French Vs. German?

Language Corner
21
I am neither a native speaker of German, nor can I speak any Swiss German dialect, but I understand that virtually all Swiss German-speakers can speak or at least understand Hochdeutsch. The reverse is not necessarily true (for some of the more extreme dialects), but as stated above, High German is the safest, "universal" way to go ... if you really want to learn a German dialect. But as also mentioned before, if you end up in a francophone canton, German would be of marginal benefit to you, at best.

The different dialects are not completely "mutually intelligible". As I said before, many Swiss German-speakers can't understand Walliserdytsch, for example.

Really, it would be best for you to visit Switzerland first, to work out whether the lack of plains and a uniform language is compensated by the abundance of mountains and lakes. Extend your mortgage before you come.

22
I would just stick to the French for the time being. The biggest problem will be getting someone to help you get a permit to live and work in a grassy plain- if you envisage wild open landscape I think you may be a long time looking, but if the steep alpine slopes will do you'll be fine.

23
Hi,

I can share my experience as a swiss "romande" (from the french speaking part) who moved about one year ago to Zurich, the german part. Actually yes, we learn german at school and swiss germans learn french and it's also true that we (at least let's say, a lot of people I know and me included :-) don't speak as good german as swiss germans speak french (at least from the Bern region until Zurich, here I would say french isn't spoken that much). I suppose the reason isn't in the difficulty but could lie in more cultural reasons. It is true that the so-called "rösti graben" (the virtual potato barrier separating psychologically the swiss french and the swiss german) is quite strong in this country. Well, I don't want to draw stupid conclusions, the exact reason is probably impossible to determine. For me, as an insider, I see extreme cultural differences between french and german part.... But I am afraid to go into stereotypes...

Well apart that, on the language question, I only speak (more or less :-) german and absolutely no swiss german for the moment, and everyone understands me here and is able to answer in "high" german. There are a lot of german people here also. About your question, I think swiss germans understand different dialects more or less (for example, my colleague speaks "Züri tütsch" but understands very well "bern tütsch"). Hope this can add something.

24
Alright, thank you I will keep that in mind. How long did it take for you to become relatively fluent in High German? Yes, I can't wait to see the country for myself. I'll probably have to save up for a while but it'll be worth it. Thanks for your advice and replying!

Thanks, I think I will. I'm quite interested in the French speaking cantons at the moment. Jura being one that I will most definitely visit when I get the chance. And haha yes I see now that it is not exactly what I envisioned it to be. But, I have yet to see for myself and draw my own conclusions. And besides.... I LOVE hills and mountains! So I'm sure I will not be disappointed! Thanks for your reply!

Thanks for your insight. At what age did you start learning High German? Which of the French speaking cantons would you say are more open minded to expats? Thanks for the reply!

25
Hi again!

Oh I feel a little ashamed to say that but... I started learning german around 10 years old... until almost 20 years old. Then I nearly didn't speak a word until now (I am 30), so things come back very slowly... Yeah it's quite a strange fact that swiss french people don't speak german after all these years of studying it! About the difficulty, I don't know because french is almost my native language (actually the first one I have learned was english but as you can see I forgot quite a bit :-) but I consider german as a difficult language, especially because of the grammar but you should not feel discouraged, it's really a very personal experience!

About the expat-friendly area in Swiss "romande", I would say Geneva would be the best, because it is very international and depending were you come from it could be less a "cultural choc" as it is a large city (for Swiss standard :-) and you should find almost all you need in terms of cultural offer, language courses, people to meet, etc...

I lived a long time in Lausanne and loved it there also, it's a small and very pretty city, close to the nature and the lake. Good luck!

26
Does someone know:

My question is related though it is regarding Italian instead of French.

I would rather work in the Ticino Canton of Switzerland where Italian is the primary language and yet I will most likely get a job offer in a German speaking area. So I am learning standard German.

If by some nice chance I get a job offer in Ticino, would people in Ticino still understand standard German?

I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks!

27
Some would, of course, but most native Italian speakers in Ticino would not understand German -- or maybe they just don't like to 'fess up to speaking German.

Here's a map of the linguistic distribution in Switzerland.

28
It is worth mentioning that Swiss French is almost the same as French French, bar the odd word. Of course each French speaking Swiss region has its own accent (the differences might escape most foreigners). However, German (often called High German in CH) is VERY VERY different. Until not so long ago, people from one valley would hardly understand those from another, and there was no written version. Even now, people from Zurich cannot bear the Bernese dialect. Until not very long ago either, all children were expected to speak and write High German at school, and all business, legal, etc, was done in High German. Currently the tide is turning, and Swiss German is being standardised, written rules exist, and more and more Swiss Germans resent having to speak High German and are insisting on using their dialect in business and formal situations. I have a Degree in German, and even taught it for 30 years in the UK, but I do not understand Swiss German - just catch the odd word here and there. It is a totally different language. A good word is 'Kuchenschrank' (with an umlaut on the u). In High German it is soft and sounds almost like English- and in Swiss German it sounds like 'rrrurrrrirrrraechli'.

29
... where the "rrrr" is the sound of you preparing a large ball of phlegm from the back of your throat, to gob at a passing Ausländer ...

30
To some, perhaps; but to those who know the difference between "loch" and "lock" in English dialects, for example, it sounds exactly like "Chuchichäschtli", which is really good because that's exactly how it's spelt