We're currently living in Illnau, Kanton Zurich (have been there for a year) and have now decided to buy a place in Switzerland. We love Illnau but getting along with English is quite hard as nearly all our neighbours are Swiss. We are both learning (erm... trying to ..) German and our four year old boy should be going to kindergarden next year (not much German learnt in first year - he went to a bi-lingual school) but learning it will be a long process. The one year old seems to have less issues than us all ! ;-)

We were considering a place close to Winterthur so that in a couple of months when the young one grows a bit more my wife could potentially work, and also just to be able to ingerate better.

Does any of you have any experience of Winterthur and how English-friendly it is? Or any other places suggested?

As I said we still want to learn German well eventually but having the locals know some English helps alot.. as most of you probably know!

Any experiences of the close-by kindergardens are also appreciated.

We are mainly considering the Pfaffikon/Uster/Bulach/Winterthur areas of Zurich.

Vielen Danke

Well I don't find that very many people living in Winterthur speak english. My realtives all live there and not one of them can speak english, but I will say probably the people will have one or two sentence they can put together.

Pfaffikon, Uster, and Bulach won't be much more english-friendly than Illnau. Though your question is pretty confusing, as you already essentially live in the Winterthur area, closer than Pfaffikon, Uster, or Bulach. Winterthur, being a larger city, naturally has more english speakers, but finding a job there without speaking German won't be particularly easy.

There are numerous groups for English speakers in Winterthur and the region. A Meetup group for socializing, an International Club that is geared more toward networking, a moms n' tots group for children, a cricket club (etc). There is also an International School. As well as bi-lingual preschools, etc.

Uster has the WAC, which has an English speaking preschool as well as many playgroups and classes meeting during the week. And of course Uster/Pfäffikon have the lakes and great mountain views! Even if you send your older one to Swiss school, I would say for an English speaking mother - you would make more friends at the WAC than in Winti, surprisingly.

I suppose you will encounter more English speaking Swiss in Winterthur than in Illnau/region, but in your daily life, you will still want to know/understand German. There are a few big companies that employ English speakers in Winti, I suppose it really depends on what type of work your wife does.

I think Winti is great, and that it has more advantages over living in Zurich (larger well stocked grocery stores, more access to nature, bike friendly, museums, child friendly) but if your only reason to leave Illnau is to be around more English speaking people, I'm not sure you will be as satisfied as if you were moving for some of the other reasons. You can still be friends with English speakers no matter where you decide to move to.

hope this helps.

Thanks for you help!! Yes, true I thinnk Illnau is in fact already not too far away from Winterthur and the WAC in Uster etc are rather close.

I think it might be a case of the immediate neihbours then... we just happen to be the only foreigners in the immediate 3/4 roads.

My wife is a hairdresser so my thoughts with Winterthur were that she would be able to do that kind of work in English, as in the small villages I guess it would be mostly in German. Although as I said, our German is coming along.. It's just soo hard!

You ought to have my neighbours - excellent english - Haldenrainstrasse 18

Feel free to pop round for a cuppa. We've been here 5 yrs and are sad to leave but hubby is now working in geneve so needs must.

Zazu goo dluck. I live in an extreme small village (apparently 800 people in total, incl kids). So, when we moved here, we moved for the area, and decided that no matter what, we WILL make it work for us.
have been here now 2 years, and my child went to a private school at first - which was way to much driving in the end - and so this year, we have moved to the normal swiss school, and I am more in my own area, than to be on the road driving to and from schools.Anyway...I have always thought that my village are extreme Swiss, and meaning by that, the language...but now my child goes to normal school here, and so many of the moms have called up and asked if my child can come and play there, and when I struggle a bit with some of the words, are quick to say that they wish to speak English, and can speak it, but that they want to 'exercise' their english.
So, my point is...I have been pleasantly surprised as to how many people do understand english, BUT...you HAVE to show the effort to them that you are willing to try your german, that you are willing to give everything a try.
Move to the area that you wish, you will always find a new friend, always will find an english person, or even will find Swiss speaking people, that are willing to give you a chance and might even speak English after all, they are just to shy!...at best, you will have the EF always
good luck

Ah, well if you just want to be around more foreigners than, yes - Winterthur will be more diverse. Especially in the Töss and Oberwinterthur areas.

Now, whether those foreigners will speak English is a whole other matter!

I'm living in Winterthur (specifically located between Oberwinterthur and Grüze). I've found that socially it's much more interesting than small-town Switzerland, but thankfully it's also a bit quieter and easier to get around in than Zürich. Lot's of easy-to-access shopping. I go everywhere in the area by bike and public transport, and I just generally like the vibe here. Because of the great number of engineering firms in the area there are loads of young professionals, most of which speak English. In my building alone, so far I have met three other English speaking households.

We have a small ski area just 35 minutes away in Gibswil as well.

You're wife may want to investigate the new hair salon that is being set up in our neighborhood. PM me if you want some details. Good luck!

I used to live in Winterthur more than 40 years ago: obviously things have changed drastically since then, but we still visit. There was a large core of English-mother tonuge people working at Sulzer but the company has gone down the tube since then and so people have left or retired.
Winterthur has a huge variety of different things to do. It's friendlier than Zuerich too [well, we thought so]. There used to be a long-standing joke "what's the best thing in Winterthur"? Answer = The Fast Train to Zuerich.
But having lived there for more than 6 years, those of us who were resident did not agree with this statement. There are lots of hairdressers in W'thur, however, communication is an essential part of that trade so it would be advantageous to say the least to speak some Schwiizertuutsch. Keep trying. Good luck. Buy now whilst prices are low!

