Can I get a student visa to study German in Suisse? Do universities offer this? What's the process?

If it matters, I have finished graduate school (MD).

I suggest you contact the Swiss Consulate for questions regarding visas. Here's their website http://www.eda.admin.ch/newyork

Thanks. Are there schools that are a year long or less which will sponsor your visa in CH?

There are tons of language schools in Switzerland. It should not
be a problem to get a visa to study the language.

Why don't you want to study German in Germany? Switzerland has
a dialect, and it makes it harder to learn proper German.

That is a very important point. If you go to Switzerland you will be learning High German in class, but outside of class everybody speaks Swiss German. More details in the section on use.

Hi,

I'd really advice you not to come to Switzerland to study German and to go to Germany or Austria instead. While Switzerland's officially a German-speaking country, everybody here speaks regional dialects that differ so much from standard German that a learner won't understand a single word.

It's like going to Malta to learn English - while there may be good language schools, only the better-educated fraction of the population speaks English to a degree that could be called fluent.

Peter

I'd like to come to Suisse to study German because I love the country and would like to eventually live there.

Can anybody recommend German schools?

Berlitz has a decent reputation - they have locations all over Switzerland:

http://www.berlitz.ch/en/default.html

and here's a whole list of schools in the Zurich area:

http://www.die-sprachschulen.ch/8000/10/list.htm

regards,

Peter


ps: It's called "Switzerland" - "la Suisse" is French

Sure, but if he learns German in Suisse, he won't be confused by Swiss German when he isn't in class. Maybe not a bad idea.

What little German I know, I learned at Migros Klubschule in Luzern. Not bad in my eyes and I'll probably go back at some point. Now I get by in Schwyzer-Tarzano-Deutsch.

Just remember. It is really expensive to live here without income.

Berlitz is an excellent school, but it is very expensive.


Klubschule Migros is the best bang for the buck IMHO.

www.klubschule.ch