So I finally have Internet access and have been able to read through a lot more posts. One thing I have noticed is that a lot of the postings seem geared toward the Zurich, Bern, Zug area or what would appear to be more of the German area of Switzerland. Assuming (which can be a dangerous thing to do….) that a foreigner has little to NO language training do you think it is more difficult for a foreign person or “outsider” to adjust to daily life in Switzerland if they are on the German side vs. the French side or is it the other way around? Why would one side be easier or more difficult than the other? Anyone care to share their experiences and some of the things that they noticed were the most different and or challenging if they switched from one side to the other?

ps. hope I placed this in the proper location....

Without a local language, you will survive quite easily in the French, German and Italian sides without too much trouble.

Having a local language will help.

I guess if I had to say which language region has the greater spread of where English could be understood, it would be the German region.

You'll have a harder time in Ticino than elsewhere. Because of all the Germans (as in from Germany) in Lugano decades back, a number of Ticinese made a decision to not learn any other languages, to force tourists to learn Italian.

You'll still get by with English there, but you'll meet a lot more monoglots there than any other part of Switzerland.

Total nonsense.

I survided for years in Ticino with French and German.

However, English is pretty useless here, as is the case in Italy.

Tom

it will vary tremendously depending upon where you are coming from and what frame of reference you bring with you. had we moved to Geneva instead of Zürich I would candidly have damn near hated Switzerland.

And it would have been the complete opposite for me. Moving to German speaking Switzerland would have been a nightmare for us.

I never said it was impossible, I said it would be harder because there are people who only speak Italian.

You need to work on your English comprehension. And spelling, while you're at it.

German and French are very good fall-back languages in Ticino. Heck, I should know as I use my German as much as I do in Zurich.

They're more useful than English but English is relatively common in Ticino too. But everyone I've encountered speaks > 1 language and French, German and English are taught in school here. In fact, they're mandatory at one time or another.

Thanks for the replies! So of course yes, language is a factor. Other than that..... how about other daily life things such as neighbors, shopping, schools, entertainment, religious activities, hobbies, etc? Crazygringo and Belgainmum each of you stated that you would have had a hard time/hated it if you had moved to one side vs. the other. Would you care to expand on that? Specific issues? Incidents? Things? IE: I would have hated to move to Geneva because I wouldn't want to deal with "city" living and the French langague. Flip side- I wouldn't have wanted to move to Zurich because I wouldn't want to have to deal with the language and having to STRICTLY follow so many rules. (*FYI absolutely guessing for both sides. Please don't think I'm making assumptions.*) Ok.. go!

It's nice and sunny in Geneva today, finally.

No - language is THE factor.

I have not lived in the Romandie, so can't speak from personal experience. But I suspect that, despite the very appealing relaxed attitude across the Rostigraben - I constantly chafe at Alles unter Kontrolle here - I would likely be unhappy on the French side. Simply because of the language.

You see, in my misspent youth countless nuns, teachers, and professors tried to pound la belle langue into my thick head, but despite their best efforts little stuck. I can read the newspaper, and if you put a gun to my head I just might still be able to write a passable letter... but I can barely speak a word. Just. Can't. Get. The. Sounds. Out. I am completely tongue-tied en Français.

German, despite my advanced age when I first took it up, seems to have had more traction, and seems to be more forgiving of my feeble efforts. That, or the folks round here might be a tad more polite.

The reason I bring up my inability to speak French is that I will disagree with some of the other posters: my experience has been that for day-today living it is an absolute necessity to speak the local language with functionality if not fluency.

I prefer to live in small villages, could never stomach urban life - and certainly in my small village there is no English spoken. The local doctor speaks German only. Ditto the folks at the Post, the shops, the local town hall. No English. The tax department is one exception: those who pay gazillions into the town coffers may speak whatever language they wish, the Steueramt will find a fluent Klingon speaker if necessary. But for normal tax payers like most of us... German only.

One cannot live anything approaching a normal life in my little village without decent command of the local language.

So I stick to the German side. I may dislike the never-ending rules and regulations, but at least I understand them.

From our point if view the language was the major factor but not the only one.

We came from a French speaking part of Belgium with a 10 (almost 11) year old who had been in school in French since he was 3 years old and is completely bilingual.
The whole family speaks French well and we prefer the more laid back less anal attitude to life that you find in the French speaking part if Switzerland.

My husband and I both speak (high) German having also spent a few years living in German but we are both more comfortable with French and the prospect of having to learn Swiss German too was distinctly unappealing to us and the fact that our son had no German knowledge at all (but a reasonable grasp of Dutch) made the whole thing a no brainer really. We would not have moved to Switzerland at all if it had meant living in the get an speaking part as it would have been very difficult for our son at the age he was then.

Added to that was the German penchant for rules and regulations which we thought also pertained to Swiss Germans which we didn't like and the relative ease of finding a house rather than a flat around this area and really there was no contest. Ronandie wins hands down for us,

Do German-speaking Swiss (who may also be tourists) behave differently from German tourists, and do Ticinese treat their fellow Swiss differently?

I have lived here nearly 25 years, about 5 years in Bern, about 4 years in Geneva & Vaud, & the rest in bilingual Murten-Morat.

Neither area is particularly easy to live in for a foreigner. The west is slightly more forgiving and tolerant.

But you, as a foreigner perceive Switzerland through the natives you meet and the good & bad experiences. In my opinion it is all a matter of luck!

it is difficult to explain without ruffling feathers, but to me it is relatively simple - the German-speaking part of Switzerland is almost nothing at all like Germany, and the French-speaking part of Switzerland (especially Geneva) is very much like France. I never even notice "The Rules" in the German-speaking part (in fact, I find it considerably more egalitarian and libertarian than the US), but I very definitely notice the lack of "The Rules" in the French-speaking part of the country.

To say it clearly, German is the MAJORITY language in Switzerland. Around the globe, a 70% language simply is THE language

And so you moved to the last remnant of Prussia

Of course. Nobody minds the endless amounts of German, Dutch, French, Belgian and other tourist around here but wear ZH plates on your car and you will be hated.

I'm sure it's different in that Swiss-German exclave - Locarno (aka Bratwurstland)....

Just today on the back of the bus, I saw an advert for "Funeral Directors" and the temporary bar at Lugano station which was "Bar aperto" last week is now "Bar Open".

As is key to any existence, the key is to learn at least a little to try to get by; you make no effort and people will notice - and they will mirror the effort.

Depends where in Italy. I think it's a common prejudice (as with the French), but Italians working in restaurants, shops, hotels, etc. do speak English. Or wait, maybe they were immigrants.

I lived 10 years in Suisse Romande before moving to Zurich. I also mainly worked for big american companies before moving over and starting at an international but very swiss company. I was in shock for the first 2 years. Suisse Romande definitely has a more relaxed attitude to almost everything. I don´t mind the rules here but the attitude is completely different.
Some people here elevate their professional life to a military level. They are so correct and rigid at work that I felt I was in a twilight zone. I wondered how and if ever they found a way to unwind - or knew what that meant.
That said I am now appreciating much more the swiss german side because I have good neighbors, I appreciate the rules, I find that the people I have met here are more international (this is Zurich I am talking about), have solid values and a better defined national identity than people in Suisse Romande. The feeling I got here is that people are very proud of what they deliver (product, service,etc) and make sure it´s the best they can do as their honor and pride is linked to it!
I would go back to visit suisse romande in a blink since I love the lake area but I would have to think real hard before moving back to live there.