Languages of Switzerland?

Question

I'm looking to study or work abroad in a few years and am in the process of figuring out where I want to go. Initially it was going to be Germany, because I love everything about the country and language and am fairly proficient in German, looking to improve greatly.

However, I am also interested in learning French. And so I was wondering, is there anywhere I can go where I can improve my French (after having learned the basics beforehand) while at the same time being able to improve German? I know that 2 of the 4 official languages of Switzerland are German and French. So I have a few concerns.

1. I'm learning "high German" or hochdeutsch, is this spoken in Switz. or is it mostly dialects?
2. Same thing with french, but I don't know the proper term for the official language one would learn in school.
3. Is there anywhere in Switzerland (or any other country, for that matter) where both are spoken fairly commonly?

Thanks

Answer 1

Wow I am in Switzerland right now as a foreign exchange student and will be here for another year and its wonderful.I think you should come here.There are four official languages of Switzerland and they are German,French,Italian and Romansch and English is basically an unofficial language.The french they speak in the French part like Geneva and Luasanne is the french like that of France.I am in the german part right now in a beautiful town callled Luzern and they speak german here but it is swiss german which is pretty difficult to learn and not high german.I came to switzerland to learn high german and I learn quite a lot of high german in school and with my host family and once you learn high german you learn to understand swiss german.Everyone in Switzerland learns high german in school because that is what language the teachers must speak in so they all know it so basically when you are with a swiss person you have to say Sprechen Sie bitte Hoch deutsch?-DO you speak high german or Konnen Sie bitte Hoch deutsch sprechen?-Are you able to speak high german and "Langsam bitte"-slow please or "Nicht so snell"-not so fast.THey will then speak to you in high german and you will be able to understand mostly everything.They can switch from swiss german to high german in the blink of an eye so note that you are not being a pain to them by asking them this because it is easy for them they just sometimes are to lazy and try to sneak back into swiss german but if you tell them to speak high german again they will change since they are quite nice.SO it is possible to learn high german in Switzerland but you get the extra oppurtunity to learn swiss german to which is a really cool language.I am almost fluent in high german right now and I can understand most swiss german and I have only been here for a little bit and I knew no german before I came here.If you want to go to a place where both French and German are commonly spoken I would reccomend to go somewhere around Bern which is close to the French side.I would recommend a smaller town like Fribourg which is like a typical swiss town.My friend is there and everyone speaks french in school although she has german class and her host family speaks german so they are a pretty French/German town.I hope this helps.If you have any more queestions you can email me at [e-mail]

Answer 2

1. It is mostly the dialect that is spoken, but there are very few situations in which you will be denied opportunities because your German is standard. There are however MANY situations in which knowing Swiss-German just makes everything easier. (Even at university.)

2. French is pretty much the same as in France, the accent's a bit different and they say septante and nonante for 70 and 90 but that's about it. It's more different from Quebec French, but still shouldn't be an issue.

3. Fribourg/Freiburg and I think Solothurn/Soleure are bilingual cantons (so is Wallis/Valais but the German there is insane, don't even try) and Biel/Bienne is a bilingual city. But your best bet may in fact be to go to Geneva or Lausanne (in the French part) where there are a good proportion of German speakers who would probably be amenable to speaking High German. Not a lot of Zurich people like to speak French (and many prefer English to High German) so you'd mostly be talking to French expats (there are lots) in French and other foreigners in German, and Swiss-Germans in English. Anyway that's what I do.

Answer 3

Switzerland has four languages, yes, but most individual places in Switzerland have only one language. There are a few cantons (eg, Valais/Wallis and Fribourg/Freiburg) which are officially bilingual but even there, most of the cities and villages are one or the other. So for the most part, people will speak the language of the particular street they meet on. For question #4, my kids do go to school in German in the German part of Switzerland, one has had English since 2nd grade and the other French since 5th grade. In my experience, the answer WAS French up to a few years ago but now I'd say English. For question #5, my niece and nephew in the French part are learning only German at school (I think since 2nd or 3rd grade). English starts around 7th grade, I think. For question #6, my guess would be German but I don't know for sure. In general, German speakers are more inclined to learn foreign languages than are French speakers, but the average Swiss person speaks 3 languages well.

Answer 4

Gosh, everyone is so positive here! I know German very well, almost perfect, but I am nearly incapable of understanding the normal Swiss dialect. I guess, if you are no language genius, you would run against a wall in Switzerland. Because the Swiss have had their independent state for well over three hundred years, they don´t have the feeling that their dialect is something second-class. They use it freely in the mass media and in educated conversation.
Other French-German mixed areas are Alsace and Luxemburg. Think about them!
I once read that the French-German language border runs through the swiss town of Fribourg / Freiburg.

Answer 5

Dear friend,
High German is what the German language is.Low German or plat deutsch is what the Mennonites use.Use your regular German and you will be fine.Don't worry about dialects.They are not the language that is taught in the schools.I know of only 3 languages in Switzerland.German,French and Italian.You will do fine.

Answer 6

4.