...I think out of the "major cities" in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the Bern dialect is the hardest. Whenever I'm in Zürich I tend to understand more of the Swiss-German I hear spoken there.

You can learn Swiss German in the US if you find somebody who is Swiss and wants to teach you (check with Swiss banks or companies - there might a young intern looking to pick up some extra cash).

If you need to learn for business/profession - you'll need to learn High German but of course it depends what your job is.

I think it's easier to learn Swiss German if you have an ear for languages

it's more melodic
closer in many cases to English
uses many English & French words
what grammar there is, is a hell of a lot easier
when it is written, it's written phonetically and it will be understood.

Having said, that an Introductory course or even a Rosetta Stone program that you do yourself would help you to familiarize yourself and that can only be in High German.

So many Swiss are amazing when they speak, switching effortlessly from Swiss German to German to French to English and they know enough of each other's dialects that when a Zurcherin meets a Valliserin, they each use their own words in the convo and are able to understand each other.

Thanks! That is an interesting idea.

(I could make some jokes here, but I do not want to annoy the locals) Sorry if I ask, but have you actually ever been to Germany or is your knowledge limited to the TV news?

The opposite is true, the closest to English would be the low German dialects that are similar to Dutch. As a matter of fact, I guess only Austian German might be more far away from English than Swiss German.

Sorry, based on what? Give some examples. I do not see too much difference in the grammar. "Educated Swiss German speakers" use grammar just as complex as High German. If you refer to some simplified expressions you hear on the street: not all Germans in Germany use all forms in every day talk either...

The OP is not aware of the differences, so you should not mislead him: Swiss German is never written with the exception of txt-speech and graffity. High German is the official language here, all documents are written in it.

So from any angle, making a basic German course is the start. The local dialect will automatically follow when you live here. You will figure out that the locals use different terms for "sandwich" as your German book without problem.
If I would move to the US, I would also simply brush up my English and not look for some course on "US specific terms".

Wow

I was responding to the OP to give my opinion.
My first trip to Germany was in 1977.
I've been familiar with Swiss German since 1978.
I've been married to a Swiss for many many many years.

I'm well aware of the differences.

Have a nice day.

The multilingual aspect of the country is one of the interesting things to me about Switzerland. I guess Switzerland does not have one official language, but perhaps each Canton does(?).

My initial thought was to try to find a position in Geneva because it is so international and English seems to be more in use there. Nevertheless, my family and I started down the road to learn French. But since I am not sure where I (eventually) might find a position, learning German seems to be prudent as well (hence my question). I am also trying to learn some other languages for other purposes as well, so I am experiencing a little language "overload" .

Switzerland has four official languages:
- German (the standard one)
- French
- Italian
- Rumantsch

English is the most common non-official language. I know plenty of people surviving easily with English alone (in Zurich), so you do not need to worry too much. In principle it makes sense to first decide which part you want to live in and then either learn German, French or Italian.

http://www.all-about-switzerland.inf...languages.html

Well, I had decided--Geneva. But now I am finding that I must be more flexible if I want to (eventually) get into the country at all . And this seems to lead to language considerations.

So yeah...the original poster should learn Hoch Deutsch...

I saw from your Introductory post that you lived in Hungary - I love the Hungarian people - been through so much with their history - and yet still have such a forward looking attitude.

Did you learn Hungarian? LOL if you did you can learn any language

Czak egy picit tudok magyarul (I only know a little Hungarian). But, yes, Hungarian is hard to learn--mainly because of the complex grammar (vocabulary and spelling were straightforward). I heard from objective sources that it was estimated to be among the hardest languages for foreigners to learn. And (from my experience), if you did not pronounce words exactly right, you weren't understood--mainly, it seems, because there is a lot of uniformity in pronunciation throughout the country. I lived in one of the oldest cities in Hungary, Szekesfehervar; and there weren't many foreigners living there. So, it was quite an experience indeed.

I learned German in high school and was an advanced student (in my second year, my teacher had me translating short books while the rest of the class was continuing on with normal second year studies). I think I was motivated because part of my heritage is German (Bavaria). But that learning experience was some time ago, and I never had the chance to use the language in practice. Hopefully, going through a second time will spark some memories. I can still say phrases, but I could only have a simple conversation.

Well it's just like riding a bike and will come back to you really quickly, I'm sure. I also studied German in school - too many years ago to even think about!... and it came back when I needed it.

Kudos on the Hungarian! and best of luck with making your way over here.

So the copies of Jonathon Livingston Seagull and The Little Prince,
in Swiss German, sitting on my bookshelf are just figments of my
imagination, then?

Interesting.

The 'more melodic' character of Swiss German and Swiss standard German is actually a recognised feature of the languages . . . the sing-song sound is called prosody.

Ok, you will probably find some cartoons for children or Asterix & Obelix in "some sort of Swiss German" as well. I say "some sort of" as the dialects vary heavily from area to area, just as they do in Germany. But are you saying that it is a written language just because a handfull of books can be found? You will find some books written in Bavarian dialects as well, but nobody would seriously suggest a person who is potentially moving to Munich to go to a Bavarian Mundart course instead of learning standard German.

The OP might want to be able to read a menu at a restaurant, information in a train station or the leaflet with the special offers of the week at the local supermarket. So what would you recommend? Find a Swiss in the US who teaches him to pronounce chuechechaestli in Zurich-German or visit a standard German course, ideally following the Goethe Institut system, so he can easily continue at Migros Clubschule (or any other) once he is here?

Actually, you have been here for some time, so you should know better. It's spelled chuchichäschtli, nothing to do with cakes. *swiss-anal rant over*

And yes, there are Asterix & Obelix comics in various Swiss German dialects... is it so hard to fathom that we really don't want to be Germans?

To the OP - Oh and yes, learn "proper" German first, it gives you the base to understand most if not all German speakers and if you then really still want to learn Swiss-German, go for it...

I obviously thanked you for the text I just found when I pushed the "quote button"

There are many local translations of Asterix in Germany as well and I never ever critizise that the Swiss value their culture and want to protect their identity. I think this is a very good thing, but the recommendations to learn exclusively the dialect goes a bit too far for my taste...

So for the fun of it (and to show how strong dialects differ in Germany as well): Here is a review of the low German translation of Asterix by the Zeit, written in low German.

I know

As much as I love Swiss German, I'd find it absurd to learn that first.. there is just too much information that bypasses you this way... though it's a nice extra once you know German and intend to stay (or have fun with languages and their variations)

It is said, and not being a scientific linguist I wouldn't know, that it is more difficult for the average person to learn the Swiss dialect after having learned High German. But few German speakers try to learn the dialect; those who excel at it tend to be particularly talented at learning languages (a skill not necessarily related to intelligence: language learning in a classroom environment requires reasoning skills a quick memory; but some individuals never forget a word or its context and learn many languages easily). Think of Barry Farber (a NY radio personality, you can Google him) who speaks more than 25 languages.

My mother, who left Switzerland at the age of 4 and didn't return until an adult, spoke the Aargau dialect as it was spoken in 1917, anachronistically. In Switzerland people would listen attentively to her when she spoke, and of course until later, when at the age of 60 she went to Fordham University for a degree and studied German literature, she didn't learn the German or Swiss words for modern things.