added the link to my website - I am updating it at the moment and those prices are not current.

The 4 month course I have described would cost CHF 1,200 per person for a class of 6, and the 6 month course would cost CHF 1,700 per person for a class of 6. In comparing my course to those at private language schools, to keep in mind is that normally 1 lesson with them consists only of 45 minutes. My course consists of 120 minutes - so 240 minutes per week. I don't know if the Bellingua course mentioned meets only once a week or twice...

@ Portsmouth68 - thanks for your feedback - happy to know you think the course outline looks good. Point taken - I do have an advantage, in that my husband is Swiss. But I started out at the post office with just as little confidence as any person learning a new language - and I've always gone to the post office alone.

Bellingua is 2x 120mins per week... evenings... so also 240 mins. Full info here http://www.bellingua.ch/index.php/la...-school-zurich

Up-date your location?

Regardless of the price (I've not yet done much research into this, despite promising that it would be one of the first things I do when I arrived mid January) the course description does sound good.

Shame it's not in Basel.

@Longbyt - I live in Canton Wallis at the moment but will soon be moving to Zürich. Is that what you meant with your message?

Yes... have a lot to update on my website at the moment!

I admire your course description, and I wish you success, but I think to reach B2 from A1 (four levels) in six months is quite a push for most language learners. Most evening classes which I looked at here (mine were 3 hours per week) will "promise" one CEFR level about 8 months to one year.

I cannot afford it, and have no desire whatsoever to integrate with the natives of this part of Europe, but it's an excellent idea.

Good luck with it!

does the swiss german has a differnet grammer from the high german? and
is it also part of the studies?

High German in 4 months? Conversion to Swiss-German in two months?
Can someone pl-e-e-e-e-e-a-se confirm that this is a 1st April joke?

Sounds great but I think I will have to rely on the more 'cost-effective' Migros course at CHF594. And in Basel.

Love the promise of being that fluent in either High German OR Swiss German in 4-6 months!!! Have a suspicion I will not be quite so fabulous....

Maybe the OP will run and English course too.

I hope the new venture works out, but sadly it's oout of my price bracket.

Papa,or Papi or better Papito,
get a life....

As you've criticised someone else's language and/or typing, you'd better hope yours is perfect now.

I agree.

Quite pedantic.

Any road, A question to the OP. When do you start and how many people do you have interested so far?

Dinae yer speak Scotish ken

That's better

Guys, I'd be grateful if you could find another playground and leave the Commercial Forum alone.

A comment that you think this learning curve would be a bit steep is one thing, going way off-topic is another.

And please stand in a nice queue to give me bad rep and groans!