Lifelong Learning – German

So, you are taking a German class, because you are moving to the German speaking part of Switzerland and you assume they speak German there. Well, you are right, kind of.

A Norwegian lecturer in Zürich writes:

Swiss German has its own pronunciation, many different words, its own grammar, and most Germans have difficulty understanding this funny language. The German-speaking Swiss write standard German, that’s true – there is no Swiss German official language (but still some literature, e-mails etc. using the dialect). The Swiss can also speak standard German very well, but to them it’s a foreign language that they have to learn how to use when they start school.

EDIT: 17th February 2009. This link is broken. Will try and find new one asap. So, check out what is spoken in Switzerland here.

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