My wife and I had a look last weekend in Winterthur and had good first impressions: a nice small town, more lively than Zurich on a Sunday, with a good variety of shops/restaurants and a few places to have a drink.

The atmosphere felt less tight, more open than Zurich (live here since 3.5 years). The responses in this thread are encouraging when it comes to making some english-speaking contacts in Winterthur.
We'll probably start having a look at the market to buy a house in Winterthur in about a year or so!
Any tips you have on real estate agents in Winterthur are much appreciated! Cheers from Zurich.

You could live in Winterthur and still be part of the WAC. Personally I prefer Uster, the peole there just seemed to be more 'Zurich mentality'. Winterthur still has a ' we are not Zurich people mentality'

However, if you do go there, vist Bruederhaus, walk up the fire tower for great views. Then onto Kyburg castle. Then go to the other side of the family

Viti the at museum ' am romerholz' full of van Gogh's etc. See Sulzer, and the rest of Winterthur in the valley below, then have a drink under the trees in the restaurant. Those are my nicest memories of Winterthur.

Also there are some residential pockets where the have lower taxes. Ask where they are.

I've lived in Winterthur for seven months now, and have visited a bunch of cities in Northern Switzerland, and really can honestly say I love it here. It is easy to get around, and if you want to leave, all the major trains come through here. There are a ton of museums in Winterthur, and people are generally really friendly and helpful.

Then W'thur hasn't changed: it was lovely 40 years ago when I was there. Loads to do even then and I found the people wonderful. Still in contact now despite having moved to SA, Oz, Belgium and now France. Viva Winterthur!!!

I recommend Winterthur to anyone who wants a nice small village feel. I have been here for two years and I still discovering the place. Its full of English speaking people here. Just walk along markgasse on a sat or sunday and you will hear it everywhere. My pediatrician, family doctor and Gynecologist all speak English. There is at least one Australian bar, Irish, and English bars here. There is also the wonderful french cafes, Italian restaurants and ethnic places. Winterthur is great for children and families. SAFE, UPSCALE and with a population which is not crowding at all. There is an expact community here which meets every other week. Check out expat winterthur. Lots to discover here: Technorama, Seen shopping mall, the new Sulzer mall which is being built, and Rosenberg mall also being rebuilt. Bruderhaus is on sundays, the pool hall at geiswald is amazing in the summer: Three large outdoor pools and also one natural water pool. The facilities are really nice there. There is a winehouse restaurant with a view of the city Goldenberg. check the LOGE hotel and movie theather, a really cool place with English original sound movies. And don't forget we are so close to Konstanz for shopping on the weekend, rhinefalls, Stein and Rein, Schaffhausen, etc. There are tons of parks around, activities such as the fasthnut are really amazing, also the summer Albani festivals all over the place. Regarding housing you get a lot for what you would buy in stadzurich, for half the price. Large homes with lots of space near the center. Check out Wulflingen area, rosenberg, brite ,seen and oberseen, these are the nicest hoods here with wonderful large family homes. Good luck and see you in winty!

Ah by the way, very hard to find an English speaker hairdresser in Winty, so if she is one that is great. Really needed here.

While i was there I complained that the Stadtmueum wasn't child-friendly and not being used a s an educational resource. I told them all about the Museums in London and how what how they worked with teachers. They had a a big change, special kids activities, exhibits that appealed to the different senses etc. Also upstairs , the library is well stocked with foreign films, many with English subtitles. The staff of which were so friendly. then there is the Altekaserne I think that I even saw Gorbachov there. It is so easy to get around on bike.

I am a 10-minute drive from Illnau in a tiny village. Had no idea there were any other internationals around the area! Good luck with the search. Both Winti and Uster seem more international than Illnau but who knows?

I can't say Winti is specifically English, but having lived in the city for 2 years, and now in a village nearby for a further year, I can tell you that it's an easy place to get around with limited German. (Mine is rubbish!) Plus there are a few groups and classes in the city to help you learn the language. (I keep meaning to knuckle down and learn properly.)

For parents, the Mums and Tots groups that Julie Hawkins runs are an excellent way to meet fellow English-speakers. Julie's a great person to know, since she's lived in Winti for over a decade and is a fund of information. She had twins this summer, so I'm not sure if she's running the groups again yet, but if you get in touch with her, she will be able to connect you with something.

Since there are so many English-speakers and foreigners who speak English in Winterthur, perhaps your wife would be able to set herself up as a hairdresser catering to the Foreign Johnny crowd. I'd certainly love to be able to get a haircut in English as it's nerve-wracking in German!

We lived in the Neuwiesenstrasse area and found it great - very cosmopolitan and close to the city centre. But I know that in Hegi and Oberwinterthur there is a big ex-pat community. I'd suggest spending some time visiting various areas to see which ones you would like to live in.

One strong word of advice: make sure your kids are speaking good German before they start Kindergarten. My daughter has hardly any German and is struggling and not enjoying Kindy at all. Also, it seems that nurseries bring kids up to speed with all the skills they are expected to have in Kindy like sitting still and listening to teacher. Again, having not been to nursery, my daughter is struggling. It seems that although it's called Kindergarten, it isn't about playing and having fun!