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| It should be made clear at the start of the course that it will be taught in dialect and not in High German.
I once attended a conference in Zurich with participants from Geneva. The conference was supposed to be only in High German to help the French speakers understand. However participants kept switching to dialect with the result that those from Geneva went home early. | |
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Well, especially because I have the privilege of understanding what is said, I usually am the one to remind speakers that they need to use High German. This confuses them but I am acutely aware of how uncomfortable it must be to have to stick up for yourself in this situation when it really is common decency to be inclusive.
I honestly get very impatient with Swiss German people acting like speaking High German is akin to using a foreign language. Yes, it feels weird, your mouth has to move differently and it's unfamiliar. But it won't get better if you avoid it and you can happily ignore anyone who thinks your accent is funny. Better to sound funny than lazy...