http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071114/od_nm/language_dc

Wed Nov 14, 11:10 AM ET


ZURICH (Reuters) - A 70-year old German seeking Swiss citizenship was told to go back to school to learn his own native tongue despite being proficient in German, a Swiss newspaper said.

The Swiss town of Dielsdorf ordered Ulrich Kring -- who lived in Switzerland his entire life but is only now applying for citizenship -- to take a German language course to the tune of 250 Swiss francs ($222.6), the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper said.
The class was obligatory for all foreigners seeking a Swiss passport and the town would not make an exception for the German national, the newspaper said.
Kring had lodged an appeal against the decision with a higher local authority, but had not had a reply yet.
Roughly two-thirds of Switzerland's 7.5 million inhabitants are German speakers. Many German nationals find the Swiss spoken dialect hard to understand, although the official written language taught in schools is the same as in Germany.
There is a hot debate about immigration in Switzerland, where some 20 percent of the population are foreigners, and some newspapers have criticized the big influx of immigrants from neighboring Germany.
(Reporting by Douwe Miedema; editing by Sami Aboudi)

the funny thing is that the letter the Dielsdorf d*ckheads have sent him contains wrong german grammar. nutters, all of ' em!

So me who speaks Salsaloveriitüüscht, will have no chance with those authorities ?

I'd like to see the actual TA article. I was wondering if this was maybe an automatic letter that they sent out to everyone.

What I read is that the guy wrote back to the Gemeinde to explain that he was a native german speaker born and growth in Switzerland, and they sent him to an obligatory German course and exam costing CHF 250, because he made some grammar errors in his letter....

Hahaha, someone's got a red face in that community

I can't find the Tages-Anzeiger article on their website, but what the story says is that all applicants for naturalizationin that Gemeinde must complete a "Standortbestimmung," made up of a German class and one on government, to the tune of Sfr 250.- each.

Kring asked to be dismissed from the Standortbestimmung and is currently appealling. I should say this seems to be an issue specific to Dielsdorf. Tagi says the local government's insistence on the Standortbestimmung runs afoul of cantonal law.

It's possible to find 4 articles on the subject on the Tagi website but only in their archive which costs.

Apparently what's funny is that he shouldn't do just an exam but a course. This all started in Ostermundigen, BE of course.

It's so funny 'cos normally if you are a native speaker you are prevented from taking language proficiency exams.

Another example of punctilliousness?

it was on at 20min.ch too.
and it was not because HE made grammar mistakes.
its just the obligation, set up radomly.

maybe some overeager svp major?!

http://www.20min.ch/tools/suchen/story/20171836