I was here thinking about my french course which will start in january/february not sure yet. I didn't hear a single soul speaking german in Lausanne area, but of course it is the french side so that is normal.

When swiss from the german part have to talk to the french counterparts what do they actually do? Fight to see which language should be spoken? Or does german take priority over french as it is spoken in a wider area? Do they switch to english instead? I'm just very curious because I asked a french swiss girl and she said in her workplace they normally switched to english to speak to the people in the Zurich office.

Don't get me wrong but as I am far from understanding how all swiss people understand each other, it all looks a bit crazy.

Hi,

as a lot of the French swiss don't like speaking german quite often I have heard swiss germans and swiss french speaking together in english. As a native english person it is quite strange to see but neither of the people feel comfortable speaking in the others native language despite the fact they both had to learn the other langugage at school.

Have fun
Martin

A couple of years ago the requirement to make another national language the compulsory second language (ie french for germans etc) was dropped and the kids now learn english. Makes sense, everyone is on neutral territory that way. Plus high german doesnt really make you integrated here anyway... schwiitzertuetsch is something else.

Daniel

As I spend most of my time in the french speaking part I must admit that when I go to Bern or LuganoI get incredibly frustrated at not being able to understand what people are saying.
But then so many people speak English and are fluent in multiple languages.
My concierge speaks 6 languages-what a gift

Normally, when you call someone in a canton with another language, you start by speaking your own cantons language and see how the other person responds. I.e. it is the caller that sets the language. If then neither of you can speak the other persons language you try English and if that doesn't work you get a colleague to help out.

It matters also of course who is the customer and who is the supplier.

My experience though is that it normally isn't a big issue. In this area the Swiss are very tolerant and try to find a common language rather than sticking down their heels and try to fight for their own language. Wish other nations could be as tolerant in this respect :-(

I know a number of folks from the French-speaking part of Switzerland and pretty much none of them speaks Swiss-German. A good number speak pretty good High German, but none of them can figure out what the Swiss-Germans are saying.

There were four French-speaking Swiss in my Swiss-German class, and they found it pretty frustrating to try and learn Swiss-German. I would occasionally chat with them in class in a smattering of High German, French and English. The best comment from one was (in English to me): "I just want to be able to understand what these people are trying to say to me!!"

Interesting point which sort of explains why my wifes tactic with cold callers is so effective, she speaks german and french but it's based on the principle "it's my home your calling so you can speak english".

It goes something like...
Phone rings..
Pick up phone say "Good afternoon?" or "Good evening?" (not "Hello" thats too easy)
Caller says "Spreche ich mit Frau X?"
She says "Who's calling?"
By this point mild panic has usually set in at the other end... etc

Daniel

Learning French can t hurt. Many "want ads" (even in the German speaking part) want or prefer that you know a bit of French. If you have the time and the want . . . do it.

I had the choice between English and Italian at the Gymnasium and opted for the latter because I felt it was my responsability to learn the three big national languages. Obviously there are many Swiss who don't feel strong on this topic. Personally I just try to communicate in the local language and would feel very awkward if a Swiss would start a conversation in English with me.

There never was such a requirement – language education is a competence of the cantons entirely. There was however much talk on the federal level to change this to promote the knowledge of national languages.

The new HarmoS agreement between the cantons states that English and a national language should be taught, without specifying the order. But the scholars should know both foreign languages equally well at the end.

Hi there,

It’s true that the Swiss-French make very little effort to master Swiss-German. Whenever possible, they prefer to speak English. French-speaking kids absolutely hate learning German in school, much preferring what they consider to be the easier and more attractive, Latin languages, and of course English is a very high priority.

Swiss German is very interesting; it’s actually a number of complex dialects. Standard Swiss- German (like news readers’) is taught in all schools, and most inter-cantonal communication is though this standardised version, because quite simply, they don’t always understand each other, for example, someone speaking the Basel dialect would have a very hard time understanding Haut Valaisan. I find it fascinating, but as with all bi/multi-lingual countries, it creates problems, look at Belgium…

German and English are taught in all Romandie schools, English starting later. There is a push in the canton of VD to start both languages (Ger. & Eng.) much earlier. My children were lucky enough to start German in Enfantine (5 year-old) they loved it and were very proud to be able to count, know their colours etc… in German, they even play at speaking German to each other sometimes.

I wonder if starting to learn French or German at a younger age than at present, before prejudices set in, might help the situation, because I suspect that the lack of willingness to learn another region’s language, has more to do with cultural rivalry, than anything else.

I hope this helps.

Best,

Reb

Hi Reb,
I find you comment most interesting as last week we had an introduction to school session(for Kindergarten parents...) where the teachers said absolutley no Swiss German is spoken in Swiss schools and recommending parents start speaking High German (Schriftdeutsch) to make the transition easier for their children...

Hi Richard,

Hmm… That’s interesting. I wonder if the teacher wasn’t confusing Swiss_Standard_German with Standard_German or High_german ?

Kindergarten? Do you mean Ecole Enfantine? It’s a state school, right?

Best,

Reb

It is kind of interesting how the Swiss switch languages.

My Wife used to work out of the Swiss Embassy in London and going to functions there was quite interesting. Being in London everyone spoke English which made it easy for me. However when they are telling jokes certain people would get to the punchline and switch language !!! Very frustrating.

Still I guess its up to me to keep learning French now I'm here.

Absolutely not! It has been this way in some Zürich schools for over 20 years and it has now been spread to the whole of German speaking Switzerland. As I understand it where German was taught in the non-German speaking parts of Switzerland it was anyway high German.

As for the system over here (ZH/AG/ZG etc) the kindergarten (5-7 y.o.) are spoken to in Swiss German but when they change to school it will now be high German. Where we live this is relatively new, 3 or 4 years, so they are still giving parent information nights about it and offering help on speaking high German with your children.

But this system is due to change again in two years when the kindergarten system is abolished. At this point the children will start speaking High German at 5 instead of 7+.

Oh and of course we had some interesting comments from some hard core Swiss parents about letting children enjoy their childhood and making it compulsory attendence as of 5 is ridiculous - what if they don't enjoy it was one comment

And incidentally seeing as Zurich is that bit more advanced than Aargau they already have compulsory kindergarten and attendance as of 5...

Richard the KiGa my son goes to in Kt ZH is already giving lessons in High German with a native speaker. He has lessons 3 times per week, the rest of the time spent with the regular teacher Swiss-German is spoken.

Sorry missed that question. No it is currently a Stiftung, a charitable fund, supported by the local government. But the whole kindergarten concept is being killed so in two years time it will indeed be a state school. Also it might happen earlier as the heating has packed up at our kindergarten and they are refusing to repair it as quote "fehlinvestition". Seeing as we might have a bad winter that would mean closing the Kindergarten for a prolonged period of time which they are not allowed to do so only time will tell what they decide...

As I said ZH is more advanced than AG. Also in ZH KiGa is compulsory with how do they say it 2 joker days per year. In AG you don't currently even need to send your child to Kindergarten...

ZH is even more advanced than that . KiGa 2 is already compulsary for all children. I think this si the case anyway if I understand the German correctly on the lettes we got from the School authorities.

When I first arrived here a girl from the French speaking part was assigned to find me accommodation. I was happily thinking that she was doing it in German, and only later found out that she was using English Her problem was that although her High German was pretty decent (if a bit rusty since schooldays), she couldn't understand Swiss German.